R33 Gtst Track Car - The "f**k Bitches, Get Money" Build

[JimmyRickard]

Love the interior mate looks clean af.

Who did the dash for you? what did it cost?

also, have you had the car on the track with the GKtech mirrors? Mine are f**king useless, the mirrors fly all over the place so I can't see out of the bastards. Had to stuff them with tape

[R31 drift pig]

Shaun @ Boostworx fabbed the dash for me while they were building the cage. Just seemed easier and neater than cutting the factory one up, as i had nothing factory going back in anyways.

Haven't driven with he GKTech mirrors yet, mine seem exceptionally stiff though? Dunno. Was spewing cause a week after I bought them and put them on, a legit set of gandors came up for sale 15 minutes away from me.

[R31 drift pig]

So, After debating the last couple of weeks about wheels, I ended up buying a set today.

Bought a set of Work VSKF's, in the crap sizes of 18x8.5 +38 and 18x9.5 +39 haha.

They're getting full refurb, and being widened with new lips/barrels out to 18x10 -5 and 18 x 12 +20.

Am I happy? Bet your ass I am haha.

Now these are weak as f**k, add 5 inch lips and it's a whole new ball game. Getting centres painted same colour as body.

Was going to do black lip and battleship grey centres, but thought it might look a little too over the top, so Ill just go with black/Polished lip.

Edited February 15, 2016 by R31 drift pig

[whatsisname]

Hi matt, Very familiar with your car too! I started going to shaun just after he opened BW, remember your car was always on the hoist closest to the door? I was driving RX7's back then haha.\

Mine's fair rough compared to yours, but i didn't build it to be too pretty, Ill probably fix some of the average bodywork after it's finished and blow another coat of paint over it.

It should be back @ BW in the next couple of months, once the body wiring is finished, Shaun's sticking in the cams for me and wiring in and tuning the Haltech for me.

Cheers for the kind words, keeps me plugging away.

Hi mate,

Yes I recall my car occupying that hoist for quite a while! It's spent plenty of time on the hoist at the current BW workshop.

Your beast might be a tiny bit rough around the edges at the moment but that's to be expected in the middle of a major build project. I'm tipping the finished product (they're never really finished) will look awesome!

No worries at all mate. keep up the good work.

[R31 drift pig]

Thanks matt, Im hoping the finished product will come together well.

Minor update, the F+R Windows went back in this arvo, was going to buy Polycarbonate windows, but id rather spend $1500 on tyres than windows that save me 10kg.

Which brings me to my next update, wheels are apart, lips have been ordered, now the wait for them to be made and sent, and the wheels to be reassembled, Im told it should be around 4 weeks.

Only a couple of things to do and once the wheels arrive, it can go off for wiring and tuning.

Ive been through the motorsport tyre thread, but am still undecided which tyres I'll actually use. Thinking about giving the achilles 123's a go, but not sure how good they'll be, and whether i should step up to something a bit better. Maybe R888's, or Falken RT615k's or something...Dunno. Ill look at that closer to my wheels being finished.

[V28VX37]

...

Ive been through the motorsport tyre thread, but am still undecided which tyres I'll actually use. Thinking about giving the achilles 123's a go, but not sure how good they'll be, and whether i should step up to something a bit better. Maybe R888's, or Falken RT615k's or something...Dunno. Ill look at that closer to my wheels being finished.

Here's some recent Nov '15 pricing info if you're looking at true semi's: http://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/395003-circuit-semi-slicks/?p=7639874

I ended up going with R888R's for my 34 sedan.

[R31 drift pig]

I saw that, I reckon those tyres in 265/35's will be a fair bit more haha. Ive gone right through that thread and I'm still a bit unsure.

Ill sit down with my tyre guy and see what he thinks as well.

[whatsisname]

Ben,

I have used a reasonable range of motorsport orientated tyres over the years, including both the RT615 and R888. In fact, from early 2013 till Jan 2015 I had RT615 235/40/18 on the front and R888 265/35/18 on the rear.

The Federal RT615K has a UTQG of 200 A A vs. the Toyo R888 100 AA A

From all reports the new Toyo R888R has a tread wear of around 80-100.

Whilst it's somewhat difficult to get an honest and accurate assessment when comparing UTQG ratings* between different tyre manufacturers I can confidently state the R888 will provide a lot more grip in direct comparison to the RT615.

*Grades are assigned by the tyre manufacturer based on their test results or those conducted by an independent company hired by the manufacturer.

I am currently running Yokohama Advan A050R on my 33, which provide significantly more grip than Toyo R888. We run the A050R on the Sprinter as they are the control tyre in Improved Production.

I believe the Advan Neova AD08R uses a similar compound to their flagship A050R. The AD08R has a tread wear of 180 and is significantly cheaper.

AD08R: 235/40/18 $319 RRP 265/40/18 $419 RRP

A050R: 235/40/18 roughly $520 265/35/18 roughly $540 - I paid $480 and $500 via IP club discount.

[R31 drift pig]

that's pretty helpful actually. Cheers Matt.

Ive also been looking at the federal 595RSR, which has a treadwear of 140, Comes in my preferred size for a 10" wheel, which is 225/40, and a lot of EVO guys seem to rate them over in the US, and some have said they prefer them over the AD08R's. And the pricing is cheap for what they supposedly are. 225/40 was $175 each and 265/35's are $195. Ive only used the SS595's, and they were pretty good for a street tyre.

