MKIII rips up the Autobahn South course

LordDigital

Member
May 21, 2005
360
1
16
46
Chicago
I went to Maywood today ,Autocrossed a liitle and met Kirk. He is a really nice guy ,talks a lot and by the end of the day I got a clear picture for his setup.

The most interesting is that he is basically running stock 7m ,STOCK CT26! Set at 12psi ,some kind of brutally hacked ECU (Boost cut delete) thus his AFRs are unknown. He’s got Sparco IC and Pipes – but that is pretty much it for his engine. He does not know about the famous “7M oiling issues” thus he does not worry about them. Someone told him to make sure that he is at Max or a little over on the dip stick and that is pretty much it!

His Diff is Cusco LSD 1way ,but his suspension is nothing crazy. Buddy-Club CoilOvers with unknown spring ratings ,and some old school strut bars. Did not ask for his sways ,BUT he is still running the 15+ old stock bushings! He has recently purchased a set of the red bushings ,but have not gotten to install them yet.

So based on that ,it sounds impossible that this MK3 would have so many Best Time of the day on low speed AutoX events ,and such crazy times on the Authoban Track… but here is the interesting part:
- He is running HUGE slicks on rolled fenders (18x275 or so)
- His Car weights under 3300lbs with the driver and the cage. His only seat in the car weights under 20lbs ,and they removed 90lbs from the 2 front doors alone!
- He knows a thing or two about rollCages ,so the car is caged quote well. I would rather have the cage extended to the front subframe as the DTM style cage ,but his reached to the bar behind the dash ant that is it.

It looks like that it may not take too much to make MKIII really competitive for autoX and Tracks ,but keep in mind that he is really good driver as well. He was driving his buddy’s Focus and beat him in his own car with 3 seconds on a 50 seconds course!
 

Adjuster

Supramania Contributor
Dang nice driving..

And this car is on a stock engine, stock brakes? Holy cow.

Imagine what this guy driving a MK3 with big brakes, a motor built for this type of stuff, and another 150+ hp at the wheels.. (or more.)

It would be interesting to say the least.. I'd wager he'd pass most of those other cars in the straights, and he would be able to brake better, so he could avoid that slide that just about caught him up there at the end..

This really speaks volumes about the basic design of these cars.. they have the right suspension, just add sticky tires... (And imagine if he had poly bushings.. or nylon ones, larger sway bars and all the other stuff so many of us have..)

Dang it, makes me want to go racing. :)
 

LordDigital

Member
May 21, 2005
360
1
16
46
Chicago
Adjuster;1077101 said:
Dang nice driving..

And this car is on a stock engine, stock brakes? Holy cow.

Imagine what this guy driving a MK3 with big brakes, a motor built for this type of stuff, and another 150+ hp at the wheels.. (or more.)

It would be interesting to say the least.. I'd wager he'd pass most of those other cars in the straights, and he would be able to brake better, so he could avoid that slide that just about caught him up there at the end..

This really speaks volumes about the basic design of these cars.. they have the right suspension, just add sticky tires... (And imagine if he had poly bushings.. or nylon ones, larger sway bars and all the other stuff so many of us have..)

Dang it, makes me want to go racing. :)

Forgot to mention that he does have Stillen BBK.

You are right ,his car is mostly cornering and almost no power with stock CT at 12psi. I was surprised that he'd never even heard of upgraded CT turbos ,elbows and some other very basic stuff...
 

Wade T

7m Mk2 terror
Apr 6, 2005
87
0
0
54
Seattle
Nice vid/driving.

Sounds like the exhaust is a bit restricted when he's on it.

He's gotta lose that pink steering wheel and shift knob.:)
 

LordDigital

Member
May 21, 2005
360
1
16
46
Chicago
He was at my shop today ,looking under my Supra.

I was shocked to find out ,that he is running 100% stock Rear Sway ,with 100% stock and 101% plastic rear endLinks... OMG
 

Colt

New Member
Jul 21, 2008
6
0
0
Chicago Burbs
Hey guys,
This is a friend’s account, but that video is me driving. I don't get on the computer much. Looks like a lot of you are interested in the specs of my car, but first off, let me say that I am aware of the other mods out there. I know about the oiling issues and the upgrades for the ct26, but I didnt want put money into the 7M. I have always toyed with the idea of swapping in somthing else and thought it would be better to save the money for that.
The time I ran at autobahn was a 1:38.3 from a standing start. I was the 4th fastest time of the day, the cars that beat me were a 500hp dedicated road race camaro, that factory five challange car with a 32 valve cobra engine, and a c5 z06. The camaro beat me by .05 and the z06 .6... the Factory Five is really a purpose built race car and doesnt even have lights in its finshed form... I helped build a lot of that car...
Heres some pics of my car..
http://www.attrackgraphics.com/index_files/Page1197.htm
Here's what's been done:
Engine:
I sent the ecm out for work some time ago that removed any fuel cuts. I cant remember who did it, that was somthing like 10 years ago...
I have a fluidyne radiator and a Greddy IC, metal head gasket (can’t remember the thickness) Greddy ProFec-B boost contoller and ARP head studs. I run 12psi.
The car did come as an automatic which i converted to manual, so i did put on an aluminum flywheel. Thats it for the engine.
Chassis:
I welded the caged in the car myself, Its a S&W cage, DOM tube SCCA spec. It is gusseted to the top of the A-piller and the B piller.
There is also strut tower braces on both ends.
Weight reduction:
The car weighes 3,312 with cage and me in it and Maybe a half tank?
The black stripe on the hood is not black paint, it’s actually a painted CF hood with no paint on the center.
The car is totally gutted, nothing in the doors, no glass or electronics or inside door handles. I have kevlar Cobra brand seats and have done all the other standard weight reduction stuff. I also have a aluminum one piece driveshaft.
Suspension:
Buddy Club racing spec dampers 18kg front 10kg rear. I do have an after market front sway i got some time ago and i have polly bushing i havent put in yet.
Tires:
275/40R17 hoosier A6's on all 4 corners, I made little fender flares to fit them. The wheels in the pictures are my street wheels which are 19's.
Other:
I did keep the automatic rear end gear which is pretty short, and i have a 1.5 way Kusco diff.
That should be it. I will have my buddy put some more videos up soon.
 

natedogr

New Member
Sep 12, 2006
296
0
0
Chatham, Va
car looks sick and loved the video. its awesome how you have few engine mods done to the car and its still that fast with upgraded suspension, wheels and tires. very nice!
 

Tae361

New Member
Jul 15, 2008
110
0
0
NY
damn impressive video knowing what you run. by watching the video i'd have thought there would be a bit more modifications how you seemingly pulled on those evo's with ease, so alot of credit to the driver. makes me antsy to autox my car next season, just sucks they cut out the local scca course so the closest autox to me is englishtown or pocono.