docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

BTW, your car looked nice!

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Yes lowering it that whole...uhh...1/8" helps. :P Sorry Tony...those lowering springs are weak.

For those of you interested in larger images...just click on the image. The images are actually huge and you would not like me very much for making you thumb through the 2 meg images. :P And those of you with cars in the pictures...you are more than welcome to print them. They should print to 11x14" without a problem.

Doc/Tony you guys going next week to Eastlake?

Gopherage

Yup next time indeed the pictures of their cars running still came out real good I love seeing the car leaning into all the turns. Also I used the group photo as my desktop background it's a great picture and resolution. I was thinking maybe of typing the names above the cars just so it is easier to remember who's car belongs to who.

Don't think i'll be seeing you guys again until the June 6th meet but i'll keep my eyes peeled on the road.

Also thanks again Tony for originally giving me the information on this event.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Hey all. I regeistered a while back, just never made a post yet. My name's Brian and I'm from Youngstown. Although, You'll probibly see me around Cleveland alot as the girlfriend lives over in Fairview Park. Anyways, mostly into road racing and autocrossing. If you happen to come out to any NORA/ASCC events, you'll see me out in BS. My baby is bone stock with the exception of some wheels and Yoko Advan Neova AD07's.

With all that being said here's a few shots of the car..


Shot going into turn 2 at BeaveRun (Flat out Day, Group 2)




Turn 8 at BeaveRun going into the Back straight with a random RX-8



And a shot of the car sitting on the hill at the end of the paddock at BeaveRun.

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Welcome. but watch out there's some heavy competition here in the BS department (take that any way you'd like)

Nice wheels BTW. What are they?

I met you at the first NORA event this year.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

You were out there in the 40th anniversary edition right? If so, that car is sharp. I almost bought one, but I spied the Shinka on the lot and couldn't pass it up as I've always oogled over them.

The wheels are Axis Penta's. Just snagged them about 2 weeks back.

And as for the BS competion, I'm all about that. I know Beth is a force to be reckoned with, and I definately want to meet some of the other regulars as well.

I've been running with NORA for a few years now, just over in SM with the Focuses. You'll see them every now and again at events

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Yea...welcome to the club.

Nice lookin picts. Although...some 20% and clear corners would make that car look sick. Damn do I love Black Cherry Mica.

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Gotta agree with the clear corners, Brian. Would look nice on that car. And they're an inexpensive addition.

Yeah, that was my '08. But I'm running an '04 now for BS.

I gotta look into those wheels. They're sharp.

Beth is great, and so is Tony, but he runs STU and doesn't do NORA often.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

I've been tossing around the idea for tint, I probibly won't go any darker then 50%. Just enough to keep the temps down on hot summer days, but still light enough to see out of at night.

There's a good possiblility that I'll toss on some clear corners, either that or some smoked ones. Not sure on that one yet. And thanks for the compliments on the wheels. It was hard to find a set that I was really keen on.

Just as an FYI, a group of us will be over at Panini's in Willoughby on Wednesday this week if anybody wants to stop out. Local club get together.. cleveland6club.com. Swing by the forum and say hi. All cars are welcome, hell, I didn't even have a Mazda when I joined there back in '06, but we are a pretty fun loving group.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

One of the guys at work keeps trying to get me to sign-up over there. Just too damn lazy. :P

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Who's the guy? I'm assuming he has a 6, heh..

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Jon...Black Cherry Mica Speed6.

btw...

jonnyspeed

Hey guys.

Does anybody know of an installer that has REASONABLE prices for installing springs in the area? I keep getting quotes of over $500 for labor and an alignment... That's a bit steep. For that much I'll just go buy a set of coilovers so I don't have to mess with compressing the springs and install them myself.

Anybody want to get paid to help me DIY?

Thanks.

Oh, I saw one Red and one Gray 8 in Strongsville yesterday... Anybody? I'm pretty sure I'm the only Whitewater rolling around over here... If you see me stop me and say hi!

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Ah, good ole Jon. I take it you work at Progressive then. hehe.

