CNU Auto X sounds fun.
To bad I won't hve a car ready to compete untill fall. []
Toyo makes some damn nice tires too. (it's what I like at the events and on the road)

Hey DOC
Toyota Tech is right on the money with suggesting that you go auto x now rather than later.
It's allways better to learn what you have then improve upon it w/ well placed modds to bring out the most of your vehical.


Just one thing there Toyota Tech
Chassis can never be too rigid but, the Susp can be tuned to tight for the chassis. (Can't figure out the right way to say it but, I am sure you get the point)

C-YA!!

 

Understood. I have them installed on my car. I know it helps with launching. Just didn't know how it would assist in auto-x.

Has a weird side effect on my car though. Makes the differential whine and the rear tires loud from 65~75mph; I hear that's normal though.

 

well, in a weird way, a chassis has to have a little bit of 'give' on the street. yes, the suspension could be a bit too tight, but you wouldn't want a rickety-rattling car for the streets, would you? i mean, not only would you have probs with things rattling and breaking at times because of all of the new stresses, but you'd have a hell of a time if you were on the road with nowhere to pee.

 

yeah... i get that feeling a lot toyotatechgeek

 

Kuhmo is shit.....shit I tell you. The Kuhmo MX is OK but for the most part Kuhmo sux. Yokohama makes a good tire. Usually they are very loud tires and they don't last really long but they are a good tire. Check into a set of Yoko AVS Sports though. Nittos are very sticky at first but once they've been heat cycled a few times they go to complete shit, and they tend to cup after a while. I don't know anything about the falkens

 

BFG G-Force KDW's if you can afford them omg.

 

heat cycling is a specific (if it can be called specific) deal. you have to 'heat' the tires once when you first get them. then, you park the car (and preferrably remove the wheels) and let them cool. that effectively allows the carbon molecules to re-arrange themselves in an optimum position blablabla.
i love yokos as my first sets of race compound tires were Yokos. i had A008R's and A008RSII's. Yoko just hasn't made a whole bunch of good tires in awhile. i mean, the A520's are still available, but in small/limited quantities. i hear that there are also AVS still available , but in the same predicament as the A502. i just haven't messed with the new tires much. i wish they made some of their old tires. i mean, i only attended race school with Yokohama, that's all...
the BFG KDW is a soft compound and i hear that they're not all that. i was a Team TA member and raced on R1's for awhile and wouldn't talk crap about their new stuff unless they aren't really great. they (BFG) make good quality tires, but they always have been expensive. they ARE michellin's after all. Toyo Proxes are nice, but man are they pricey!
oh yeah! the stiff chassis thing...yeah, i know all too well too! can't tell you how many times either i was in danger of getting a ticket for public nudity or something or getting poison ivy or something on my jank. damn, it's not like i could pee in a cup either; the strap from my 5 points wouldn't let me do anything of the sort!

 

I talked to my boy Joe from Pennsylvania (a SHO mechanic by trade) and told me that kuhmo's are shit on SHO's. (at least the 712's are). He did however tell me about ConitExtreme Contacts. He said they are very much the shit. His SHO makes around 220 at the wheels and he said he can launch his car in the rain with minimal wheelspin. He said they track well, have good lateral stability and excellent traction in the dry, and wet. He also said they're $82 a piece on www.tirerack.com . Tehy're also the highest rated tire in their catagory, and from tire rack that's good enough for me. I think i have made my decision.

As for the sub frame connectors...
On unibody cars the body flex is disgusting. It delivers a rediculously smooth ride but your chassis bends twists and flexes like someone doing a grind workout... NOT GOOD. Especially since i have a heavy ass 3500lb car. Preloading the frame won't cause any negative effects to the car because it affects the chassis only. The other place i need to reinforce are the engine mounts (which are practiacally toast). Once this is done it will cut down on almost all of the chassia ans engine travel in the car giving me much better responses, firmer shifts, and less Tq steer which right now is horrible...

 

And the truth shall set you free!
This is true. Although I am surprised to see that may AVS' have not fit this category yet.
He would be better off with the ES100's.
Note to self: Do not take advice from this guy.
Those tires are crap.
They are shit on everything. Why do you think they are most popular in your poll? All the kids making minimum wage (and the really cheap bastards) are using them on their Civic wheels.

 

a slight word of caution once again:
transverse engines DO benefit from better engine mounts too. just be careful with the use of full polyurethane mounts in a daily driven car. you may consider doing only the front and the rear mounts. the two sides should be done in either lower durometer poly or in oem rubber. the reason is that full polyurethane tends to shake everything to death. again, from experience, you will find bolts and nuts loosened when you'll least want them to be loose. the movement or flex in a tranverse engine is fore and aft anyway. and, the reason i give you is why they call mounts insulators.
cool find on the continentals.