After a couple months of driving the car around, I decided that it was time to get the ball rolling with this journey. There is a local autocross held about once a month in Camarillo. I decided this was a great chance to shake the car down and get a solid game plan on how I would go about modding the car.
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After about the first turn, I realized what my first mod was going to be. WHEELS AND TIRES. The stock tires suck, and the base wheels are way too narrow. Understeer going in, oversteer coming out, ABS lock up. It was a mess. I also wasn't happy with the brakes. They were pretty spongy. The overall feel of the car was just sloppy all around. Wheels, tires, and brakes were going down. I finished the day and hit a couple cones. It was fun to get out there and mix it up, however I now knew that I had some work to do. I went like two or three more times with the bone stock setup. It was pretty annoying sliding everywhere, so I was done with the stock setup.
These bad boys were bought shortly after. I called a buddy of mine in Mass at Kaizen Tuning who is a WORK dealer and ended up with a square set of WORK MCO racing type CS. 18x10.5 offset f-+20 r-+12. Tires are Hankook Ventus RS-3 285/35r18 from Corner3 garage .
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As for the brakes, I again talked to corner3 garage. Because of the base brake package, my choices were limited. I wanted a set of project MU club racers to slap in until I can get a major upgrade brake package. We couldn't get the club racers, but we could get a set of the HC800 pads project mu offers. I pulled the trigger and also added some Brembo htc64t brake fluid.
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The wheels and tires were a significant upgrade. Compared to the stock package, I couldn't believe the difference. Understeer was history. I could attack the corners and be confident in the front end grip. The rear? well, it was alot better, however the new crutch was the open differential in the base model. There was also no learning curve coming from the stock wheels and tires. Times instantly decreased by multiple seconds at the auto-x. The new pads and fluid provided me with the bite I was looking for as well. The brakes felt alot more solid after a couple break in runs. These particular pads are dusty, and you'll get a little squeak from them every now and again on the street. Neither of which bother me too much. I still have an old school mentality with pads, in that the best performing ones on the track will be a little dusty and squeaky sometimes. No big deal.