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Leon
April 24th, 2014, 09:02 PM
I'm turning my Corolla club car into a gravel spec car, hopefully my first gravel hillclimb shall occur this Sunday.

It is 5km of first and second gear steep uphill.

I put taller springs and shocks into the car this week, as the current suspension is set up very much with tarmac in mind (low, and with hardly any droop on the suspension).

I've done some gravel autocrossing before, but that was one circuit repeated, also it was while running road tyres. So this weekend is a bit scary. It is a road I've navigated on a couple of times, so I'm semi familiar with it.

462463

This is what the road looks like from my friend's almost identically spec'd Corolla from last year. If you listen, you can hear he never even gets into third the whole run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A68UOlXZySA

This is what it looks like from inside a Legacy RS driven by a lunatic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj-K3F_NPf0

Leon
April 24th, 2014, 10:06 PM
The appliance spec Corolla road car of boringness, and 464,000km on the clock has been getting some love, and some money too.

Respray bumper, bonnet (hood), blend over the wings, front half of the roof and A-pillars, also new windscreen. This was from a bit of rust starting at the top of the screen, then as the entire front of the car was just a massive collection of stone chips, the respray was to make it all look nice again.

Uprated lowered springs fitted (dropped it a couple inches, but nothing silly) and new Toyota genuine shocks.

Also new head unit fitted, to save me from having to tolerate listening to my CD collection (which hasn't been updated in ten years).

464

Godson
April 25th, 2014, 01:48 AM
ITR?

Leon
April 25th, 2014, 02:26 AM
yeah, 96 ITR.

I've been sinking some money into that too, but it really needs yet more.

It has some nice headers on it now, and a Hondata ECU. So it goes like shit off a shovel now, but the diff is definitely open, so traction is a bit of an issue.

Suspension is too low and soft, so when combined with the low hanging headers (a known Honda issue with aftermarket headers) means it scrapes the headers on the ground constantly. Highly annoying.

Uprated engine mounts, which means that at cold idle, it is like being on a big Honda vibrator.

Needs taller and stiffer springs, and better dampers!

Godson
April 25th, 2014, 04:14 AM
:lol:

novicius
April 25th, 2014, 06:11 AM
The ITR looks sick-as-phuc just sitting there. Such a cool ride. :up: :up:

Leon
April 26th, 2014, 09:31 PM
Raced Corolla up 5km long steep hillclimb, all first and second gear wiggles.

Almost crashed a couple of times, but didn't.

Came third in class, which is an ok result. Not super amazing or anything, but a solid effort for my first time racing on gravel (other than a small autocross track).

489

Leon
April 28th, 2014, 12:32 AM
http://i841.photobucket.com/albums/zz335/MotorsportCentralNZ/2014/Mangahao/IMG_2997.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF5O-8OGK_U&list=UUwMYfOzNgbaF9s4O6h83IxQ

thesameguy
April 28th, 2014, 09:33 AM
If that picture had originated in the US, I'd assume it was just a Toyota driver who didn't even realize he'd gone off the road.

samoht
April 28th, 2014, 01:46 PM
Came third in class, which is an ok result. Not super amazing or anything, but a solid effort for my first time racing on gravel (other than a small autocross track).


Cool, good stuff! What is that, about 5-7 minutes solid hard driving?

Leon
April 28th, 2014, 03:03 PM
Yeah, 5.45 or so

Here's the incar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xpxVsxkHys

Random
April 28th, 2014, 03:43 PM
Big hole at 2:58. Oof! :eek:

Leon
April 28th, 2014, 04:11 PM
Yeah there were some fairly rugged bits in that road.

Random
April 28th, 2014, 04:13 PM
Yeah, I gotta say that a road with fist-sized rocks on it would not be my first choice for a hill-climb. :lol:

Leon
April 28th, 2014, 05:11 PM
That's actually not considered to be that bad, for a gravel sprint. There are some way more cut up roads.

The softer roads get huge grooves in them through the corners. That particular road is very hard, with hardly any gravel over clay, is it is a road used for some logging (so is compacted by heavy vehicles)

Leon
April 29th, 2014, 02:18 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOYdiQF6_rM

Another in car. At about 4:10 I nearly understeer off a bank. Note to self, don't get off the cleared-of-gravel lines.

jimeez
April 29th, 2014, 05:15 PM
would you put your visors up next time and the mirror, turn it sideways. Love watching you vids, thanks for putting them up.

Leon
April 29th, 2014, 06:14 PM
The visors are pinned in place because they are actually under the roll cage bar (and it is a legal requirement to have visors here).

Definitely noted about the mirror though.

SkylineObsession
April 30th, 2014, 01:45 AM
Man i wish i could afford to do sports car club events. :(

Leon
April 30th, 2014, 08:32 PM
The appliance spec Corolla road car of boringness.... also new windscreen...

464

and now the Corolla is back with the workshop because it is leaking like a sieve and has soaked the carpets through. Not impressed. Car will now smell like wet dog for months. Annoying.

Leon
May 4th, 2014, 02:58 PM
Leaking Corolla fixed. Faulty windscreen install, fixed at their cost (well, other than my bus fares to get to/from their workshop and the bills for running my heater and dehumidifier in the car for days).

Did a second gravel hillclimb in the weekend. Came dead last, but didn't crash or bend the car, so I'm ok with that. It was a lot quicker than the last one, so took some getting used to driving the car on gravel at the top of second / middle of third gear, which is why I was last. Started getting the hang of it a bit better in the last run, and pulled out another four seconds. But I'm happy enough to be Mr Learner Driver for now, as it is cheaper than doing car repairs if I run out of talent ;)

Leon
May 16th, 2014, 07:38 PM
the boring grey appliance Corolla got some loving.

Replaced a rubber strip that was missing on the roof, replaced the centre console (had a broken lid), and got a luggage cover for the rear hatch. $110 worth of little niggles fixed, and fitted everything this arvo (along with giving it a big groom).

Car now looks remarkably good for 464,000km on the odo :)

Incredibly useful car. Spent all yesterday lugging furniture and appliances, along with scrap metal, and rubbish, on a caged trailer. This thing just chugs along happily. Picked up a gearbox in it from a wrecker this morning too.

Leon
June 4th, 2014, 03:48 PM
Boring grey Corolla appliance now appears to have a minor oil leak, so I shall have to figure out where that is originating from. I'm a bit OCD about oil leaks.

Club car Corolla is back on tarmac spec suspension, in anticipation of an event coming up in a few weeks, which is a lovely tricky sealed sprint on a fairly evil road. Rates as "the road Leon is most likely to roll the Corolla into oblivion on" because I tend to get a tiny bit over excited on that road, and generally push my luck (and push the car) pretty damn hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DLtIHxU_lE That is an in car sample of the event. That isn't me driving, but it is worth commenting that I am faster than that on that particular road.

The ITR has been used for a Tarmac Autocross, and got me a pretty decent result (far better than I was getting in the identical event when driving the Corolla). Ended up 7th out of about 30 in the first half of the event. Then in the second half of the event (which is a shoot out elimination series) I missed out by 0.3 by getting into the top four shootout round.

