shralp

My ‘08 XT daily only has 40k on a new short block w/refreshed heads and with the sudden replacement of my 5speed with a ZF Design RA Spec close ratio 1-4 OEM 5th I’m in it for the long haul. Paint is getting tired but at least I don’t have to obsess over it and the car checks boxes that most cars just can’t. The track car? Well that’s just a 15 year slippery slope. Will continue to modify and upgrade but don’t see ever getting rid of it unless I was it up at the track…

Yup teachable moment for me for sure! So yup was actually running 3mm spacers on this set up when it happened. I tend to never run spacers and wouldn't ever go more than 3mm but in this case, I discovered that the Continentals 255/40/17, even though they are slightly smaller sectional width on paper, are actually marginally wider than the Hankook RS4's I'm used to running. The side wall was ever so slightly rubbing on the spring collar of my KW coilovers up front. 3mm was enough to give me some wiggle room. Hard to say if this was a huge factor or not as 3mm is pretty widely regarded as safe. What I can say however is that my records show that the LR hub had never been replaced on the car. The RR was done in 2018 and the fronts every few years because the heat loading on track would wreck them. Now that I've got proper ducting I don't see that being a big issue going forward. Can't say with 100% assurance that the LR was original but certainly can't find it in my records. A rough theory is that swapping out the other 3 corners on a semi regular basis kept the wolves at bay enough that the studs never had a chance to fail before getting replaced. The LR however, unsure on the replacement interval and perhaps this, along with the 3mm spacer was just too much for it to handle. These Apex's are ET42 offset, (before the 3mm spacer).

Thought I'd post a cautionary tale of woe from my recent season ender at the track. A good friend up in British Columbia owns a 911 Cup Car (997), and is a member at the Area 27 racetrack. He invited me to bring the track car up for a few days. With guest privileges all I had to pay for was daily insurance at $100 CDN so it was pretty hard to say no! The layout at Area 27 is gorgeous and a joy to drive for sure. That said, it was completely new to me and the morning sessions were tricky learning the race line. I was also having horrible grip issues with an older set of Hankook RS4 tires that were giving me fits. I decided to swap on my new Continental Extreme Contact Force set right before lunch and it was like night and day. I was starting learn the race line, grip was back, and I was starting to pass other cars. Half way through my second session with the Continentals, I had just apexed a tight right hand corner, (one of only two lower speed corners at the track, the rest are high speed sweepers), I heard loud SNAP! followed by an immediate loud BANG!! I felt left rear corner of the car get low and out of my peripheral vision I saw my LR wheel launching off into the infield. Luckily I was just getting back on the power and had the car relatively straight going about 50 mph. With the left rear corner sitting on brake rotor I skidded to a stop half on track and half in the grass. Really lucky that this didn't happen on a high speed corner or a blind one as everyone coming behind me was able to see well. Once I was safely able to get out of the car it was painfully clear what had happened. All 5 wheel studs had sheared in half launching the wheel into space Amazingly we were able to put a 2x6 under the rotor and use it as a sled as we slowly winched the car into the infield and up onto my trailer without doing any additional damage to the car. I spent the rest of the day riding shotgun in my buddys Cup Car which at least was some rowdy fun consolation. I mean, I know aftermarket wheel studs are a thing but wow, I've never seen or heard of this happening going on 15 years driving this car on track. Based on what I'm doing with the car and the fact that most of the cars I see at the track are running OEM wheel studs, it just never crossed my mind that I should upgrade them. So yup, that's on me for sure... Final damage tally: An Apex ARC-8 rim, Continental tire, new rotor ring and hat, (thank god the caliper is ok, just some beef jerky to Dremel off and its good to go, call it a battle scar!), and a new CV axle. My nice Whiteline bits are thankfully ok but when everything compressed, it bent the shit out of my now unobtainable Perrin sway bar mount. My tuner was able to bend it back into shape and we buttressed that whole system by adding Anderson Design & Fab sway bar reinforcement brackets so its plenty locked down now. My unobtainable ancient Perrin mid and Y-pipe too a big hit as well. They were able to get it relatively back in shape but its a temporary fix. I'm swapping in a Nameless mid/Y this winter. Considering I've had the Perrin on since '08 I think its done its duty! Lucky break again, my Prodrive muffs made it thru ok with just a some bending of the lip at the back of the can. So thats my tale of woe. I guess the lesson to be learned here is that you've really go to be methodical with upgrades if you're gonna push a car hard. Even the little stuff, like wheel studs, can bite you in the ass eventually if they are not up to the task. ARP studs in all 4 corners fixed that! Really happy that the body sustained very little damage. The rear clip popped back on fine and there is just a bit of wave in the quarter panel, probably from when the wheel jammed upward before launching off. If you look in just the right light you can see it but its virtually invisible. The plastic dogleg just ahead of the wheel did get ripped off. It was completely gravel hammered from 18 years of use so I just bought new ones and wrapped them in matte black vinyl. Actually looks better than before! A few pics of the carnage and repair below...

