DEFCON1 > all other mods put together?
12-01-2006, 07:11 AM
#1
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DEFCON1 > all other mods put together?
Not sure I can make that statement, but it's close! Nothing translates to smiles more quickly than a car that does EXACTLY what you tell it to do WHEN you tell it.
Preinstall Worries: (1) My car was already handling the way I like, with 19 mm rear and 22 mm front Neuspeed bars, KW coilovers, Bridgestone RE-01Rs (with super stiff sidewalls and superglue compound on forged fat fives). Why mess with something that is working? (2) With my 3 VF Engineering mounts, I had a nice direct feel to everything already. Wasn't sure that I needed anything that would add to the NVH equation. (3) I had put in new PowerFlex front and fresh OEM Mk1 rear bushes in the control arms just before TT-West last May, and things were not at all sloppy. Did I really need this? (4) Even though the install sounded straightforward, I just didn't have the energy to deal with all the pressing and hammering.
Postinstall Nirvana: (1) I thought my car handled well before, but I was so totally, hopelessly, cluelessly wrong. The adjectives which follow are in some cases counterintuitive to my expectations, but here they are: The car feels lighter, smoother, more supple, easier to handle, less twitchy, dead flat neutral (at least I was expecting/hoping for that), more solid but with less (!) vibration. (2) Is there some weird harmonic damping going on because the car just feels like it has a new resonant frequency that exactly complements and cancels some of the preinstall NVH? I don't know and I might be hallucinating, but if that's the case this is one strong placebo. (3) Yeah, I needed this more than I needed my StopTechs (which continue to amaze me every time I nudge the brakes). (4) Mike swapped a set of arms with everying already pressed in, so the install was a complete snap. If the Modshack can set up a system to ship ready-to-install arms (plus a refundable core charge to get the old ones back) then everyone can get this done.
Final thoughts: I don't want to spend anymore time typing these impressions. I WANT TO DRIVE!
DEFCON1 FTW!
Preinstall Worries: (1) My car was already handling the way I like, with 19 mm rear and 22 mm front Neuspeed bars, KW coilovers, Bridgestone RE-01Rs (with super stiff sidewalls and superglue compound on forged fat fives). Why mess with something that is working? (2) With my 3 VF Engineering mounts, I had a nice direct feel to everything already. Wasn't sure that I needed anything that would add to the NVH equation. (3) I had put in new PowerFlex front and fresh OEM Mk1 rear bushes in the control arms just before TT-West last May, and things were not at all sloppy. Did I really need this? (4) Even though the install sounded straightforward, I just didn't have the energy to deal with all the pressing and hammering.
Postinstall Nirvana: (1) I thought my car handled well before, but I was so totally, hopelessly, cluelessly wrong. The adjectives which follow are in some cases counterintuitive to my expectations, but here they are: The car feels lighter, smoother, more supple, easier to handle, less twitchy, dead flat neutral (at least I was expecting/hoping for that), more solid but with less (!) vibration. (2) Is there some weird harmonic damping going on because the car just feels like it has a new resonant frequency that exactly complements and cancels some of the preinstall NVH? I don't know and I might be hallucinating, but if that's the case this is one strong placebo. (3) Yeah, I needed this more than I needed my StopTechs (which continue to amaze me every time I nudge the brakes). (4) Mike swapped a set of arms with everying already pressed in, so the install was a complete snap. If the Modshack can set up a system to ship ready-to-install arms (plus a refundable core charge to get the old ones back) then everyone can get this done.
Final thoughts: I don't want to spend anymore time typing these impressions. I WANT TO DRIVE!
DEFCON1 FTW!
12-01-2006, 07:33 AM
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mine are in a box next to the bed...
cant wait for he car to return from the body shop to get them installed. All the positive feed back (pun intended) has me very eager for the post install drive - thanks for the review.
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12-01-2006, 07:49 AM
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Ready to install arms?
I'd do it if I bought some good control arms at a wrecking yard and sent them to Mike for install. Hmmm, maybe we could make a group effort and buy up all the control arms country wide at wrecking yards, recondition them and make them ready for the DEFCON mod? I would certainly be a candidate, but not until I trade my current FWD TT for a newer 225 very soon.
12-01-2006, 08:10 AM
#10
I have done some searching, and they are hard to come by... I have one set that has been swapped a
few times to a limited audience. I am not yet ready to open this option up to a wider audience, but will likely do it in January.