Let's continue where we left off.
I bought this car nearly bone stock a little over a year ago with ~37,500 miles and it currently has about 80,000 miles. Almost everything on the car, especially the engine, is in good condition, although the suspension is on its last legs due to age. I already had one rear damper blow out (replaced with a used one from a local).
Bolt-On’s
My current bolt-on’s will be maintained throughout the build: a JBR 3.5” aluminum intake, CP-E TMIC, and CP-E catless long downpipe.
Turbo
Power will be provided by a used BNR S3 I picked up for $850 with 4k miles on it. This turbo was dropped in recently and tuning is ongoing. I like it so far. It’s not perfect, but close enough for my purposes. If it outlasts the K04, which only lasted 15-20k miles or so once I tuned it on methanol, it will be a win in my book. We’ll see.
This turbo has good spool characteristics “for its size”. In some logs, I have hit 20 psi as early as 3100 RPM. It feels similar to a K04 on the stock upper and lower downpipe (both stock cats). The best things about this turbo are the ability to floor it at low RPM’s (and not worry about the turbo spooling and throwing a rod), its impressive midrange torque, and its cost. The worst things about it are its slower response and lack of “punch” compared to the K04.
Tuning
I tune on a 2:10 methanol:E10 in-tank mix using Cobb ATR. I’ve considered Versatune, but the AP V3 is far too convenient for me with its ability to live monitor 6 things at once at CAN speeds. Tuning isn’t complete, but right now I’m running a reverse taper with ~2.30 load all the way across to about 5500-6000 RPM where I have found it necessary to have a sharp dropoff (sharper than it should be) lest I knock: my stock CBE seems to be causing some backpressure issues in the very high RPM’s. I will deal with it eventually.
Let the fun begin
Methanol injection system
My methanol injection system will be loosely based on what Sari posted here and it is going to be cheap:
GE3KSPD MOTORSPORTS
I already have every part I need for this setup and am just waiting for the HTP tank I ordered to come in. I’ll be running the solenoid option instead of the check valve.
I did buy a TB spacer, however I won’t be using it per dale gribble’s research in this thread. Instead I will buy a cold pipe and tap it.
I will install the meth system and AEM failsafe and start spraying on top of running my existing in-tank mix. When that is working to my satisfaction, I will discontinue the in-tank mix. The biggest drawback of my setup will be the push-to-connect fittings, which are garbage, however the AEM failsafe will hopefully keep things under control in the event that a line pops out. I have already verified that my methanol timing map won’t knock with the BNR on spring pressure while on straight 93 gas, which is awesome – I can simply have the AEM interrupt the EBCS signal via a relay. All details will be covered down the road.
Inexpensive, custom, @JgamB-inspired catback exhaust
I drive a lot and cannot tolerate a loud exhaust. I will be using the following parts:
The Vibrant ultra quiet resonator will replace the useless “bottle” resonator on the speed daddy in the stock resonator location, and the Dynomax VT will be roughly installed as follows:
Why go through all this trouble? I took a spin in Jgamb’s car at ENMWM and no exhaust setup I’ve heard even comes close. It is quieter than stock when cruising around, but when you floor it, the sound is louder, but without being totally deafening like an electric exhaust cutout would be (I considered one of those as well). When the Dynomax VT valve is open, the whole system becomes totally straight-through. The downside is that the Dynomax VT will probably start rattling after about a year due to a design flaw – I will pre-mark it before installing it so that I can screw mod it once it starts rattling to stop the rattle.
The biggest problem I have right now on this front is that the speed daddy exhaust seems to have disappeared from the market. Out of stock on their own website, even. I may need to buy a different ebay CBE or a used one and find a way to make that work. I regret not ordering it while it was available.
Suspension
Concept: Spring rates roughly double stock (ride frequency ~2.0 Hz), revalved stock-style non-adjustable Bilstein dampers, stock ride height, stock alignment specs to start with.
I am already going beyond what the stock suspension was designed to do thanks to my upgraded tires and brake pads, occasionally bottoming out under hard braking on bumpy roads or roads with changing elevations.
