This is the Build Thread for Should've bought a base GT. Reply below.
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I've always been more of a function over form kinda guy, and I've always been a fan of sleepers.Nice clean look almost sleeper look, but with the big 19 inch Apex wheels and some RS4s I bet she sticks really well?! Lots of good stuff on the 14GT and sounds like your next mod is more seat time -- best mod you can make. Thanks for posting!~
I was initially running R12s in front and R10s in back. When I upgraded to the 15 inch fronts, it made the instability worse despite moving the brake bias more to the front.Are you running R12s on the front? I would think you would want a more aggressive pad up front if so, and usually the 10s work well on the back since they come in with less temp and the rears don't heat up as fast. Not sure you will ever get rid of all of the dive in the front as it is a nose heavy car, and I don't think you want the brake bias to balance out where the rear could come in too soon. How did she run , time wise, the last time you were out?
By "instability" I mean my car wants to rotate under heavy braking (at the end of straights), and on one occasion even axle hopped and almost caused a spin. It was made worse by increasing front braking power (upgrading to s550 6 pistons), and a bit better by going up a step in rear pad to match the front.@noldevina, I'm not clear exactly what you mean by brake "instability" but a couple things to keep in mind: First, stiffer front springs will reduce brake dive but they won't change the amount of weight transfer. The dive is the result of the weight transfer, not a cause. Second, I'm pretty certain the rear roll center is always higher than the front on these cars, that's normal. Good luck!
I watched some video and realized that the instability I was experiencing was being induced by my hands. Putting more focus on getting the wheel straight during initial braking and then controlling the trail braking more intentionally made a huge difference. May not be your situation, but it’s always worth considering technique instead of looking at parts.By "instability" I mean my car wants to rotate under heavy braking (at the end of straights), and on one occasion even axle hopped and almost caused a spin. It was made worse by increasing front braking power (upgrading to s550 6 pistons), and a bit better by going up a step in rear pad to match the front.
I notice you have a lot of BMR suspension parts on your car. Too much anti-squat can cause braking instability, which would be made worse with too much rear brake bias. I would look into reducing your anti-squat and using a lower compound rear pad.
If your car wants to rotate under truly straight line braking, you may have a mechanical brake biasing problem left versus right??
This very well could be the case. I don't do much trail braking, but will have to be more mindful of my hands when braking. I stopped doing in-car video a while ago but maybe I should revisit that idea.I watched some video and realized that the instability I was experiencing was being induced by my hands. Putting more focus on getting the wheel straight during initial braking and then controlling the trail braking more intentionally made a huge difference. May not be your situation, but it’s always worth considering technique instead of looking at parts.
I haven't noticed it trending to one direction, but will have to keep a record on direction from now on. Alignment is fresh with a tiny bit of toe in. It has been mostly better since the alignment / rear brake pad "upgrade", they were done at the same time.Is it dancing around under heavy braking? Or more trying to rotate one way?
Toe/alignment can cause you to dance around under heavy braking, IME.
Wow that’s quite a story, fortunately no one was injured. The car looks great. I started reading the post from the beginning and your coilover selection piqued my interest. Then I finally got to the end. Good luck in ‘24.So this season has been... eventful.
The new setup was showing improvement, setting new PBs at each event, even while I was still getting it dialed in.
At Lime Rock I beat my previous best by about a second, despite it being a very hot greasy day in July.
And then.... a friend/instructor hopped in to give me some line suggestions and....
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So yeah that day ended a little early. He was not by any means pushing the car or showing off. We were starting to pick up pace a little after the out lap and the car got away from him over the crest of the hill. Both the car and the tire wall did their jobs beautifully, in that neither of us had so much as a scratch or bruise. The car drove back to the paddock under its own power, leaking only windshield washer fluid. Thankfully another friend had a free spot in his trailer and got the car home for me.
Also thankfully, the person who was driving is a stand-up fellow who made sure the car got repaired at no cost to me. A tall order, since I was not running with track insurance (I always assumed I would be the one to crash my car, and would figure that out if and when it came. I will strongly consider it next season after seeing that bill, though!). He definitely had no real obligation to do so, so perhaps take this as a reminder to be careful who you allow to drive your cars (and to use track insurance!).
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Oh, and my friend told me to throw the used Watson roll bar in the trunk for the shop to install, on him. So that's pretty cool.
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The repairs took about 3 months, and the shop missed enough small details that it was a bit disappointing, but I got her back and prepped in time for the NASA season closer at NJMP Lightning last weekend. I was happy to be able to sneak one more event in before winter, and the car felt good.
(At least, it didn't have any new issues. I still have some axle hop when close to max braking, which I will be taking a proper close and measured look at anti-squat over winter for. At least it does it in a straight line after now my last round of parts)
I didn't set any PRs last weekend as I was taking it easy, making sure nothing else was left loose or missed, plus the brake hop quite literally shook some confidence out of me, but I was within about a second of my PR so I'm good with that.
There were a few changes, to make things a little easier/cheaper. The Roush grille instead of the billet one, the Carter's Customs Splitter instead of APR, and a CSF radiator since the OEM Boss radiator was discontinued. Oh, and I had them put in a Racelouvers vent as well. Definitely looks a lot better than it did leaving Limerock.
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