I think its all based on what level of sponsorship you have. I can see a full sponsored car (basically the companies show pony) having to follow guidelines such as not using competitors products and such, but all the sponsorships that my friend has gotten have been partial sponsorships where he gets say 50-70% off items.
IIRC he got sponsored by TOYO tires and all they require is 3 judged shows. He got the TOYO R888's for ridiculously cheap. Same thing with the RAYS TE37SL's. They offered them to him for ridiculously cheap JUST for a feature shoot for Super Street. After the shoot was done he could have done whatever he wanted to do with them (he kept them)

It seems that most of the other comapnies basically follow the same structure in their requirements...discount...go to shows...then you are free to do whatever you want with the product.

That's not too bad then. I've heard of certain instances of people being sponsored by Brand A, but liking Brand B for a certain component and they'd have to disguise Brand B to look like Brand A and other kinds of nonsense.

One day till show time
I will be competing in Tuner Evolution car show on Saturday and fingers crossed I place within the top 3 Toyotas. It's a pretty large show with probably a couple thousand participants...there are bound to be a few Supras there

had a busy day last weekend
got a dewalt cordless impact so I was able to take off the coilovers in the parking lot of my condo swiftly so that I could replace ONE DAMN adjustment screw on each coilover.
TEIN strongly recommended that the "black" dampening screws be replaced with the "gold" screws that came with the EDFC Active, it seems as if they have some sort of zinc treatment. So the motors that I put on a few months ago thinking that everything was good had to come off and they cant be taken off without taking off the coilovers






fast forward to the other day I got my car back up to PA (first tip my pup took a ride in my car) and came home to a new pair of tires for the front.
There arent many reviews out yet on the Potenza RE-71R and I was close to getting the BFGoodrich Rivals but I figured instead of waiting for reviews I would just find out first hand




also got an alignment


and one of the last things to spruce up the engine bay is this carbon fiber panel I got off og RoyO
I felt like I was killing a unicorn cutting into it to fit around my coolant reservoir but I made some templates of it out of some ABS plastic I had. Maybe Ill make some up to sell later on. Just have a couple more brackets to mount up and itll be on


This post has been edited by Tigawoods: Jul 30, 2015 - 11:12 PM

Borderline cheater-slicks.

Char!

Cute pup. Oh, and the car looks nice, too...

Always fresh, nothing less. Good luck today buddy.

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and boy how grippy they are

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the pup is MUCH better looking than the car haha

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thanks brotha!


Unfortunately I didnt win anything but as I always say, Im not building a show car. It was a fun experience nonetheless and I met some great fellow enthusiasts at the show. Maybe next year ill give it another go!

here is a consolation pic of the "finished" engine. I dont really have any short term plans for the motor right now, but I have some cool long term projects in the works. They are long term due to how expensive it will end up being but hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

In the meantime I will be enjoying driving the swap, testing/tuning at a couple Autox's and working on small bugs

This car is just so drool worthy I'd love a side cooling panel like that too!

Thanks! It really cleans up the bay!


Picked up a spare head to work on. Starting to research building the BEAMS. This will be that long term project.
I had a race last weekend and one coming up this weekend. The motor didnt have any issues, although I was unable to stay in the power rev range throughout the course.

It seems like any work that I do to the head will only decrease the low-mid power and help up top. This may not really matter for actual track racing but for auto-x it wouldnt really help. I hope there is some way to get more power low-mid without Turbo or S/C.




besides that, more racing happening and trying to dial in the suspension and get used to the motor some more

This post has been edited by Tigawoods: Aug 14, 2015 - 5:54 PM

If there's some way to stroke it that'd help with torque. Woo torque.

Have you tried out the EDFC Active Pro yet?

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I would imagine that would help, but for the time being I would like to keep he bottom end untouched. So maybe this low end power venture may have to take a back seat?

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I got kind of set up last weekend before the auto-x. It's working pretty good but I still have some more fine tuning to do on it, it's a tricky unit. I also don't have it connected to my speed signal since my speedometer isn't working haha, so it's just going of the the Gsensor which is just fine for now

Other ways would be through camshaft selection, but I'm not sure if any cam kits exist and those that do I doubt would be for increased torque. That and I'd imagine they'd be pretty pricey.

Can you go offroading in this car ONCE and post some pictures with dirt all over it? hahaha.

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I dont think It will be seeing too much dirt for a while haha. College daily driver years took a toll on the paint and its starting to degrade so I am taking care of it the best I can before eventually it will need a respray. The WHEELS on the other hand get black every time I drive it, will a picture of them suffice?? hahaha

here are some shots of me at an auto-x 3 weeks ago. I participated in one this past weekend and didnt really have an enjoyable time. Something about the whole auto-x experience just put me in a bad mood and I have been considering putting my car on the fast track to ACTUAL track racing. There are some suspension odds n ends I need to address and some under-body aero I would like to add before I get out there.

The idea of having to stand in the middle of a giant parking lot in 90 degree heat for an hour and work the course just after racing is very annoying to me. I think thats what got to me the last Auto-x

I agree that it's not a whole lot of seat time, but I enjoy the camaraderie so that more than makes up for it. Price of entry into track racing is too much of a commitment for me at this point.

