[GenXG87]

Yes the car is dirty. I haven't cleaned it since my last track event. Brake and tire dust everywhere!!

Finally getting to it with the mods. I’ve done a couple HPDEs and an Autocross. The tires are taking a beating. Mainly the fronts.

This car is currently my daily and I am doing about 1-2 events per month (Track/Autocross).

Currently the car has a JB4 on map 2 and that is it.

For this first round of handling mods I decided on the following:

- AST HAS because APEX said they provide more clearance for wheels than some of the others. Also can't beat their price.

- Millway street camber plates. Considered the race version but past experience told me this could be dealbreaker for daily usage.

- Fall-line rear toe arms. These are solid bearing end links and more road noise is expected, but not like a solid bearing camber plate. The goal was to make toe adjustments easy but to also improve rear end tracking under heavy braking.


Overall everything went pretty smooth. Not much in the way of documentation for Millway but was able to figure it out. The hardest part was removing the front spring perches.

Making sure you have some specialized tools helps. E torx E14 for the camber plate bolts and an 18mm 12pt strut socket.

The rear toe arms were a bit of a pain to get into the knuckle and rear subframe. They are slightly wider than their slot, which is good for a solid fit, but did require a bit of elbow grease and a prybar.

I forgot to put in the new bump stops up front. So far no issues, but I will drop the coils next time it is on the lift and change them out.

I set the ASTs to the lowest height all around. Put the camber adjustment at 14mm on the Millways. On the back I installed the Fall-line toe arms in and tried to get them as close to stock length as I could to start. Mostly the car drives. Rear feels to be toe to the left a bit. But good enough to get my alignment tomorrow. The camber is pretty aggressive. Rear likely needs a bit less. Front may need a bit less. The goal is to know the mm setting on the plates.

Here is the before and after heights ground to fender at the wheel centerline.


I am running 12mm spacings in the front and 15mm in the rear. Once I lowered I feel the wheel edge is right back where I started stock.

Before

After


Overall I'm pretty happy with the ride. No real change in suspension harshness. It's firmer but also more responsive.

As for road noise and harshness there is noticeable effects from the camber plates and toe arms.

First if you want a quiet stock like suspension do not do either. These noises are more noticeable on uneven surface or going over things like rail road tracks.

Driving on the highway on a smooth surface you really don't notice anything.

But if you have a non-car person in the car with you, they may think something is wrong with your car.

As for the alignment. I'm starting off with
Front
-3deg camber
0 toe

Rear
-2deg camber
1/16" toe in

At the track I will experiment with front camber a bit.

I am waiting for my front wheels still. I was going to test fit my backs but didn't have time.
I got 19x11 Apex and will be running 315/30-19
Fronts will be 19x10.5 with 305/30-19

Here is the difference in the rears!!!


This might change, but I wanted a bit more tire in the rear and I also wanted to maintain a similar tire diameter ratio with the stock setup. I wish I could get a 19x12 for the Apex for the back.

[M2siast]

Awesome! Can't wait to see it with the new wheels! Ridiculous difference in tire width. Thanks for the feedback on what not to do in regards to noise.

[GenXG87]

Originally Posted by M2siast

Awesome! Can't wait to see it with the new wheels! Ridiculous difference in tire width. Thanks for the feedback on what not to do in regards to noise.

I can’t either. Dang back orders. lol.

[ZPD]

Did you leave your plastic trim cover off of your strut towers and the boot off of the EDC cable? I broke one of my EDC cable connectors after I installed my Millways trying to get the connector back on. I wish I would have left the trim cover and boot off.
Looking good. I am excited to see how you like the Falken's.

[GenXG87]

Originally Posted by ZPD

Did you leave your plastic trim cover off of your strut towers and the boot off of the EDC cable? I broke one of my EDC cable connectors after I installed my Millways trying to get the connector back on. I wish I would have left the trim cover and boot off.
Looking good. I am excited to see how you like the Falken's.

That sucks but not surprised. Those things are pretty flimsy. I decided to remove the boots. I figured if I needed to adjust the camber at the track I didn't want to deal with the extra steps to see my camber setting. Though I am concerned that the boots help secure the cable since the connector seems to just be a slip fit.

I'm hoping to have my fronts in time for my next track day late October.

[Expert@ApexWheels]

Originally Posted by GenXG87

I wish I could get a 19x12 for the Apex for the back.

Wide boys. Thanks for running our stuff. What tire would you be shooting for with a 12?

Originally Posted by GenXG87

I can’t either. Dang back orders. lol.

what color are you waiting for on the 10.5 et18?

-Tom

[GenXG87]

Originally Posted by Expert@ApexWheels

what color are you waiting for on the 10.5 et18?

-Tom

Black.

Probably 11.5 for the back would be ideal with 315/30-19. Falken spec is on an 11.

On a 12 I’d go 325/30 but not many options. P4S maybe.

We’ll see how things work out with the 315s. Definitely a lot more tire compared to now and the car works pretty well.

[1slowspec3]

have you tested the AST HAS on track?
Curious if they bottom out the oem shocks and their spring rate compared to stock.

[GenXG87]

Originally Posted by 1slowspec3

have you tested the AST HAS on track?
Curious if they bottom out the oem shocks and their spring rate compared to stock.

Autocross this weekend and road course in a few weeks.

[GenXG87]

Update:
No wheels and tires yet. I will have my front wheels end of next week. I did an interim alignment to get the toe right. Currently running stock toe and about -3.25 camber in the front and -2 in the rear.

Had the car on the rack today. Had some noise. Retorqued the bolts holding the camber plates. It helped. I feel like the Millway kit should include some nice reusable grade 8 hardware in place of the stock E Torx. Those are torque to yield bolts so really shouldn't be reused and considering you need to loosen them to adjust the camber that is something I'm considering changing out.

I also had a loose sway bar end link. Thought it was good. They are a bit of a pain to get some good torque on.

The other issue was the car was too low and continued to settle. It had settled about 1/4 - 5/16 of an inch lower. I also noticed that there wasn't much preload on the spring at full extension. The car felt like it was hitting the bump stops too easily.

The car also had a bit too much rake in the front.

So I raised the car about 9/16" in the front and about a 1/8" on the rear

Now it is about 26 13/16" all around.

Car feels quite different. I think when the collars were fully lowered there wasn't any preload at extension.

Noise wise the car is pretty quiet in all conditions after the retorque. The only real thing you notice will be a bit of the thud when hit a nice little break in the ground. Rolling bumps are pretty quiet.

I'm not sure how long I'll run this setup vs moving to something like a KW clubsport setup.

But for now it feels like a nice improvement and we will see once the car is on the Azenis RT660