Yup flanges mate up but it just necks down to 2.5 for the OEM muffs

The Perrin mid/Y hasn't been around for years, I put mine on in 2008. The main reason at the time was less restriction but civil as a daily driver that I was starting to take the the track as well. Once the car started leaning way more towards track in about 2015, I swapped out the OEM muffs for the Prodrive ones. At the time Cobb Surgeline mentioned that having 3" to stock muffs was fairly inconsequential power wise given I was just at Stg. 2 power levels (VF-52). Maybe leaving a HP or two on the table. A recent mishap at the track has rendered my 15 yr old Perrin set up DOA so I just purchased the Nameless mid/Y from a forum member and will be hooking that up to the Prodrives. Can let you know what changes it makes in the exhaust note, if any.

I ran 3” Perrin mid/Y to stock muffs for many years and that was really civil, maybe too civil for most people. Switched to that set up with ProDrives muffs and while it’s definitely louder, everyone at the track always comments that “your wagon is so quiet”

PM sent

hmmm kinda tempted to snag your mid/Y, just not sure how long I'll be able to run this 15 yrs old Perrin before it falls off the car. Any idea what it would run shipped to Bend, OR 97702?

Hey Brid, quick question. Assume your Nameless mid/Y pipe hooked up fine to the ProDrives? The Perrin Mid/Y that I put on in 2007 is no longer available and it’s getting pretty long in the tooth

For sure get these Fabreze! My sedan ProDrives fit well enough on the wagon and after an (ahem…) on track incident at Area 27 last month, I’m in the middle of an unfortunate repair that is sucking all my funds. A post and carnage pics incoming in the following weeks

You guys should just call Myles at Racecomp and he can explain any differences between the two. From the pics in your links it appears that the RCE units are using Swift springs, which are a nice upgrade from the KW ones. This is what Myles suggested for me back in the day when I bought a set for the track car. Currently running 10k F/R Swifts on my set up. Also note that RCE is discontinuing the Tarmac’s for Legacy so if there are in fact differences between the two you might want to get on it. Myles worked with KW to specifically valve these for ‘05-‘09 Legacy.

Any idea if the ProDrives are for wagon, (longer tips) or sedan?

Yup, that’s what my experience was at Cobb/Surgeline, my tuner of 12 years. They had me keep the stock air box on until going 16G or larger as the car ran much better and was easier to tune. Seems counter intuitive I know, but with a clean panel filter installed it flows plenty well at VF40/52 power levels.

Beat on any rim hard enough and it will break. That said, the Terra is built as a rally inspired rim which means it’s pretty beefy (i.e.- no long, delicate thin spokes). Because of that they aren’t particularly light (hence the inexpensive price). Love them on my ‘08 XT and wouldn’t hesitate to buy them again

Whats the condition of your front fenders? Any dents ripples etc? All the mounting points in good shape? Could have someone grab them and store them in Turah at my father in laws for now

Sorry for the brief thread jack, hey ty what are you getting out of your 2.5xtr currently? Did you go with 8cm or 10cm? Currently considering it for my track car, thx.

Thought about the Blouch 3.0 XT-R? Ball bearing goodness

Hey all, Well, after 15 years of tracking my car I'm finally doing the smart thing and putting in a roll cage / seats this winter. Does anyone have any info on pulling out the passenger side airbag? The recall has never been done on this car since passengers typically are not allowed in the car for track days, (at least in my region). With the car gutted I can easily see all the side curtain ones are easy to remove and the steering wheel looks to be straightforward to pull out the bag itself and put the center portion back in. I've scoured a bit online and really can't find anything specific to the '05-'09 platform. If anyone has info to pass along that would be great. Assume I'll have to put up with some sort of annoying light on the dash from here on out unless someone has a hack for that too, thx!

Oh man, sure you want to part with the awesome build? Dang…

Quick question for you Underdog. I may choose to swap in an aftermarket drivers seat into my ‘05 track car but still need airbag functionality until I can afford a cage. Does this mean that I only need to do the first two steps of your three step process, (The resistor and seat position sensor), to make it work since I’m not touching the passenger seat?

What are you running for slicks and how many days would you say you're getting out of them? Still comtemplating going that route but its an expensive one if I'm blowing thru tires like I do with 200TW on the track

+1 for the Conti’s. Love mine on the daily and will be putting them on my track car for a rain set up

Convince the TX forum member in here to ship his lightly used KW, you won’t regret it

Murray Constant tension clamps work quite well. I’ve swapped them at critical spots. You can find dealers on EBay, etc. https://www.murraycorp.com/dual-bead-shield-constant-tension-clamp