Shakedown Drive on H&R Monotube Coilovers

I’ve got the car from FA Racing last Tuesday and this morning was the best time to conduct little bit of shakedown drive from Ampang – Hulu Langat – Kuala Kelawang – Pertang – Manchis – Karak – Gombak which roughly amounts to 250kms.

Putting aside that it was raining in the early morning that resulted the asphalt surface kinda icy slippery, I was definitely grinning from ear-to-ear revisiting old awesome roads with finally an almost well sorted Pocong. Here’s some excerpt I can give-away for the moment:-

• FA Racing has setup the car to be easy to drive hard and pretty much planted throughout hundreds of turns.
• Quicker and crispier turn-in with much much tighter steering feel allowing almost alienating or masking the chubby front engine’s weight.
• Virtually extremely small roll angle at turns but in it’s there nevertheless just only being delayed making it nippy like a supermini should.
• If I got too gung-ho into corner entry or mid, a mild lift-off is all it takes to get it tightens like a good FWD car should…talk about throttle steering at corners :)
• Because of sorted geometries, ride height and corner weighted; the tyres require less psi and that resulted in much much compliant ride …. and I dare say feels better than stock!

Of course, the suspension setup would be ‘work in progress’ as I’m gathering some requests to address my driving preference to be factored in but all in all I see RM700ish of expenditure to FA Racing as bang-for-buck investment, after all suspension tuning know-how is a “black-art” to me at least :)

The route...

Motorists kindly give-way, shakedown in progress lol

Some rough patches but the car rides just fine

Some straight stretches allowing Pocong to stretch its legs

Nice flowing turns after another

I see you..

Gotchaaa!!

Throttle-steering is pretty wicked

Because of lacked of cars, both ways are at my disposals hehe

Roll angle is there nevertheless just only being delayed making it nippy like a supermini should

Sunday drive with Gojiras

Having working in a pressure cooker environment, I need to have stress detention activities and sunday drive is one of them. So having being invited by Temujin for GTJ drive with the Skyline boys, it would be stupid to say no. And yet I used visiting to inlaw’s place as an excuse for early drive on Ulu Yam’s road the day before.

So this morning around 7am-ish, familiar figures are geared and set for the drive - 2 BNR34 GTRs, 2 ER34s, 1 BCNR33 GTR, 1 ER33, 1 BNR32 GTR, 1 DC5R and a puny Pocong. But we’re missing Blood Red’s ER34 as he chooses to have shotgun ride in DC5R.

Being the lead driver, I had to set up a good pace for these guys and having matte black BNR34 GTR breathing behind my neck, I was kinda pushing the Polo as well. Surprisingly, the RE001 tyres behaving a bit better than before but being overhyped tyre, they’re on boiling point on the second half of the drive giving boring understeery ride.

Nevertheless, it was a good pace for everyone. What I need know is FMIC, custom exhaust and open pod intake and better tyres *hint*hint* RSR…. But before that Pocong needs to get its timing belt replaced. Money money money .... where are you??? Oh yes, I’ve also attached couple of images and a video for you folks.

Being the earliest to reach the RV point

There you go ... in between monstrous machines lies one puny Pocong

Ketua Darjah trying Temujin's new loceng clutch

Not ideal but can give some glimpse of how fun it is

New rims & tyres shakedown

The reasons I opted to upsize an inch up on the Pocong is merely trying to get more steering sharpness and a kind of retaliation for Federal RSR 205/45/16 prices that soared from RM350 all the way to RM440 per piece. And having Ah Tee of HupShun Sunway played his party peace of manhandling the calculator played significant role too.

The plan to save tyre replacement expenses on short and long term is going well too when he offered me grippy and ‘potong air’ Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalin 205/40/17 at RM380 per piece. But 205/40/17 is a tad too narrow for my liking and that have got me insisted on 215/40/17 and boy oh boy the price of that size from the same brand and type is almost RM100 dearer per piece due to the fact that it’s made in Japan and kind of odd size too. Having a long day from attending a long boring meeting between different government agencies and prepping up for conference made me kept my eyes closed and let the magic card to its work.

The end result of this so called engineering enhancement has become a little bit of nuisance I must admit. Even though the SA70 is a lot lighter than BBS buttercups, because of higher rotational mass, I felt somewhere between 5-10% laziness of getting more GGGG from acceleration and it rides 100% a lot firmer than what some Fiesta owners complaining of a harsh ride from their ride. That’s not all, the RE001 Adrenalin has a wee bit softly sprung sidewalls and that’s NOT GOOD AT ALL!

