KingOfSpades' "Build Thread

[31N007]

I did indeed drive like a prick at first. Then I realized if I mess up, I'm screwed... I still slow down and anticipate major understeer when I'm going into corners. Then the ebrake is pulled but only when there are no cars. It was damp this evening and I stepped on it. Tires held on surprisingly well. Better than the old summers.

I gotta say, I feel (and felt) more comfortable in my car than I do in my mom's Jeep Grand Cherokee because the thing is so damned heavy and the tires aren't very good. They only have 18,600 on them too...

 

[esnave09]

I wish I had an e-brake to pull! Instead, all I get is the e-brake light. But it seems like mostly I get oversteer. I get a little bit of understeer if I gas it too much but that's it. I definitely wish mine held on during the rain. My front tires slip so easily on rainy takeoffs. Maybe that's cuz my motor mounts are shot....

But I feel the same way. I feel much more comfortable driving this than my roommates F-150, since it's so huge. Ridiculously huge, and the steering is so loose I can turn the wheel a good 25 degrees in either direction before any sort of connection occurs in the rack. That and I can't feel any of the road at all, so I don't know if I'm slipping until I'm in a ditch or the tail swings out.

 

[31N007]

Well when im hard on it I can hear the motor rock. Its funny but I know it's bad. Might do the rear insert this summer. Or over the break if I have time and tools.

Yeesh on the steering. Thats what I like about the Mazda and my dads Nissan. Direct feel ftw. My moms jeep isn't TOO bad. But it is what it is.

 

[esnave09]

Haha I can't hear my motor rock, but I can definitely feel it now when the engine stops getting gas (leaving it in gear and braking/going down hills). I need to look at my motor mounts and replace inserts where needed ASAP. Hopefully I won't need to replace the entire mount for any of them cuz that's spendy.

 

[31N007]

One thing I noticed it that if you leave it in second and slow way down (foot off the gas, let the revs drop to around 2000 and lower), you can feel the engine rock as the injectors turn themselves on.

The rear insert is going in this break. I've done the whole front mount- I didn't want to, but the bolt on the original mount got messed up, so I picked another one up. The Corksport inserts I bought, the front one is designed for the Protege- the mount I got I think was from a 626? Same placement of the holes but the rubber inside is designed a little differently.

 

[esnave09]

Yeah I haven't gotten to the point I'd feeling the engine rock that much, but I can definitely notice when the injectors come back on. I can also feel crazy vibrations when I'm on the highway unless I put the clutch in and the revs drop. So I really need to get that looked at.

 

[31N007]

That does seem odd about the highway vibes. Mine are quite okay. I can hear the engine more than feel the vibes. I'd throw inserts on the list over other things if they're on their way out. I think Corksport sells inserts for $55? Front and rear. But that would make things a little stiffer, wouldn't they? Look around, because there are a few different types out there. I'd have picked up a side insert if CS sold one as mine's gone. LOL, all the mounts need doing and the struts are gone I'm pretty sure... No bueno, but it is what it is. This summer, I'll think about doing them and stuff... If I can't scrounge up enough cash, the P5 will be attended to.

 

[esnave09]

Yeah I'm thinking about just doing inserts for now, but I'll have to look at it. I was gonna pull Ozzie into my parent's garage tomorrow and tinker around a little bit, but the high is supposed to be 0 if we get lucky so that's probably not gonna happen. I'm not finding the thread that I looked at a couple weeks ago but I'm gonna go with some silicone or window weld for the inserts. However, either way will be a few long days in the lab. So that'll be spread over the course of a week or so I think. Struts aren't that expensive though. I got struts, mounts, and end links for around $350 plus the cost of the alignment. Although I know you were set on getting the Speed3, so maybe that won't happen.

 

[31N007]

Put the CS rear motor mount insert in. What a pain. If you're doing yours, make sure to get a universal joint or two and three 12" extensions. I don't really think pics are needed.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. There's a lotta vibes but that was obviously expected. I used Sound Meter Lite on my Nexus7 to measure the dBs and it topped at 86dB under load when I'm in first just getting going. Comparably, I have to have my stereo up pretty loud to get to 86dBs. Not going to complain though, my dad's gonna drive it home tonight. Wonder what he's going to say.

I also put in, after having waited a while to do so, shifter bushings. I'm not sure how to describe which ones they are other than saying they're attached to the rod that is attached to the side of the transmission and isn't the one that moves. I guess I should have done them separately to say whether or not they helped with the throws but they feel a lot more precise.

I ran a 0-60 in 9.989 today too. Chuffed about that considering my lunchbox isn't all that fast. I don't know what stock times are... Somewhere around the 8 second mark?

 

[31N007]

Have you had a chance to really use the snow tires yet? Cuz if you're anything like me you will start driving like a jerk. Haha I get so frustrated begins people going 20 mph in the snow.

Since I have an update to go along with this... I ended up overtaking 3 cars this morning as one guy was going 30 in a 40... These tires are so nice.

Managed to get an average of 25.5 MPGs this past tank. Not too shabby. I reckon I could have gotten more if I didn't wait around as often at school. I've put 89 in and I hope to be able to get over the 25.5 this past tank. Prices this time around were pretty good. 12.888 for $42 with 87 vs today 12.217 for $41 with 89.

