Tuna's H Street adventure

[pinchvalve]

FWIW, the Koni Yellows can't really be adjusted on the car, they have to be removed. Most people find a happy place and leave them there. Koni recommends full soft to 1/4 turn away from full soft. Lots of autocrossers, myself included, recommend setting them 1/2 way. I have been driving them that way for a while and they are fine on the street and out on course.

 

[Tuna]

are you still running 46 psi front? A fast FiST guy at my club suggested 38 psi hot as a starting point.

I'll have to check my notes (which are sitting in a box in the garage). I think I was on 44-46 psi at the last event. Depending on tires, temperature and surface, dropping to 38 psi might be an option. I'll try it on the next test and tune on Saturday.

 

[Tuna]

Test and tune Fontana 8/24/19

Fastest run this morning (hot day, 99F) on 42 psi front and 33 psi rear.

Front tire rolled too much at 40 psi:

Rear tire:

 

[faust]

Interesting! 99F is no joke. Haven't driven an autox over 90F here, I can see how those extra 10+ degrees could make a difference in tire performance.

 

[Tuna]

are you still running 46 psi front? A fast FiST guy at my club suggested 38 psi hot as a starting point.

So I've started running 36 psi front and have no complaints.

 

[Tuna]

13/144 at the event last weekend. Buddy from Canada joined me to thrash my car. We had fun. Drove fast. Made clunking noises in second gear, and shit. I was quite pleased to place as high as I did in this club. Still aiming for a top ten.

Changed engine oil a week prior at 3300 miles (that's after 7 months ownership... I hardly drive the car). Sample going off to Blackstone Labs. Changed transmission oil at the same mileage. Notchiness is gone. Transmission feels silky, like the skin on my testicles. Also sending a sample to Blackstone... transmission oil, not testicle skin.

Went for a ride in the top guys FiST and was blown away by the difference in handling. He's running re-valved front koni's and his car corners much better than mine... Buddy and I were struggling to keep my car from oversteering in longer corners. The BFG's like to slip and we didn't want to drop the pressure so low that we were losing speed cornering, but we were struggling to go fast and stay pointed in the direction we wanted. Anyway, hot cash injection inbound for re-valved fronts.

The weather on Sunday was much cooler and shittier than Saturday so we threw on some brand new RE-71R's I had laying around. They're so much more predictable than Rivals in the cold and I'll probably go back to Rivals when it heats up in Summer.

BFG's have a $150 rebate right now, so I caved to consumerism and bought a fresh set.

Pahk your cah

Test-n-Tune

Prairie boat:

 

[Tuna]

Oh, and we ran out of brakes. Fluid wasn't boiling but the OEM pads just weren't stopping the car. I'm going to try G-Loc R6's

 

[Tuna]

 

[the duke]

How did the car rotate with your tire pressure set-up. I find myself running higher in the rear to help get the rear end loose while pitching the car and late braking.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Prairie boat:
https://flic.kr/p/2itivmn]

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Did they actually let that land yacht run?!?!

I thought that there were wheelbase length limitations in the rules, or is that totally up to the region?

 

[Tuna]

Did they actually let that land yacht run?!?!

I thought that there were wheelbase length limitations in the rules, or is that totally up to the region?

For sure it ran. Typically I've only seen wheel base limitations apply to shorter, narrower cars with a rollover risk... like the Fiesta SE.

 

[Tuna]

How did the car rotate with your tire pressure set-up. I find myself running higher in the rear to help get the rear end loose while pitching the car and late braking.

On a "cold" SoCal morning we had huge problems with the car over-rotating in sweepers at 34-35 psi. Started the (older) BFG's on 34 psi and dropped to 33 psi as it warmed up. The trade off was too much stick at lower pressures and a loss of corner speed. We ended up running a brand new set of Potenza's on the much colder Sunday with risk of rain. The RE-71R's were so much easier to drive faster in the cold. I'm now convinced the front rebound is affecting oversteer after the ride along we had.

Will report back with results once the front koni's are installed.