Having finished up done a presentation to GIS professionals and academicians in the user conference held last week, I’ve decided to do shakedown test on how this new setup would be doing using our very own ‘Nordschleife’ – Batu Caves - Ulu Yam – Batang Kali - Genting route today! But before starting to gunning it out, a quick stop to Shell to dial 36psi front & 34psi rear and I accidentally pour in Shell V-Power Racing retailing RM2.70!

Just after turning right towards Jalan Sungai Tua, I gave the Pocong a quick spanking, flat 2nd and 3rd averaging 100-120kmh left-right-left uphill turns and immediately I feels the grip traction is a wee bit nervous and greasy on turn in. Then after passing rest area on my left doing circa 140ish downshift from 5th to 3rd immediately the car went being nervous again this time the rear end getting a wee bit too naughty then only start grip around 70-80 through tight sequence of turns. I’m not sure whether 36/34 psi combination a bit too much for the tyres or the moulding compound still yet to torn out from this donuts.

On the bright side, the steering on the other hands feels almost as good as Federal 595 RSR with lesser flexing throughout the turn. Getting on song with the uphill long sweepers at high speed is surprisingly easy and stable but I must admit a bit bouncy and droningly noisy on uneven surface. There’s also not so noticeable difference in terms of GGG running 17” which is about 2.5% bigger overall diameter radius than stock but the Pocong will get lazy on lower speeds because of the bigger mass inertia.

Upon reaching Batang Kali and line up Pocong for uphill tight twisties, again the turn-in feels nervous then only starting to provide good grip throughout the turns. Not as brilliant as RSR but good nevertheless. And because of an inch up on the rims, the mid corner grip is very good. Just like the MCS, I can almost mesh the throttle out of the corner. Great! And reaching the multiple speed bumps, the car doesn’t need to crawl like turtle to avoid getting bottom up.

That is about some comments I've so far on the tyres on fast road driving but I will try further pushing it once I found the right balance. I’m pretty content with this RE001 but it’s not the sort of tyres that can be in the same league as RSR, AD08 in the enthusiasts/track ready level. Having said that, I’m thinking it would last longer and a bit more friendly when going through standing water on the roads. On another note, I need more power... time to start thinking on new intake, exhaust, fmic and perhaps Shrick cams. As for my tyre preference?? Still RSR!! No question about it!

RM2.70/litre...sekali sekala tak apa la

I would be more pressing you harder on you next time!

SuperSport Shocks - Installed & Shakedown

The Pocong finally has gotten itself new SuperSport short stroke dampers to work alongside with H&R spring. But it wasn’t smooth sailing “waiting & be happy job” on Saturday I thought it would.

First off, Alex’s Ever Auto don’t have 36mm axle socket so they can only replace the rear dampers. Decided not to be a patient man, I went to Auto Reign to get the front replaced. Guess what they too don’t have that axle socket hence they need to take out both driveshafts to yank out the whole knuckles to replace the dampers and yes it took them 3 hours. Then only I took the car to Mun Jee to get it realigned and balanced. That’s a good 7 hours of waiting and RM384 of labour charge debited from my credit card…

The outcome was a mixed one. Because the SuperSport casing and its rod is shorter and thicker than original, the ride height went down ~10mm on all for corners. At this point, I was worried whether 1) Is there have enough suspension travel? 2) How am I going to go through speed bumps on full load?

That would have to wait until initial shakedown today. Both me and my brother on Fiesta 1.6S took the tight twisties of old Gombak road towards Genting Sempah and then Jalan Genting Highlands towards the peak.

What I can say now is that it rides with more immediate feedback through the steering, it corners flatter and cover more ground in terms of lateral grip with more fluidity rather than outright harshness. And speaking of fluidity, I sense that the SuperSport dampers give much more composure dealing with uneven and bumpy roads which means I don’t need to slow down to readjust the music volume and my wife shouldn’t get sick every time traveling on long distance.

In all honesty, I doubt SuperSport is as good as the established H&R Cup Kit and Bielstein B12 in terms of sharpness but it should be a bit more comfortable and definitely the most bang for buck upgrade. Having said that, you can’t use it with stock spring as the housing is a wee bit shorter. Next up is FMIC and full exhaust and of course it’ll be done in slow, cheap but definitely special on the Pocong. :)

This Audi 100 Wagon is the grandpa of soccer mum's as it has Porsche 944 2.7 turbo and Brembos all around.

