Amazing content!
Looking forward to more updates in 2024!

 

Couple small updates, mostly goofing around.

New transmission in


Finally got my Advans repaired after the wheel ejected. Couldn't decide on colour so I had two wheels done in different colours. It's interesting to see which people prefer, and to see reactions when people realize that the wheels aren't the same all around.







Pulled the engine to reseal the oil pan and replace and reroute a bunch of hoses to help with heat management


Visited my sister in Germany, thought this was cool to see on display at the Nurburgring


Finally made it back to the dyno, tune is 90% done now. Lots of time sunk figuring out all the Motec things but it works pretty great now. 460whp at 1.4bar were the final numbers before I put a fork in it.


Got a bit goofy here. I've been doing a lot more mountain biking the past two years, so I borrowed a seasucker for some IG glory photos.


Using the wing as a rear mount wasn't a great option, too much curvature. I won't be doing this again, it was the dumbest idea ever haha.


Back out to RMM for the first time in 2 years! Legal battles with the county are done and dusted, I am no longer in violation of the sound restrictions.


Checking alignment

Just fooling around a little

 

Got a dyno plot at full cheese for the first time, 405whp at 14psi 460whp at 20psi. Boost was starting to waver a bit which is to be expected when taking a 7psi spring that high. EMAP and EGTs still under control but these boost levels have kept me happy for years so I don't think I'll push any farther.




Hit my laptime target of a sub 1:40 at the local track earlier than expected. The car is very approachable, I need maybe two more days to experiment with it and then I should be fully comfortable with it again. I'm going to relax for the next 2 months and just re-do alignment and wait for cooler weather before going for another PB.


Pretty rough driving but better camera angle:

 

Feels a little lonely talking to myself in here Here's some end of season content but I think not much point in keeping this updated for the effort required. I post on IG: Ninesixmike sometimes but it's pretty random stuff.

I met my stretch target of running under a 1:38.99 on the final event of the season. Had some fun getting into a very intense **** talking session with a friend in a 991.1 GT3RS that resulted in him risking a $40k transmission to beat my earlier time, failing, and inadvertently spurring me on to make a final PB attempt that resulted in my best time to date. For reference, the breakpoint to be allowed into the "fast" group is a 1:52.00. That makes my heap one of the only street legal cars and to my knowledge the only manual car (and definitely the only "tuner" car) to be running sub 1:40 at RMM. It's a highly unofficial and ever evolving thing, but I think there are around 5 cars that have done sub 40, and they're mostly various forms of GT3/4RS with very significant seat time, competitive experience, and slicks.


As a random bonus, I also set a pretty respectable time at another Alberta course. I only do one event a year here and was just goofing around pushing my friend in the Supra but ended up with a pretty spanky lap on low boost. Always lots of room to improve driving but there aren't too many street cars running 23s at this track:


As happy as I was to see a 38, reflecting on the day let me a little sad as there was a lot more in the car. I went too aggressive on camber that day, a worn rear toe link was causing some instability under braking, damaged turbocharger was spooling ~1500RPM later than normal and down 10kph on the straight, tires were cycled out, driver needs more skill and time in the car, blah blah blah... but the car survived. I also had a few moments including one badly damaged tire sidewall. It's easy to forget how dangerous motorsports can be, and after watching a lifelong friend hit a wall and permanently alter his life last year, I'm happy to be winding down on positive notes and no safety incidents.

Looking forward to finally fitting the new front aero, a fresh set of tires, and trying again in late Spring. I damaged the turbo by forgetting to connect the BOV hose and will have to replace it, silly. I might go to the 64mm inducer variant in search of efficiency as my boost levels are so low. I'm also very, very tempted to fit the Turblown UIM for some bonus power but I'm always super skeptical of aftermarket components. I also need to sort a full floating front disc setup, the vibrations under hard cornering are pretty wild. After that, I think I'll be winding down my use and investment into the car.


Some random pics. This was a wild day, many laws were broken here:



New bumper finally painted!



Brother finished his 944T setup, if any of you are into those I can share some details but it's one of the most heavily modified 944s on le planet



Got roped into another car show. Car won an award which is honestly a bit of a mixed feeling for me usually. It's always cool to have your efforts recognized, but I don't think race cars should ever win car shows.



I competed in my first ever endurance race, I think that's the direction I'd like to put more effort into next year. This FC was pitted next to us, rotary rocket but plagued by hodgepodge wiring IIRC.



Prepping for another day



Playing around with alignment a lot more now that I can do my own



Warming the drivetrain up before first attempt of the day. Lots of rear droop on the Aragostas



I made some makeshift splitter fences and sealed them to the bumper with black tape. Seat of the pants felt an improvement.



The small town next to RMM has a Shell right on city limits, getting to know the area a bit better and hopefully make a positive impression. Scenes like this can't hurt!