In other car thoughts / plans:

I have test driven three VW Beetles (1960's), all of which were described by their owners as running well. All three of which when I showed up to drive (two of them were two hours drive away) were actually running like a bag of arseholes. One was stumbling badly. Two were backfiring back through the carb. So, for now, I've given up on Beetles, as it just isn't meant to be.

I am very interested in getting my hands on a Toyota 86 / GT86. However, if I do so, this will be at the cost of the ITR, because currently the ITR is the tarmac toy. If I get an 86, that will become the tarmac toy. So the ITR will be sold to make room for the 86.

This does require my getting another job though, as I'm currently unemployed, but with a reasonable sum of money in the bank that I can live on for some time.

thesameguy
June 4th, 2014, 07:51 PM
Man, tough call - toys or relaxation. I don't envy that decision one iota!

novicius
June 5th, 2014, 06:03 AM
I am very interested in getting my hands on a Toyota 86 / GT86. However, if I do so, this will be at the cost of the ITR, because currently the ITR is the tarmac toy. If I get an 86, that will become the tarmac toy. So the ITR will be sold to make room for the 86.
Too bad; some final goodbye pics of the ITR should be posted! :up:

Leon
June 5th, 2014, 03:10 PM
sale of ITR is not a foregone conclusion ... if I struggle to get a new job, the GT86 budget won't be there.

Currently ITR is sitting under a car cover, because at the moment I only drive it about once a week, by which stage it is covered in leaves and paw prints from my cats. So I then want to wash it before I drive it, resulting in one car groom per drive. Which is a bit OTT, even for me.

Phil_SS
June 5th, 2014, 03:57 PM
First world problems.....

Leon
June 5th, 2014, 04:31 PM
Extremely.

Also OCD car must be clean problems. Side effect of 9 years working in rental car industry.

CudaMan
June 8th, 2014, 05:12 PM
NZ rental cars are clean? US rental cars are water-spotted like crazy.

Best of luck on the new job hunt and possible GT86. Would that be your first new(ish) car in a long time or ever?

P.S. I am going to drive a white Type R next weekend.

Leon
June 9th, 2014, 12:49 AM
Yeah, well the cars where I worked were always clean :)

I've had a new moped, if that counts? Other than that, nope, never owned anything even faintly close to new. I think maybe 6 years old might be about the newest car I've owned. Normal age of cars for me is 10 - 20 years old, but price NZ$2k-NZ$4k

Have fun driving the R, just remember that the "wrong" wheels are driving

CudaMan
June 9th, 2014, 12:52 AM
I've been getting plenty of practice with that lately. :)

Leon
June 14th, 2014, 01:04 AM
I think I just accidentally an MX5

https://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/full/320270739.jpg

Though to be fair, I am likely to simply sell it on for a profit (after hooning around for a month).

Stupidly underpriced if it is as good as it seems in the photos. 1800cc and a hard top, for the same price as a 1600cc with no hard top .... the hard top alone is probably worth $1200 and I paid $3k for the whole lot.

Will collect tomorrow afternoon. It's about 4km from my house, which is pretty useful.

thesameguy
June 14th, 2014, 09:16 AM
Accident schmaccident! $PROFIT$

Godson
June 15th, 2014, 10:01 AM
I'm jealous...

Leon
June 15th, 2014, 02:50 PM
I am fairly sure it's small enough to put it in the mail?

So far: paint is reasonable, one patch of clear coat peeling. Makes loud noises from the front, might be wheel bearing or might be the budget ass tyres on the car (MX5's are fussy on tyres unless you want lots of road noise). No idea when / if cam belt was done. Either no central locking, or central locking no worky.

On positive notes: soft top appears almost new and unused (to the point where I can't lock it closed if the rear window is zipped in, so I might have to put in the garage with the roof up and the window down for a couple days to stretch it all out), air con is cold, had a full tank of petrol, recent service, four quite new tyres.

Random
June 15th, 2014, 08:25 PM
Don't put it in the garage; leave it in the sun to stretch the top out.

Godson
June 15th, 2014, 08:32 PM
:lol: about mailing it.


I am jealous about the deal. that's a money maker fo' sho

Leon
June 15th, 2014, 11:40 PM
Don't put it in the garage; leave it in the sun to stretch the top out.

It's winter, there's no sun worth mentioning, and at the moment, the only way I can get the roof latched, is with the rear window down.

If I park it outside with the rear window down, it will probably rain, because Murphy and his law.

Noise at front is just tyres I think. Jacked the car up and checked the front wheel bearings.

Confirmed that the car has a functioning LSD, so that's good.

Got the three step Mother's wax nearly all done today, then it started raining before I could finish the back of the car, with the third step. Car looks rather nice now.

Leon
June 20th, 2014, 09:17 PM
Got new wheels (first new wheels purchased by me ever) to fit both race cars.

Fitted with Dunlop Starspec V1's (purchased at clearance price, 50% of retail, hurrah)

661

Leon
August 7th, 2014, 01:57 AM
Integra is now sold, not enough tarmac events that I can enter in it to justify the costs of having a third car.

Additionally, it has a water leak into the interior from somewhere if I store it outside the garage, and having a non working LSD is highly annoying.

For a future race car though, I would happily own another one. Though, I would get a 98 spec for bigger brakes, and a much more race friendly gear ratio set and final drive.

Overall, would rate as being very fun car. Will own another one if I end up crashing the Corolla race car. Have kept the Hondata ECU that I purchased, so that I might use it in future Honda cars.

MX5 (Miata) is sold.

Have purchased as my next buy/sell project a Toyota Vitz "RS", which is an absolute scream of a toy car to drive.

thesameguy
August 7th, 2014, 12:13 PM
Why have you posted no pics??

Leon
August 7th, 2014, 03:16 PM
739

thesameguy
August 7th, 2014, 03:25 PM
Awesome little ride! What's under the hood? (...other than hamsters :lol:)

Leon
August 7th, 2014, 03:50 PM
1500cc VVTi engine, nothing too spectacular, but it doesn't have much weight to shift, and it has really stiff suspension.

thesameguy
August 8th, 2014, 08:55 AM
That's all you need then! :D

Random
August 8th, 2014, 09:05 AM
Word.

Needs to be that pink/peach color from GT2. :D

Leon
August 8th, 2014, 12:18 PM
Yeah, nothing says manly like a nipple coloured shopping basket car ;)

Random
August 8th, 2014, 12:35 PM
Word. In fact, you should paint a nipple on the roof. :D

Leon
August 29th, 2014, 04:04 AM
Sold the RS Vitz for a very healthy profit.

Test drove a Toyota 86, which I enjoyed a lot. It was a fairly sedate test with the owner in the passenger seat, but I enjoyed driving it.

Problem being, I am still an unemployed bum. But I can see that upon being employed, if I can get a job with parking at the job, I could be seriously in the 86 market.

Unfortunately if I get a job that I have to catch a train to every day, this would mean that there's probably no point owning something as nice as an 86, as I'd still have to own a beater car to leave parked at the station every day. I know from experience, that if I daily drive a beater, the shiny car that I have in the driveway at home simply never gets used, because I end up using the beater for everything. So I need to get a job that I can drive to work, that way I will actually be able to own an 86 for a daily, and have the rollcaged club car in the garage for racing / rallying duties.

