C-One Rear Under-panels

Typically, the piece that covers the underside of the engine bay in the rear is referred to as the diaper”.  This is made up of 2 plastic pieces that cover up the engine pieces and prevent some splashing upward from puddles.  They also help to direct air in some cases.  C-One makes replacement panels that help to keep the underside of the car nice and flat.  It also has some fins that create a rear diffuser.  All of this helps out in the aerodynamics department.  They also look pretty cool.

When I bought the under panels, I got them from a forum member that had the panels, but not the mounting hardware.  After some searching, I was able to find the mounting hardware at a shop in Orlando...

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Kumho V710 Autocross Tires

Going fast has a LOT to do with your tires.  If you do not have good traction, then it really doesn’t matter how powerful your engine or how low your suspension is set.  The tires are the one thing on your car that make contact with the ground.  Well, they’re supposed to be the only thing.  So unless something went horribly wrong, they are the 1 and only thing in contact with the ground.  You can autocross on street tires.  There are many performance tires for the street that are good tires to use for a street tire class in autocross.  However, even stock classes allow for R-Compound or race tires.

R-Compound tires are tires that have a really soft rubber compound to them that grip very well at the cost of shear.  This means that you will not get many miles out of them...

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Going fast? Stop fast too.

The stock brakes on the MR2 Spyder are really good.  It’s hard to improve over them.  There are kits that have larger calipers with more pistons, etc.  But those add a little more un-sprung weight and they cost a lot of money.  I think most kits start around $1,100.00.  I haven’t looked at prices lately, so there might be a cheaper option out there now.  But still they would be quite a bit of money.  So, to still get some performance and some cool looks too, I chose to replace the rotors and pads.

I went with cross-drilled and slotted rotors.  I know, I know.  They are competing technologies.  Cross-drilled is meant to cool the rotor, where slotted will heat them up.  But, the slotted rotors help to move the heat better and provide a little better bite...

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Stainless Steel Brake Fluid Providers

Adding beefier brake rotors, calipers, pads, etc, will only help so much if your lines are soft and flex.  Hydraulic fluid works best when it is confined to a constant volume.  Regular rubber brake lines flex and can expand when the fluid is under pressure.  This results in less than predictable braking and softer braking.  Neither are what you want in any kind of performance driving situation.  How do you fix this problem?  With some Stainless Steel covered brake lines.  The brake lines are essentially the same rubber lines as normal, only there is a woven mesh of stainless steel that covers that rubber.  Then the stainless steel is usually covered in something so there is less chance of corrosion.  The effects of this type of brake line is that the steel does not flex or expand...

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Big Wheels keep on turnin’ … But slower

As you may or may not know, I recently bought some new wheels and tires to use for autocrossing. I like how my Big TSW’s look better than the Flik’s that I bought, but the Fliks are smaller and lighter. Here’s a pic of the new wheels on my car:

Fliks_Side[1]

I did some PMD’s (Poor Mans Dyno) with the new wheels/tires vs the old wheels/tires. Before I list those results, here are some stats on the wheel and tire combos.

Weight (using bathroom scale):
RF – TSW Revo 17×8 with Nitto NT555 205/40/17 = 42.2lbs
RR – TSW Revo 17×8 with Nitto NT555 225/40/17 = 43.6lbs

RF – Flik Blast-C 15×6.5 with Hankook Ventus Rs2 Z212 205/50/15 = 34.2
RR – Flik Blast-C 15×6.5 with Hankook Ventus Rs2 Z212 205/50/15 = 34.0
So the weight difference is nearly 10lbs (9.4) for the rear wheel!

PMD Results:
Common:
1/2 tank of gas
d...

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TRD Rear Member Brace Install

OK. I put the car up on ramps and then on jack stands. Which was a PITA because my cheap ass floor jack doesn’t lift that high. That’s always bothered me and I may get a new jack .. but anyway….

RearMemberBrace_setup[1]

getting the bolts out and back in on the passenger side was pretty easy. The driver’s side was a little tougher, but not too bad. I torqued the front bolds while the car was up on stands, and lowered teh car down onto the ramps to torque the rears which was not easy since I had hardly any clearance to move the torque wrench.

RearMemberBrace[1]

I didn’t weigh down the car when torquing the rear bolts. Is that step absolutely necessary? If so, I can loosten them and re-torque with some assistance.  However, after a long time of use, there have been no ill effects.

I used some left over scraps from drawer liners for ...

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