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Brick's Babyrunner Do-Everything Funmobile Daily Driver

OP
Brick
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Thread Starter #21


Ran Glendora Mountain Road and Angeles Crest, Angeles Forest and Big Tijunga with Socal Lateral G this week. ......... This car is too damn fun.
 


M-Sport fan

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#22
Not too much new since the end of January. The fiesta ST has been serving as my daily driver for daycare duty for my 1.5 year old daughter, and a bouncing baby boy is expected in September! The Fiesta ST will continue daycare runs for the foreseeable future!

The car is proving its utilitarian worth. I have a hitch on the back that I use for mountain biking. My friend and I took a day trip up to Kernville for some great riding. The car is just too damn fun in the corners and I had to remember I had precious cargo hanging off the back.


In February, I got to shoot a commercial for Kumho Tires. It really was a blind tire test and I had the opportunity to drive the Dodge Viper ACR and a V10 Audi r8 in anger. Let's just say... it was a badass opportunity. Attached is the video.
The ACR was AWESOME to throw around a track.... just awesome.
[video=youtube;MOzZDOGFEyI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOzZDOGFEyI&list=PLEJwK65YqbCgJ_9Fv667lEj1S2pdgPnBZ[/video]
So which actual Kumho model were they, the 200 tread wear V720 ACRs, or some new model, under 100 tread wear, R compound deals??

If the V720 ACRs, did the 5 ringer (the R8) run the same size, since they only make those in the Viper sizes, or did they run the regular V720s on it?

BTW; coming from an LS1/T56 equipped car as well, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about with the low highway cruising revs (gotta LOVE that .50 sixth overdrive!), as well as the low seating position, although in the 4th gen f bodies it is still not quite as low as your (or ANY gen) y body.

When I still had that car, and then went to test drive a FiST, it felt like I was driving a tall SUV by comparison!

I am glad I have some time without any car while waiting on the ordered FiST, since my 'muscle memory' (hopefully) will have forgotten the effort of that LS7 clutch, Pro 5.0 shifter, and very low (comparative) seating position by the time it gets here. [wink]
 


OP
Brick
Messages
424
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Location
Ridgecrest
Thread Starter #23
So which actual Kumho model were they, the 200 tread wear V720 ACRs, or some new model, under 100 tread wear, R compound deals??

If the V720 ACRs, did the 5 ringer (the R8) run the same size, since they only make those in the Viper sizes, or did they run the regular V720s on it?

BTW; coming from an LS1/T56 equipped car as well, I know EXACTLY what you are talking about with the low highway cruising revs (gotta LOVE that .50 sixth overdrive!), as well as the low seating position, although in the 4th gen f bodies it is still not quite as low as your (or ANY gen) y body.

When I still had that car, and then went to test drive a FiST, it felt like I was driving a tall SUV by comparison!

I am glad I have some time without any car while waiting on the ordered FiST, since my 'muscle memory' (hopefully) will have forgotten the effort of that LS7 clutch, Pro 5.0 shifter, and very low (comparative) seating position by the time it gets here. [wink]
You'll never forget man, hahahah. To this day i still try to adjust the seat lower, only to realize i'm as low as can go. It's still an extremely fun ride though, so don't get me wrong :).

The ACR had the standard V720 ACRs. Not sure what the R8 was running. While it was fun to shoot the commercial, the premise was pretty silly. A blind tire test, utilizing an AWD car and a RWD car, and we were asked to compare the tires..... all while not having enough seat time for the tires to truly warm up. Still an awesome experience, but myself and the other drivers were kind of laughing about it afterwards. We didn't know until that morning what cars we would be driving and what would be asked of us. In fact the crew running the production did a good job not telling us what brand the commercial was for. The ACR was just amazeballs fun.
 


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Brick
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Thread Starter #24
Was able to get an afternoon off to pick up a special order of Citra Double IPA from Kern River Brewing Company. Since I had some time, I decided to drive into Sequoia National Forest and take the long route home. This was my first real drive with the 195/55/15 BFG Sport Comp 2 tires and 15x8 +35 Team Dynamics. Earlier, i was complaining about initial turn in being poor and driving on water balloons for weight transfer.... how did they do for a spirited drive???