Stock Sachs vs SuperSport

Ever Auto managed to install the rears only

Mun Jee did the alignment trice to get it right :)

New ride height...the rear is wee bit too low

Shakedown of both Pocong and Fiesta went well but that Fiesta needs to get up to pace for more thrilling sunday drive

Very foggy morning in Genting Highlands

There's more to it than meets the eye

Just got back from my shiok sendiri sunday drive to Genting and Bukit Tinggi just like walking on memory lane on how I use to regularly do with the old GTi. It was cool and dandy on how Pocong behaves itself there and on the way back had fun toying with Gallardo and R56 MCS on Karak highway towards Gombak. Although there're plenty of performance machines which are more powerful and have better dynamics but there's more to 'it' than meets the eye when it comes to Picanto inspired looking Pocong!

Looks like RSR getting worn out alike Staedler Mars eraser being used excessively during PMR exams but these sure get the job done alright!

Shiok sendiri drive

Saturday, 3rd October. Woke up slightly late and waited for the rain to ease off a bit then only warm up the Pocong for a shiok sendiri drive which has been overdue for quite sometime. And while it was still raining, I dropped by at AVS Auto to collect Azdilizan’s breather valve which its price has gone up slightly to RM85.

Just passed 11.30am, the rain has been sober a bit and decided it’s a good time to kick off the drive. Before that, STP octane booster has been poured in to the tank which itself was already brimmed with Techron 97. Delightfully to report, it gives better response but I prefer AfterBurn more :)

The route I opted was Jalan Gombak (route 68), Genting Sempah, uphill roads of Genting Highlands halfway then onto B66 route downhill towards Batang Kali where 1 schedule stop for break at in-law’s place before proceed back home through long weeping road of Ulu Yam (route B23).

I was taking the car easy along the Jalan Gombak at least until passing the JHEOA hospital not to piss off everybody’s morning. In a way, it’s a good thing that the surface was still wet means I’d be able to know how the RSR behaves in these conditions. This stretch of road comprises mainly narrow and tight left-right sequence of corners where normally spookily serene. Not surprising, I felt the car was a little bit slippery but much more predictable on how it losses grip than Contis and F1 GSD. Steering feel is now much tighter and backed by strong turn-in and mid-corner grip just feel so endlessly good. I’m still acclimatizing myself to get used to this sort of performance. And God the RSR makes the Pocong nippy through the bends!

Reached the Genting Sempah roundabout and heading up kicking off the 2nd leg journey with mainly uphill 2 lane roads. I’ve to say though, these tyres in a way draining the energy of the car as though the tyres surface was full of chewing gum (I was about to say sticking to the tarmac. Before this, I did say 178hp is enough, now nope I need 200hp to get the car in psychopath mode again. Still the midrange doesn’t disappoint where I was mostly on 3rd & 4th to keep the K03s turbo on song.

Reached the Goh Tong Jaya roundabout, I exited the uncle Lim’s and took route B66 and began to descend towards Batang Kali but this time comprises of lots of fast sweeping corners. By then, the surface began to dry (well almost anyway). The RSR started to show its true pace. It just grip, grip and grip everywhere and such persistence attitude the Pocong has now, only at times I was the one who chicken out as it roll towards ditch while the RSR stays permanently planted to the tarmac. As I was nudging 180 at some points, I began to noticed that additional stuff like braided hose and if budget persist, better pads are needed because the brakes was not at optimum. Not to say it has faded a lot though, just not strong enough to shave speed while you’re having the G and descending. Upon reaching the t-junction, I headed off to in-law’s place for a short break and that allows me & wifey some time to tease two hyperactive cats hehehe

While having a break, a quick look at the four tyres shows minimal or zilch wear on the sidewalls but the car’s backside shows plenty of dirt and front rims was blacken by dust!

Just passed 5pm, I continued final part of this SS drive towards home via Ulu Yam. I wouldn’t say it’s my home course or anything resembling the matter but a familiar territory is more like it. It has much more high sweeping corners and less vertical differences compared to the earlier route B66. I’d say on this route, RSR easily able to handle 10-20kmh faster at any corners than Conti easily. There’s so much assurance through the feel, turn-in and mid-corner grip, and it does that in serenely spookingly quiet. And when it let go, hell will break loose without warning.

I know I’ve been blabbering for quite sometime now and I’m going to say it again, RSR is such a bang-for-buck mod when it comes to feel, grip and handling. Though it’s marginally more expensive than other UHP tyres but if you look at the prices of AD08 which is nudging RM580 a pop, this is the one to go.

And for the Pocong, as I’m happy with the grip it has now, there’s some more works to do to enhance the steering feel as you know when it comes to handling, the steering feel will either makes it or breaks it. This I quote from Djan’s comment in CBT article. And once getting the bushes done, I’m expecting to be happy for a while.

The route

I wonder what EJ going to say about this

The kecik was being so restless

Looks cute but notoriously hyperactively naughty

No signs of tiredness but obviously dirty

Quest for ideal handling & grip is half way there!