The AD05's and R888's (Which i assume are around the same pricing) and starting to be a bit too much for what I want to spend, but they may be what I need to run in order it get the most out of the 33. It's that balancing act between money VS outcome.

And I spose I need to actually decide what I want to do with it haha. Reckon hillclimbs are definitely on the agenda.

Edited February 26, 2016 by R31 drift pig

[admS15]

Bang for buck, federal 595 rsr is hard to beat. There is a new version rsrr. They're not as quick a tyre as a ad08r or any proper semi but you get 85-90% of the performance for 50% of the price.

[R31 drift pig]

At this stage, I may give them a run and see, I can always decide I need to step up to a better tyre at some point.

And thanks, I'm keeping all opinions in mind. I'll go see my tyre guy in the next eek or two and see what's available, pricing etc.

Edited February 26, 2016 by R31 drift pig

[V28VX37]

Bang for buck, federal 595 rsr is hard to beat. There is a new version rsrr. They're not as quick a tyre as a ad08r or any proper semi but you get 85-90% of the performance for 50% of the price.

From all the research I did recently the RS3 is an all-round better crossover tyre than the 595RSR, which was originally my first choice. If you can stretch your budget another 20% or so that'd be my pick.

AD08R is better still, although still not a 'proper' semi.

[mistermeena]

I've been using the Federal FZ201 in 235 and 255, because I got them slightly used at a bargain price. I'm pretty happy with them (for the price I guess), but the quickest tyre on our short track seems to be the z221

[whatsisname]

Federal's 595 RSR is the control tyre in the Circuit Excel series (have 2 in the build at the moment). As admS15 stated, bang for buck they are pretty much unbeatable.

The A050R is the best of of all the options mentioned, it's pretty much the pinnacle for setting lap times. That's why it's used in so many forms of motorsport - WTAC, IPRA, Targa Tas etc. Unfortunately they are very expensive. There are plenty of other more cost effective options if you don't mind dropping a few tenths of a second.

I had a set of Hankook RS3 on my old Caldina GT-Four N. They replaced a set of KU36 (TW of 180). Upon release Hankook rated the RS3 140 tread wear. The set I had were 140. Since then they've regraded them 200. I believe the compound remains the same despite the tread wear rating change. They certainly provided more grip than the KU36 and wore quicker.

Oh, Ben, one more thing, the A050R was designed to provide grip right from the get go and maintain that grip level throughout the life of the tyre. All the IP guys I've talk to gained upwards of 1-2sec a lap switching from the superseded Yokohama A048. They also agree the A050 provides more consistent grip over the life of the tyre - lap records have fallen on old and worn A050s.

In summary:

A050R

Daylight

595 RSR

Z222 / RS3

KU36

[whatsisname]

Have no personal experience with Hankook's Z221 but from all reports they are the equal of or better than the A050. Well worth a look if the price is right.

[mistermeena]

For a car this serious I cant imagine the 595's, ku36s and all those "street semis" being worthwhile. They're expensive but its worth stumping up for a proper semi

Edited February 29, 2016 by mistermeena

[R31 drift pig]

Ya Know, That's precisely whats been going through my head the last few days. Just a bit hard trying to justify spending the extra money when Im so close to having it finished.

But, If the tyres let the car down, I guess ill be even more disappointed.

But at the same time, if I was chasing every last 10th, there's a lot of other things Id have changed, or done differently. Like the ride height etc, suspension setup, my brake system etc.

Im still weighing it all up, and still have some time before my wheels are finished.

[whatsisname]

Ben, don't cut corners with tyre choice mate. At the end of the day, tyres (and suspension) are the key to putting power to the ground, especially so in RWD configuration. You want as much grip as you can get.

You can buy Toyo R888 in 225/40/18 for $300ea. Nitto NT01 are even less at $225. Add maybe $20 for freight costs to Adelaide. Pretty good value for a 80-100 tread ware rated semi-slick tyre. Neither will match a Yokohama A050R or Hankook Z221 but at half the price they are excellent bang for buck and will provide more grip than KU36, RS3, 595RS-R or RS-RR.

http://www.stgeorgetyres.com.au/productstyres.aspx?widthid=57&profileid=70&diameterid=85&PageURL=tyres

http://www.nittotire.com/race-tires/nt01-dot-compliant-competition-road-course-tire/

The next step is a dedicated traction control system. I decided to go with a Racelogic system. They recently discontinued the Racelogic TC system but will continue to provide full support to existing users.

[R31 drift pig]

Update:

I still have no wheels. There's been some kind of hold up having the barrels done, hopefully be sorted this week so I can get them all reassembled. Final sizing ended up being 18x10+5 and 18x12 +7, with 7 inches of lip on the back Im told haha. SO as of now, the car is still perched on jack stands, with not really much else I can do to it.

Ended up buying Federal 595-RSRR tyres. When they're $150 and $160 a tyre, I couldn't really say no. I still have a lot of setting up and street driving to do, would rather do that on $650 worth of tyres than $500 a corner.

My tyre guy is getting some prices for some Advan A0-50r's, and Ill buy a set when Im ready to actually start competing. I may step up to like a 295 or something in the rear.

As soon as my wheels are done, it goes off for wiring, tuning, and alignment. and then I get to drive it again after 2 years.

Edited April 12, 2016 by R31 drift pig

[R31 drift pig]

I know its not much of an update, but things are still moving along slowly haha...

Wheels should be completed in the next week or so, then I can get the car back on the deck, button up the last couple of bits, and then off to be wired and tuned. Obligatory burnout pics coming.