Romans 2005 Toyota Echo

[Roman]

From the article that said on the headline "Quicker than a Dodge Challenger r/t" 
I've successfully outsourced my trolling and extreme smugness. 
God bless the internet. haha

[GARDRB]

Is 108 really that high though? My mate's SSS Sentra that we've just put a SR20VE into has the fans come on at 100.

[xsspeed]

On 07/10/2022 at 17:41, xsspeed said:

very cool

echo this, so hot

im just gunna say of all threads im dissappointed this pun didnt take off

[Corbie]

Too much power. lost traction. 

[xsspeed]

it was deep man, talking about a toyota echo, talking about how it sounds, and quoting/repeating like an echo

echoception

 

[Raizer]

1 hour ago, Roman said:

From the article that said on the headline "Quicker than a Dodge Challenger r/t" 
I've successfully outsourced my trolling and extreme smugness. 
God bless the internet. haha

Yeah but they've been building crazy Prius motors in Thailand for ages so you should just give up.

 

 

[deankdx]

2 hours ago, Roman said:

From the article that said on the headline "Quicker than a Dodge Challenger r/t" 

i hope to see it's quicker with new tune and exhaust, and some more comparisons put up.. like, faster than a lambo uses less fuel than a prius, sounds better than tesla, fits in smaller parking spots . faster than a speeding bullet train doing 190kmh 

[tortron]

1/4mile fuel economy stats

[Muncie]

You forgot it has as many wheels as a Bugatti Veyron for around 1% of the cost. About as quick probably.....

[Truenotch]

It probably has a smaller carbon footprint than a Tesla. 

[RUNAMUCK]

^the dodge challenger?

[tortron]

[Roman]

What a time to be alive

[RUNAMUCK]

Dave liked them before they were cool......

[GuyWithAviators]

46 minutes ago, RUNAMUCK said:

Dave liked them before they were cool......

Dave made them cool. 

[rumrum]

 

[Roman]

I love that car so much! 

Mainly because it's simple - Just a near standard 1300 motor, better exhaust, stiff low suspension and just fucking sending it hahaha.
Then racing the K11 that is about the same spec. Honestly just looks like incredible fun.

I took my car for a VTNZ WOF. With a few amendments that hopefully improved my odds:

When you think the jack is still under the car, but it isnt 

There were a few minor things to fix up. Rear brake imbalance was out, so the drums probably need a dust out.
Then replace a windscreen wiper, replace a steering rack boot, fit the front bumper properly, secure a headlight properly. 
They didnt have any issue with exhaust noise, which is pretty epic considering it's 3" pipe with only a single muffler in it. 
A real testament to the Adrenalin R muffler design. But it's genuinely not that loud when driving normally.
They didnt care about the exhaust valve thingy in it either, probably because it doesnt close currently. 
Although, I should try connect it up while I've got the plenum on, see if there's enough vacuum to meaningfully pull it closed.

Hopefully early next week I'll have time to get these things knocked off, and get have a WOF!
I've booked in for the oldschool drags and I cant friggen wait.
Best day of the year. (sorry/not sorry for bringing non OS car along)
Then also still try get back to the dyno and have a look if any Hampton or Taupo events are coming up. 
Maybe get back to Pukekohe for another event there too.

Also, in some other other news. 
My second hand 185/60/14 R888R, that I've been driving around on for nearly this entire project.
It just blew me away how grippy they were on the track! 
Ive seen people be super precious about semi slicks, like storing them in black plastic bags, not driving them on the road, etc etc.
These tyres have been treated about as poorly as you could in that respect, and were just incredible with some heat in them.
I can confirm that I absolutely cannot be fucked trying to wring 3% more grip out of tyres by storing them in bags etc. 

Anyway! 
Although my 14x6 Rays Engineering wheels are quite light, and a 185 wide R888R isnt the heaviest thing in the world. 
Longer term I've wanted to try find a lighter wheel and tyre combo. 
The plan was to eventually buy a set of 15x7 +35 Advanti Storm S1.
These are a cheap-ish wheel that is insanely light because they use some rotational forging or some crap like that.
To make the barrel quite thin but really strong. So they are only around 5kg each without tyre which is nuts. 

However, I've also really liked how the car looks on 13" wheels too, when I've taken it to the drags.
This is oldschool forum after all. 
A problem I've got is that once my drag tyres wear out. I cant get any 13" drag tyres that will fit anymore.
Then there's nothing good to do with just a pair of 13" 4x100 wheels... I wonder if anyone else has the same problem?
Yes! Another pair turned up for cheap on FB Marketplace, with some balloony looking 185s on. gross.



Before committing to purchasing them I figured I'd better test fit on one side with the drag tyres on, and see if I'm going to be able to fit any sort of decent tyre on there with a +25 offset. It's looking surprisingly realistic I think. 
The rears run a narrower track, so hopefully folding up the inner lip a little bit and it'll not have any issues with tyre rub. 
The front, not too sure how well it will work yet. I am 100% against any sort of visual modifications to the guards, so hopefully it'll work okay.



The 13" Lenso wheel with the drag tyre is only about 11kg combined per corner. Absolutely mental! 
It'll be heavier with trackday type tyres though, but still crazy light.

Initially I was looking to longer term get something like Nankang AR1 which still comes in 13".
However I somewhat stumbled into the idea of raiding the used parts bins of the TRS series cars. 



