the journey of an overly maintained 3.6R

[silverton]

I looked up what Continental suggests for tire pressure; they've published an article saying to look for the sticker on your car. I'm not disputing racecar theory and know that higher pressure is less rolling resistance, but the car already has a harsh enough ride; my third gen lowered on H&R springs rides so much nicer! I only run 35 because that's what the dealership drilled in to my head, even though I preferred to set pressures to the doorjamb sticker.  The car certainly wasn't loaded by any means, it was the girlfriend and I, with a weekends worth of clothes, probably not even 20lbs combined in the trunk, and a backseat full of pillows.  I've done three alignments on it in the time I've owned it, and have had to make minor adjustments each time.

@Enlight thanks buddy! I'm happy to help when I can

@m sprank what sim are you playing?

Edited June 23, 2023 by silverton

[m sprank]

If you ever spent a summer weekend in TN standing in a 27' trailer (half full to the ceiling with tires) holding a cloth measuring tape and mounting every tire on the same wheel filled to the same air pressure. Then rolling the tires to measure circumference, dismounting and stacking them in matched pairs.  You might ask a few questions and gain a new respect for how much goes into TIRES on a race vehicle.  

You don't run one air pressure all the time. 

In a perfect world people would maintain their dd the same.  But its a lot of work and you need a lot of data. 

My main concern is public safety. Lost another over fathers day weekend. Always thought I would be the one to go first. Now I get the "call" and ask "why?".

AC and iSport drivers can  destroy me. I can hang with most GT7 drivers. Had my best rallye stage yet last night on Dirt 2.0. Really enjoying the rallye. Maybe WRC next.  @boxkita convinced me I need a Fantac DD wheel.  Saving up the $1500 to upgrade. Recently added 5 bass shakers for extreme haptic while rallye racing. I can feel the gravel now.

 

[boxkita]

i used to write tire pressure on each fender in tire chalk. then track result of each session. took awhile to realize every tire is different 

even my 86 runs 4 different pressure 

[silverton]

a buddy of mine had some private track time at evergreen speedway for some drift practice.  got to take my car out there a couple times while he and his club were taking a break/changing tires.  my buddy's opinion of my car wasn't very high' "power to weight ratio" kind of thing. Until he couldn't keep up on the freeway, he's like alright, but i bet it can't turn. Few months later here we are... holy shit, even I was impressed with it.  the car never gave me any surprises, but of course pushed like the barge it is. I only got maybe 7 laps in but was able to do the mini oval with entry speeds around 60 and exit speeds around 75-90. My buddy had a death grip on the door card but afterwards he said my car was legit. LOL  For reference these drifter guys were entering the same corners at 60. 

Funny thing while I was out there I got a christmas tree of lights in the dashboard related to the abs, even though i had eyesight and traction control off.  Soon as I drove off the track it was all better.

I got to play chase car too, at my friends encouragement.  It did seem a few of the guys out there were not comfortable, totally understandable.  It was not my intention to ruin any of their fun. This was the only video taken with my phone, hopefully the ones with three or four guys going in tandem will be shared with me from my buddy, sorry he can be a bit obnoxious

 

[boxkita]

holy chunky tire. there's a reason track bound tires are shaved. no warranty for you

lights on dash good. blowing engine while drifting bad. you did good.

looks like you had alot of fun. every one rags on the lgt not being as good as "insert buddy's car here". The track is a great equalizer...awd turbo or awd power pretty much overrides everything else.

[silverton]

I figured things just got warm and clearances got weird so some speed sensor wasn't happy. Not an LGT, but probably close enough? it's a 3.6R.  I actually think in the video above i had slapped the shifter into manual without realizing it and was stuck in 5th.  I had thought, even though i had it all turned off, eye sight was doing some behind the scenes throttle management to save itself; else I would have been much closer.  That's why i hope my buddy shares the videos he took with me cause i do get much closer. 

I hadn't even been at a track in over ten years, my only track experience is auto cross with light chassis cars, my 1991 escort gt was a friggin hoot. So it felt good for my buddy to say "you can drive!"

[boxkita]

team pony express ran an early escort gt in lucky dog and chumpcar awhile back. i don't know if their thread survived the purge.

I drove the final version: mazda 323 turbo, massively massaged escort gt engine, lightened body. It had a big misfire at 5000 rpm. Rather than dealing with it, I chose flat foot shifting. The clutch didn't fail on my stint but it didn't last all weekend. While it ran, it was a blast!

3.0R, 3.6R, 2.5i, actual lgt...all the same at this point. obxt is some bastardized Saab thing    so doesn't really count as lgt.

[silverton]

One of the funnest cars I've ever owned was that Escort GT.  I put a short shifter in it and replaced a bunch of the suspension bushings with delrin, had big plans to do the 323 turbo thing but never got around to it. My over zealous shifting made me do a couple third to second shifts when I needed fourth.... RPMs shoot up so fast and the nose dives hard; it's just wild, lmao. It only let me do that twice before Uncle Rodney had to come ruin the fun.

Edited December 16, 2023 by silverton

[silverton]

I got my ECM and VDC modules updated last weekend by a buddy at the dealership.  The car feels completely different around town.  I always thought it was a bit boring all through the rev range.  Did take a friend for a ride at one point a couple months ago and he said "how is faster 30-60 than it is 0-30?"

Welp, one of the updates took care of that. I've been between shops so I've been door dashing the shit out of it and got real used to how it was.  She's completely different now, and for the better.

[silverton]

Not much to update.  we're at around 77k now, still rocking the 3k mile oil changes.  Everything on the car is still bone dry, even the bit of trans pan seepage I noticed when I first bought it has not really come back.  One thing I can say is do not get your alignment done at Suburb Service in LFP I put it on the alignment rack here at my new shop with a nice drive on Hunter and every corner was out.  The tires are a lot more quiet now!

Not many STi's come across my lift but I had to drive a 2018 today for a noise concern. Honestly boring and I think I can confidently say my 3.6 would easily pull on one.

[boxkita]

I drove a 2004 sti for a test drive. Mrs Boxkita rode in the back seat. I was ready to buy until I looked in the mirror. You know the pissed off cat meme on the internet? That would have been a happy baby emoji compared to her. 

All the rest I drove or rode in seemed tame by comparison. kind of meh.

[ncted]

18 hours ago, boxkita said:

I drove a 2004 sti for a test drive. Mrs Boxkita rode in the back seat. I was ready to buy until I looked in the mirror. You know the pissed off cat meme on the internet? That would have been a happy baby emoji compared to her. 

All the rest I drove or rode in seemed tame by comparison. kind of meh.

Back in the day, I drove a 2005 sti back to back against an RX-8.  VERY different cars.  My wife liked the RX-8 better, and we almost bought one.  In hindsight, we dodged a bullet there.  We also almost bought a 2006 Legacy GT.  I still regret passing that one up.