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98 TSi awd - Autocross Build

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Well, my original goal of having the car back in action by 9/16 will not be fulfilled. Between waiting for the front diff to show up from Japan and me taking a little longer than I expect to open up the trans, we are a no go. Life does seem to get in the way sometimes....

At this point, waiting on an order from TMZ for new shims and a few other replacement parts and I should have it all back together by Thursday this week. Tim did convince me, and rightfully so, to reshim the whole trans and not just the new diffs. Apparently some of the specs are out of spec from the factory??? Never heard of this before, but I took his word for it. He is a godsend when it comes to customer service. Well long story short, some of the bearings are out of spec, more than expected. However, the trans worked perfectly fine before the center diff gave up so I don't plan on doing anything else outside of new shims.

Freshly built 4-spider center diff with torrington bearing upgrade.

8B96F02C-4BC8-406A-9527-0CDF8B7093DC_zpsohyat5k7.jpg



Cusco RS 1-way clutch-type front diff. I have it all apart here so I can restack the plates and get the lock-up that I want.

2B4CE2D0-029A-4CBF-8E25-189D67184522_zpsxitfub0a.jpg



Random shot of the trans with the cases and differentials removed.

C6AA77E8-DAC8-4674-9E11-3F072B4DB1D0_zpsxcm17jrv.jpg




Meanwhile, I took my coilovers apart and had a buddy take the koni shocks with him to the SCCA Solo Nationals. Koni USA sets up shop for the week and rebuilds the shocks for the racers for minimal charges. Unfortunately for me, their shock dyno took a shit before they got to the last few sets. Oh well. :(
 
In the MR2 at Pocono this weekend. 90mph autocross. Some of the most fun i've had while autocrossing. Really made me miss my car, but the MR2 is still fun when you can get it right. LOL

This is my fastest scratch time.





I'll have another video up later today displaying my clean 70.2 to Justin's 69.9. (this was his fastest run all day) I was a bit amazed as I was leading for the majority of the course and he passed and gapped me in the final corner. An error in one single element and your time goes from great to who cares. Autocross FTW! LOL
 
Not ready to celebrate, well maybe a little, but the trans is back together! Super excited and terrified at the same time. I'll have it back in the car this weekend. I'll throw a party once it moves under its own power. :sosad::pray:

0ED1B566-4488-4CBA-8E8D-33BEE7069B92_zpsvv4v9jzv.jpg
 
Here is the comparison video of me and owner of the MR2. Our clean runs were only 3 tenths apart at the finish, but the back and forth we had throughout the runs is a good showing of what driving line is faster. Looks like he out braked me after the two high speed sections and I got him in the tight stuff. Anyway, check it out.

 
I spent about 10 hours on the car yesterday and about another hour or so this morning and I'm happy to report that she runs!!! Very proud moment for myself. :) Despite owning some kinda of DSM for the better part of my adult life, I've never opened up the trans. Glad I was able to do it.

Put about 30 miles on the car today including a few figure 8's in a parking lot. (Cusco's recommendation for break-in.) I will put as many miles as I can on the car this week and then flush out the cheap Lucas fluid for Redline 75/140 NS.

DF3EB47E-1FEB-4D5D-9A7E-C5479B9095B4_zpsb5uoxj11.jpg


53D5D859-BA6E-4D4F-816F-A96ABF1562AB_zpsrlcmcwbr.jpg



Something very unusual I noticed when taking the car apart:

0EF82E3D-0869-45E7-BC03-10D522983C31_zpsvbihopz4.jpg


Both front and rear urethane motor mount inserts were failing. This explains why the car developed some nasty wheel hop when launching and could very well be the reason why my center diff took a shit. (outside of me not letting off during launches) The rear mount was nearly completely crumbled and not providing any support. I replaced that mount with a Torque Solutions unit and was able to salvage the front. I'll keep eye on it for now. These are the full inserts that Adam Porto sells btw.

On a positive note, I replaced the flywheel with a Clutch Masters 8lb aluminum unit.

