Tyler's 04 slicktop 6spd Silvergrey MCS/Brembo/CSL/Karbonius/Nogaros/Supersprint

[RC Fresh]

I'm considering A052 next. I like their sidewalls giving the meatier look. I hope I can tolerate that they're noiser like u mentioned, I'll have see for myself..

[0-60motorsports]

That's awesome and the car looks so good too

[Tbonem3]

I was not happy with the 9" front wheel (with 245 tire) - it felt no different (pushing/understeer) than 8.5" but had more tire stretch (I don't like the look). I figured instead of going back to 8.5", I owed it to myself to finally try 9.5" up front.

I decided to just buy a whole new set of Apex arc 8s since it was BF anyway (like $300 off). I went with 9.5et35 as I didn't want the poke of the et22, and 10"et25 for the rear (same as I already had). I also wanted to go with 200tw tires this time.

I did a little research and figured I'd need at least 3mm maybe 5mm spacers for the front still, to clear the fat 996 calipers. I also researched tire dimensions, and started focusing on true widths, not the generic "265" figure. I settled on 255/35/18 Yoko A052s since they're about equal in width to PS4S in 265. Then I went with 265 a052 for the rear which are similar to 275 ps4s. I went with yoko a052s are my priorities were dry grip and weight. Light wheels and light tires = me happy.





Once I got them home, I degreased the wheels and tires (tire installation goo). Then I ceramic coated them. I used my best stuff for the fronts, but wanted to try and use up a cheaper, 1 year coating for the rears



Gyeon Pure Evo ^



Wolfgang Uber CSC for the rears ^

Ready to install!




Here you can see how much wider the actual tread width of the 255 yoko is than the 245 ps4s, though yes the left wheel is .5" wider as well.




The 3mm spacer up front was leaving the wheel still a little too close to caliper for my comfort, but 5mm is perfect:





Rears. 275 Ps4s vs. 265 a052:





The rears fit perfectly - I still can use the 3mm spacers to maximize the width, the slightly wider tire just misses the fender. With the 275 PS4s, I still has a couple of MMs of space, so I'm glad there was just enough room for the Yokos and I don't need to bring the wheels inboard at all.



IMPRESSIONS

Wow, incredible levels of grip even without warming the tires up or wearing off the mold release agent. I can't imagine how sticky these'll be after a few drives. They are harsher and louder than michelin. I don't feel much tramlining or having to fight the steering wheel much. Thankfully, I have more grip up front, so that was goal #1. I hated the understeer with 225/235/245 up front. Goal #2 was looks - I hate stratched tires on 18s. I love the meatier look. I don't love how the Yokos dip inwards where they meet the rim (zero rim protection). If I were going purely for looks, I should have gotten the Cup2s. Overall, very very pleased in every department except hearing all the little rocks bounce off my fenders.

Final specs 9.5"et30 x 10"et22 w/ 255/265 A052s 32/34 cold PSI.

[Tbonem3]

Not related to the springs but all this shim talk reminded me, do you use titanium shims in your 996 calipers?

No. I'm satisfied with things now. Since I don't use dampers, if i come across a used, cheap set, maybe I'll grab them for shitzNgigglez.

[Nate047]

Not related to the springs but all this shim talk reminded me, do you use titanium shims in your 996 calipers?

[Tbonem3]

Thank you!

I can't find much fault with the Turner plates
- big footprint to spread load
- caster and camber adjustment
- replaceable bushings ($60)
- reduction in stack height for more travel, esp if you omit the included spacer.

Perhaps the rubber bushing in the GC plates makes the experience a little more supple, I'm not sure. The poly is not noticeably bad in the plates like it is when used for FCAB or motor mount etc.
The Turner plates are some of the most expensive, GC is a bit cheaper. Turner is no longer turner anyway, it's ECS chinese made stuff. Perhaps it's better to buy US made GC (I think it's all made in-house in CA)

For rear spring, yes I love the trick of putting a liner spring in place of the stock spring, retaining the big and thick stock rubber pads. But it takes a lot of effort to settle on the ride height you want. You need to choose the right spring height, then shim it appropriately till you end up where you want to be. For the 500lb range, that seems to be a 7" spring, 550-600lb a 6.5" spring (hard to find) and 650-7xx a 6" but it's trial and error. As far as inner diameter, I didn't worry about the spring's ID being small enough to capture the nipple of the spring pad well, I wanted a wider foot print for stability and so the spring doesn't slip out or move. So I would usually go with 63.5-65mm (2.5").

