98 TSi awd - Autocross Build

[2gmitsueclipse]

That last run was well executed. Very tight lines. Good work. High-speed autocross is a lot of fun.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

That last run was well executed. Very tight lines. Good work. High-speed autocross is a lot of fun.

Thank you. It definitely is! Sucks the season is coming to an end soon.

 

[GofaST4life]

That last run was well executed. Very tight lines. Good work. High-speed autocross is a lot of fun.

Was going to say the same thing.

Off season sucks, but it gives you and the car a break which is always good.

I liked to catch up on maintenance, do some research and look at what people are doing with tires.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Was going to say the same thing.

Off season sucks, but it gives you and the car a break which is always good.

I liked to catch up on maintenance, do some research and look at what people are doing with tires.

This true. I have some winter plans for the car: rear bushings, rear wheel bearings, new spring rates front and rear, small battery kit, among some other little things like my sagging headliner. If i'm feeling spendy, i'd love to get a front quaife.

I'm going to store my wheels and tires in plastic bags and pile them in my living room so they stay toasty. I should be able to get through half of next season with them. After that, i'm done with smallish tires. 285/30/18 or bust.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

I mentioned in the above post that I was going to change my spring rates over winter for next season. Well, I couldn't really wait to try higher rates in the back so I went ahead and ordered hyperco 425lb coilover springs. They showed up a bit earlier than I expected so I was able to get them on for the double header I ran this passed Saturday. Previously I had 350lbs in the rear. Still running 800 up front.



I also added a front strut bar and rotated my tires front to back as the shoulders up front were getting beat up and the rears still looked great. Initial test drive showed quicker steering response and much better rotation. If my car made more power, I think power oversteer is capable. I know koni's don't have enough compression for anything above 400 in the back, but I didn't really notice any ill effects. It's a tad softer feeling on initial bump and the floaty feeling can still be fixed with a more rebound. For autocross purposes, I ran with the same rebound settings as I usually run. Half turn from full soft up front and 3/4 turn from soft in the back. I was expecting to turn the rebound down a bit in the back, but surprisingly, it wasn't necessary.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

9/24/2016 - Double Header.

SCCA NNJR in the morning and MSNE in the afternoon. I hate when my two local clubs run on the same day, but MSNE ran a performance driving school in the morning so I was able to participate with both groups.


SCCA event had 102 drivers so we ran a 3 heat format. The course was super fun and a few of the sweeping turns seemed to favor cars that understeer. (zing!) My fastest clean ended up being 46.1, with a 45.8 +1 fastest dirty. I just barely nipped a cone in the slalom. Ended up finishing 27th fastest raw time and because SM PAX sucks, 44th on PAX. I took first in non-pro SM, but the competition was negligible. I had over 4 seconds on the field. (A well built STI on 315 hoosiers in PRO SM had 3 seconds on me.) Anywho, the car really felt great and this was my best performance to date with my SCCA region. Last event for the year will be held on 10/22/16.



MSNE was running two lots over. I jetted over there as soon as I finished my working station. Luckily, I was a bit early and was able to grab a bite to eat. They were just finishing the autocross school, but had to make a few course changes. Course ended up being a bit shorter than we usually run. FTD went to a lotus elise on slicks with a 36.526. I finished with a 38.736. 2nd place in my class, 2nd on PAX, and 4th fastest RAW time. (still can't seem to beat Konrad and his RX8) Regardless, another best performance for me so i'm super stoked. Some of the regulars didn't come to this event as they ran with the SCCA only, but my class was still stacked with 13 drivers. Total driver count ended up being 58. MSNE has not been able to secure the lot for another event. This may well be the last for the year. :verysadface:




The strut bar and spring swap really woke the car up. I feel like the car is a bit easier to drive. The little dead spot in the steering is almost gone and I can get on the throttle a little earlier in the corners. However, one thing I noticed today, and not sure if any of the changes had any affect, but my front brakes are locking ABS mode so fast. I totally blew my last run in the morning by locking up the front tires right after the fast semi straight away. Also blew my first two runs in the afternoon following the higher speed section. I'll try not to mash the brake pedal so hard next time, but this was not something I came across before.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

A couple buddies and I wanted to dyno our cars so off to the local AWD dynojet we went.

I present the little T25 that could..... not.



Blue line is 3rd gear - 179whp, 231wtq
Red line is 4th gear - 184whp, 251wtq

Boost hit 18.5 for a split second and dropped to 9.5psi at 7000rpm. 130whp at redline. haha They started the 3rd gear pull about 500rpm later so it didn't spike as high. Power sucks, but it will have to do for now as i'm not planning on changing the turbo any time soon.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Well, autocross season is over. Ran a few more events since my last update with the last being held on 11/19/16. All in all, I participated in about 22 events this year and I had a f***ing blast doing it. Autocross is fun. More fun than I expected. I actually used to make fun of autocrossers and autocrossing years ago, but then got the itch to give it a try. I'm glad I did. Its truly super fun. My driving has gotten a lot better since the season started, but with a lot more still to learn. I'm going to thank @ileagleracing for all the help he's given me. He's a class driver and I don't think I would have progressed as much as I did this year without him.

