Project Slow Festiva - Track Prepped, Daily Driven

[RdstrBlk]

Awesome, good to know. I'm super happy about the fitment of the flares and wheels, but the rear right is giving me a lot of vibrations. I hope the wheel bearing isn't toast. I think the tire might have a small flat spot, but they were all balanced after the fact.

Also, i think the iac valve was removed as well aa the thermostat. The car takes a while to warm up and refuses to idle until is it at temp.

[FestYboy]

A flat spotted tire or one that isn't true will still cause vibration even though it was balanced.

[firebush357]

Jack that rear right side up and see if you can wiggle the wheel back and forth, if so you should take it apart and check the bearings.

[RdstrBlk]

Its odd because that was the first thing I checked. No play. Flat spot isnt even visible. Could the wiring within the tire be bent enough to bring it out of true?

I just picked up 4 used 225 Toyo R1Rs, guess ill have those mounted and balanced to see if it clears up

[RdstrBlk]

Sorry.. no update to the above issue yet.

Tires! TIRES? TIRES!!

Yes this post is about tires. I have been researching this subject a good bit lately and am now better prepared to conduct a little comparison.

The Runt started off with 215/50r13 sumitomo htr200 tires mounted to 13x6 wheels, 3" backspacing
Then I put on my old miata wheels with 195/50r15 accellera alpha tires mounted to 15x8 wheels, +25 offset
Now I have put 175/50r13 nankang as-1 tires to the 13x6 wheels.

First comparison, size. Sorry, I could have taken photographs more methodically to spare confusion and explanation.

First photos show my current 15x8 setup (right) next to the new 13x6 setup (left)


Next photo shows the new 13x6 setup (left) next to my 225 r1rs (center) next to my 215 htr200s (right)
Will post updates

[Advancedynamix]

Are your Nankangs vibrating? A few of us have reported bad vibrations with those 175/50-13 AS-1 tires. I want a set that doesn't shake.

[RdstrBlk]

Dangit! I literally searched the forum multiple ways, using nankang, as-1, as1, etc.
No results came up so I bought these. They were absurdly cheap at $240 for the set installed and balanced. Haven't driven on them yet, fingers crossed.

[shorestiva]

Mine might have vibrated because of my wheels. It was still there when I switched to Achilles but went away when I switched wheels. I've been too lazy to try swapping from Achilles to nankang on the new wheels.

[Advancedynamix]

Dangit! I literally searched the forum multiple ways, using nankang, as-1, as1, etc.
No results came up so I bought these. They were absurdly cheap at $240 for the set installed and balanced. Haven't driven on them yet, fingers crossed.

Mine are crossed for you too. I know my wheels are straight, but I get the Festiva death shake at 65mph on my AS-1 tires. I was going to just buy another set to try to get 4 good ones, but then Joe had the same problem with his. I love 175/50-13 tires for squirting around town (the best go-kart feel), but these Nankangs are all I can find nowadays. I wish I could get the R888 in that size without paying an arm and 2 legs. Lol

[RdstrBlk]

Holy moly! What a massive difference, obviously.

Notes:
1. CONSIDERABLY less lateral grip. First observation and very noticeable. But grip alone doesnt equate to track times.
2. Narrower track, did not effect body roll.
3. Speedo is way off. 45 mph on speedo equals 37 mph on road.
4. Hooks up better from a standstill (not really sure why) Resulting in slightly better acceleration (also from lightened rotating mass)
5. Probably still outgassing

Okay. Those are my intial observations. But more importantly, the ride and maneuverability of the car have greatly changed. I mentioned above that I was getting a horrible shake at ~65mph. Must have been the old wheel setup, because the shake is entirely gone and alignment has improved. Im guessing the adapters I was using werent machined right. The shake is still hardly important.. the handling characteristics seem to have changed completely. Much more tossable. Oversteers quite easily. Could definitely be attributed to the release agents still being burned off. But oh boy is it fun! Counter steering and pulling the nose out back in front is the most satisfying feeling. Not being able to modulate the rear grip with throttle inputs will be my biggest challenge to overcome.

Will provide updates.

TL;DR

Car has less grip.
Car is more fun.
Car handles *better?* ..

Looks like this might be the ideal grip/power ratio.

Charlie have you gotten a chance to look at the suspension pics I posted? How does my setup differ from yours?

Next step is acquiring a non-defunct xr2

[Advancedynamix]

Where did you post them?

The 175/50-13 Nankang tires are not good track tires. You'll destroy them quickly. The small tread blocks are not happy at the limit. They are good street tires though and I'm glad that yours don't shake. I'm ordering another set to try this again.

[RdstrBlk]

I agree, these tires arent the most confidence inspiring, but still decent grip for how dirt cheap they are. I really wanted some of the tires sold in EU markets... specifically for the mini cooper. Some good tires out there!

My pics are earlier in this thread, probably insufficient. Don't look like racelands in front. Adjustable KYB all around is what it looks like, with ground control sleeves.

[Advancedynamix]

Yeah, I'd need lengths and valving rates to be able to guess what your up against.
More negative camber in the rear seems to really help with the oversteer. The negative camber translates to toe in under compression and toe out under extension. So, when it rolls on to the outside rear, the rear end points to the inside of the corner. Inertia is trying to force the rear out. The more negative camber you have in the back, the more the effects of this can be noticed. I've tested up to -5 degrees and it has gotten better with each increase. I've exceeded the corner speeds that I could achieve with 110hp (catching a Viper ACR on slicks on a 100mph corner) and need more power to corner faster. Back to the turbo concept.

[RdstrBlk]

Update: the car was running rough and sometimes would not start, or die shortly thereafter. I checked the fuel pump, just fine. Immediately I suspected one of the switches must've gone bad. Probably the one for fuel, ecu, or gauges (normally gauges alone shouldnt affect idle/startup but im still drawing up a revised blueprint of the homebrew wiring on this car. Thankfully the PO did use a decent color coding system.

[RdstrBlk]

Photos of the process. The gauge switch disintegrated, so I started with that first. You can see the common white ground wire to the main switches. I've got a lot of investigation to complete..

Upon removing the switch panel I noticed many of the spade terminals were loose. Tightened up the connections and 5 switches later.. presto problem fixed. Was most likely just a loose spade terminal on the fuel switch. Running like a top, and a little more familiarity with the wiring achieved!