I talked to Shaikh from Fat Cat Motorsports for a while about doing a setup with him. Unfortunately, we had a falling out after I asked him for a small discount ($125) off his “consultation fee”, which represents $250 of his extremely expensive revalve service (in total, $1750 for all four dampers). He pushed back, and then I told him that I would agree to pay the full price. After that, he sent a response saying that he wasn’t interested in building my dampers because I wasn’t willing to “pay for good advice” and he didn’t “feel appreciated for the unique service he provides”. A shame we couldn’t work together, however, he did a shitload of research, sending me all of his ideas along the way, and his contributions to this build will be appreciated.
Springs: I will be using Ground Control springs with rates set based on my target ride frequencies, and the corner weights I obtained locally. The car was loaded with 300 lbs in the driver’s seat when these weights were measured (matches my weight). I personally inspected the stock suspension prior to this being performed to make sure everything was in good condition to ensure the numbers would be as accurate as possible.
Shaikh gave me a few options for ride frequency and the one I have chosen is ~1.9/2.1 Hz front/rear which he told me equates to about 440/500 lb/in springs front/rear. I did a quick calculation in excel using the following formula to make sure this was right, using Zenit's motion ratio values (inverted per the formula which has it expressed as wheel/spring instead of spring/wheel). Sure enough, it seems correct. I played with all of these numbers a little bit and none of this is ever going to be exact. The main takeaway I got was that I’m pretty sure I need at least a 50 lb/in difference between the front and the rear if I want to make sure my ride frequencies front to rear differ by around 10-20% which seems to be ideal from the limited materials I’ve read online. I ended up going with 425 lb/in front, 500 lb/in rear, and 8" springs which will allow me to adjust the ride height 1" up or down relative to stock.
It’s pretty interesting the way the difference in weights between the driver and passenger sides is almost exactly 10% both front and rear. Obviously this would change if I changed the rear sway bar. I’ll worry about that detail later.
I already got the springs from ground control. They are painted a nice ugly "ricer" red. AFAIK I will be the first person to use Bilsteins with these springs other than ground control themselves. They told me they will fit, but the front bump stops will limit my travel. That won't be an issue because I'm going to cut them.
@phate was kind enough to send me info on calculating some of the above. I also got some much-needed input from @zenit during the whole initial suspension research phase and I have to thank him for that.
Dampers: I will be using the Bilstein B6’s because they have an extended rod relative to the B8’s, which will allow me to run at stock ride height without the struts limiting the suspension downward travel. I am having them revalved at Bilstein because Shaikh indicated to me that they are factory valved for the stock spring rates and sent me this dyno graph of some stock B8’s, which honestly I don’t have enough experience to speak much about:
Sway bars: The rear will probably need replacement with a stiffer unit at some point, but I won’t touch it until I’ve installed and aligned the new suspension and gotten some seat time with it.
Tires
My endgame setup is 17” Bridgestone RE71R’s wrapped around some cheap 17x9 rims for off-road use. I will probably target something in the 225-245 width range with corresponding offset and width.
I currently use stock size Michelin PSS on the stock rims and honestly the lateral grip is “pretty good” for a street tire, but straight line grip is mediocre as these tires cannot even hold 350 wtq from my BNR S3 in 3rd gear.
I picked up some Hankook RS3's 235/45/17 for $445 shipped to my door and these will get mounted once I find some 17x9 rims.
Cosmetic modifications
Hell no.
Miscellaneous
Corksport injector seals will be installed. As with many others, while I definitely take issue with Brock (Tokay444) and how he conducts himself, the design is too good to disregard.
Intake valves have never been cleaned, and I may clean them when I do the injector seals, although I still believe the turbo itself will limit airflow more than dirt on the intake valves. I have no OCC’s, and EGR is still installed and functional. I may just clean the EGR tube when we pop off the IM and that’s it.
Stock NGK SILTR6A7G spark plugs will be used. I doubt I’ll need to change these.
I am Damond Motorsports “threesome” mounted already.
I use Hawk HP+ pads on stock rotors and calipers. One of my favorite mods I’ve done to the car honestly.
I will be adding an EGT gauge to the second bung on my CP-E downpipe at some point. I will attempt to acquire a dual vent pod of some variety, hopefully I can snag a blockhead one on the FS forums at some point.
That’s all for now. I didn't carry everything over from my old thread yet because I'm going to have individual installation posts with How-To's for each component I install, which will contain more details. My current project is getting the suspension stuff installed once I get the dampers back from Bilstein.