NYR PCA, Tobay Beach, 10/23/16. 11th out of 98 RAW. 15th on PAX. Non porsche cars have a 1.0 pax.


MSNE, Metlife Stadium, 10/29/16. 8th out of 77 RAW. 3rd in Class. 3rd in PAX.


SCCA NNJR, Metlife Stadium, 11/5/16. Not my best performance despite ileagleracing co-driving my car. 2nd in class to him, but my overall Raw and Pax sucked. Results in video.


MSNE, Metlife Stadium, 11/19/16. Saved my best performance for last. 6th out of 87 RAW. 1st in Class. 2nd in PAX.



Here's to 2017. :beer:

 

[Black95TSIawd]

And here's a preview of next year's car setup.....

 

[2gmitsueclipse]

And here's a preview of next year's car setup.....

View attachment 320020

That will take some getting use to! Do you think that you will have to look at different brake pads as well?

 

[Black95TSIawd]

That will take some getting use to! Do you think that you will have to look at different brake pads as well?

Not sure. As I started getting more and more aggressive with my driving, I started to lock the front brakes if I wasn't too careful. (Also had some warm-up issues despite having Wilwood's least aggressive pad.)
It will take some testing. Those wheels are going on, but maybe not the slicks. I have a set of RE71r's in that same size to start the season with.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

My car made it into the 2017 Calendar! January. Congrats to everyone else whose car was chosen.

https://www.createphotocalendars.com/Store/DSMtuners+Calendar+11-7928123843

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Car's been on jack stands since the last autocross. I really miss driving it, but have a TON to do. (too much salt on the roads anyway)


First job to tackle was extended wheel studs. I'll be using a 20mm spacer with my new wheels so these are a necessity.

The fronts were pretty easy to take care of as you can swap the studs without removing the wheel bearing/hub. I popped the old studs out with a hammer and used some washers and a lug nut to suck the new ones in. I did install Timken front bearings last year so a non mitsu ARP part number had to be used due to the different knurl diameter. They're cheaper too!

Extended studs do not physically fit with the rear bearing on the car. Its a bit of a bi*** to do if you only need to install studs, but my entire rear end is coming apart so I didn't mind much.

That's the passenger side wheel bearing. No problem getting it out. The driver side was another story.....

Had to pull the hub and axle out together as they are seized. Ugh! Boot had to be cut as its too fat to fit through the knuckle. Luckily, the wheel bearing feels fine.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Next on the list is removing the entire rear suspension in order to install prothane bushings. This is relatively straight forward. Only issue was a seized bolt at the passenger side trailing arm/knuckle connection. Bolt had to be cut. Once everything was out, I did the burn/sawzall method to remove the bushings.

This method makes quite the mess. The rubber boils/splatters onto everything and don't forget the smoke/smell. Its terrible. The floor in my garage definitely stained which pisses me off to all hell. I tried a different method on the bushings in the knuckle and it was quite the success. Wish I did this from the get go.

Point your flame directly at/in the inner metal sleeve. You don't have to light the thing on fire. You just want the sleeve to get pretty hot. (the bushing will start to smoke a bit when its ready, but not catch fire)

After about a minute through each side, grab the sleeve with vice grip pliers.

Then yank and tug until the sleeve comes out. First, I twisted to break it free more or less. The give it a few good tugs and it comes right out.

Tip, cut two slits through the outer shield. Helps pop out much easier.

End result should be this.

Again, this method caused almost no smoke/smell. Cutting through the rubber with the sawzall made more smoke. Prothane kit should be here sometime this week.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

So now, there is plenty of space to work under the rear end. Next on the list was to pull the rear diff. Plan is to change the LSD to this...

Evo 8 rear diff.

I'll be restacking the stock plates for now. I don't think I need the upgraded/heavy duty stuff for street tires. I got pretty lucky by finding this for sale locally. $500 picked up WITH evo axles. Although not planned to do as of yet, it was a no brainer at that price.


Well that's it for now. Next update will be installing the new bushings and getting the evo LSD into my pumpkin. Stayed tuned.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

Why didnt you keep the oem studs and use a proper spacer with studs inside the spacer? Ive done that in the rear of mine and its safer by far then using the same studs with a thick spacer. My arp's fitted my spacers nicely.

Ive seen studs sheer off from being used with a big spacer so just be careful buddy as i dont want it to fail on you

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Why didnt you keep the oem studs and use a proper spacer with studs inside the spacer? Ive done that in the rear of mine and its safer by far then using the same studs with a thick spacer. My arp's fitted my spacers nicely.

Ive seen studs sheer off from being used with a big spacer so just be careful buddy as i dont want it to fail on you

Thanks for the concern! I do have a proper H&R hubcentric spacer. The stock stud is the weak point. ARP's tensile strength is quite a bit higher than the stock studs.

A buddy I autocross with snapped 2 "bolt on" wheel spacers at the studs while autocrossing. Evo X on slicks. Plus, i'd really hate having to pull the wheel off to recheck the torque at events.

With a much wider track width and big grippy tires, i'd rather the ARP then any other stud, including stock.

