phelan

So....happy Friday, I'm about ready to go home, but...y'know how it is on Fridays. Anyway, since the last update, PW:JDM shift knob installed (black with red insert), Sun Auto Hyper Grounding Kit has been wired up (red wires, of course), and NST pulley kit has also been installed (guess what color are the pulleys?). I'll have some pics when the rain stops, it's been pretty crazy out here.

I'm also expecting a new set of A Pillars, and I'm waffling on what to do with the B Pillars. Spawn's second attempt don't look TOO bad; may bite the bullet and put them up to see how they look, but not quite sure yet. Currently in talks with others regarding some sort of replacement from somewhere else as well. For reference, I will put up some pictures here when I get my camera recharged.

If there's one thing I've realized it's that this car will be the first and last car I will ever go nuts carbon fibering. I love the look and all, but the weight savings are really for the complete track-nuts, and I'm definitely not one - this doubles as my daily driver sometimes. And this isn't even Seibon stuff (look @ Adam's nightmare about installing the Seibon hood...ugh), my stuff actually fits decently. If I had to deal with bad fitment issues I probably would've burnt it all and put my stock pieces back on. And swapping out that hatch? Whoooo, cabin smelled like resin for days until I aired the car out hahaha. What I get for being a prototype-r. I sure went through the CF Fever pretty quick...but I'm still really glad I did it.

Side note: I'm running some numbers and trying to figure out the appropriate force for the trunk support struts. The OEM ones will cause carbon fiber hatches to lift just a little bit (not as bad as the 350Z was because that was a heavy motherf*cker, but enough to be noticeable). I'm not seeing a lot of cars getting the carbon fiber hatch, but if there's some interest I can start pulling parts together to make a simple replacement kit. Provided I turn into a vendor, of course.

I'm still waiting for a carbon fiber hood to finish (should be any day now), so once that's done the entire top of the car will be carbon. No, it's not the greatest look, I know. But I'm okay with it for the short term because around the corner is a really, really expensive body kit...and then while I'm doing the install I'll repaint the car then so it's red with some carbon accenting. Should go nicely with the CE28N wheels I got from Lou@AMPLIFIED.

Speaking of painting - I love red, but I'm wondering if I should have a different shade of red. Anybody have an opinion on what I should go with? (Adam, no, I'm not gonna matte out my car. You can have that honor, lol)

I'm hoping to get this car out to the track for some beginner events and gain some experience. I've honestly never done any track days save an old Audi event, but that was me driving a 1.8T AWD A4 with automatic transmission. I'm not in it to win anything though, I just want to drive...y'know, live a little. It should also help me out in figuring out what I want to do to the car performance wise. There's no reason in me talking about getting forced induction if I can't control it, right? I've put a lot of mods on the car that are visual, and the performance aspects have been big hitters (i.e. exhaust and HFCs). For some of the finer tuning aspects (like getting sway-bars or not), I think I need to get out there and drive before I decide what I need to get next.

Oh wait, I forgot...I need an OIL COOLER first. Bah. -_-;

Mini-review of the new stuff in the car:

PW:JDM Knob - It's so much smaller than the stock knob. Maybe the installation wasn't perfect because it rattles a little bit when I get it into gear. But other than that, perfectly happy with it. Has a nice weight to the knob, and it's complete metal construction so it definitely doesn't feel cheap or flimsy. Need to check the box, wonder if the guys @ AE Performance got the stock knob off without damaging it?

NonStopTuning Pulley Kit - (installed w/ new Gates belt)
Like others said, it's noticeably lighter than the stock pulley. The car feels remarkably different in acceleration; it's quicker, and somehow crisper. There's a nice flat road behind AE Ryne told me about that goes nowhere (and I made absolutely sure it was clear), and I opened up the taps...whoomph. I think my brain got smashed in the back of my head. Now mind you...

Sun Auto Hyper Grounding Kit -
This was installed at the same time, so I have no clue about both as standalone products. All I can say is that the throttle response seems somehow crisper, and the car is revving a lot more freely and pulling harder than it used to (or maybe my foot is turning into lead?). To top it all off, my MPG went up from 19.1 to about 23.4 in the last month's worth of driving. Except for my one moment on an empty straight, I drive the same distance the same way every time, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see my car finally give me some decent numbers.

Special thanks to Paul and the crew @ AE Performance for all of their install work, and for keeping me amused with episodes of Top Gear.

Next mod: being made somewhere in Japan...

(How many of you read ALL of this? I owe you rep points hahaha)

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凛 ('Rin') - 2009 Nissan 370Z
With silence comes peace. With peace comes freedom. With freedom comes silence.