after a long (in my eyes) hiatus from June 2012, finally back on the road





>>So here is the story of my celica.>>




so i dont get to ramble on too much, lets start out with the first picture i took of my car back in 2006 when I got her.


the first mod that i did was my JL speakers all around. nothing special. i wasnt too much into the whole 6gc scene until a little bit after.

i then stripped the hub caps and started putting every sticker i found on that car!







then i had finally gotten into the 6gc scene and started to mod her. first things first, a $70 weapon r intake from a fellow member. needless to say i felt badass installing it seeing as how it was my first mod.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQKHBZH2yg...re=channel_page



after that came exhaust, a nice n\' rare SP1




>>>>THEN TRAGEDY STRUCK!>>>>
i had thrown a rod and my car was up for about 3months, saddest moment ever!


after all was said and done, i got a new rebuilt block.

the day it was back on the road


this is the first pic i took with my new camera



Then after not having it for a while i wanted to get her gifts, thus leading us into the...
>>>>BAD IDEA PHASE>>>>







end phase


then i put on my XS auto headers the NIGHT before i was leaving for my freshman year of college. ended up rushing and cutting to hastily and had a bad exhaust leak. and a lil bit after put heat wrap on the rad tubes
also i got one of the limited DCR 3points




then after a month or so, my engine quit on me while cruising around pittsburgh. had to tow it back home to the shop the block was built at in philly. ended up being a bad head gasket.



then i just started buying stuff while at school and putting it in

>>>>SPENDING PHASE>>>>

installing hid\'s in february





most up to date interior shot at night


most up to date engine shot

Got some bars


STEELIES PAINTED

yellow jdm fogs

jdm tails

yellow highs


>>>>MATURING PHASE>>>>
well i took off all the stickers haha

got new rubbers

a big shipment


auto-x came into my life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s66yhF5jtVk









then she sat for a while, not being modded, she was content




>>>>THE SCREW YOU GUYS MY CAR IS FINALLY LOWERED PHASE>>>>
this is how she sits as of now




props to art for getting me into this scene


the end.....?

This post has been edited by Tigawoods: Aug 15, 2015 - 5:34 AM

very nice Tiga

nice job mike...i love these kinds of threads...we need to have a member journal section on here..keep the modding process goin...its addicting and rewarding

P.S.
shoulda picked up that set of green 6 spokes....would look good!

hahah n i met u sumwhere b4 the maturing phase im glad to say that i have met u

very nice. i especially like the autox part, but thats just me
where did the ksports come in? and how much were they?

btw, I can i notice where your photography skills get better and better, not to mention better equipment lol

Nice write up, mike.
I never knew you had jl speakers. How do u like them over stock?

thanks guys


>
the auto-x point was the high point haha. the ksports are the most recent mod i have done. i should add it in.

the sad thing is she wont be getting to many presents this summer. all my money is going to the camera haha. i really want to get wheels, if i see any deals i will jump on it, i have been too picky. i want white wheels, that are light. ssr? 400 a piece no ways

>
for the price they perform very good, havent had any problems with them

champagne taste. Beer budget.
Get some nice 7th gen rims already. The steelies gots to go, yo!

This post has been edited by lagos: Mar 20, 2009 - 3:38 PM

u spelled it wrong college man!
champagne.

i want to get those enkei rp's that one guy is selling on here. the exact size i want too! 16x7.
i would just take them when i got them and get them powdercoated white

looks very good. I'm just starting the AutoX phase going to a couple last year. I think I found a new hobby. I love the progression. Hopefully we can all avoid the bad idea phase.

i like the pic of your car's front bumper. the way some of it is painted black. reminds me of trd bumper.

Ha! done.........riiiiiiiiight

if i know my brother, its not done

Sweet harness bar yo.

I still think the blurple color is best still.

Looking good tiga, post up your autox vid

>

you know me all too well bro haha. the camera is getting the money this summer. the celi is getting track time. and maybe a couple small gifts

>
everytime hahaha

Just a short note on the autox vid, which was great and awsome production by the way

I noticed that when your coming to a cone, you tend to react when your just getting to the cone, kinda like heading straight for it (or i guess right next to it lol) and then once you are past the cone, or right at it, you react to where the next is. My advice is to concentrate on knowing where the next cone is when your already heading for the cone coming up. "Concentrate on the immediate future, not the immediate past or pressent." Another way to think of it is to try to hit the inside cone your going around with your rear inside tire. The only way to do this is to not aim at the cone, but to go high, and treat the cone as an apex. Just like on a road course. your best line is to start wide, turn in at the right moment, to make your rear inside tire hit the apex, and then exit wide. In autox, exiting wide (depending on the course setup) could help or hurt, but findin the apex and setting up the car to hit that apex is key on any course.

For example, in the almost "zig-zag" slalom portion of the course (1:25-end of run) you entered actually really well, started turn in outside since you were already wide, which made your car straightend for the next cone before you passed the current one. For the rest of it, you tend to react when you reach the cone, therefore, you play a game of "catch-up" with rest of the course, causing panic-induced steering and forcing your mind to think faster, which will just slow your driving down. You want to know exactly whats coming up and know exactly where your car should be after every turn. Slow, fluid steering will also keep the tire friction low and controlled, which will come naturally when you get used to setting up your car for the next turn.

