And it begins..."The Flash" Build Thread

[Mechie3]

Erik, what does the hood, fender, windshield junction look like on your car? My surround touches the fender. If I move it at all (not much to move) it will touch the door. Curious how much clearance you have.

[Erik W. Treves]

Mine touched as well. I just ended up getting them really close then just trimming it to fit...I did some mods in this area to make the overlap and holes as small as possible...but really all you have to do is grind down the rain channel. you won't see it after the hood goes on.

[JeromeS13]

When I got my kit the nose aluminum was still in the draft and had no provisions for sway bar....so I took what they gave me ad made it work. The kits after mine and Wayne's have new nose aluminum. I think what you have is correct.

Interesting. It looks like that entire triangular section where the swaybar goes is wide open, then?

[Erik W. Treves]

yes..I think that's the way it is now.

[Mechie3]

Thanks for the pics. I trimmed mine a little but wanted to make sure i wasnt doing something else wrong.

[Frank818]

Erik, your rad uses the standard WRX middle-top inlet tube.

Did you have any issues with clearance around the hood or something?
I'm trying to read over your comments to find something but so far I think you had no problems.

[Erik W. Treves]

I'm with you. I'm not even building an 818, but I like looking at all of the progress pics. I expect to pull into work in a few days and see it sitting in the parking lot as fast as Erik is moving. I'm embarrased at the speed my MK4 build is moving after reading this thread.

in case you missed it this morning AT WORK...lol...

[Brando]

I guess that officially makes it a daily driver! Congrats...did you shave off any time on your morning route?

How tough is that H1 in the background. Sweet

[wleehendrick]

Looking good, Erik; I'm sure you're getting lots of attention. That mk1 jetta is slammed, and the 818 sits lower. Now that you've driven it for a bit on the street, how's the clearance of the front splitter working out? Any scraping?

[flynntuna]

I suppose parking near a rocket launcher is a good theft deterrent?

[MiniVanMan]

HMMWV with Avenger?? I spent a year at Redstone myself.

[Erik W. Treves]

Looking good, Erik; I'm sure you're getting lots of attention. That mk1 jetta is slammed, and the 818 sits lower. Now that you've driven it for a bit on the street, how's the clearance of the front splitter working out? Any scraping?

I have the front set to the high side.. 4 3/4 inches due to some tire rub issues up front. So now it doesn't rub in front and the splitter has yet to touch. I think the rear has settled finally however (I always hate breaking in new springs).. When doing sweeping turns at 55+ mph and I hit a bump the left rear seems to be touching. At 4.5 ride height in the back, the side skirts are only 3 1/2 inches off the ground! This is without me in the car as well... With 275 lbs springs, I am thinking am compressing a little too much when all out. I am going to do some clearance checks and then crank up the rear ride height.... With the temp close to 70 the other day was able to get the 0-60 time down in the 5 second zone. 3rd isn't spinning anymore, but the top of second still is. A little more seat time and some warmer weather... I think I might touch high to mid 4's easy... I will say that this thing is fun as hell to drive and it rides really good. It just does everything well.

[wleehendrick]

Thanks for the info... I'm planning on 24" diameter tires in front to avoid rubbing. hopefully I can drop the ride height and still get out of my driveway!

[metalmaker12]

See some warmth and BAM your 0-60 is 1-2 seconds better, get your seat time, wear the tires in and in the 80's you will do low 4's or better I bet

[Erik W. Treves]

So I found the rub! Not as bad as I thought!!



it had already started to "fix" itself...



So I just figured I would help it out....





and some nice drive by videos! to celebrate no more rubs with my 18's ....

[Erik W. Treves]

[Scargo]

sure!

Federal 595 RS-R's

Rears: 265/35/18
Front: 235/40/18 (these are too wide and rub the inner wheel well...will have to notch the aluminum or go to a 215/40/18 which they make in the SS-595)

Enkei Raijin 18's (VCP supplied)

Fronts: 8.5 5x100 45 offset
Rears: 9.5 5x100 45 offset with 10mm spacer and 3 inch ARP studs on STOCK control arms. I did space the upper rear trailing arm inboard.... also in order to jack the car up you have to tether the rear suspension since as the suspension droops you gain toe in and at max droop the tires contact the lower trailing arm (Wayne's arms account for this)...I will probably place some travel limiters instead. I won't be jumping the car anyway and it only happens at FULL droop.

