Guilty. At one point I had four different sets of wheels/tires for my Sedan at the same time.

In the little over two years I owned the G I’ve had 18” Sedan Sport Duck Feet, TE37’s, 19” Sport Coupe’s(twice), IPL’s, 18” Sedan AE wheels, and PF01.

 

Yeah, but this guy has nine of the same wheel. Nine!

Wait, no sport sedan spare? Same wheel, half width.

 

I can relate although I've never had a truly "NICE" set of wheels. I've been a bit of a wheel hoarder as well, I sold off a couple of sets over the years so it's not as bad. Currently my 5x114 stash includes a set of 16" Z32 N/A, 18" Falken Torque 5, 18" G35 7 Spokes currently on the S14, the OEM Journey 17"s, and the 2 sets of 19" Rays in the previous photo.

I've been searching eBay for a spare that will clear the Akebonos, no luck yet!

As for the 9 wheels... that wasn't the original plan. I started with a standard set of front and rears. I decided to search for another pair of rears to make a square set of 8.5" wheels. I found a set and purchased them and the day they arrived I sent them to powder coat..... Upon my haste I didn't realize that one of those wheels had two damaged lug holes (the wheels had been painted black which hid some of the damage) . Of course as soon as I got the wheels home from powder coat, the damage stuck out immediately. So... I bought another rear wheel and sent it to powder coat, so those 4 are what I currently have on the car with the damaged wheel relegated to a wall decoration. As for the others, I still had the original fronts (wheels without tires) from the first set and just picked up the other 2 rears (in the old BFGoodrich tires) earlier this spring. Those will be getting painted later this year... I hope that wasn't too hard to follow

 

Subbed, great build thread
Those rear brake lights are just incredibly good looking, great work

 

Log July 2022 - First AutoX in the X

I've been perusing modification of this sedan with the goal of making it a better driving experience. To get a proper idea of where the car currently stands I took the opportunity to run in my first autocross event this past weekend. It was a TRSCCA event and I was able to go with a few friends/coworkers that have gone before which was a great help. As a side note it's awesome to work with like minded individuals. I arrived just before 8 giving me plenty of time unload. Speaking of unloading, I found that the sedan can fit a 10'x10' canopy (collapsed in the bag, 48" wide) on the backseat or straddling the driveshaft tunnel, with other bags underneath, this was a great revelation as it meant only one vehicle was needed to bring all supplies. I also brought some simple tools, impact gun, tire pressure gauge and the like. I also brought chairs, a floppy hat for the sun, a change of clothes for the sweat and MOST important a cooler full of water and Gatorade. This is July in middle TN it was 84°F at 7am and was forecasted to reach 97°F by 3pm with humidity always above 70%, so it was sure to be a hot one spending the day on the asphalt. The forecast did not disappoint, I never went more than 20 minutes without finishing a drink!

Going with a group of friends/coworkers helped guide me thru the day and reduce my anxiety, which was awesome for an introvert at his first event. I was also able to borrow a helmet which was one less thing to worry about. After passing inspection it was time for my first track walk. I had a little apprehension but things slowly eased as I talked thru lines with my friends. They were in an BMW and an RX8, I had more in common with the BMW (weight and power) than the RX8 but at least I could bounce ideas off of all of the guys.


Course layout for my first event.

The day "officially" began with the novice track walk and drivers meeting. After the meeting we left the paddock and found a corner to setup in to watch the first heat. We set up our canopy just behind Work Station #1 as we wanted to see how drivers handled the first sector. During the first few minutes of the heat a Solstice locked up their brakes nearly meet a tree in the middle slalom. That was enough to wake up the crowd, and everyone was happy they were able to back out of the grass without damage. I had talked with my friends earlier in the morning and apparently the last event had a car that went through a wooden fence and nearly hit a shed. The downtime for that incident impacted all drivers. I was thankful that no one was hurt, no vehicles were damaged and the course was kept clear. No major incidents allowed for all drivers to have 7 runs which was surprising with a field with 88 entrants. Having setup to watch at the first Work Station was serendipitous for me as during the second heat I was assigned to Work Station #4. This gave me a great representation of the course from both ends and meant I was able to watch drivers lines both coming and going.

During my second heat work time at Work Station #4, I found that many drivers were missing the last cone just before the final hairpin. It was a tricky one as you approach it after the slalom but are intended to stay right and not weave between them. This would also prove to by my weak spot as I had 2 DNFs for missing that cone... While working that section I witnessed the course times for various cars and made a 45s time my goal. I like to undershoot just to make sure I don't disappoint myself. In hindsight I should have gone for 40.0 flat.


Enjoy my amateur tape job. I ran out of narrow tape and used wide tape on the driver side. Adding the tow hook puts the car in race mode right?



On the grid and ready to go...