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Aug 31, 2015 - 10:34 AM

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Yeah it not a whole lot of seat time but seat time is seat time and I do value that. It may be the region I am in or maybe its the lack of strong competitive nature in me, but I dont fine myself getting along with the crowd in this region. The only people I get along with is the guys just starting out racing, most of the other people are sometimes stand-off ish.

I will always remember the first and last time I asked for a ride along, I was dismissively shooed off being told he has to dial the car in....I run into too many people that take Auto-X much too seriously (or maybe I am not taking it seriously enough)
I have come to learn that my competitiveness isnt between me and another racer but between me and my car.

It may just be me acting childish and unreasonable but experiences like that have added up and are chipping away at my desire to auto-x. My friends have described track life to be SO much chill and enjoyable experience.

Lets go to summit point.

How'd you and the car do ?
Getting more comfy with the Beams ?

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lets

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Both the car and I did mediocre. I had a power steering issue and a couple suspension ticks that I didnt have time to address before the race.

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I agree with this, and I'd say it's completely acceptable to not be competitive in AX, at least where I've run (SCCA, PCA, local). I've never experienced the hostility you describe. Vets and noobs alike have been nice since the start, I've never been denied a ride-along unless for a valid reason. Maybe the chap you spoke to meant he wanted a baseline, which would be ruined by having an extra person's weight.

Find an DC2 on the track in the class where you can pass on corners and it's a competition. Or maybe that's just me. Take those fools off their high horse.

This post has been edited by BonzaiCelica: Sep 1, 2015 - 1:19 PM

Great celica, engine bay looks really smooth!!

planning for the winter I have a couple things coming up.

Looking to make a front splitter out of alumilite/plascore/or tegris.
It would be nice to get some sort of front lip to bring the bumper down a bit more but there arent really many options out there for the Pre-Face bumpers. If only I could get a TRD Bumper......
The only problem with a front splitter is the downforce it will generate. My car already has a fair bit of lift-off oversteer at Auto-X (that of which may increase at a track) and to combat that(lowering the rear a bit will help)....some rear downforce would be needed, therefore better under diffuser and/or a wing....




Ive begun researching EMS's and playing around with the tuning software. I have narrowed down the EMS options to the Vi-Pec i44 and the MS3-Pro. The prices are fair and the features seem pretty extensive.
And to my luck I can use the Blacktop ECU that I mistakenly was given and use the female plug for the patch harness



Besides that I am still having trouble on what route to take to get a bit more power. As much as it isnt an immediate problem I am just trying not to make any steps forward to something that I will end up not using.
Its a pretty damn expensive road to build the BEAMS N/A with no real comparison power wise to a S/C or Turbo
Ive been looking into things like
ITBS
CAMS
Compression Bump
Dry Sump System (would help with weight distribution among all the other benefits)
Electric Water Pump and Steering Pump
Basically most everything that can take away from the engine so it can just be an engine an make POWAAAA


drysump on an altezza BEAMS


http://www.mr2.com/forums/threads/94399-dr...e-3sgte-as-well
http://oldschool.co.nz/2011/forum/index.ph...d-kit-for-3sge/

for now though, to quell my desire for more engine power I am going to try and tweak the Aero and find weight savings.

Its hard being stubborn refusing to give up on a platform that isnt really meant to be racecar.
How much easier it would be to have a GT-R or a ST205. Ive put too much into this car to just give up and start fresh on another car

This post has been edited by Tigawoods: Sep 17, 2015 - 2:16 PM

do you have to have a 4 cyl. enjoy the beams while u can, then go 6cyl..

6cyl would be a better base to build off I guess. Id basically want to do the exact same things I would like to do to the BEAMS. It would probably yield better results too. Although there isnt a clear ITB solution for the 1MZ or the 2GR right?





Just because I have the time and I am already pricing out things for the BEAMS build, I will also price some V6 stuff out just for my general knowledge. It would be awesome it were a direct seamless swap just as the BEAMS, but I would be choosing the 2GR over the 1MZ and reading your build Berto, its close but nowhere as easy as the BEAMS.

BUT something about me cant have a stock engine. I would need to modify it. I would probably have a shopping spree on MWR and buy their 12.0:1 Pistons and their Darton sleeved block along with everything else they have. But that would put me well past the power range I really need. And If I am doing all of that crap, I would want a engine that could be just dropped in without a hassle.

sorry for these rants, I am just getting these thoughts down so that later on I can look back and see how manic my mind was haha

Screw power, go proper RWD and you won't have any power to miss.

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bah, Id sooner go AWD!

As much as I would love to get another car, I have put way too much in this car to start all over again on another platform.
The only thing I wish I could change about my car is its drivetrain. If it were AWD I would be happy. Everything else is unique and I am always the only celica around which I take pride in.
But damn would an AWD...300+hp 2GR-FE be cool!!

I swapped a 2gr into my friend's mr2 a few months ago.
That thing hauls a$$.

In a fwd platform (Celica) it would spin the tires through 3rd easy.