The GC perches (and other brands that only include metal pieces) were never comfortable and quiet enough for me. However, I'm really pleased with the Ohlins, they include 4 rubber pads to use as you wish. I then took it a step farther, and used the stock upper pad. I always figure the upper pad will contribute more to comfort than the bottom, might not matter much.

When I write of rubber shims, I'm referring to some 1/8" or 3/16" thick rubber (neoprene) sheet that I cut into a donut. It's exactly what Ohlins has done with the shims they include. Remember, whatever thickness you add or subtract to the sring assembly with have a factor of multiplication of about 1.5x for actual wheel gap at the outter tire/fender. This is due to the swing arc of the rear suspension arms. However, since rubber compresses, you may actually need to pick a thickness of rubber that is equalt o the increase in ride height you want, because once installed, under the wieght of the vehicle, the shim will compress and ride height won't actually be what you may have calculated on paper. That's why I say it's a lot of trial and error. A spring perch is much easier to adjust, but I didn't care for the clunking and popping of the metal on metal on metal of spring to perch to arm esp when going up an uneven surface or driveway.

[bavarian3]

What a build thread! Went through the whole thing.

Couple questions:
-Would you still recommend the Turner camber plates, over say a GC street plate? Lack of customer service is concerning.
-If you could do it all over, how would you assemble the rear spring? I'm wondering if it makes more sense to just skip the adjuster and use stock rubber pads adjusting spring length and pad as needed? What exactly are the rubber shims you're referring to?

Awesome stuff!

[duracellttu]

I absolutely love my suspension and my "final" 343lb/628lb springs. Only issue is a little remaining understeer. I'm trying to solve it with wider/grippier wheel/tire. I'm back on medium setting for hotchkis swaybar (which was causing too much understeer with 400lb springs) and it seems to pair well with the 343lb front springs for my driving speed/style. But it will still push a little too much for my liking though it's worse when the tires start to get too hot, so maybe it will be satisfactory with stickier tires.

Nice! I'm still playing with my setup. Currently at 400/600. Planning on going softer in the front to 336 Swifts and keeping the 600 TCK in the rear. Sounds like it's comparable to your setup!

[Tbonem3]

How are you liking your currently spring rate setup?

I absolutely love my suspension and my "final" 343lb/628lb springs. Only issue is a little remaining understeer. I'm trying to solve it with wider/grippier wheel/tire. I'm back on medium setting for hotchkis swaybar (which was causing too much understeer with 400lb springs) and it seems to pair well with the 343lb front springs for my driving speed/style. But it will still push a little too much for my liking though it's worse when the tires start to get too hot, so maybe it will be satisfactory with stickier tires.

[Tbonem3]

2023 was a funny year for me, but I did accomplish a few things (besides the spring/suspension changes noted earlier).

The car had to sit outside for half the year, so I topped it off with a fresh application of ceramic coating (1 year "lite" coating - wolfgang uber)



Did a chemical decon wash, then panel wipe, then the coating. Didn't have time to polish the car, but with it being a fairly light color, you can't see any fine scratches anyway.



I finally got tired enough of the brake fade in the canyons to go ahead and get some hotter pads & fluid. I also took the opportunity to remove what I felt was a liability in the ECS/CM porsche 996 style brake lines. Too many reports (one of them a friend, witnessed first hand) of failures. I already updated the rears with HEL a few years ago. I found a set of HEL made lines with the 90 degree bend from a speed shop in the UK. I got several sets as I'm also building a 996 kit for a friend right now. Worked out to about $70 a set so not bad at all, and now my mind is at ease.



I also have plans to increase the width of my front wheels and tires, but the first step in tuning the car better for canyon carving are the brake pads. The porsche textars are very good, no issues at all, but fade easily. I decided to go with Ferodo DS2500 as it seemed to be a good middle ground between street use and track use. I was also eyeing PFC z or 08s but went with ferodo. I also got a liter of Motul RBF600. I'm not sure if the ATE typ200 (already higher boiling than stock) was inadequate, but figured I should go up to 600.



I just liked this pic, the floating E46 M3! Alright, time to start.




I started with the line change, then pads, then I'll flush



Good riddance to this cheap shit



The HEL lines are obviously higher quality just holding htem in your hands. Plus their rubber grommet actually fits! And stays in places! And doesn't crumble - amazing!