Leon
September 15th, 2014, 12:44 PM
Did another oil change on the appliance Corolla.

Seems that it will use 500-600ml of oil per 6,000km, which is pretty good for a car with (now) 474,000 on the clock. Particularly in view of the fact that the 1zzfe is an engine known to burn oil commonly.

Job front, about to sign a three month trial contract in a job that I can drive to, and has car parking. 86 purchase looking more realistically possible.

Leon
September 17th, 2014, 06:28 PM
820

Ooops, I accidentally an 86.

thesameguy
September 17th, 2014, 06:39 PM
VERB!

Leon
September 17th, 2014, 06:58 PM
found?

thesameguy
September 17th, 2014, 08:06 PM
I'll buy that.

Leon
September 17th, 2014, 09:45 PM
Oh, and nobody knows I've bought this car ... so no letting the cat out of the bag on Facebook :)

IMOA
September 17th, 2014, 10:28 PM
Awesome, welcome to the club :)

pl8ster
September 18th, 2014, 04:36 AM
Cream of the crop right there! Nice!

novicius
September 18th, 2014, 06:30 AM
Congrats! Are you going to sell this car off quick, too? ;) :up:

Leon
September 18th, 2014, 12:30 PM
I have spent so much (in my terms anyway) that hopefully this will be a 5 year car for me.

Leon
October 18th, 2014, 07:33 PM
Did another gravel sprint in the Corolla.

Looking forward to seeing some of the photos, as I had a somewhat "holy shit we're going to die" moment or two as I came into a corner hot and had to chuck it sideways in second and hope for the best.

At least I did it in front of a photographer, who came to talk to me about it after the event.

Managed second in class, which I am pretty happy about, considering my level of novice driving on gravel.

Leon
October 21st, 2014, 10:25 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPn1ixjNtRw&feature=share

Not my sideways run, which is slightly disappointing.

Leon
October 25th, 2014, 07:55 PM
New wheels and tyres for the 86 in race mode

Yw-slayer
October 25th, 2014, 08:11 PM
My 86 is ALWAYS in race mode.

novicius
October 26th, 2014, 06:43 AM
Sharp! :cool: :up:

Now, about that ride height... :lol: :toast:

Leon
October 27th, 2014, 01:57 PM
Daily driver, so the height is all good :)897

Random
October 27th, 2014, 02:13 PM
Might want a touch more air pressure in the fronts, though. :)

Leon
October 27th, 2014, 08:53 PM
28 psi cold, 45 profile tyre.

Random
October 27th, 2014, 09:15 PM
2nd picture makes it look like they rolled over quite a bit?

Leon
October 27th, 2014, 09:28 PM
http://youtu.be/nipc-D_9N5Y

Bumpy road, might just be in a low point on the road?

Leon
October 27th, 2014, 10:09 PM
899

Oooooh, I like this photo

IMOA
November 1st, 2014, 08:11 PM
28 psi cold, 45 profile tyre.

I ran 40 front 38 rear (cold) on the standard tyres, under about 32psi cold the handling got noticeably worse. Toyota states a 35psi cold min fwiw

Leon
November 1st, 2014, 11:48 PM
Yeah, but this was on a Dunlop Starspec, and different tyres on different cars like different pressures.

That was my first outing on those tyres on that car. I run them (in a different size) on the Corolla as well. So there is always a certain amount of pissing about finding the sweet spot for tyre pressures with a semi.

I used to run my Kumho's at around 24-25 cold.

IMOA
November 1st, 2014, 11:55 PM
Ah, I thought that was on standard rubber, yes you'll be running a lot less

CudaMan
November 6th, 2014, 12:28 PM
No pyrometer? :)

With that tool and alignment set to keep the tires happy, I ran about 38f/30r with my ZIIs on the Z32 (255/40/17).

Leon
November 29th, 2014, 11:54 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggU2UlrlczA

I drove up a hill.

Godson
November 30th, 2014, 08:55 AM
Very cool!

Leon
November 30th, 2014, 07:40 PM
Sorry for the video quality

1) rubbish mount
2) camera set on low light setting

Leon
January 9th, 2015, 05:22 PM
Corolla has had the five speed with the plate diff taken out of it, in preparation for six speed to be put in (with the plate diff fitted).

Unfortunately the plate diff has been blowing itself to bits (known fault with old model FWD TRD diffs).

So the six speed will be going in, fitted with a torsen diff. Somewhat disappointing.

For the Toyota 86 I've just located a set of the 17" factory alloys. So they should be fitted at some time.

Leon
January 9th, 2015, 05:28 PM
Wups, apparently it is the new style LSD that has failed, which shouldn't have happened.

Leon
January 11th, 2015, 08:49 PM
six speed in, car running and driving

Still to be resolved for the weekend. Replace gearbox mount. Fix thermo fan wire. Wheel align car. Re-fit sump guard.

thesameguy
January 12th, 2015, 09:54 AM
Is the 6-speed the same overall ratio with more smashed into the middle, or a taller top?

Leon
January 12th, 2015, 08:27 PM
Taller 6th, everything else is squeezed a bit tighter.

So I've dropped 400 rpm while cruising at 100kph (62mph), and the evil 2-3 gap that blights all the 4AGE Corolla's is reduced.

thesameguy
January 13th, 2015, 09:01 AM
Good deal - I do like a tall 6th. :)

Leon
January 25th, 2015, 12:49 AM
Sunday drive

http://youtu.be/ySNL-g3kOTI

Leon
February 2nd, 2015, 10:52 PM
1020

The 86 got a pro groom cut and polish today.

Loads of clear coat swirls courtesy of the original owner, and I am not game to attack this car with cutting compound .... just in case. So I farmed out the job to a professional.

Oh, and the white wheels previously pictured are now plasti coat grey. I hate it, and will never use it again. It pulled out several bits of coating just putting the wheel nuts on (carefully)

Leon
February 8th, 2015, 09:04 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzYReDauF-s&feature=youtu.be

Made the 86 dusty to celebrate the waxing

thesameguy
February 8th, 2015, 04:21 PM
Cleanliness is for New Beetles and the women that drive them! :up:

novicius
February 9th, 2015, 05:44 AM
Looks real sharp, Leon. :up:

Leon
February 14th, 2015, 02:01 PM
1028

Play time

Leon
February 22nd, 2015, 09:02 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=572JTYUIn4Y

Casual drive on a Sunday.

Took the Corolla to a surprising second in class (albeit, not against a particularly great field).

Pretty happy with the drive considering I was still on tarmac suspension for the day.

Leon
March 8th, 2015, 08:10 PM
Drove 7 hours each way to race in Auckland over the weekend


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNyn3sX0Tw8
One of the grass runs on Saturday.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J4mtpfCw_Q

Tarmac sprint around the Pukekohe Race track, in reverse direction with some extra chicanes.
Damn good fun.

Leon
March 13th, 2015, 06:37 PM
Compression tested the race car
160, 160, 165, 170.

Not going to complain about that, from a $550 wrecker motor put in nine years ago.