And nice work on the corners. I think you just convinced me to order a set. Thanks. You really don't realize how much of an eyesore the amber ones are until they aren't there anymore.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

jonnyspeed: In talking to Tony yesterday he said that he had Tein springs and wished he had gone coilover. If you take a look at this pict closely...Tony's car is on the far end...you really can't tell it is lowered. I say go coilover.

tiresmoker: I do work for a major auto insurer...yes. :P Sounds like some coworker isn't following the rules. :P And glad I could help on convincing you that clear corners were the way to go.

tony_673

First, thanks for taking the pictures. They came out really nice. Next, *hands devilboi a bullet and tells him to bit down.....hard*:

Weak?? Weak?? No, sir, what is weak is someone criticizing a fellow enthusiast on a mod that was made with much research and thought, which you apparently did not do.

Tein S-Tech springs have the highest (posted) spring rate for any of the lowering springs out there. The only exception is the Espiler springs which have a spring rate that is 3lbs. higher than Tein. The difference is in the lowering as well. Tein lowers 1.4" in the front, and .7" in the rear, evening out the look of the car. Espiler springs lower the car 1.7" in the front and the rear, just exacerbating the problem of the front being higher than the rear from the factory.

The point for me was not all about "slamming" my car. It was about a calculated decision for an inexpensive suspension mod that would aid in handling until I can afford coilovers. I understand that the car may not look drastically lower than factory, but I can tell you that it handles better than your stock one.

Ok. I'm done. Thanks for listening.

As for the better lap times, I do attribute most of that to the car. I drove like **** on Sunday; I was all over the place and I'm not going to deny that one bit. I never once checked my tire pressure (which I found to be lower than I would like once I got home). I killed more cones this past weekend than I did in the entire last season. I didn't leave that event doing a victory dance, instead I walked away cursing myself for not doing better.

It was probably a mixture of a lot of things that helped me run a decent time, but I can assure you that it was not done by sweet driving skills. I really did have a good time Sunday, even if I felt I sucked. It was really nice to meet everyone, and Mark, I enjoyed having you in my class. It was nice to finally have someone to compete against and keep me on my toes. I may stop up at Eastlake this weekend to observe.

Thanks again to everyone to who showed up and DeViLbOi for taking the sweet pics.

tony_673

DeViLbOi- Please see my above post for more accurate information.

johnnyspeed- I would be willing to assist you with your installation as long as we can find the time to do it. If you're serious about doing them yourself (and prepared to be called "weak" by other forumers ), give me an idea of when you'd like to get together to do the job and we'll see what we can work out.

tony_673

BTW, here's a few pics that show the difference between how it looked stock, then two pics of how it looks after the Tein S-Techs:

Before, at the dealership the day I bought it:



After (My first AutoX. I was put in the wrong class that day.):



and at Nelson Ledges, although farther away:



Sure looks lower to me.

Gopherage

It's because I ran over all the birds ahead of time so you wouldn't have to dodge the extra obstacles

tony_673

That's totally a possibility.

Or maybe it was because you dried off the track for me.

Did you incur any damage from the bird?

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

You better watch out Josh, you'll have PETA after you.......

RK

iTrader: (1)

Nah. He made sure he straddled the carcas every lap proving his peta-like devotion to animals that he's killed.

I forgot to ask you doc but what color are your wheels? Are those considered gun metal? I'm not getting my wheels till next year but if I get accents I'll probably go with whatever color wheels I intend to buy. I liked the color on those - not too dark to be unnoticed and not too shiny to get stolen.

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Trust me, by the time the day was gone, there wasn't any bird left to see.

The wheels I'm running on are second hand spray painted gunmetal. Bought them here on the forum on the cheap. Figured I'd tear up cheap tires and rims while I'm learning. The car came with a really nice set of Falken wheels in gunmetal, that I will use for street driving. They are 19s so I can't use them for racing.

I really like the wheels on the 08. Not shiny, but cool. You're close enough, stop by anytime and I'll show'em to you. Just PM me and I'll we'll arrange a time.

tony_673

Have you decided on the tire you're going to go with when you get better ones?

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

Ultimately, I'll go with some Hoosier A6s.. but no point spending that kind of money when I need to get my driving skills improved. Not worth it.

Ryan, I'll sell those rims when I'm done with them if you're interested. They'll need to be painted if you want them to look nice, though.