Well, the 9" experiment has come to an end. With the lower offset and wider width, the tire poked too much. Looking back through the pictures and just driving around on them for a while, the rear fender sits ON the tire when the suspension is fully compressed which is no bueno. So back to higher offset and slightly narrower wheels: 17x8 +47 Work Emotion CR.



Fit is much better with the outer shoulder sitting just inside the fender edge. Plus, they look cool.

 

hawt too

 

Welcome to R-comp level of grip.

I'm curious to what pressure you run them at.

 

Haven't had a chance to mess with pressures with the RE-71Rs yet. Start at 35 and go from there.

 

 

What is this sorcery?

 

Finally, I go to smash on the RE-71Rs at autocross (pics below). These tires are amazing. They heat up and are grippy after about 15 feet, and don't let up. After the first lap or so, in some corners where I was expecting a lot of push if I were still on the R-S3s, the RE-71Rs stayed hooked up and gave me a lot more grip than I was expecting. Set them to 30 psi cold, came back after a lap where they got up to 35 psi hot, reset them to 32 psi, and they managed to stay there throughout the day with no additional adjustment. Never really did find the edge, but did manage to get some push when I aired them out too much down to 28 psi hot.

My only complaint is they are starting to chunk on the inside corner of the main water channels after 4 miles of autocross where I hadn't noticed any unusual wear for the 750 or so miles since putting them on prior to this weekend. We'll see how they hold up.

Other than that, I'm am very satisfied with these tires. Gonna have to get a set for Nicole's car, too. lol

Amazing pictures by IG@kevthephotographer:

 

The VF-48 **** itself. This was remedied by a brand spanking new Cobb 20g. I also took the opportunity to ditch the Perrin header and swap an absolutely gorgeous piece, the Killer B 4-1 v-band Holy Header.



Got the turbo and header in a few weekends back, got tuned up by Travis at Snail, and this thing ****ing scoots.

Ran out room with the ID1000s to keep turning it up, but managed to make about 330 whp and 360 ft-lbs on E85 at about 17 psi. It makes about the same about of power as the VF-48, but that turbo was maxed to within inches of it's life (probably why it finally **** itself) and the 20g is just barely turned up. For now, everything works, but will definitely need injectors -- thinking ID1300s -- and possibly a bigger/better intercooler ("Hello, GrimmSpeed?") to really turn this bad boy up. Weren't able to get too many pulls in because the rear was squatting so much causing the tires to rub on the fenders, the car looked like it was doing a burnout on the dyno and filling the dyno room with smoke. lol Need to raise the back, stiffen the suspension and/or find narrower tires before the next dyno session.

Last weekend, autocross was at Thunderhill Raceway on the West Course so I got to get the car out there and really rip it up. Got to really open up the car on course to gain some confidence piloting the car at speeds much faster than I am used to on an autocross course and, despite the 100+ weather both days and ginormous run groups, had an absolute blast. Definitely need to pick one, or four, more of these things if I'm going to a track day.



Took about a half tank to get to Thunderhill from West Sac, put in 5 gallons which got me to about 4/5 full, ran on that for the two days which brought it back down to about half tank, headed home and was pulling into West Sac on fumes. Managed about 12 mpg between the 120 miles to and from the track and about 4.5 miles of autocross.

Another mod update: removed the lip.


All in all, damage was minimal. Lost the lip, cracked the bumper, will probably digging grass out of the radiator for years to come, but the skid plate did it's job and mitigated the impact and saved us from, what could have been, a very expensive lesson in never.. ever.. lifting. lol

 

Nothing major. New exhaust, new wheels. Bigger power plans on the horizon, though.

 

I thought you were selling it?

 

Everything is for sale for the right price.

 

Are you happy with the Prodrive STi cluster? I've always thought about getting one.

 

Oh yeah. I love it. The STi cluster seemed too technologically advanced for the bugeye with the opening ceremony and such whereas the Prodrive looks and feels period-correct, if that makes any sense.

It matches the interior lighting. It has a shift light. It's perfect. Just need to wire up the outside air temp sensor and circuit, and other than it being in Celsius, you wouldn't know it wasn't original. For you above-the-border folk, a KPH displayed Prodrive cluster would be perfect.

 

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