I bought this car nearly bone stock a little over a year ago with ~37,500 miles and it currently has about 80,000 miles. Almost everything on the car, especially the engine, is in good condition, although the suspension is on its last legs due to age. I already had one rear damper blow out (replaced with a used one from a local).
Bolt-On’s
My current bolt-on’s will be maintained throughout the build: a JBR 3.5” aluminum intake, CP-E TMIC, and CP-E catless long downpipe.
Turbo
Power will be provided by a used BNR S3 I picked up for $850 with 4k miles on it. This turbo was dropped in recently and tuning is ongoing. I like it so far. It’s not perfect, but close enough for my purposes. If it outlasts the K04, which only lasted 15-20k miles or so once I tuned it on methanol, it will be a win in my book. We’ll see.
This turbo has good spool characteristics “for its size”. In some logs, I have hit 20 psi as early as 3100 RPM. It feels similar to a K04 on the stock upper and lower downpipe (both stock cats). The best things about this turbo are the ability to floor it at low RPM’s (and not worry about the turbo spooling and throwing a rod), its impressive midrange torque, and its cost. The worst things about it are its slower response and lack of “punch” compared to the K04.
Tuning
I tune on a 2:10 methanol:E10 in-tank mix using Cobb ATR. I’ve considered Versatune, but the AP V3 is far too convenient for me with its ability to live monitor 6 things at once at CAN speeds. Tuning isn’t complete, but right now I’m running a reverse taper with ~2.30 load all the way across to about 5500-6000 RPM where I have found it necessary to have a sharp dropoff (sharper than it should be) lest I knock: my stock CBE seems to be causing some backpressure issues in the very high RPM’s. I will deal with it eventually.
Let the fun begin
Methanol injection system
My methanol injection system will be loosely based on what Sari posted here and it is going to be cheap:
GE3KSPD MOTORSPORTS
I already have every part I need for this setup and am just waiting for the HTP tank I ordered to come in. I’ll be running the solenoid option instead of the check valve.
I did buy a TB spacer, however I won’t be using it per dale gribble’s research in this thread. Instead I will buy a cold pipe and tap it.
I will install the meth system and AEM failsafe and start spraying on top of running my existing in-tank mix. When that is working to my satisfaction, I will discontinue the in-tank mix. The biggest drawback of my setup will be the push-to-connect fittings, which are garbage, however the AEM failsafe will hopefully keep things under control in the event that a line pops out. I have already verified that my methanol timing map won’t knock with the BNR on spring pressure while on straight 93 gas, which is awesome – I can simply have the AEM interrupt the EBCS signal via a relay. All details will be covered down the road.
Inexpensive, custom, @JgamB-inspired catback exhaust
I drive a lot and cannot tolerate a loud exhaust. I will be using the following parts:
The Vibrant ultra quiet resonator will replace the useless “bottle” resonator on the speed daddy in the stock resonator location, and the Dynomax VT will be roughly installed as follows:
Why go through all this trouble? I took a spin in Jgamb’s car at ENMWM and no exhaust setup I’ve heard even comes close. It is quieter than stock when cruising around, but when you floor it, the sound is louder, but without being totally deafening like an electric exhaust cutout would be (I considered one of those as well). When the Dynomax VT valve is open, the whole system becomes totally straight-through. The downside is that the Dynomax VT will probably start rattling after about a year due to a design flaw – I will pre-mark it before installing it so that I can screw mod it once it starts rattling to stop the rattle.
The biggest problem I have right now on this front is that the speed daddy exhaust seems to have disappeared from the market. Out of stock on their own website, even. I may need to buy a different ebay CBE or a used one and find a way to make that work. I regret not ordering it while it was available.
Suspension
Concept: Spring rates roughly double stock (ride frequency ~2.0 Hz), revalved stock-style non-adjustable Bilstein dampers, stock ride height, stock alignment specs to start with.
I am already going beyond what the stock suspension was designed to do thanks to my upgraded tires and brake pads, occasionally bottoming out under hard braking on bumpy roads or roads with changing elevations.