Just changed the spark plugs too.

Somewhat concerned that this might be the first change of plugs since I put that engine in ...

thesameguy
March 13th, 2015, 06:57 PM
Probably gonna wanna change the wires if it's been nine years!

Leon
April 1st, 2015, 01:31 AM
1137

I am not sure how good an idea this is.

But for those of you not Australian, this is a 1996 Holden Commodore V8 5.0 manual.

I have been thinking about building a rear drive rally car, that is a bit different. So, I have picked this up, and will drive it around for a while, and see how / if I come to grips with it.

If as a car it seems fairly functional, and not a POS, then the goal is to turn it into a pretend sheriff car, and see if I can get some real $ sponsorship after a year, and maybe get to some further away and bigger motorsport events.

Hopefully I will make it look something like
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dcnelson0381/3900963044/

Random
April 1st, 2015, 08:07 AM
No Craig Lowndes "Mobil 1" tribute paint? Booooo. ;)

(Interesting/random sidenote: the diecast models of his car use the stock wheels, like you have, not the sweet five-spokes that he appears to have actually run. Weird.)

Leon
April 1st, 2015, 10:18 AM
Nope, not going to go for race car tribute paint job. It has been done too often, so I want to go left field for possibly publicity value / media coverage.

Random
April 1st, 2015, 10:28 AM
CHP colors would be better. ;)

thesameguy
April 1st, 2015, 10:33 AM
My vote is for a Blaine County car. :lol:

http://www.gtagaming.com/images/mods/1381263011_Sheriff.jpg

Leon
April 1st, 2015, 08:59 PM
Green car is green

If the decision is vinyl two doors and a roof, vs the entire car ... my decision is clear.

Had I got a white car, I would have done NZ Police car colour scheme.

thesameguy
April 1st, 2015, 10:14 PM
Nothing that can't be fixed by a gallon of rustoleum, a roller, and some wet/dry sandpaper. Engage.

Godson
April 2nd, 2015, 08:54 AM
:lol:

Leon
April 2nd, 2015, 12:57 PM
My workmate would crucify me ... he has the identical (colour, spec, everything) car that he has owned about 12 years. His car is scruffy, my car is very tidy (on the outside anyway ... ) so if I ruined the outside of mine, he would not be a happy camper.

thesameguy
April 2nd, 2015, 02:30 PM
Ruined???

Unless this is like foreign slang for improved?

Leon
April 2nd, 2015, 06:10 PM
Very nice tidy paint ... rare feature in these. My workmate's one looks like it has massive sunburn.

I've just been out for a drive around some windy bouncy roads.

Gosh, she's a big girl ... some creaks and groans in the suspension. Gets along quite well for what it is, and you don't have to really change gears much. This is good considering that it takes about a minute to change gears, and a left leg like Arnie.

Leon
April 5th, 2015, 01:37 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIYnE1kzxtY

Drove the Corolla up a hill on gravel


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrKej8KxbdM

Also drove it up the same hill in the darkness.

Racing at night is somewhat scary, but also fun.

Leon
April 13th, 2015, 11:21 AM
Okay, so the Commodore pooped the power steering pump yesterday

On a positive note, the air con now works having had a seized idler replaced and a new belt fitted. Also an engine mount that had one bolt in it, now has two bolts in it ... though a thread needs to be fitted to make the third bolt go in again.

thesameguy
April 13th, 2015, 11:34 AM
Two is better than one! 100% improvement!

Yobbo NZ
April 13th, 2015, 11:40 PM
Oh dear Leon,what have you done.My commodore ownership lasted about 6 months before I got sick of neverending oil leaks,shit fuel consumption and the fact I was driving a tank,was a VS V6 wagon..... Never again! I swore I'd never ever own a Holden, tried it and will never go back.

Leon
May 2nd, 2015, 10:50 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOkcNzayLsk

Grass event today in the Corolla


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARjGIpiJQZk

Gravel from last week.

Leon
May 10th, 2015, 01:43 AM
In an amusing turn up for the books, I just won rear drive class today in the Commodore, in a grass autocross.

This was a surprise to everyone including me.

Interesting challenge to drive on grass.

Leon
May 10th, 2015, 10:55 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLZULbe6fXI&feature=youtu.be


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-bvhyhQN58&feature=youtu.be

thesameguy
May 10th, 2015, 11:32 AM
YEAH!!! :up:

Leon
October 25th, 2015, 05:25 PM
So I'm a bit rubbish at updating this thread.

Commodore is sold a while ago. Decided that it was too nice an example to hack up turning into a rally car, plus it was just too much of a bus. Heavy slow gearshift, heavy clutch, just too much weight on the front axle too.

Bought a little EP82 Starlet just for hacking around in. Have done a couple of autocrosses in it, and have had my fun, so will be rid of it soon.

Did my first gravel rally in my Corolla. Was a fairly long day in the car, with 2 hours and 8 minutes of stage time, thrashing the life out of the car on rough gravel roads.

Lots of fun. Although foot to the floor in fourth gear on gravel, over brows, takes some nerve.

I was slow as a wet Wednesday, which is entirely to be expected for my first rally experience. But I didn't crash much (fell into a ditch / drain at walking speed, and drove back out again).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdyCn6yOxT4


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV7uigoPBVQ

Just been re-arranging stuff to try to fit it in my tiny garage. Between the 86 and the Corolla, I actually have at last count, six complete sets (of four) spare wheels. That really takes up a lot of space.

Random
October 25th, 2015, 06:13 PM
Wall-mounted tire racks.

Leon
October 25th, 2015, 06:52 PM
Wall-mounted tire racks.

Insufficient head space in garage unfortunately. It's a tiny garage.

Random
October 25th, 2015, 06:55 PM
Put a layer down in the living room with plywood on top? :D

Leon
October 25th, 2015, 08:09 PM
I might just get a small garden shed, and put all the wheels and tyres in there.

Random
October 25th, 2015, 08:40 PM
That works, too. The only thing to be worried about is freezing temps, race compounds particularly.

Leon
October 25th, 2015, 08:50 PM
Doesn't really happen in Wellington :)

Random
October 25th, 2015, 09:01 PM
*cue blizzards* (in 6 months... :p)

Leon
November 13th, 2015, 03:06 PM
1517

me putting a dent in the Corolla at an autocross.

Limestone surface, which is a bit interesting.

They watered the track to keep the dust down, and I was about the third car out on it. Wet limestone + semi slicks = slippery times.

thesameguy
November 13th, 2015, 03:08 PM
Ain't nothing a little oppo can't handle, yeah? :D

Leon
November 13th, 2015, 06:02 PM
I do plenty of that, but in that case, I was totally off line, so all the oppo in the world wasn't going to let the back of the car avoid the bank.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_84BUoTlLsA

Talking of some opposite lock, here's in car from the gravel event I did one week after the photographed "incident"

Unfortunately at the 59 second mark (which is the turn around at the barrel and drive back mark) you can hear what happens when my shifter cable pops a clip, and I spend endless seconds trying to find either first or second, and can only get third and fourth.