I have a picture/diagram/drawing on my comp of what i mean, it makes it 10x easier to explain. I would say check out the vid in the sig, but it's not quite the best example or the best view, but it's close. I raced my last event in my friends 95 Neon ACR E-prepared/rally car and I had just understood the concept. Im looking for the vid it's a good example. Otherwise, i'll try find one of my teammate's best video from last season. He's the STS champ 2 years in a row. He is deff a good example of correct corner set up.

Great write up! I have def taken it to heart, I understood the gist of it but unfortunately I am a visual learner (damn the artist in me) it would be great if somehow u could send me that diagram

watched the vid. wow

This post has been edited by Tigawoods: Mar 22, 2009 - 9:44 AM

Tiga Tiga woods ya'll

>

lol my vid isn't my best, but non the less, it has all 4 runs there so it's a good progression example of a typical event lol

i'm a visual learner, being an art major myself, which is why i kept the diagram and studied it more then the words everyone wrote. i know it's here somewhere! lol. i'll post it up here when i get it.

EDIT: Ok, so unfortunetly im starting to remember that it was an actual piece of paper that I had that was the diagram. i could draw it up in illustrator or something when i get some time in the next couple of days. It will really clear up what im trying to say.

Another thing i thought of when watching some of my old vids: Try not to cross your hands when turning hard. This will come surprising naturally when the correct technique is found in your driving. You will have to turn the wheel less, which means sometimes u might not have to cross your arms.
THis is an OK example of my friend in his STS civic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX85V7thPPc...re=channel_page
He never crosses his hands. When going right, he pulls with the right hand, pushes with the left, and when his left hand reaches across his body, he doesn't reach back up to the top of the wheel with his right hand, he either shuffles his left hand up and brings his right where it was, or he will just simply push a little harder with his left hand.

Good tips here: Andy's Top 10 Autocross Driving Tips best overall explaination IMO

Jeez i need to make that diagram lol.

yet another EDIT: this vid was from june 08. an example of me concentrating on not crossing my hands (except for the start) i was on crap tires and i didn't have a front sway bar (spun out on my last run, not in vid) but you get the idea i hope. ok that's my big paragraph for the day haha

This post has been edited by rj8807: Mar 22, 2009 - 4:38 PM

i hope i get a ish load of seat time so i can use all this! hahaha
the top 10's are a great guide thanks!

IM SO EXCITED!
i went to a meet in pittsburgh last night and talked with this subie guy. one thing led to another and he told be to come to an auto-x tomorrow. $25

CHEAP AS HELL!
im excited to test out all the suspension work

we have a autox tomorrow in milwaukee but its raining all weekend

so how did the auto-x go? DC region had one today, but i was working :-(

This post has been edited by rj8807: Apr 26, 2009 - 5:13 PM

just got back. i liked the set up of the course because it tested me in a way that i hadnt been in previous events.

2 main notable points where a mid speed 2500rpmish turn into a straight where i found out on the low end celicas do not perform well.
and then in a small S turn where i had to downshift to first, which took me two runs to go from high speed 2nd brake brake brake and shift to 1st

at this event i also saw how outclassed i am in BSP.
the FTD car was in BSP(TurboWRX) and ran a 49.2 with the avg. of the day was around 54ish.
I will probably try out DSP for a couple events and see if its more my kind of cars

it was a test event to play around and get used to my suspension set up.

all in all it was alot of fun and cant wait to get back to philly and start running there.

At our events so far in milwaukee, i didnt get that low in the rpms to downshift. The celi's are slow when its down in the low rpms

What times did you end up running?

yeah it was a surprise to everyone when they set it up. after my second run i got used to it and kind of liked it. i had a smooth transition from 2nd to 1st.

the main main problem was trying to gain speed from that low rpm in 2nd gear. i had to feather the pedal to be able to keep my rpms steady so i can exit and gain speed quicker than what i did in the beginning which was staying a constant speed around the turn, and then gassing it on the exit, and it took a few seconds to build up speed. it sucked
my times where(all estimates till i get the final results)

Off Course (6 cones in slalom)
69.936 +1 cone (+2sec)
64.961 +1
61.914


i was ahead of a vette until he pulled a 59.911 his last run
there was a ASP Porsche 911 and a AS S2000 that i got faster times than
there where a few other cars that i had better times
i know if i had gotten at least 2 more runs i would have gotten down to 58

i just ordered a "D" to replace the "B" so now ill have both. one for being conservative, and the other if i feel like getting torn up

could your steelies be holding you back?? nice bro i wish to do some autoxing

they are 35lbs each. i am looking into hoosiers and some 13's. in DSP or BSP you can run slicks


daaaaamn. 295 a tire is the cheapest

This post has been edited by Tigawoods: Apr 26, 2009 - 10:12 PM

>


So what your saying is that you did not do as well as you thought you would, so you decided to remedy this by buying a new sticker for your car?