I talked to Shaikh from Fat Cat Motorsports for a while about doing a setup with him. Unfortunately, we had a falling out after I asked him for a small discount ($125) off his “consultation fee”, which represents $250 of his extremely expensive revalve service (in total, $1750 for all four dampers). He pushed back, and then I told him that I would agree to pay the full price. After that, he sent a response saying that he wasn’t interested in building my dampers because I wasn’t willing to “pay for good advice” and he didn’t “feel appreciated for the unique service he provides”. A shame we couldn’t work together, however, he did a shitload of research, sending me all of his ideas along the way, and his contributions to this build will be appreciated.
Springs: I will be using Ground Control springs with rates set based on my target ride frequencies, and the corner weights I obtained locally. The car was loaded with 300 lbs in the driver’s seat when these weights were measured (matches my weight). I personally inspected the stock suspension prior to this being performed to make sure everything was in good condition to ensure the numbers would be as accurate as possible.
Shaikh gave me a few options for ride frequency and the one I have chosen is ~1.9/2.1 Hz front/rear which he told me equates to about 440/500 lb/in springs front/rear. I did a quick calculation in excel using the following formula to make sure this was right, using Zenit's motion ratio values (inverted per the formula which has it expressed as wheel/spring instead of spring/wheel). Sure enough, it seems correct. I played with all of these numbers a little bit and none of this is ever going to be exact. The main takeaway I got was that I’m pretty sure I need at least a 50 lb/in difference between the front and the rear if I want to make sure my ride frequencies front to rear differ by around 10-20% which seems to be ideal from the limited materials I’ve read online. I ended up going with 425 lb/in front, 500 lb/in rear, and 8" springs which will allow me to adjust the ride height 1" up or down relative to stock.
It’s pretty interesting the way the difference in weights between the driver and passenger sides is almost exactly 10% both front and rear. Obviously this would change if I changed the rear sway bar. I’ll worry about that detail later.
I already got the springs from ground control. They are painted a nice ugly "ricer" red. AFAIK I will be the first person to use Bilsteins with these springs other than ground control themselves. They told me they will fit, but the front bump stops will limit my travel. That won't be an issue because I'm going to cut them.
@phate was kind enough to send me info on calculating some of the above. I also got some much-needed input from @zenit during the whole initial suspension research phase and I have to thank him for that.
Dampers: I will be using the Bilstein B6’s because they have an extended rod relative to the B8’s, which will allow me to run at stock ride height without the struts limiting the suspension downward travel. I am having them revalved at Bilstein because Shaikh indicated to me that they are factory valved for the stock spring rates and sent me this dyno graph of some stock B8’s, which honestly I don’t have enough experience to speak much about:
Sway bars: The rear will probably need replacement with a stiffer unit at some point, but I won’t touch it until I’ve installed and aligned the new suspension and gotten some seat time with it.
Tires
My endgame setup is 17” Bridgestone RE71R’s wrapped around some cheap 17x9 rims for off-road use. I will probably target something in the 225-245 width range with corresponding offset and width.
I currently use stock size Michelin PSS on the stock rims and honestly the lateral grip is “pretty good” for a street tire, but straight line grip is mediocre as these tires cannot even hold 350 wtq from my BNR S3 in 3rd gear.
I picked up some Hankook RS3's 235/45/17 for $445 shipped to my door and these will get mounted once I find some 17x9 rims.
Cosmetic modifications
Hell no.
Miscellaneous
Corksport injector seals will be installed. As with many others, while I definitely take issue with Brock (Tokay444) and how he conducts himself, the design is too good to disregard.
Intake valves have never been cleaned, and I may clean them when I do the injector seals, although I still believe the turbo itself will limit airflow more than dirt on the intake valves. I have no OCC’s, and EGR is still installed and functional. I may just clean the EGR tube when we pop off the IM and that’s it.
Stock NGK SILTR6A7G spark plugs will be used. I doubt I’ll need to change these.
I am Damond Motorsports “threesome” mounted already.
I use Hawk HP+ pads on stock rotors and calipers. One of my favorite mods I’ve done to the car honestly.
I will be adding an EGT gauge to the second bung on my CP-E downpipe at some point. I will attempt to acquire a dual vent pod of some variety, hopefully I can snag a blockhead one on the FS forums at some point.
That’s all for now. I didn't carry everything over from my old thread yet because I'm going to have individual installation posts with How-To's for each component I install, which will contain more details. My current project is getting the suspension stuff installed once I get the dampers back from Bilstein.