We're hitting an indicated 140km/h on the speedo in a couple of places on that particular sprint.

thesameguy
November 14th, 2015, 07:46 AM
Nothing a little clutch slipping can't solve. ;)

That dust cloud heading back was pretty impressive! Not quite as impressive as those speeds on that road though... looks like a some nerve-wracking fun!

Leon
November 21st, 2015, 11:05 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JZNkb_KUEo

Me in the 86 versus a Mustang race car

CudaMan
November 22nd, 2015, 02:54 PM
That was funny. :) And not unpredictable.

You look like a very relaxed driver on this circuit.

novicius
November 22nd, 2015, 07:34 PM
LoL hilarious! :lol: :up:

(I feel bad for the Mustanger tho'! ;) )

Leon
November 22nd, 2015, 11:13 PM
That was funny. :) And not unpredictable.

You look like a very relaxed driver on this circuit.

Yeah, it's a particular circuit layout I like a lot, and I'd had five ten minute lapping sessions, and two three lap sprints already that day, so I was in the groove.

Plus, it's a f**king expensive road car, that I didn't want to put any dents in, so I was keeping a huge safety margin for myself.

I didn't realise until I saw this particular day of in car footage, that I apparently race the 86 with one elbow up by the window. I had never before noticed this!

pl8ster
November 23rd, 2015, 02:35 AM
I was going to say, looks like you're just out for the proverbial Sunday drive with that elbow up on the door sill :) Seriously, that was some smooth driving and fun to watch.

And I can't be the only one who said, "whoa, whoa, whoa!" out loud at the Mustang driver.

Phil_SS
November 23rd, 2015, 04:54 PM
Never trust a guy in a red Mustang.

21Kid
November 27th, 2015, 06:52 AM
Never trust a guy in a red Mustang.

Truth!

Leon
January 17th, 2016, 11:22 PM
1564

Semi accidentally bought a Toyota Vitz RS.

Picking it up tomorrow.

Seems to have some JDM go faster bits on it (as it is a Japanese import). It's lowered, big exhaust, strut braces front & rear, and strangely, grooved discs front & rear too.

That's just from a quick walk around it in the seller's driveway.

Wonder if there are any other treasures to be found on closer inspection?

http://trademe.tmcdn.co.nz/photoserver/full/439375724.jpg

pl8ster
January 18th, 2016, 06:29 AM
Define "semi accidentally." Also, are used cars in NZ stupid cheap, or do you just wander around with a pocket full of cash all of the time "in case of emergency?" :lol:

Random
January 18th, 2016, 08:51 AM
It isn't peach-colored. :(

Leon
January 18th, 2016, 09:24 AM
Define "semi accidentally." Also, are used cars in NZ stupid cheap, or do you just wander around with a pocket full of cash all of the time "in case of emergency?" :lol:

I threw what I thought was a fairly low bid on an online auction finishing (foolishly) at 1pm on a Sunday (at which time, not many people are watching the auction finish for sniping purposes). Turned out that my auto bid was $5 higher than the other auto bid in place by another person, so I ended up winning it.

I have a bank account in which lives sufficient money to buy assorted interesting deals as and when they turn up. Usually such cars are then tidied, and sold on when I get bored. More often for a profit than a loss.

Leon
January 19th, 2016, 12:08 AM
Okay, so I picked this car up tonight, and gave it a bit of a fang on the way home, via a hoon road that I live very close to.

This car is thus far, hugely amusing. It's really stiffly sprung, to the point where I got air over a bridge.

I will have to take a proper look under and through this car. See what surprises it has.

When I looked in the sunglasses cubbyhole, I found an Apexi SAFC2.

Seems to go very well, as far as Vitz's go. They don't have a terribly exciting engine for top end, but a decent mid range.

It's ffaaaarking loud.

pl8ster
January 19th, 2016, 04:29 AM
:up::up::up::up:

novicius
January 19th, 2016, 05:09 AM
Cane all the things!! :up: :up:

Random
January 19th, 2016, 06:01 AM
4AG all the things? :D

Leon
January 19th, 2016, 09:31 AM
4AG all the things? :D

2zzge all of the things ... but nah, I don't do repowers. They end up costing crazy money, because I need to pay people to fabricate things.

I will just whiz around in this thing until my car ADHD kicks in, and I sell it for the next silly plan ;)

Random
January 19th, 2016, 01:23 PM
That works for me! :toast:

thesameguy
January 19th, 2016, 02:18 PM
There is nothing silly about a plan that involves hang time.

Leon
January 19th, 2016, 08:35 PM
Chucked it on the hoist at work. Discovered braided brake lines, and a collection of extra subframe braces front and rear.

Random
January 19th, 2016, 09:03 PM
Open diff or LSD?

Leon
January 20th, 2016, 12:20 AM
Open diff, which is a pity.

Might be hard to find a slippery, without coughing up $1300 on a plate diff.

Random
January 20th, 2016, 08:26 AM
Weld it. :devil:

Leon
January 20th, 2016, 07:34 PM
Ooooooh! Okay, the Vitz runs the same diff as my Corolla race car.

This means I have in my garage, a gearbox from which a viscous LSD can be extracted, and fitted to the Vitz.

Random
January 20th, 2016, 07:47 PM
Neat. :cool:

novicius
January 21st, 2016, 04:05 AM
Do it do it! :D

Leon
January 21st, 2016, 09:38 AM
I'll see how the car behaves in competition*

*by which I mean, is 82kw too painfully slow in a "race" car.

Random
January 21st, 2016, 09:45 AM
It's light enough to lift up by hand to do tire changes, though, right? :D

thesameguy
January 21st, 2016, 10:34 AM
I'd just put a piece of cardboard on the ground and roll it onto its back so you have both hands free.

Leon
January 22nd, 2016, 06:09 PM
Vitz now has a fire extinguisher, new brake pads, and my Corolla (and previously Integra R) race wheels and tyres on it.

205/50x15 = full guards on a Vitz

1568

novicius
January 22nd, 2016, 06:11 PM
That really looks sharper than it has any right to. :up: :up:

Leon
January 22nd, 2016, 08:34 PM
I was surprised too.

21Kid
January 29th, 2016, 06:11 AM
Nice! :cool:

Leon
January 29th, 2016, 10:20 AM
I've had a wheel alignment done on it, and replaced the resonator at the rear of the car with an actual muffler.

Grumpy chainsaw noises are now gone. Phew!

Racing it Sunday.

There is no cup though, so it's not a Sunday Cup race ;)

CudaMan
January 29th, 2016, 02:29 PM
Bring your own Cup.

Random
January 29th, 2016, 02:32 PM
And paint it peach.

(The car, not the cup. Cup. Whatever.)

Leon
January 30th, 2016, 11:28 PM
https://youtu.be/Jz9UpnuZvr8

My quickest run in the sprint in the Vitz today. Good fun, but not fast.

Beat a lot more people than I expected. Mostly because they were in stuff like Triumphs.

novicius
January 31st, 2016, 09:34 AM
That is the type of road we typically rail on our bikes -- so yeah, the longer stretches need some power to shrink the straights. Still, looked like an entertaining drive once you hit some corners! :D

thesameguy
January 31st, 2016, 10:56 AM
We have a lot of similar roads around here, but the chances of them getting closed for a private event are exactly 0. Never happen. Ever.