FAC9D43E-C571-48AF-A732-451182C34AFF_zpsvci3na1x.jpg


11lbs lighter than stock. I actually had this thing in storage and completely forgot about it until now. After measuring the step height with a set of digital calipers, I installed it as is. It had very minimal miles on it. Excited to remove 11lbs off the front end. I also measured my clutch disc and it still has quite a bit of life left. What didn't have much life left were my front brake pads. Replaced with the same Wilwood PB-10 compound. They warm up relatively quickly so I'm happy with them.

Next event is with MotorsportsNE on Saturday, 9/30/17. Lets see how the car does!
 
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Before I forget....

While I'm sure I would have been able to figure things out with research.... none of this would have gone as smooth as it did without Tim Zimmer from TMZ Performance. Not only can you get great parts from him, but also great service. In an era where customer service is in the gutter, @twicks69 is a cut above the rest. His knowledge is top shelf and he is not afraid to share and put you in the right direction. Thanks, Tim.

Cusco USA also took me by surprise. I received a reply to every single email (there were many), sometimes from two people, and they provided very thorough answers to every single question. They helped when setting up the diff and also when I was doing something wrong. Top notch company who is not afraid to provide good support for their products. They earned a customer for life with me.
 
MSNE 9/30/2017

We had a stacked event today with 110 drivers showing up. First event back in the Talon. Wow, where to start. The lighter flywheel and upgraded front diff were IMMEDIATELY noticeable. Throttle response has gotten much, much better. Turn-in response felt amazing. But, what was even better was how the car behaved on corner exit! Enter a corner on a good racing line and then just mash the loud pedal. The front wheels would just pull you out beautifully. I honestly feel like I can hit full throttle at least a quarter to half second faster than with the open diff. Its amazing really. I was taken back a bit on the first run as I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was. Trail brake and get the back end to rotate nicely and then mash the throttle to get you out. So happy I did this mod.

However, I seemed to have developed a bad cone hitting habit. I coned away two very fast 56.1 runs. These would have put me in the top 5 PAX with some extremely stiff competition. Ended up finishing with a 57.3 clean. I still picked up some valuable points which has pushed me into 1st place for driver of the year.




Comparison of me vs Chris L. in his Evo X. (not the same Evo X i've been battling with this season. This is a faster driver/car. LOL)





Next event is next weekend with SCCA NNJR.
 
I'm glad the transmission worked out for you the way it did, keep the Mitsu/DSM flag waving in autocross!
 
Congrats! Drivetrain mods are so commonly overlooked! Many have no idea how much they can impact performance.
 
I'm glad the transmission worked out for you the way it did, keep the Mitsu/DSM flag waving in autocross!

Thank you for helping me out with the diff. You saved me a couple hundred bucks! :dsm:

Congrats! Drivetrain mods are so commonly overlooked! Many have no idea how much they can impact performance.

Thank you! Other than going to much wider tires, changing the front and rear diff are easily my most favorite mods. I almost don't believe I'm driving the same car I started off with last year.
 
Curious, how did Cusco tell you to set up the diff? How many plates did you disable, and what was their reasoning for it?
 
Just watched the comparison video a couple times. The Talon looks much more capable of back stepping those cones, and is definitely holding its own next to the evo x. Around 53 second the Evo looked to get on the brakes late or tires were pushing because that horse shoe turn towards the end of the run you were able to go in smooth and tight and pull out hard. look like a big speed difference between the toward cars in the straight stretch.
 
Curious, how did Cusco tell you to set up the diff? How many plates did you disable, and what was their reasoning for it?

I have it set to 60% and the RS diff already has the slower acting base, as you know. Less lockup is needed on asphalt/cement. Allows the rear end to start rotation before the front pulls.

Plate setup:

D1324418-5A38-444A-8B14-84E769990C18_zpsesegwdsp.jpg
 
Just watched the comparison video a couple times. The Talon looks much more capable of back stepping those cones, and is definitely holding its own next to the evo x. Around 53 second the Evo looked to get on the brakes late or tires were pushing because that horse shoe turn towards the end of the run you were able to go in smooth and tight and pull out hard. look like a big speed difference between the toward cars in the straight stretch.