 

[Rexracer]

On a "cold" SoCal morning we had huge problems with the car over-rotating in sweepers at 34-35 psi. Started the (older) BFG's on 34 psi and dropped to 33 psi as it warmed up. The trade off was too much stick at lower pressures and a loss of corner speed. We ended up running a brand new set of Potenza's on the much colder Sunday with risk of rain. The RE-71R's were so much easier to drive faster in the cold. I'm now convinced the front rebound is affecting oversteer after the ride along we had.

Will report back with results once the front koni's are installed.

You were still running stock fronts or you mean re-valved front Konis?

 

[Tuna]

You were still running stock fronts or you mean re-valved front Konis?

I was running stock fronts and am moving to re-valved front koni's as soon as they're built.

 

[Tuna]

Oil samples happened.

OEM Engine oil (3308 miles)

OEM transmission oil (3308 miles)

 

[Tuna]

Did some suspension stuff at 4150 miles. Front Koni's turned up after being re-valved by Jeff Wong at ProParts USA.

Spent a ridiculous amount of time wanking around trying to remove the tophat nuts which were buried under the windshield trim. Right side:

Left side (are you fucking kidding me Ford, you cunts?). Many fucks were given:

Got excited, took a before photo of the first side

Part way through sent a "stop texting me" photo to the wife

We're done here. I'm opening a beer.

Adjusted the rear koni's back half a turn to see if the car stops trying to over-rotate.

Made the mistake today of grocery shopping at the same time as the panicked mob. Watched people taking entire boxes of canned goods from the shelves. At least it wasn't toilet paper. But hey, buy some fucking salsa to eat your toilet paper with.

 

[Tuna]

Last event results were updated and I placed 12/144. Still hoping for a top ten.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Did Pro Parts also do the de-gassing 'trick' to the Sports, to get the ride height lower while still meeting the H/Street rules with using the factory springs??

 

[Tuna]

Did Pro Parts also do the de-gassing 'trick' to the Sports, to get the ride height lower while still meeting the H/Street rules with using the factory springs??

You know, I have no idea. I emailed Jeff and asked him to do the same thing for me that he did for the guy who's beating me. I can probably list the parts he used but that won't mean much.

Today's test and tune went well. First session was cold but dry and I got to the point of spraying tires. Times were competitive. I think I can probably tighten up the rear koni's a touch for dry conditions. The new fronts behaved predictably. Ran the RE-71R's at 36F/33R for the dry session and 35F/32R for the wet. Felt like I did well. SoCal will probably allow me to set and forget the rears and tweak the fronts to suit wet/dry conditions. Might tighten the fronts a touch to see how it feels before the next event.

 

[Tuna]

March 15 Event

First group and about the third car out on wet but drying asphalt. Absolutely fluffed the first run but pulled it back together. Made way too many mistakes to feel good about my runs but held second place in our local grouped PAX class. Ran out of brakes by run 3. My pedal still holds pressure but the pads are crapping out under heat. Imagine having to adjust brake zones every run and never quite getting consistent brake points. Anyway, G-Loc pads on their way.

New front Koni's set to full soft and rears dialed back 1/2 a turn.Think I might go back a touch harder on the rears. Drove really aggressively on the open diff and spent way too much time wasted trying to lay down power during transitions. Need to learn more control on the gas pedal I think.

2nd in class (first trophy in a while, but got absolutely creamed by Reed)
8th overall PAX out of 109 entries

New magnets action photo

Photo Cred: Ed Tsui

Moar flashy magnets courtesy 5zero4 Designs

Photo Cred: Ed Tsui

Working duty "I'm a runner so put me to work"

Photo Cred: Ed Tsui

Fffuuuhh, I'm gonna kill the worker chief #muhlegs

Photo Cred: Ed Tsui

Tuning day March 14, pre-magnets

#coronoavirussocialdistancing

New camera mount... Rattles like a motherfucker inside the case. I think it's the head rest flogging around. Bought an open mount on Amazon to reduce some of the sealed case sound transfer.

Another angle

#LSallthethings