What is the purpose of the cones towards the end? To lay out a line so nobody hurts themselves on the far side?

Leon
January 31st, 2016, 07:43 PM
What is the purpose of the cones towards the end? To lay out a line so nobody hurts themselves on the far side?

Yup, it's to slow people down a bit because people had a bad tendency to launch themselves off the bank at very high speeds. The camera doesn't show it too well, but just at the cones it goes very steeply downhill. The finish corners are freaking scary, even when the chicane is there.

Interestingly (well, to me anyway).

I ran 60.xx time as a fastest in the Vitz. Last year I ran 58.xx in the Corolla. Year before, I ran 58.xx in the Integra R.

thesameguy
January 31st, 2016, 08:50 PM
Yeah, coming off that turn reminds me of a few You'll Probably Die turns we have here. When I first saw the cones I thought maybe there was something on the road there, but once I saw how it opened up on the far side they made a lot more sense. :)

What's a really fast time there?

Leon
January 31st, 2016, 09:19 PM
51-52 is horrendously fast there. That was the winning time yesterday, in a 2.0 turbo sports racing car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=426CJ8-LKXs <-- in car of that run.

thesameguy
February 1st, 2016, 09:08 AM
Oof.

Leon
February 6th, 2016, 07:30 PM
https://youtu.be/H0oyPL9-EQA

in car from the Corolla on gravel, quite untidy driving, which isn't usual for me.

CudaMan
February 7th, 2016, 10:45 PM
Driving through your own dust cloud must be interesting...

Leon
February 8th, 2016, 09:21 AM
It is terrifying.

Last year they put a water truck around the course during the day, which helped the dust situation. This year they didn't, so we had dust issues to deal with.

So last year I was well up into third in that section. This year I was only just getting it into third, because I couldn't see where I was going, and was having to lift.

The run with the video footage was a fairly low dust run. The run before it dropped down to about one car length visibility, and I had to back totally out of it and just cruise (while watching the fence line very carefully out the corner of my eye) until visibility returned.

The bit that surprised me, is that on my video run that I put up, I was driving really aggressively (which is totally unlike me on gravel, I usually go for smooth), because I was trying to take a second or two out of my previous time, to catch the guy who was leading my class (twincam Mk1 Ford Escort, super cool car!). It was a very untidy ran, during which I made a whole bunch of mistakes. Yet I was about two seconds faster.

Does that mean that I need to crank up the aggression to get better results on gravel?

In related news, there's a friend who has been running an AE86 as a gravel car since about 1995. He is suffering progressively from Parkinsons, he's still racing now, but the tremors are moderately bad, and he's looking a bit more visibly worse for wear. I've been onto him for a couple of years to let me have a crack at buying the car off him when he gets out of the sport.

On Sunday, when I asked him "Are you looking after my 86 properly for me?", which I always do some variation on, he said "Name a figure". So there might be some progress there ... although I figure if he sell this car, he will be out of the sport. So I'm conscious that I only want to own the car at the point where he is medically retiring, so as to ensure he does all the racing he possibly can.

Leon
February 13th, 2016, 04:52 PM
Well, fuck.

He just came up with a price for the AE86 and messaged me last night. He's ready to retire.

1589

thesameguy
February 13th, 2016, 05:04 PM
You know what a retiree would like?

A Vitz.

Godson
February 13th, 2016, 05:47 PM
A decent 401k sounds more plausible.

Leon
March 5th, 2016, 08:03 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCIAoh2kB_o

Street sprint in the rain. Pretty sketchy, but amusing.

novicius
March 6th, 2016, 02:28 AM
Very cool. :up:

What do farmers/civilians do when they need to use that road on race day? I didn't see any driveways or side roads blocked off.

Leon
March 6th, 2016, 09:25 AM
That road has a serious lack of local residents on it, as I recall it's basically two farms.

novicius
March 6th, 2016, 09:38 AM
Well right -- but the racing outfit you're participating with, don't they have to do some sort of sanctioning or notifying the locals, etc.?

Leon
March 6th, 2016, 10:00 PM
Well right -- but the racing outfit you're participating with, don't they have to do some sort of sanctioning or notifying the locals, etc.?

Oh very much so. Road closures, notifications of locals, signage, safety plans, council permission, traffic management plans. The list goes on for ages, and it only takes one local being a cunt to ruin it.

Leon
March 25th, 2016, 08:25 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPoKvrAbN90


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzx36E9DcHs

Did a couple more events, one on grass where I came in fourth overall, second in class. One sealed hillclimb where I came absolutely nowhere.

The Corolla is fairly well down on power now I think (hard to say, because it has been gradually losing grunt as the engine wears out).

She's due for a big birthday next month. Panel and paint, to get rid of the dent I put in the back corner back in November, along with some rust that has been lurking a while, and a repaint down one side (has had horrible paint on the left side of the car when I first bought it 10 + years ago).

Then the following week or so, it is engine rebuild time for my mechanic. I've picked up a recon'd shortblock off one friend, and I'm picking up a complete engine with recon'd head (including mild cam upgrades, yay) but with a bit of bore wear. So recon'd head will go onto recon'd shortblock hopefully during the week the car is getting panel and paint. The plan is then to have the engine installed pretty quickly, so I can get it run in before the next lot of gravelsprints.

I'd estimate that I've done circa 80-90 events on the old engine, which was a whopping $550 wrecker engine in unknown condition. So I can't complain about that sort of a run out of a stock engine.

1654

Leon
April 7th, 2016, 01:31 AM
I did a competition logbook countback ... 94 events including two rallies.

Car is in getting rust repaired, the dent that I put in the back corner fixed, and the left side re-painted (the paint job on that side of the car has been dire, right from when I bought the car 13 years ago).

1672
1673

Yeti
April 13th, 2016, 08:12 PM
I had no idea you still owned that white Toyota D:

I clearly need to check this thread more often, lol.

Leon
April 14th, 2016, 12:52 AM
Yeah, owned it for 10 of the past 13 years ... I sold it, and bought it back again a couple years later.

Then proceeded to sink stupid amounts of money into it.

Leon
April 16th, 2016, 01:15 AM
1683

Old engine out. New engine in the hole, but not hooked up

thesameguy
April 16th, 2016, 09:39 PM
It's adorable! :D

Leon
April 17th, 2016, 10:58 AM
New engine in and running.

But is running flat as a pancake, which my mechanic thinks is probably down to timing.


Normally that isn't an issue, because all you do is bridge two ports on the diagnostic port, and you can set the base timing. However as my car was a 16 valve 4age, and has had a 20 valve 4age transplanted into it, with accompanying alterations to wiring. So my mechanic is going to need to consult my auto sparky as to what he'd done to allow timing to be set (rather than monkey about further).

So the new engine has mildly bumpy cams, and slightly better extractors on it. This means I'm hoping for a slightly better power delivery out of it (when of course it is actually going properly). Fingers very much crossed here.

CudaMan
April 18th, 2016, 06:23 PM
Two thumbs up for 20V goodness. :up: :up:

Leon
April 18th, 2016, 11:07 PM
Agreed.

