Fresh Video: racing on Hoosiers

[Kentetsu]

Finally had the time to put this one together. Race was from last July. lol. Wife and kids, what can I say.

Check it out and let me know what you think. Just follow this link, it's the featured video on the main page....


http://www.youtube.com/user/Kentetsu1



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[PercentSevenC]

Nice driving. Even with the Hoosiers, your car stays really level. Now, do you still have your rear swaybar hooked up?

[Jeff20B]

Can you give us a very brief list of your suspension upgrades?

[Kentetsu]

Sure thing:

Rear swaybar I got used in a package deal. I believe it is by ISC Racing, and has three adjustment positions. I've always used the most extreme setting.

Respeed camber plates

Respeed coilovers (race version). Springs: Front 275/rear150 (note) everybody seems to think you need severe spring rates, but I argue that every time. The harder the spring, the less contact you will have with the road, and the less grip. Most of my serious competitors use front rates of 450 Lbs. and you can watch them "skipping" across the pavement on hard corners. In my opinion, you should only go has hard as you need to in order to keep the car balanced and level. The reason for that freeze frame was to emphasize this point. And besides, I can still drive my car on the streets, and I do so on a daily basis. While most of the others are stuck with trailer queens. :)

Respeed adjustable rear spring perches

Respeed front swaybar

Illumina front shocks

Bilstein rear shocks (no idea what they are exactly, they were part of the package deal of used parts I got).

Urethane bushings everywhere (yes, even in the rear upper links).

I can't put into words how happy I am with the handling the way it is now. I guess the best testament would be the fact that I've still got a Gforce Engineering trilink/panhard setup sitting on a shelf in my garage (another part of that package deal). I just never saw the need to install it, even though everyone swears by it. Maybe someday if I've got the extra time and nothing better to do (like drive my car) I'll install it and try it out. :)



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[Kentetsu]

Over on the evil forum, someone commented on the fact that some manufacturers get a lot of credit in my videos, while some get just a mention. Since I took the time to write up a pretty detailed explanation of my reasoning, I figured I'd put it here too just in case anyone else was also wondering... :)


Well, I like to thank those that treat me right, you know? It's like this:

Sterling: I bought the carb used from a forum member (Lovintha7). First thing I did was install it with the phelonic spacer upside down. So I email Sterling, and he was very patient with me and helped me out, even though this was not a direct sale. He guessed what was wrong on the second try. Later, he sent me complete instructions on how to tune the carb for my car, and has been very helpful in any way possible, even though he's never received a single penny from me. Now that is great customer service!

Respeed: I wanted to do better at autocross, but didn't know where to start. When I first talked with Billy, I didn't even really understand what coilovers were. He walked me through everything step by step, and made recommendations based upon what I wanted to do with the car. I can only say that he nailed it spot on with his first attempt. Plus, do you see Racing Beat or Gforce involved in the forums? Billy listens to us, answers questions, and creates new products based upon our requests. Plus, Respeed products are works of art. You can't beat that with a stick.

Racing Beat: Well, I sent them $950.00 for an exhaust system and after two weeks it still hadn't shown up. So I emailed them, and a few days later they emailed me back saying that they had found my order on the shipping dock and it had never gone out. No apology, just an explanation. 11 days later it finally showed up (that's almost a month!). When I went to install it, we found that one of the bolts had been installed crooked and stripped the threads, so I had to repair that. I sent them an email with pictures and never got a response.

Racing Beat part II: Ordered their front swaybar. It came with the decal installed upside down. Not a big deal unless you use that as a reference for how to install it. What should have been a simple installation took more than twice as long as it should have due to a stupid decal and lack of attention to detail on their part. Emailed them on this, and they replied that they had had other complaints and would look into it. Two years later I still hear of others that have run into this.

Diamond Racing Wheels: I sent them my order, and waited patiently for my wheels to show up. After three weeks and two emails, I get a response saying that they lost my order. By then, my wife had "reappropriated" the funds I had set aside for the wheels, so I had to call it quits on the whole idea. I never received an apology from them or anything more than a simple explanation. The only reason I'm using their wheels now is because I got an awesome deal on a used set. I mentioned them in the video (like I did Racing Beat) simply because somebody was bound to ask what kind they were.

What is the purpose of a forum, if not to exchange knowledge and experiences? We pass on our experiences so that others don't have to learn everything the hard way. Those that treat me right get recommendations from me. Those that don't, just get a mention...

[j_tso]

Damn, that thing is planted.

What tires did you have before and was the setup the same on the previous tires?

[Kentetsu]

I was running 215 Sumitomos before. All videos from 08 had this suspension, but some video was shot in 07 then posted in 08 so hard to tell without knowing. If the car is dropped down, then yes. Otherwise it was mosting RB springs w/Illuminas...

[orion84gsl]

Did Sterling email you the tuning instructions or are they paper? If they are in email form and you still have them could you email them to me. I'm still kind of confused as to how to go about tuning the Sterling. orion_77_@hotmail. thanks

[Kentetsu]

He emailed them to me, but I printed it all off and no longer have the email. I'm sure he'll send you a copy if you ask. Very detailed stuff, including logs to keep track of the changes you make.

[orion84gsl]

Ok thanks I'll send him an email about that.

[Kentetsu]

DGRR, here I come! I haven't been this excited since I lost my virginity!!! :)

[orion84gsl]

HAHAHA. Just wait til you get there.