Installment 10 - Odds and Ends.
With much delay I bring you installment 10. Up to the installment 9, my car setup was based on recommendations and my driving ability was, well, poor. With about 6 more events under my belt, I now know what I'm looking for in car setup and more importantly what I like and dislike about the car. A big thanks to Michael (Ninefofo) J. for just about every piece of new equipment in this installment! The seating, pedal and steering wheel position in the 924/944 are fantastic compared to some street cars I have driven. Since my power steering pump literally fell off at my first auto-x in San Diego, I have gotten used to running without it and actually enjoy tossing the car around as hard as I can. This is not much of an issue due to the fact that my steering wheel quick-disconnect pushes my wheel about 2" closer for better leverage. Not to mention it really helps to easilly get in and out of the car. I really like the neutrality of the handling thanks to the weight distribution, but it has a bit of oversteer that in some instances throws me off guard. On top of that, the open dif makes it sensative to throttle inputs in those instances. To help induce a tad bit of understeer, I installed a 26.8mm front sway bar courtesy of a late model 951. The clamp bushings are Delrin as well. I am throwing these pics in a heads-up for folks as dense as I am. If you have your axles rebuilt and they come back with a nice shiney metal finish, be sure to paint them. This was a few months worth of rust, but it came off easily with a bit of sandpaper. A fresh coat of paint will be prevent this (obviously). To compliment the new stiffer sway bar, an upper strute tie bar was installed. I hear these make a difference (yet to find out, stay tuned) but I do know one thing for sure: they sure do look cool! My first attempt at adjusting torsion bars was a success I'd say; however, after my first high speed full track event (Buttonwillow Speedway) I noticed a bit of binding in the rear end, pressumably from the CV joints. The angle of the axles relative to the CV joints when the suspension compresses was a bit to dramatic to trust going flat-out over the rumble strips and risk losing an axle. I used the 0.5" adjust in the spring plate to raise the rear slightly to help this. Here is a before and after. Now, with the major stuff out of the way, I can focus on the really fun shit. I'm in the opinion that all race cars should be loud. Not ear-piercingly loud, but loud enough to get the attention of anybody within a few hundred feet. Call me crazy, but I drop whatever I'm doing and gauk at any race car in the paddock when the first fire them up. Therefore, I said to hell with California emmission laws and deleted my cat and installed a nice, loud, free-flowing Magnaflow muffler. Here are some vids if you'd like to hear it. Next installment: Roll-cage and seats. I can't wait! I leave you with some pictures from auto-x events over the last few months.