Sldrck's STR Build Thread

I am using Wedge Engineering bracket, no sliders. Just drilled holes in cross members to match up to seat, and had to cut and grind some of the welded tabs out of the way to get the seat to sit flush. Then I repainted the bracket to keep it from rusting. I did not use sliders, because I did not want to raise the seat up. I guess I could have shaved off the bottom seat legs to make up for the difference in height. The sliders would make the seat weigh more than I wanted though. I did this same type of setup for my previous Celica and the reclining angle of the seat was perfect. The reclining angle of the seat in the MR2 still needs some work. The seating position is OK for competition but there is no lower leg support for long trips, and it makes it kind of tiring to drive 13 hours in a day, as experienced when driving back from Mineral Wells.

Also if you need to move the seat further forward or backwards like I did for the Celica, then I just welded additional metal tabs on the seat rail and drilled new holes. I can post up some pictures when I take the seat back out if you are interested. Sometimes you have to fabricate a part that you need. Out of the box solutions that are fully optimize for STR are hard to find.

Here is my new Alumna AE-46 trailer for towing behind the Spyder. There is enough room for eight tires plus all my stuff, and I can still see out the back. Trailer weighs 340 pounds empty. I add 1/8 plywood sheet to bottom along with 1/2" thick neoprene mat to keep the vibrations down and prevent dents or holes in the aluminum floor.

Stuff I tried but did not like and why;

BC coilovers - On the surface they seem like a good inexpensive setup to try. While they might handle better than stock suspension, they are definitely not designed for competition. Let's be honest a good shock valved for the spring rates you are running should not be bouncy. I only ever ran the 450 lb springs on them and they were supposedly re-valved for those spring rates. No matter what setting I selected on the 30 clicks, it was never comfortable and either underdamped or overdamped. Either the rebound was too stiff causing the front to jump off bumps with the tires losing contact with the group, or the compressions was too stiff causing the front to skate or not let the suspension do anything. Lesson learned, never buy a shock with a single knob that does two things. They don't work.

Spring rates.
450f, 450r: Not a bad setup, but lots of body roll leading to lots of camber and toe changes while competing.
350f, 700r: All I can say is way horrible. Always waiting on the front to catch up with the rear. all maneuvers in the car were just painfully slow.
500f, 700r: This worked well at the Mineral Wells Prosolo. The car had a low speed push mid-corner, but that was probably a front camber setting. Lots of skating over the bumps. Shocks kept the car in control, but it just felt weird.
400f, 500r: Based on the bumpy surface at Mineral Wells I wondered how a softer setup would work. Since everyone says run a softer setup at San Diego I figured it a perfect place to try it out. This was the worst setup I have had to date on the car. The response was just slow on steering inputs. Always waiting on the car to finish what I started. Kind of felt like driving a stock car again.

Mostly Bald RS3 in the rain. Let's just say it was entertaining, and I now know that they are growing cabbage next to the track. Lesson learned have the correct tires for the conditions. Still not sure what those are, but I have an better idea which ones to not use.

El Toro Prosolo feedback. Saturday morning I ran the 195 Toyos. The back of the car was way too loose. Not sure if it was the different surface, different temperature or something else. This was the same setup that I ran on Sunday at the San Diego Tour and the car felt great. Switched to RS3 and big tire setup. Car felt 100% different in the afternoon runs. Stable everywhere, no more rev limiter all over the course, but still had to go to third for the walloms. Guess the RS3 could carry more speed around the sweeper allowing me to have more speed through the walloms. Dropped .8 seconds on one side and 1.5 seconds on the other side and lost 2 positions. Sounds like a typical ProSolo to me. <_<
Sunday morning decided to make a few changes in how I was driving the course instead of making changes to the car. Picked up a little time and hung on to 17. Wheel spin was a big issue on Sunday. With the increased grip in the sweepers I just could not apply any more power in sweepers because of the wheel spin. At least I know the installation of the LSD won't go to waste.