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

Thanks for the concern! I do have a proper H&R hubcentric spacer. The stock stud is the weak point. ARP's tensile strength is quite a bit higher than the stock studs.

A buddy I autocross with snapped 2 "bolt on" wheel spacers at the studs while autocrossing. Evo X on slicks. Plus, i'd really hate having to pull the wheel off to recheck the torque at events.

With a much wider track width and big grippy tires, i'd rather the ARP then any other stud, including stock.

I think my main point was missed but i also dont think i exlained myself well , the stock studs are pretty strong but i ment bolt on spacers, so they use your oem studs then the new spacers have the arp studs in the spacers so you still get use of all the stud and not whats left from the spacer on arp studs, i hope ive explained myslf a tad better

 

[FIBA M - EC17PSE]

I see you point on the weak studs but oem ones are strnger then any ithers that come in aftermarket bearings, arp studs are of course alot stronger, but ver the length i think they are weaker, the extra length is also there to help keeo the lugnut from unscrewng off as easy or fast,

I was thinking the new rear wheel bearings when i do them i may machine the flange to take a 12.9 socket capped bolt to my soacer then my soacer has arp bolts in so that may make it stronger!

I dont have pics of it atm as i swapoed my phone recently and ive not clue how to fully use it just yet

 

[Black95TSIawd]

On we go....

Evo 8 rear diff all apart. I measured the clutch plate's thickness to verify if they were in spec and re-stacked accordingly.

After setting the diff back into the housing, I was able to get to .008" backlash by utilizing the shims from both my stock and evo diffs. I checked gear contact with some paint and all looked pretty good. (my stock diff also measured .008 before being removed)

Painted the diff cover Ford Gray. No specific reason. It was the only gray I had in my cabinet. Looks ok other than the rusty cover bolts. The more I look at this picture, the more I want to order new bolts and just replace 1 by 1 at this point. grrrr

Meanwhile, the rear suspension arms were drying from a fresh coat of paint. Didn't go too crazy. Wire brush and some all purpose cleaner. Came out ok I think.

I had them in the house as its just too cold for paint to dry in the garage.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

I ordered the Prothane front and rear control arm bushing kit on 12/23/2016. Fronts came in within a few days. Rears did not. Its ok, I was expecting a delay due to the holidays, but once January 4th came around and still nothing, I got a bit concerned. I emailed jegs and they confirmed that the BLACK prothane kits were on back order. I should expect delivery in early February. Unfortunately, I cannot wait that long. I have so much to do and I'd like the car to be done and ready by the end of February.

So I called Extremepsi and they were able to get me a red kit in 2 days. Those guys are awesome.

Rears done.

Fronts done.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

Here's a tip to those that want to road race/autocross with their cars... Make sure you do not use a standard vented automotive battery. Mine leaked so bad that it destroyed the paint around it.

Here is what it looks like with a nice coating of baking soda/water. The bubbles is the battery acid neutralizing.

I'm going to clean up as best as I can and hit it with some color matched spray paint. LiFo or AGM battery for next season is a must.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

And we'rrrrreee back.


After cleaning up all of the baking soda/water, I scuffed up the metal with an emory cloth and put 3 coats of color matched spray paint. Came out ok, I think.

Think I used enough newspapers?

Finished product

My driverside motor mount was toast so had to replace both side mounts. Remove the rubber and sleeve the same way I did the suspension bushings and these slid right in.

My cousin found a spare 1g tbody sitting around in his garage and gave it to me for free. Horrayyy for free parts. I had new seals sitting around so I cleaned it up and threw my IAC on. Stuffed the manifold with some rags and ported the opening to 60mm while on the car. Cleaned up the best I could with my shop vac.

This didn't take too long as the stock opening was already 55mm.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

I was very undecided on what battery to go with. I really wanted a Lithium phosphate battery as they are dumb light and not terribly expensive. But I drive this car on the street and to events, sometimes hours and hours away. To play it safe, I picked up a Dekka ETX16 AGM battery. Its still on the lighter side compared to a full size batter, 15.5lbs, but not too small where I'll have to worry about it. I found a mount kit in one of my boxes and it worked out perfect.

Engine bay is starting to get settled.

Next up was my 3 quart Accusump with Pro EPC 20-25psi valve.

Mounted in the trunk and ran the -10 line through a 2 inch hole down the side of the gas tank and forward to the driver-side wheel well.

The line has to be plumbed into the OFH where it feeds the turbo. You can make this happen with a long list of adapters, but i'd rather not go that route. Trevor on the ecmlink forums was able to make me a custom fitting. 3/8 BSPT to -10an with a -4 on the side to feed the turbo.

And here's my switch to be able to turn it on off. It won't be necessary to keep it on during normal city driving although I will use it to prime the motor for startups.

For those that are not sure what an Accusump is.... its more or less an oil accumulator that forces oil into the motor when the pressure drops below a certain amount ie 20-25 psi. This will save your bearings on high G cornering. It works well for autocross, per Mr. ACM, and ok for road racing as long as you're not Andrew Brilliant.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

And here's a little preview of whats to come...