After a few runs opened the hood, it was early afternoon and over 100°F, so I figured it wouldn't hurt. Also I discovered what NSTU stands for "No Stopping The Understeer".

Now it was the third heat, it was time for me to see what I had. I lined up and joined the grid, this heat had many shared cars which meant the single driver cars had a long wait time. The long wait time didn't bother me as it helped calm my nerves. For my first run I had a friend that was a spectator join me. I thought I would take it slow and ensure I knew the course layout but my excitement got the better of me. For my first run I posted a 43.592, which was quicker than my initial goal but only made me hungrier for more. I had 2 of my friends in this heat and they were able to ride. With them in the passenger seat they "coached" me to hold my speed and brake later. I achieved my best time of 40.891 with my friend sitting shotgun an pushing me. I had left the TCS off and left the transmission in DS which proved to cost me time as it held 3rd gear during the final section.

After my runs it was apparent to me that I was losing massive time in both hairpins due to understeer. As stiff as the car feels on the street, getting it on the autocross course proved that it has plenty of room for improvement. The slaloms actually felt great and I gained speed in those sections but hard braking and turning the wheel made the car plow and plow and plow. By my 4th run I knew a lager rear sway bar was needed. Having shaved 2.7 seconds in my first event was better than I expected but there is more left on the table. With more track time I'm sure I could cracked into the 39s range and with a better sway bar and stickier tires I'd imagine the 38s and 37s range wouldn't be hard to reach. I'm starting to understand the fun of these events. Every pass you note small mistakes that keep you from your optimum time. Here's to the next event!



Loading everything backup for the day and can't wait to do it again!

 

That was a really good read, OP. Good for you putting yourself out there. Had a similar novice experience last fall with an auto--x event.

Also, about 10 years ago I participated in auto-x with the G, and then again the year later having installed a set of Eibach swaybars. The difference was night & day. My point is, a lot of that understeer will balance out with a set of aftermarket swaybars.

 

Thanks for sharing that link it was a good read as well. I'm glad that everyone suggests sway bars and reinforces their effectiveness on this chassis. Sway bars are definitely next on the list.

 

Log July 2022 - First AutoX in the X

Added a couple action pictures from the event and a video from the dash cam.


Glad that the event had a photographer that was grabbing photos of the cars on track.




This was my 6th run at the event and my time was compromised by leaving the transmission in DS, at two points in the run the transmission held 3rd gear and would not kickdown. In the future I'll be sure to keep it in 2nd on courses of this size.

 

Thank you!

This was Point's Event #3 of the TRSCCA, it took place at the James E Ward Ag Center in middle Tennessee.

 

Log August 2022 - Night Shots of the Halo Tails

It's took a while but I was out the other night an remembered to get some video/photos of the halo taillight mod. I found it a bit challenging to get low light photos but I hope these help give an idea of the finished product. It's hard to quantify but they are at least twice as bright as the OEM tails if not more. Also please for give the bent plate, I was hit in a parking lot downtown.

 

Nice car man! Quick question, how do the KYB bump stops feel? I have KYB + Swifts on mine and of course like a dummy I reused the OEM top hats and bump stops. I think my ride is pretty harsh and I wonder if swapping out to new top hats and bump stops would help.

 

Thank you! Sorry for the delay in my response I've been out of town for a few weeks. The ride is pretty firm but not harsh unless I'm driving over large sections of broken pavement. Now granted here in middle TN the road quality ranges from decent to almost perfect, we don't have too many areas that are terrible for lowered cars.

For you to swap the bump stops at this point would take some work, I'm not sure if you would see the benefits that you're looking for, but that's all up to you.

 

Log September 2022 - Sway Bars/End links and other Odds and Ends

I was able to get some used Hotchkis sway bars from user @KidJai06. Thanks again, I was in need of an upgrade. Along with installing the beefier sway bars I replaced the factory end links with some new units that weren't nearly as worn out.


Hotchkis Sway Bars front and rear



Comparing the OEM Rear AWD sway bar



New end links to compliment the upgraded sway bars.



Added this master cylinder brace earlier in the year but I don't think it's been documented yet.



Also added a lead for the battery tender, this makes it simple to keep the battery topped up.



Had a frog friend taking a nap on the car one night, thought it was fitting.



Now that I have my own, no more borrowing helmets. I thought I'd try to match the car with the grey and blue, style points matter right? I also picked up a clear and yellow visor for different conditions.

 

Is that the Battery Tender Jr? I bought one of those a few years ago because the car sits so long over the winter. Sometimes over the summer, too.

BTW, there's room enough through the battery panel clips to expose that connector. It fits just right.

 

I may give this a try. By the way, I truly appreciate how clean you keep your car, I'm sure it takes a ton of work. Until I get more garage space to keep the G in, I'd be fighting a losing battle to keep mine that clean.