Since this post I see you have created clearance for the front tires. Besides full lock issues do you see any other potential issues? What are the front tire's diameter? What is your ride height in front? Is it on the normal ride height setting? Can you tell how much clearance you have inside at the top under full bump?
All this questioning is driven by me trying to figure out how low my R car can be and what maximum diameter tire I can run. You seem to have the biggest front tires on a car that is driven.
I am considering drop axles to get it down really low and I wonder what my tire's headroom will be. All this is just my trying to figure out some of this in advance of my kits arrival...

[Erik W. Treves]

I have the front set to the high side.. 4 3/4 inches due to some tire rub issues up front. So now it doesn't rub in front and the splitter has yet to touch. I think the rear has settled finally however (I always hate breaking in new springs).. When doing sweeping turns at 55+ mph and I hit a bump the left rear seems to be touching. At 4.5 ride height in the back, the side skirts are only 3 1/2 inches off the ground!

post 1012

[Scargo]

OK, I seemed to have missed that. I was searching posts for key works. It still doesn't answer my question about how much room you have on top, in the front, under full compression.

[Erik W. Treves]

with 235's not much. The tire starts to rub towards the very top...that's why I said 215's or smaller...you need to stick as close to 24" wheel diameter as possible. BTW the R has alt. mounting points to drop the car an additional inch, not sure why you need drop spindles.

[Goldwing]

Forgive the question many have speculated about:

Have you done any calculations for gas mileage yet? If you have, please share! ( maybe indicate highway, mixed, lead foot, etc).

Thanks.

[Erik W. Treves]

I haven't. I have only been to the gas station once to fill up and have just over 100 miles on the car. I am at about 1/2-3/4 of a tank, in VERY mixed driving conditions. It has just been too cold out and I am trying to keep the miles down for potential buyers.

[Erik W. Treves]

Alright...warmed up JUST enough for the TVRSCCA test and tune event here. I only did like 2-3 runs...really didn't want to hammer on the car, but wanted to know that all my street driving was a good indication of how it would perform when pushed and how it might react in a panic situation. First and most...no rubbing was detected from the tires up front which a huge victory. The handling is exactly what I thought it would be based on the street driving. The car is neutral loose. It tends to over-steer a little more than expected under trail breaking (more than the cobra)...BUT...it immediately responds to application of throttle and straighten things right out and pulls through the turn HARD! I am normally 5 seconds behind this crowd of drivers...this being a test and tune, there were more "set up" cars here...imagine my surprise when I was only 3 seconds behind them in my 818... You can see in the videos that I wasn't even pushing it..first run WAS the first track attempt and I forgot to secure the hood so that threw me off. The second run you can see the pass say "this thing handles great"... I pushed a LITTLE more, but really didn't want to get after it since it is still being sold... All in all...this thing runs great! Way too much horsepower for this track as well. I didn't mess with tire pressures or temps. I could probably stand a little more rear camber, but I will have to wait for a warmer day really.

The maiden flight..attacking the cones! (yes slow I know)

[Erik W. Treves]

Run 2... a little faster. .. this one was way fun!

[Plebeian]

Definitly looks like fun. It looks like you cut about 5 seconds off that 2nd run, very cool. Cheers.

[metalmaker12]

Love it, I can't wait to do the same soon.

[icky]

very nice!

[Erik W. Treves]

So still tweaking and learning.... decided to play around with different tire combinations.... so here we are after completion with the 235/40/18 and the rubbing still present at full lock and EXTREME autox with 2 people in the car...I wanted to lower the car in front but couldn't because of the tires...so...before



Now after...slightly different angle on the camera shot...these are 215/40/18 on the same 8 inch rim...I was worried that the tire profile might be far enough off that it wreck the look of the car..I did the math difference and the delta is the same as the delta (front to back) on my Cobra...so...looks good I think...for sure I can finally lower the car....after I buy the other 3 tires to match...rear sizes will stay the same.



Right side of car with current setup..you can see how close it is...



Left side now with the 215's...much more room! still need to do the full lock check... I am hopeful that this will all work out ad look great once I fix the ride height...though it doesn't look 1/2 bad now.

[Frank818]

Pretty much on the inside with the 215!
Remind me the offset and camber?

[ehansen007]

Any problems with speed bumps?