Vibes from the MM have died down a great deal. Nothing else really to report.

 

[esnave09]

Since I have an update to go along with this... I ended up overtaking 3 cars this morning as one guy was going 30 in a 40... These tires are so nice.

Managed to get an average of 25.5 MPGs this past tank. Not too shabby. I reckon I could have gotten more if I didn't wait around as often at school. I've put 89 in and I hope to be able to get over the 25.5 this past tank. Prices this time around were pretty good. 12.888 for $42 with 87 vs today 12.217 for $41 with 89.

Vibes from the MM have died down a great deal. Nothing else really to report.

Haha I love that feeling! It gets frustrating being stuck behind people, but getting around them in a snap is so awesome! I hate how my tires spin like crazy when there's a light dusting of snow on the road tho. Have you had issues with that on your snow tires?

And you're saying that the MM inserts have settled in and have the vibrations have gradually gotten less...intense? Cuz I need to be working on my mm too (all around, sadly), but I was thinking about doing the window weld fix. Or what pcb did and just throw rubber chunks in there. I still have my old tires sitting in my room (too lazy to get them in the dumpster haha), so I might just chop up one of those and stuff them in there. Super ghetto, but if I have the resources I may as well use them.

Sidebar, changing the octane of gas you put in isn't going to change your performance, if not just make it worse. The ECU will learn and compensate for it, so nothing will really change. I accidentally filled up with 91 octane once (one of those random cash-only gas stations) because it was cheaper than 87 octane and literally nothing changed. I did mix in some more 87 once I realized my mistake, but I still had a good 3/4 tank of premium.

 

[31N007]

I can't say I have experienced them spinning. I'm relatively careful when starting, so I'm probably not the person to ask. I'll keep an eye on things though the next time we have snow on the ground. It's icy right now though...

It's definitely a lot less intense than the first few days. I should have taken a video of before and after. Dangit. If you feel comfortable window welding the mounts, I'd do that. There's a guy I know with an MS6 who did that but there might be less stress put on the RMM in those car. I'm with you on using resources. Just make sure you know that rubber is going to stay in place!

I don't expect it to make the car faster, but my friend who talks to cabbies a lot (he travels to NY often) said they put 89 in and see better MPGs than on 87. I wanted to put that to the test. If I don't see a large enough increase (I'll say 3 mpgs over the tank), I might not bother with putting it in there.

 

[esnave09]

Any luck work your gas experiment? Or slipping tires?

 

[31N007]

25.5 w/87, 26.6 w/89. (Most recently I just filled up and got 26.6 again with 89) Results are negligible. I tried to keep as consistent as I could but you're right, ECU must pick up on all this and mess with timing and such. As much as I'd like to have said otherwise. Lol. We've not had any powdery snow in the past few days. What was snow earlier on has turned to ice on the back roads and I've been in the Altima for the past week.

 

[esnave09]

Yeah the gas experiment renders the difference not worth the cost difference. At least here, where 89 is 10 cents more per gallon. At least you get a nice car this week! It's been brutally cold every time I've stayed my car. Sometimes I wonder if it's colder in the car than outside.

 

[31N007]

http://1drv.ms/1dx12Oh

Pardon the rust... Total cost to me: $2.53. I took my mom's old trunk prop (there were two) and used the one that was the weaker of the two. It's pretty nice if I do say so myself I can take more detailed pics (in fact I will later on) and show y'all what I used for the upper bracket. I did need to tap the hole in my fender, so that's stinky, but since I'm planning on keeping it, I can see no harm in having done that.

There is one more thing to install... Junkyard find and a good one at that. I'll post pics of that soon (Apr 12th is install day)

 

[esnave09]

I need something like that! Okay, maybe not need, but really really really really want it! ha

 

[31N007]

lol, try and find struts that aren't too powerful. Otherwise you might bend the mount. I need some thicker metal as the piece I used flexed a little bit. No worries though. If you really want some, I can try and find specs on the one I have and measure out dimensions. I personally don't believe in paying $160 for a set... Just silly that is.

 

[esnave09]

Well I might be able to salvage my passenger side hatch strut when I replace it. I'm not sure if it's got any power yet, but I'll find out soon enough. Do you think that'll be too big? I'm sure I can find a different mounting spot to make it fit, but will it be too thick to close the hood?

I do agree that $160 is quite ridiculous. Where is it that they want that much? lol

 

[31N007]

Tein springs. They creak too. YMMV though.

I measured the trunk mount from the Jeep to our hatch mounts as I had the same idea. I'll actually get and take close ups this evening of how I did things so you can have a look at what you're working with. The way it's setup for me at least is where the hood is close to all the way open (more than when propped up on the hood prop) and I'm wondering if the hatch mounts might be too long I wish I could offer help otherwise but I really didn't want to drill another hole in the fender area so I used the existing one. I'll say this: if you really want to use the hatch mount, try and find a way, without drilling holes in the fender area, to test if it'll 1) hold the hood up when fully extended, and 2) make sure that the L bracket won't bend when you apply pressure to close the hood.

As I said, I'll take pics and do a little write up. Make something useful here