Pad changes for the 996 are stupid easy! (if you don't have the dumb dampers in there)



Time to flush. Motive (euro) bleeder is a great investment!



Rear right first. Old fluid is super clean (not that old, not many miles).



All done!


Then did a bedding session. Well, from cold, there was no noise so that was nice (I was expecting squealing when cold or really hot). As soon as I got some heat into them (getting ready to bed), they grabbed really well. The cold bite is still not great, but that's down to the smaller pistons (clamping force) than anything. They don't seem to have worse bite than stock textars so that's a relief. It took much more work to get them hot, but man they stop the car quickly! My tires were squirmy and squealing badly (next thing to change) trying to get them to lock up. The next day I took it out and man what a revelation! I can still get them to fade, but it takes a lot more work (and frankly, bad driving as in using the brakes too much). I just wanted to see what the threshold was. They only squeal a little when hot hot, and coming to a stop. I am very very pleased. Still want more front end grip and stickier tires, but this was a great move to set the car up for its primary use (dangeous driving in Mexico).

[duracellttu]

How are you liking your currently spring rate setup?

[Tbonem3]

That seems odd the moboball FCABs caused numb steering. The poly bushing with a stiffer rubber is supposed to do the exact opposite. Also, whats wrong with the SS twin sec 2? All I saw was how it changed the exhaust note and it suggested to get a resonated version.

Also, what in the world happened to the Dinan exhaust? SS Stepped Headers v1, SS stepped sec 1 w/ HJS cats, SS twin sec 2 resonated, and Dinan muffler might be a really nice combo. It would be 63.5mm all the way though.

It's hard to describe the loss of steering feel because you'd expect it to be the opposite. I have a theory that the elasticity of rubber helps "pull" back on the joint whereas a bearing is completely free to move, and doesn't pull back to center like rubber does. Or perhaps the harshness of a solid bearing ruined the feel. It happened when I tried camber plates with a bearing and it happened with the solid fcabs.

The dual pipe sect 2 seems to quiet the total exhaust sound down a bit, which might be welcome, but when combined with the loss of the resonator, it created an ambiguous vaccumm cleaner like tone replete with drone but void of any rasp or e46 m3 character. I've heard the resonated version doesn't do this. I rode in a friend's car with the resonated version and it didn't seem to do it (he had same mods as me as well). I just think stock is perfect. It's a bit larger (60mm) than the primaries (55mm) and sect 1 (58mm), has the proper shape, H pipe and resonator, its free. it's so good, the only way Supersprint could improve upon it was to slightly increase diameter (60 to 63mm). It does make a bit more power, so I think it's a worthwhile mod for many, but it's not as important as the headers/sect 1 or induction or tuning or chassis etc. I'm not ok with a slight bump in mid range at the expense of the car's sound which is a major priority for me. You can only go so fast, plus you grow a tolerance for speed but you never tire of wonderful motorsport music.

The Dinan is an interesting piece. Dinan is pretty good quality, it's one of the few 2.5" full flow exhausts out there, but the drawbacks are too numerous - odd look of one side's tips being black with soot and one side clean (dummy tips), a decent sound, but nothing special. Pretty character-less. Decent weight loss from stock, but not the lightest by any means. The tips are "only" 76mm. Many prefer 80-83mm. Don't like black tips - though that I rectified, tediously, by polishing the black coating off.

The scorza, by contrast is better imo. Same 2.5" same 76mm tips, but much better sound. I'm not a fan of mufflers on this car really, but don't want to ever sell the og scorza. No need for any others, for me then.

[Projecte46m3]

It's ok. Nobody believed me about the monoball fcabs or the SS dual pipe sect 2 either.

That seems odd the moboball FCABs caused numb steering. The poly bushing with a stiffer rubber is supposed to do the exact opposite. Also, whats wrong with the SS twin sec 2? All I saw was how it changed the exhaust note and it suggested to get a resonated version.

Also, what in the world happened to the Dinan exhaust? SS Stepped Headers v1, SS stepped sec 1 w/ HJS cats, SS twin sec 2 resonated, and Dinan muffler might be a really nice combo. It would be 63.5mm all the way though.

[0-60motorsports]

Some sort of reticulated foam (maybe open cell?) From ebay. Like a 3' x 5' piece. Don't have a link sorry.

Awesome thanks brother! I'll have to order that and try it out.

[Tbonem3]

Some sort of reticulated foam (maybe open cell?) From ebay. Like a 3' x 5' piece. Don't have a link sorry.