[Erik W. Treves]

not so far at this ride height

[C.Plavan]

Erik- Couple of tire questions since you have gone through it already on the front.
I see you had 235/40 R18 Federal595rs-R on the front. With a Spec of 25.3 diameter, 9.4 section width, 8.6 tread width measured on an 8.5" rim.

Were you rubbing because of diameter more you think? The tires I'm looking at are about 1 inch shorter in diameter than what you were using. I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out if they would fit.

I'm looking at the Toyo RR race tire 235/40 R17 for my 818R. The Specs are 24.4 diameter, 9.5 section width, they don't list a tread width. I have 17x8 +38 wheels on the front. Any help would be great.

[Erik W. Treves]

Chad I was rubbing both on width and diameter in my opinion. The 215's I have on the car now are 24.8 and it looks like I will be in much better shape. the 24.8 was measured on a 7.5 rim and since I have 8 inch rims it actually "stretches" the tire ever so slightly. With 235's I would be more worried about the width with a +38 offset. you MIGHT be too far outboard with the combination of 235 and +38 offset.

[C.Plavan]

Chad I was rubbing both on width and diameter in my opinion. The 215's I have on the car now are 24.8 and it looks like I will be in much better shape. the 24.8 was measured on a 7.5 rim and since I have 8 inch rims it actually "stretches" the tire ever so slightly. With 235's I would be more worried about the width with a +38 offset. you MIGHT be too far outboard with the combination of 235 and +38 offset.

Thanks Erik- I wish Toyo made a 225/40 R17 in the RR. But that would be too easy. Hmmmmm, not sure what to do. I'm trying to stay away from Hoosier "Crack".

[Erik W. Treves]

I would jump to the R888's then

[Erik W. Treves]

Ok so .... now all 4 tires match.... looks good from the side. The .5 difference in side wall height is not detectable with the eye...confirms what I was thinking since the cobra is the same way....I am still carrying about 1/4 inch more ride height in the front, but I am not scraping in and out of driveways and such.



Full bump...If it goes much higher I would have trim a little more in the front fender area...but I would bottom the car out first....



And...very excited to see FULL lock...my mods that I had already done paid off big time....I didn't mod the right side in the same way (got lazy) so it "just" rubs at full lock...easily fixed!!



215/40/18's baby!! on a +40 offset!! digging it!! ..you bet I am excited!!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Hi Erik
I'm confused about your second picture where you say "Full Bump".
What is stopping the wheel from going higher. Then only bump stop in in the shock.
Bob

[tango68ss]

Erik,

From one helo bubba to another.... You hit the mark! Excellent job and an inspiration! Upon my return from Africa, I am ordering an 818!

TC

[Erik W. Treves]

Hi Erik
I'm confused about your second picture where you say "Full Bump".
What is stopping the wheel from going higher. Then only bump stop in in the shock.
Bob

Nothing stopping it other than the body actually bottoming out if it were able to actually get up that high. If it goes much higher the frame would hit the ground. I put a straight edge on it and I have about .5 inches to 1.0 inches left before that would happen. At that point the tire again contacts the front fender/bumper lip where I had not clearanced it yet, but it JUST touches...If I went ahead and clearanced it, it wouldn't stop at all until the shock bottomed....I figure that if it compresses that far I will have blown the tire and bent rim. As you see it, it is at over 3 inches of travel from ride height.

If I was running a R, I would clearance it, but as it sits at 4.7 front ride height, my front splitter is JUST safe from the driveway exit (going really slow) and almost all driveways going into stores as long as I go slow and at an angle.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Nothing stopping it other than body actually bottoming out if it were able to actually get up that high. If it goes much higher the frame would hit the ground. I put a straight edge and I have about .5 inches to 1.0 inches left before that would happen. At that point the tire again contacts the front fender/bumper lip where I had not clearance yet, but it JUST touches...If I went ahead and clearanced it, it wouldn't stop at all until the shock bottomed....I figure that if it compresses that far I will have blown the tire and bent rim. As you see it, it is at over 3 inches of travel from ride height.

If I was running a R, I would clearance it, but as it sits at 4.7 front ride height, my front splitter is JUST safe from the driveway exit (going really slow) and almost all driveways going into stores as long as I go slow and at an angle.

Cool, that is a good way to determine top of travel.
I was going to put the shock on without the spring to see how high the wheel would go.
Bob