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Car is looking fantastic. I love the attention to detail. Did you manage to clean the paint in between the side S2000 and the front/rear Honda emblems?
Thanks.
Kinda sorta. I did my best with q-tips and compound/polish (not perfect though); the areas inside the side emblems get super tight. Those areas are quite difficult to detail and polish up.
The tires I got were the newly released (2016 release date) Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 (not the older “Wide Oval” versions). These are Bridgestone Potenza RE003 outside of the US.
For reference, the older and discontinued (but had good reviews) Bridgestone RE760 were RE001 outside of the US. So, these RE003 are not a 1 generation, but a 2 generation (or 10’ish year) successor and improvement from the outdated RE760. Iirc, the RE002 (the generation in between the RE001 and the new RE003) was never sold in the US.
Here it is on display at the store. Definitely very aggressive looking for just an Ultra performance tire (probably the most aggressive looking UHP or Max performance tire). The huge outer shoulder block treads make it look very similar to the RE11/RE11a. They had some S04 tires on display as well (very good tires from tests/reviews, but unavailable in Ap1 sizing)…and surprisingly, they looked liked all-seasons next to these Indy 500’s. It’s funny (but neat) that these UHP tires look more aggressive than the popular and highly-rated Max performance tires, like the PSS and DW; and look more akin to Extreme performance tires. But, performance-wise, I am sure it is a different story and they won’t be nearly as grippy as Extreme category tires.
So far, so good. The are definitely firm and feel solid. I haven’t driven them hard in the canyons yet; just the street, curvy suburb streets and the freeway. So, I can’t really comment yet on how well they stick, squeal, hard turn-ins, intentionally initiating aggressive understeer/pushing (too dangerous on the street), oversteer and break-away. But, I can tell the traction-loss and break-away limit during throttle oversteer is a bit (actually, much) higher when I take a street corner or an off/on-ramp aggressively. But, then again, that shouldn’t be a big surprise, since my previous tires were bald crappy Chinese budget tires in the rear, and H-rated 460tw tires in the front.
I also got an alignment done. I had a free alignment check-up first. I wasn’t expecting it to be off, because I never noticed any uneven wear comparing the L and R tires. But, in the end, it was indeed very off after a check. Specifically, the Front Toe (-0.35º Toe-Out) and the Rear L-R Cross-Camber difference (0.8º difference).
Ever since I got the car, it had a bit of tram-lining on the freeway; with my car always easily catching slight grooves on the freeway and pushing/pulling my car along with it unexpectedly (and moving my car 1-2’). I always thought this was normal and a trait of the S2k, because I’ve always read that S2k’s had super sensitive and twitchy handling. So, I just wrote it off in my head and thought it was totally normal.
Drove around 50 miles on it so far, mostly freeway. And, I can totally feel the difference with the new alignment. It doesn’t tram-line at all now!!! Wow, so much easier, more predictable and accurate to drive. I don’t need to worry about those darn little grooves on the freeway anymore. So, I guess the previous Front Toe alignment being pretty off was the main culprit to my tramlining issue.
I haven't posted in a bit..since I like to keep my car OEM stock and fresh.
But, I installed Billman's Gen-X TCT today. Very fast shipping, easy install and also beautifully machined. Compared to stock, side by side, it looks like it extends more quite a bit and also has bigger and funnel/recessed-style holes (these must be a big improvement over stock). Can't wait to drive it around. I'll give my impressions after a couple days of driving it.
I've been using Billman's TCT for about a week now. Engine noticeably runs healthier, stronger, smoother cruising and also throughout the rev range (accel and decel), much more consistent/even combustions, solid and quiet idle. I notice it most during freeway cruising (super smooth, purrs nicely and pulls stronger) and also during downshifts, decel and engine braking. Blips/heel-toe seems quicker as well (engine noticeably feels more responsive). All around, engine just sounds and feels a lot better throughout the entire rev-range and in all situations (hold steady cruise, response, accel, decel engine braking, etc., etc.). Purrs like a new engine. This is perhaps the #1/Best engine mod/fix you could get and I should have got it a lot sooner when I first got the car. A+++++
Next on the to-do list...
- Radiator flush with Honda Type-2 coolant
- Rear axle nut tightening TSB
...I've been putting both of these off because I've been lazy and I don't have any bad symptoms related to these. My coolant still looks brand new and bright blue, and I don't have any odd sounds/howling/whirring/clicks/pings/creaks from my rear hubs.
Got some more maintanenece stuff. eBay fender clips (inevitably broke a couple while changing the front parking lights, and I also noticed many of mine are loose/cracked due to age), big ol' 3/4" ratchet and 36mm socket for the rear axle nut TSB, and some Honda Type-2 coolant (I bet it's still on the original coolant), and an oil filter of course.
I'll do everything once I get my Lisle funnel (still waiting for delivery on it).
Did the TSB rear axle nuts today. Experienced some maybe abnormal things.
Driver side - Nut came off as normal. Took a bit of strength.
Pass side - Nut came off waaaay too easy. Almost like a normal lugnut (though I admit, I had about 4ft of wrench leverage). Also, when reinstalling the nut, the threads were rough and harder to screw on all the way to the end/stop. Not quite "cross threaded"; but the threads inside the nut for sure looked a little rounded off and too shiny from abnormal friction....if that made sense. But, I was still able to screw it all the way on and give a good torque on it; maybe around 70-80deg past the previous stake mark (since it felt loose when I took it off).
Also changed out my coolant today with Honda Type-2 (I forgot to take pics though).
11-08-2016, 07:43 AM