These cars run a 13" wheel with a Michelen front tyre which is about the equivalent of a 200/52/13 size. 
I am amid some negotiations to get a set of 4 second hand soft compound slicks that still have some life in them (but beyond the point of usefulness for the series cars)
I dont have any tyres yet, maybe this coming week. But I'm fizzing to get some and see how they fit up.
Hopefully it works out well. 

The new tyre size has a smaller rolling diameter than current.
It'll have the equivalent effect of changing from the 4.3 final drive ratio, to a 4.6 final. With considerably less effort or $$ needed.
The car will also receive some free lowering too. sounds like a win-win to me.

Having just been blown away by how much grip the car had with old R888R, I think I'm gonna wee my pants with the grip available from soft compound slicks. 

In regards to the cooling issues that I've been having. 
One mystery has always been, where does the TRD turbo car get its wider radiator from???
No other cars seem to have it, but it definitely looks like an OEM part.
It's distinctive because it uses a single fan on the radiator, then a second area which just has one way flaps on it. 



Well the reason I've never seen one, is that they are an OEM part on a Eurotrash NLP10 Yaris diesel model. 
Which no other region had to suffer through thankfully. As they have all of 70hp or something like that.
But this might mean that I can source an NLP10 radiator from somewhere for an okay price, perhaps. 



Something else interesting specific to the diesel model, and it's extra cooling requirements. 
Is it's got these shrouding panels in place above the front bumper, that none of the other cars have.
So it might be useful to copy this idea, or try buy some of those panels if any exist for a reasonable price.



I also found that the TRD turbo car ran an OEM heat exchanger for the oil temp management, from a 3SGTE or similar. 
So it's cool to know that this fits, I think I've got a few 3SGE ones kicking around. But I'll really need the extra radiator capacity, before adding the burden of oil cooling onto it as well. I really like the idea of having some oil cooling without needing to run any oil lines, only coolant.



I cant take credit for the above two discoveries, thanks to Nick from one of the Facebook groups for doing the detective work then showing me. 
However I'll hopefully be able to put some of this news to good use.
 

[Hyperblade]

7 hours ago, Roman said:

Initially I was looking to longer term get something like Nankang AR1 which still comes in 13".
However I somewhat stumbled into the idea of raiding the used parts bins of the TRS series cars. 

These cars run a 13" wheel with a Michelen front tyre which is about the equivalent of a 200/52/13 size. 
I am amid some negotiations to get a set of 4 second hand soft compound slicks that still have some life in them (but beyond the point of usefulness for the series cars)
I dont have any tyres yet, maybe this coming week. But I'm fizzing to get some and see how they fit up.
Hopefully it works out well. 

The new tyre size has a smaller rolling diameter than current.
It'll have the equivalent effect of changing from the 4.3 final drive ratio, to a 4.6 final. With considerably less effort or $$ needed.
The car will also receive some free lowering too. sounds like a win-win to me.

Having just been blown away by how much grip the car had with old R888R, I think I'm gonna wee my pants with the grip available from soft compound slicks. 
 

So...

The Michelin TRS tyres are/were absolutely awesome (They are a F3/F4 tyre), they work from cold, have amazing amounts of grip and were cheap, hence why I run them.

So for track days they would be perfect for you.

Unfortunately with the latest TRS Chassis they changed rim and tyre sizes and moved the rears to the front and went bigger again on the rear.

So the easy access to these tyres is now gone and everyone who was running them are hoarding them (like me) . The new tyres on the TRS are Hankooks which are nowhere near as good.

You can still find the old tyres but they will be at least 2 years old (not really an issue they are still amazing) but it's a lot harder to find a decent set as they are usually pretty worn.

Compared to semi slicks there is no comparison, they will have more grip and will last a shit load longer.

Just to be aware the tyres were designed for a 9" rim, but most guys run them on 8" rims, this means they bulge out to 220mm but tread is still 200mm they have a diameter of 540mm. The new TRS fronts require a 10" rim and 580mm diameter.

 

The rain versions I've been told are amazing in the wet, the grip is like driving in the dry. A lot of guys use them for hill climbs and sprints where you need "treaded" tyres.

If you want new slicks you are looking at around 450+gst a tyre, and I can put you in touch with the person who brings them in, seems like a lot but for you they would probably last many years and still be faster then semi slicks.

For pressures run them at 21 psi hot and don't let anyone else tell you otherwise, yes it will be slightly rolly, but get used to it and the grip and life of the tyres is that much better, just be careful on initial warm up as you will be starting at 15-17psi so avoid curbs etc.

[Truenotch]

52 minutes ago, Hyperblade said:

Unfortunately with the latest TRS Chassis they changed rim and tyre sizes and moved the rears to the front and went bigger again on the rear.

There's still a good number of FT40 and FT50 chassis being raced in the north island's Formula Open series, so there's potential to get the right second hand tyres from those teams. They'll have more race KMs on them and might not be as cheap as they were in TRS days, but it'll still be an option for club racers if you talk to the right people. 

[Hyperblade]

5 minutes ago, Truenotch said:

There's still a good number of FT40 and FT50 chassis being raced in the north island's Formula Open series, so there's potential to get the right second hand tyres from those teams. They'll have more race KMs on them and might not be as cheap as they were in TRS days, but it'll still be an option for club racers if you talk to the right people. 

TRS was good as they had new set each weekend so it forced them to get rid of them early, so sometimes they tyres had only done 1 race.

With these guys running the old cars I suspect they will run the tyres into the ground (using in testing etc) since they aren't in the same type of competitive series with the same type of money being thrown at it, but very happy to be proven wrong on that one.