To clarify, the current engine, and the engine for the previous 10 years is 20v :) The 16v original went "knock knock" at a racetrack after two years of competition, which is incredibly common.

CudaMan
April 19th, 2016, 01:47 PM
Yep, I remember, but still have a bit of 20V envy here, refreshed just as your motor is. :D

Leon
April 21st, 2016, 12:46 AM
The car is apparently now all timed up, and going well.

I'm not able to get the car back until Saturday, so I'll be taking it out for a drive then :)

Leon
April 22nd, 2016, 09:32 PM
Car goes much better. However is still smoky after long trailing throttle. Hopefully this calms down as rings bed in.

Leon
May 8th, 2016, 02:10 AM
Recon'd engine's still smoking,damnit. So at the very least, will need valve stem seals replacing as a precaution, and hope that's the problem.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--bO_bVKa1Q

Missed gear change cost me a shot at first or second in class. Super tight results in class, 0.26 of a second faster would have taken me from fourth to second.

Leon
May 15th, 2016, 12:25 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7PGKYQ5VAw

Raced up a steep hill. Made the poor little 1600cc feel like a 1300!

Leon
May 22nd, 2016, 01:59 AM
Vitz racer ricer is gone.

Friend flew down from Auckland (600km away) and drove it home Saturday night.

Managed to stay "only" owning two cars (Corolla rally car, Toyota 86) for OVER 24 hours.

Just won an auction tonight on a sleeper, 300ish km away from me. So I will be needing to get a day off work, and catch a bus to go fetch it .... [excited]

novicius
May 22nd, 2016, 08:34 AM
:lol: :up:

Keep livin' that life! :D

Leon
May 22nd, 2016, 11:03 AM
This is the advantage of being single ... within reason, I can do whatever the **** I want, so long as I can justify my dumb actions to myself ;)

novicius
May 22nd, 2016, 12:26 PM
Yep-yep.

Conversely while my wife is ok with my wee yellow beastie, my monthly "racing" budget is effectively capped at two figures. :lol:

Leon
May 25th, 2016, 02:38 AM
An Altezza running a 1UZFE (VVTI version) is an interesting thing to drive.

On a rainy road, it started wheel spinning once it got into the torque band in fourth gear at 60mph.

Stock suspension, so the handling is not great.

This could be interesting.

Random
May 25th, 2016, 07:59 PM
Cylinder count and displacement for the non-Toyota-fluent?

Leon
May 25th, 2016, 09:36 PM
V8 4000cc, lots of valves and stuff.

Kchrpm
May 26th, 2016, 06:14 AM
Whoa, nice :up:

Edit: "In 1997, Toyota's VVT-i variable valve timing technology was introduced along with a further compression ratio increase to 10.5:1,[1] bumping power and torque to 216 kW (290 hp) and 407 N·m (300 lb·ft). In the GS400 application, output was rated at 300 hp and 310 lb·ft of torque."

Random
May 26th, 2016, 07:25 AM
Sounds fun. :D

thesameguy
May 26th, 2016, 08:44 AM
That GS400 was the fastest automatic sedan you could buy. Same motor in a smaller, lighter IS would be good fun!

CudaMan
May 26th, 2016, 05:42 PM
Wicked. Have you done your mandatory burnout yet?

TheBenior
May 26th, 2016, 06:20 PM
That GS400 was the fastest automatic sedan you could buy. Same motor in a smaller, lighter IS would be good fun!

Yes, that sub-6 second 0-60 and almost 14 second flat quarter mile times were big deals back in the late 1990s.

Leon
May 26th, 2016, 09:41 PM
Wicked. Have you done your mandatory burnout yet?

I haven't yet.

Might have to ensure that I do so at a motorsport event, given that occasionally I work with the police to specifically remove cars from people who do burnouts on public roads :)

Leon
June 17th, 2016, 06:01 PM
1782

more low, different wheels

Leon
June 24th, 2016, 08:55 PM
New rear muffler, because 106dba is not easy to live with.

novicius
June 25th, 2016, 05:16 AM
Heh I should measure the sound coming out of the Bananastang's straightpiped V8. :lol:

Leon
June 25th, 2016, 11:16 AM
We fired this one up in the garage with no muffler on it ... it was okay at idle, and as you went up the rev range, but on closed throttle dropping back down the rev counter, the noise was painful :)

Leon
June 26th, 2016, 01:22 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npt1r07BZaI

Scary Altezza is scary.

Yobbo NZ
June 26th, 2016, 03:44 AM
That poor handbrake.

Leon
June 26th, 2016, 11:24 AM
Oh that's nothing ... you should have seen the workout that my Corolla handbrake got for about 12 years before I went to a hydraulic handbrake (because Corolla disc handbrakes suck).

Damn near used to get the handbrake to the roof on a regular basis.

Yobbo NZ
June 26th, 2016, 04:25 PM
You need a "spin turn button".
I never really had much sucess with the Silvia doing handbrake turns,always felt like you lose too much momentum.But that does look quite tight though.

Leon
June 26th, 2016, 09:40 PM
It is very tight. I've done that course in a Lotus 7 replica with shims to reduce the steering lock.

It was about 150mm (six inches) wider a stretch of road than the width of the Lotus' turning circle.

Leon
June 27th, 2016, 02:30 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jr_3q7Y-7Bg&feature=youtu.be

Outside view. Shows that narrow road is narrow.

Leon
August 22nd, 2016, 01:39 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV3OAeiCpI4

Me driving quite badly on Sunday. Because bad driving makes better footage than tidy driving.

Was having a great fight with a V6 supercharged MR2 on semi slicks, for class honours. Terrific fun.

thesameguy
August 22nd, 2016, 08:20 AM
You're right. Bad driving is more fun. :up:

You've had a lot of FWD/AWD in recent times - how's the RWD treating you (other than fun ;) )?

Leon
August 23rd, 2016, 12:08 AM
Rear drive is going pretty well, I think I did pretty well in class and overall on Sunday, was second in class the other week.

I've had quite a few rear drives over the years, so I'm pretty relaxed about FR. But this Altezza is something pretty challenging to drive.

If this 4.0 V8 was in my 86, dear lord that would be a FUN bit of machinery.

thesameguy
August 23rd, 2016, 09:10 AM
I would buy an 86 with more motor - it would definitely be enough to get me off the fence. At 200 I'd just rather have a FxST.

I really enjoy that the Lexus V8 has become fairly inexpensive... it was always such a nice motor but Lexus never put it anywhere I really cared about. ;)

Leon
August 23rd, 2016, 11:16 AM
It's not an exciting engine when it's pushing a tubby automatic comfy car around.

thesameguy
August 23rd, 2016, 11:32 AM
Very true. And Lexus definitely excelled at tubby, comfy cars. ;)

SkylineObsession
August 24th, 2016, 10:50 PM
Bad driving is why i'm not usually at the top of the field in car racing videogames. More fun going sideways. ;)

Vids like these make me want to get one of my Skylines on a track. But the manual one is the tidy one (that i've just got back from the panel beaters after wifey dropped her motorbike on the door :( ).