Put the old street wing back on after the final event of the year

 

Great stuff. Nice rear wing. Care to share what sort of improvement you got out of it and where it can be bought?

 

Don't sweat it - it's hard to type with one hand.



I'm talking about the popcorn you're munching on, sickos.

 

That's sweet. Always great to see a 30 year old car still holding its own with some serious competitors. Says volumes about driver skill as well.

 

Exactly.
Im sure Im not the only lurker who anxiously awaits for updates on your passion project.

Not alot I can contribute besides some "ooohs and ahhhs" xD

Im hoping to get on a real race track for the 1st time this summer for some tourist driving. Maybe someday this will evolve to timed laps on a full size race track.

 

Very clean. The dyno plots... pump gas or E85?

 

This has to be one of the best builds on here, its so elegant

 

I've been lurking and watching this thread as well. You aren't posting to noone. Such a ******* epic, perfect, FD.

 

Would love to know where you got those side mirrors.

 

Looks like Re Amemiya "super door mirrors" REA-D0-022030-194

Very tasteful collection of aero parts blended into a cohesive look.

 

Haha ok fair enough, thanks guys! Shouldn't be a surprise I suppose, I do my fair share of lurking. If there's anything anyone wants to see or know more details on, I do have pics of almost everything done along the way: https://photos.app.goo.gl/aGp3baCnxPr7WV7J6 I was thinking this morning and found this ancient video, 12 years and counting on the same engine
Blue for some reason I thought you'd been on track regularly, definitely something everyone should try once imo.


Thanks, it's an Esprit 052S that I purchased through a friend. I don't have any back to back numbers for it unfortunately, most of the bodywork happened when were between racetracks. I'm not sure that I would recommend it for serious use with the standard uprights. If I could do it again, I'd get the SuperNow mounts and have an element made to suit from a specialist.

pump 93, no WM. I'll throw a stiffer WG spring in before I go back to the dyno, hopefully help spool a little and clean up the higher boost traces.

Thanks a lot. You might be one of the only persons to call a fire/smoke belching 90s JDM rattletrap elegant and mean it sincerely haha.

RE Amemiya make them, purchased through RHDJapan. There was a significant lead time as finding donor mirrors to scavenge bases and motors from became scarce and expensive.

 

Simply. ****-hot!!

 

Nope, just 20yrs autox, car on kart track and hillclimbs. I want to try a slow track first.
Cornering near the limit over 100mph is intimidating to me- just one of those at local hillclimb into a bumpy short braking zone. At least at a track you wont be a apexing a telephone pole though.

 

Damn time flies. 2025 was a chill year for the FD, the abuse from the prior 2 years of track use really took a toll on the car. More maintenance and repairs than I cared to do during a busy year so I just enjoyed the car in street mode. I'm toying with the idea of heading down to the Ridge or COTA to compete in Global Time Attack with some friends later this year.

The to-do list for that to happen:
- new wheel bearings and wheel studs
- new turbocharger
- much more dyno time, refine boost control strat
- water injection?
- MK60E5
- new sway bar mounts
- replace all alignment hardware
- less aggressive alignment to suit 200TW
- replace rear lexan with glass
- fit original HVAC panel and controls
- fit a stereo of some sort

It's a lot of work and I don't know if it's realistic to complete in time, but I'll chip away at it.

Cruise with the fam




A friend building one of the nicest FDs on the continent grabbed the last set of kevlar liners I made




I picked up a new turbo for this year. I'm not a huge believer in modern turbo technology for cars that run pissboy boost levels like us rotary guys, but couldn't resist when I saw this thing:




Xona Rotor XRE6364S




The old turbo **** itself in a pretty impressive manner imo. You can see the turbine wheel has contacted the housing in a small area, but there is minimal shaft play and the blades are all equidistant from the centreline of the shaft. More interestingly, 180 degrees across from the contact, the turbine wheel to housing clearance is massive, several mm. 1050C continuous is apparently (obviously) beyond what a cast iron turbine housing is happy with.




This was a fun day




Started making a splitter that hopefully generates more df than the previous setup. This thing is a little boy racer for my liking but it'll be finished with gloss black, a small air dam, and some (hopefully) tasteful splitter fences. The leading edge profile is asymmetric and the splitter tunnels are larger than the previous splitter. I have a solution in the works for reinforcing the rear hatch, after that I hope to run the rear wing at a higher AoA.






Fitting up the new turbo. The CHRA is mega compact on these, an oil drain was simply impossible with the supplied T4 housing. Frustrating, but I was able to make enough room by turning the T4 -> Vband adapter I use down and then welding it directly to the housing. I'll start making the coolant lines and downpipe modifications shortly, excited to see how this thing performs.






Also started playing around with generative modeling in Fusion360. A pair of ultra lightweight sway bar bracket mounts seemed like a cool place to start. Fitment and height verified with some simple PLA parts, final version will be aluminum.


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That sway bar mount is just about the coolest.