Pretty good! The tires still have those interesting characteristics, but I will say that the grip and audible feedback was pretty surprising for a tame everyday tire. The obvious differences from driving with the stock wheel/tire combo is that there is a noticeable amount of... squish in the tire. What do I mean? I mean, when loading up for a turn, you can feel the weight transfer of the car with the suspension, but take it a next step further with the sidewalls of the tires. Makes sense because of the height of the tire and relative weakness of the sidewalls, just an observation that there seems to be more body roll with this combo.

Did I feel like this was detrimental to the fun factor of canyon driving? No. I still had a blast, it was just a matter of getting use to the dynamics of the tire, which didnt take that much time at all. As I left the canyons and was nearing the state highway, There was a limestone mine/depository that made for a quick and fun bit of rally cross to end the drive. The fact that I had the level of grip that I did for the streets, the level of audible communication if/when i approached the limit of the tire, and that I could play in the dirt and not worry about destroying my tires.... yesterday was a good day. Here's some shots from the drive.



Meadow Fire in the background.


Lots of fun tight turns on the way up to 9400 feet. Definitely a good time in the little canyon carver.


Another photo, closer to the peak, fire's smoke in the background.


9400 feet.


In the shadows going downhill primarily.


50 degree weather.


Remnants of Chimney Peak Fire 2016.


Completely random to see this, as we are 30 miles from any city/town.


Aint no care. Back in the desert.
 


M-Sport fan

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#25
NICE! [thumb]

Those are the matte black 1.2s, correct?

Did you go with the ever popular on here Comp 2s in the 195/55 size only because of; price/wear/'streetability', or were you truly worried that the 225/45s would rub in too many places, and possibly stick too far out of the wheel wells? [dunno]
 


OP
Brick
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Thread Starter #26
NICE! [thumb]

Those are the matte black 1.2s, correct?

Did you go with the ever popular on here Comp 2s in the 195/55 size only because of; price/wear/'streetability', or were you truly worried that the 225/45s would rub in too many places, and possibly stick too far out of the wheel wells? [dunno]
Anthracite color. From 6 feet away, its a dark grey color with some flake/sparkle. My wheels don't stay that clean for long though.

I went with the comp 2 because I wanted a decent street tire, mainly with the fact that it's my daily driver and I like to drive B-roads, and I use my car to get me to remote areas to mountain bike (so non maintained asphault/dirt roads) and wanted something that would last more than 5k miles. I went with 15 inch wheels because weight, and cheaper tires.... this being the first time going down in wheel size... I was really shocked the amount of initial turn in I lost. Makes sense now with how soft the sidewall is on these tires.

I'm happy, but a part of me still wants a Hankook RS-3, maybe next set or something, but I just know with Hankook RS-3s, I would be missing out on potential trips due to weather conditions during the winter.
 


M-Sport fan

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#27
^^^I hear ya on that, and sadly, the lichen kissing hiking groups around here (or where I used to live in No. Joyzee at least) closed down ALL of the trails for mtn. biking (yup, EVEN THE DAMNED FIRE ROADS!! [mad]), so I went back to road bikes. [:(]
 


OP
Brick
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Thread Starter #30
Dec 2019 update. 24.5k miles.

I've mainly just been using the car for daycare duty. The "don't die" mentality has hit me harder as my kids get older and I don't partake in canyon drives like i used to (not that i was ever 10/10ths, i've just found more and more that things outside your control can happen).

I've decided I'm going to be selling the FiST, and likely buying a kart to race in the los angeles area. Meanwhile, I'll be commuting in a minivan to take my kids to and from school. From corvette, to FiST, to van.... transformation complete. I'll be back in a sportscar eventually, but there's no way I could keep the FiST as a weekend car, there are many others cars i would think of first before the FiST.

Overall, I've been super happy with the car, it was a lot of fun. My family just doesnt need 3 cars and I can utilize a majority of the funds from the sale for other things.
 




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