Leon
September 19th, 2016, 02:43 AM
1939

DAMNIT!!!

thesameguy
September 19th, 2016, 12:30 PM
You have done the right thing for God and Country. Carpe Skyline, man.

SkylineObsession
September 27th, 2016, 10:56 PM
Is it just a good photo, or is that Legacy very immaculate?

Leon
September 27th, 2016, 10:58 PM
It is very immaculate.

21Kid
September 28th, 2016, 07:55 AM
shiny!

SkylineObsession
September 28th, 2016, 08:31 PM
Dayum, good find then. :) Dad recently bought a 2004 (?) Ford Escape for my step mum, and it almost looks like it has only been off the showroom floor for a year, the red is still red, plastic hasn't faded and so on.
Some people really do look after their cars.

Yw-slayer
September 29th, 2016, 12:12 AM
It is very immaculate.

Grats bro.

Leon
September 30th, 2016, 05:43 PM
1955
Made it more shiny.

Now in typical timing, it is now raining.

Oh well ...

Leon
December 23rd, 2016, 05:14 PM
Not a lot to update on .... raced lots. I will put up some in car youtube links later :)

The Altezza V8 gave me some grief a few months back. I'd been running it at a racetrack (such fun, such noises), and about 10km after I left the track on my way home, the temp gauge suddenly spiked.

I cranked up the heater, and wound the windows down (hot day), the temps dropped right back off again. Kept the heater running the whole way home (160km), as whenever I turned the heater down, the temps went back up again.

Got back home okay, didn't appear to have pushed any water out (the overflow tank is in a prick of a position, and is opaque with age).

Add in the variable that the temp gauge in this car is aftermarket, and always reads really high, and that during my last run at the track it fell out of the casing and was swinging from the wires, I'm in the situation where I don't know if the bloody thing is actually hot, or the gauge has gone out to lunch. Mechanic checked it for BHG, negative. Couldn't get it to get hot (but he's famously shit at actually doing sufficient checking on my cars when they are being weird, he figures if the car is okay for five minutes, it is always okay). So I gave the car to an auto sparky friend, who is a pro with Toyota engine conversions (he did the wiring job on my 20 valve conversion Corolla donkey's years ago), for him to get the factory temp gauge working, and also install an alarm.

Fast forward two months (yep, he didn't hurry the job), I get the car back with a working factory temperature gauge,and a working outside thermometer. This involved running a 3SGE ECU (normal engine for this car) solely between the temp output from the engine, and the gauge cluster, and a bunch of extra work to stop the signal going back the other way. For the meantime, he left the aftermarket gauge in, and advised me that it is at all times reading about 20c hotter than is actually happening at the engine.

I take it for a drive, temps are all okay on the flat, get to a big long highway uphill, temps spike on both gauges. Fuck, okay, so the overheat is real.

Get a new Toyota thermostat, and from a friend an aftermarket alloy radiator.

Replace thermostat. Don't replace radiator, as the radiator in the car is from a 2J Altezza, and the aftermarket one is from a 3SGE Altezza, so the radiator in the car is bigger than the aftermarket one anyway.

Been driving the car around a couple of weeks now, and the temps are all behaving ...

All that fear and panic, all for a ****ing dodgy thermostat that wasn't opening right (oh, and driving home with the heater on caused me a massive dose of heat stroke, so I spent all that night throwing up).

Bonus, the car now has all factory features other than traction control running :). Which means also, that I can take out the aftermarket temp gauge, and the car will be 100% stock looking with a stealthy V8 install :)

Random
December 23rd, 2016, 05:29 PM
The twin black stripes behind it aren't all that stealthy. ;)

Leon
December 23rd, 2016, 07:58 PM
That doesn't happen too often.

Mostly what gives it away is the exhaust note, which is *extremely* V8

Leon
January 4th, 2017, 10:05 PM
Legacy decided to split a coolant hose on the way home from work. So that was super helpful.

novicius
January 5th, 2017, 03:43 AM
Well it was built when King Arthur was in office so some things are bound to be rotted. :lol:

Yw-slayer
January 5th, 2017, 06:01 AM
No way, I date it to just after Rameses II ascended the throne.

Leon
January 5th, 2017, 07:41 PM
The Legacy is one of my newer cars at 1992. The Corolla race car is a 1987 :)

Yw-slayer
January 5th, 2017, 09:35 PM
Ah, so the Legacy is from the Classic Mayan era. It's the Corolla which is Egyptian.

Leon
January 9th, 2017, 11:39 PM
2145

So this happened. 2010 Prius. Picked it up tonight. Discovered that the stereo (factory) is a bit rubbish, only has aux in / CD / radio, none of which I use, so there's now an Android headunit coming for it.

For people who didn't spot it in the 2017 thread, I've handed in my notice at the office job, and I'm going to go Uber driving for a while.

Pretty much just to keep money ticking over, whilst I recover from epic stress office job that has been overwhelming me a bit.

Yw-slayer
January 10th, 2017, 12:37 AM
Stay safe, bro.

novicius
January 10th, 2017, 03:33 AM
Invest in some seat covers. :up: :up:

Maybe a glowy multicolored string of LEDs for the backseat too? Y'know, for the club set? :D

Or some small bags of chips / glow sticks / condoms / chapsticks for the in-car upsell? ;) #alwaysbeclosing

Good luck!

Leon
January 10th, 2017, 09:01 AM
Invest in some seat covers. :up: :up:

Why do people keep saying get seat covers .... you're the second person to tell me that.

Kchrpm
January 10th, 2017, 09:06 AM
So that you can easily wash out all the alcohol, saliva and vomit that your passengers will expel.

thesameguy
January 10th, 2017, 09:46 AM
I don't always throw up, but when I do, it's in an uber.

Leon
January 10th, 2017, 03:22 PM
Ahhhh ok

Yw-slayer
January 10th, 2017, 06:33 PM
Especially if you're in a Prius, which means UberX.

thesameguy
January 10th, 2017, 07:19 PM
By the time I am in an uber, I typically don't care which one I am in.

(But, seriously, I never throw up and would never mess with someone else's ride, especially when they are sorely needed to get me home. People who don't respect others' property really, really upset me.)

Leon
January 10th, 2017, 08:14 PM
Especially if you're in a Prius, which means UberX.

That's the only type of Uber here.

Bear in mind, my entire country has a population of 4 million :). There aren't enough of us for there to be a niche market.

Yw-slayer
January 10th, 2017, 10:39 PM
True dat.

Leon
January 27th, 2017, 06:14 PM
Got through the first tank of gas in the Prius (just regular driving, Ubering is still quite a lot of regulation hoop jumping through here).

50 mpg US / 60 mpg imperial / 4.7 l/100km metric.

So almost half the fuel use of the 86, and around 1/3 of the fuel consumption as either the Altezza or the Legacy RS.

Leon
February 14th, 2017, 09:19 AM
Second tank of gas even better, probably due to a 300km easy highway drive. But only by a smidge.

Autocrossed the Corolla on Sunday. First time in the car since November, and I managed to win the event. Although I have new front tyres, and I wasn't too impressed with how they performed under brakes. Seemed to get really early front end lock up, and a bit of understeer. Though it seems to get out of corners a little bit better.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TScUBkVSeO8