2017 Toyota 86 (setup details are at bottom of description)

First track day of the year and first time driving the new setup! I replaced the original OEM dampers and TRD lowering springs with a beautiful set of Fortune Auto 510s in the off season. I've been very excited to get the car on track and the setup did not disappoint.

In all honesty I'm not super happy with this time. Don't get me wrong, it feels awesome to crack 16 with a stock power 86, but I know I was so far from what the RT660 is capable of that I've just been stressing about how long it's going to take me to get fully comfortable on my own set. I ran a 17.00 on my year old RS4s that I'll also be posting soon, and I actually feel a lot better about my driving on that lap.

I seriously cannot thank Jacob enough for giving me the opportunity to run the RT660s. Lap times aside it was a hugely educational experience, and gave me some important insight on what I need to do in order to make the most of them and get myself ready for the season. It also allowed me to confirm that the 255s don't have rubbing issues on my car, which is great!

My PB at the end of last season was 1:17.74 on stock dampers, TRD lowering springs and 245 RS4s. I'm still very happy with breaking into 17s on that setup and feel like I learned a LOT about the car getting to that point.

For this event I was running the same set of 245 RS4s from last season (which may have around 10 days on them? These things seriously last forever) because I wanted a solid baseline test isolating the new suspension as the only change to the car. I immediately ran a 17.1 on the very first session of the day and was comfortably running a consistent pace considerably faster than my previous record. I continued to steadily improve my time every session, infuriatingly ending on that 1:17.00. 

As the end of the day approached, my friend Jacob cracked into his first ever 16 with his supercharged BRZ, and immediately eagerly offered to throw his new 255 RT660s onto my car so that I could seal the deal on my own 16. This was my first time ever running a tire faster than an RS4, and WOW do I have a lot to learn about fully utilizing the available grip. I set this time on my second flyer and know that I left a LOT on the table. I have my work cut out for me learning these tires before the SCCA National Tour at Gingerman in July.

This is my first time with coilovers or any sort of adjustable dampers, so I'm very much feeling that out as I go. I started at the baseline setting of 5/24 clicks and gradually increased it throughout the day. Past a certain point I noticed that it had introduced push on entry and oversteer on exit, so I lowered the rear 2 clicks which successfully addressed both issues. From there I gradually increased them while maintaining the ratio and found that it only improved the handling every time. As I was running out of time I decided to try the max setting in front with the rear still at -2. I felt that this continued to improve the handling but did notice great deal of bouncing and disruptions from the road surface. For this final session I backed them both off by 2 clicks to 22F 20R. I think I'll try lowering the rear setting a bit more relative to the front at my next event. Now that I have a general ballpark I'm eager to try more delicate tuning within that range.

Final note on alignment. I'm still running stock RLCAs, so camber is more or less bound to ride height. My intended target alignment was 3.5F 2.5R, but we were unable to get the rear below 3 following the corner balance. We raised the front to 4 in order to maintain the ratio front to rear. I was a bit concerned about having so much more camber, especially at the rear, but my initial impression is very positive. During my street shakedown I had some concerns that the rear had become too loose, but once I was on track I realized that the reality is I now have an unbelievable amount of front grip. On the previous setup the front wheels were there limiting factor on all but extremely low speed turns, so I was constantly walking a tightrope balancing my speed and steering angle with the rear end just happily ready to go. With the new setup the rear tires have become the limiting factor, so I have a great deal more freedom in selecting a line through each corner and I'm doing the balancing at the tail end via the throttle. I felt like I was using much smoother and more deliberate throttle inputs compared to last year. It feels as though all 4 tires are reaching their limit more uniformly overall, which should be a good thing.

Mods: 
-Borla UEL Header
-OFT Stage 2+ 93 Tune
-Tanabe Concept G
-Jackson Racing Dual Radiator/Oil Cooler
-Fortune Auto FA510 (8k square, Rebound: 22F 20R)
-SSR GTX01 17x9 +38 w/ Falken RT660 255/40/17
-CounterSpace Garage C2 Brake Pads

Alignment: 
-4F / -3R Camber
-6.2 Degrees Caster
0.1 F Toe Out / 0 R Toe
~5 inch ride height from pinch weld