Chris and I discussed our runs. He overshot the braking zone while entering that back turn. He was in 3rd gear at about 74mph and had a hard time getting the speed down. My braking was about spot on. Honestly, he never got out of 3rd gear even through that corner and the finish. Tuned stock turbo evo X in 3rd out accelerates my car in 2nd gear. :|:cry: We looked pretty dead even through the tighter sections and I actually made up some time through that zip zag before the finish.
 
I have it set to 60% and the RS diff already has the slower acting base, as you know. Less lockup is needed on asphalt/cement. Allows the rear end to start rotation before the front pulls.

Plate setup:

View attachment 477372

Very cool, thank you! When I installed my rear diff, nobody anywhere could give me instructions on how to set it up. I asked the motorsport guys at EvoM, no answer. Here - same thing. I couldn't call the manufacturer because Ralliart was long gone. So I took a shot in the dark and set it at 80% in 1.8-way mode. It's nice to see a manufacturer give tips on setup, that is worth a lot these days.
 
Very cool, thank you! When I installed my rear diff, nobody anywhere could give me instructions on how to set it up. I asked the motorsport guys at EvoM, no answer. Here - same thing. I couldn't call the manufacturer because Ralliart was long gone. So I took a shot in the dark and set it at 80% in 1.8-way mode. It's nice to see a manufacturer give tips on setup, that is worth a lot these days.

If you can get it to 100%, you'll love it. I have my rear Evo diff set to 100% and I wouldn't have it any other way.
 
If you can get it to 100%, you'll love it. I have my rear Evo diff set to 100% and I wouldn't have it any other way.

100% lock on a 20-plate would be a power-oversteer nightmare. On a modified stock diff, 100% would probably be decent. I think Cusco's rear is 12 plate, and would be good at 100% too. MotoIQ did an article on setting up a 370Z diff for lapping, and found time by disabling plates.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArtic...-Improving-Grip-by-Tuning-a-Cusco-RS-LSD.aspx
 
100% lock on a 20-plate would be a power-oversteer nightmare. On a modified stock diff, 100% would probably be decent. I think Cusco's rear is 12 plate, and would be good at 100% too. MotoIQ did an article on setting up a 370Z diff for lapping, and found time by disabling plates.

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArtic...-Improving-Grip-by-Tuning-a-Cusco-RS-LSD.aspx


I've read that article. And, wow, didn't know the ralliart diff was so aggressive! I plan on upgrading my rear diff to the Weir Performance 10 plate this winter. Will still go for 100% lockup and "tune" driveability with LSD additive or even increase lockup on the front diff. I don't mind getting the rear to step out a little on throttle as long as the front can pull through the corner.
 
SCCA NNJR 10/7/2017

Another wasted opportunity, sort of. My clean 43.1 was enough to win the class, but my 42.5 would have been a top 8 fastest RAW time out of 129 drivers.

This win has guaranteed my win of the Road Tire SP/SM class for the year! Stoked! I've come in 1st in all events I've attended with my car except 1. I'll still attend the last event on the 21st because why not and its fun.

Here is my 42.5 +1 run.




My tires are all but about done and its too late in the season to purchase another set. You can see in the video that the car had a nasty push the last 25% of the run. There are only 3 events left this year so I should be ok. Haven't decided yet if i'm going to stay the same size for next year. Thinking of going with 10.5 wide wheels and possibly seeing if I could fit some 305's. ;)
 
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Very nice build. I am currently competing in SM with a 16g. I have issues with powering out of corners (understeer), of course. My winter plans include getting the transmission rebuilt and in doing so changing up the front diff. I can't find the front diff you got. Nothing on the Cusco is listed for the 2g. Do one of the Evo part numbers match up? I'm trying to figure out prices.
 
Nice work on the season finish sir! Any plans to move up competition? Nationals or divisional perhaps?
 
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