car album/汽車專題

Turbocharger Foudamentals

2008-01-30T05:31:00.001-08:00

Turbocharger Foudamentals

The turbocharger is indeed a kind of air compressor. It increases the quantity of gas getting in by compressing air. It is mainly composed by the turbine, the air compressor and the bearing housing.

The exhaust gas air inlet of the turbine and the engine exhaust pipe are connected, and the exhaust gas air outlet joins the exhaust pipeline. The air inlet of the air compressor is connected with the air filter pipeline, and the air outlet joins the engine or the air inlet of the intercooler. The turbine wheel and the air compressor impeller install in the turbine and the air compressor respectively, and they use a rotor shaft join together rigidly. The main function of the bearing housing is to support, lubricate the rotor shaft and to join turbine and compressor together.

The energy of exhaust gas which is given off from the engine drives the turbine wheel to revolve in a high speed brings along the high speed revolutions of the coaxial air compressor impeller. (The highest rotation speed can be hundred thousands of revolutions per minute.) The air enters the air cylinder of the engine by the air compressor. After compression, the density of air increases, and this thus increases quantity of air getting into the engine which will supply more fuel to be burned completely. Therefore the power of the engine will be increased. Meanwhile, as a result of the improvement of the combustion condition, the ratio of consumption of fuel is reduced, and emission of the harmful waste gas is decreased. It can also reduce the noise.

In high plateau area, because of the rare air, the power of the engine which is nature inspiration falls down. The application of turbocharger on the engine can compensate the lost power.

Turbochargers

2008-01-30T05:28:00.000-08:00

The following catalogue shows only a part of our products because of the continuous development. More products are in stock or available soon. If you want to know more details, please contact our sales branch without hesitate.

Stillen Series 3 Rocker, 350Z

2008-01-30T05:03:00.001-08:00

Stillen now gives you a third side rocker option for the style of your 350Z. These innovative Series 3 side rockers offer a unique air slot that adds style and increased air flow to the rear brakes. This latest design gives you an aggressive look to complement your 350Z. Made of urethane, these side rocker replace the factory rockers. Unlike Series 1 and 2 which fit over your rockers, these skirts are not attached on top of the factory piece. This urethane rocker comes with a limited lifetime warranty against cracking or breaking during normal use.
Order separate or in pairs. If you are ordering pre-painted, please specify paint code at checkout. Pre-painted price is for one skirt only. Price shown for the skirt is for one side only.

Sale Price: US$229.99 (Regular Price:US$299.00)

GReddy Front Lip Spoiler

2008-01-30T05:02:00.001-08:00

GReddy Front Lip Spoiler

This urethane spoiler is part of the GRacer aero pieces from GReddy, designed to enhance your 350Z's appearance while providing good aerodynamics. This front lip spoiler also helps in handling and helps provide adequate amounts of airflow to critical engine components, such as intercoolers and turbochargers. Fully tested and constructed of long lasting and durable urethane to fit your Z.
Comes pre-painted or ready to paint. For reference, please see photo above.

Sale Price: US$220.00 (Regular Price:US$240.00)

J-Spec LED Clear Taillights 06

2008-01-30T05:01:00.000-08:00

J-Spec LED Clear Taillights 06

These tail lamps are found on the 2006 350Z sold in Japan. These can be used on any model year 350Z to give it that updated look and style. These are only sold in pairs and are a Genuine Nissan part

Sale Price: US$439.99 (Regular Price:US$549.99)

NISMO 18" S-Tune Wheels

2008-01-30T04:59:00.000-08:00

NISMO 18" S-Tune Wheels

Lightweight, forged, one-piece construction 18" rims from NISMO are 8.5" front and 9.5" rear. The unsprung weight of your Z is lowered which will improve your acceleration and aid in suspension response. They are compatible with OEM tire pressure monitoring system, and the center cap, lug nuts and valve stem are included.
Available in silver or bronze, with NISMO logo painted on rim. Sold individually, in pairs, or complete set of four. Please indicate preference.

Sale Price: US$525.00 (Regular Price:US$600.00)

OEM 18" Chrome Touring Wheels, 350Z

These are the genuine Nissan 350Z Touring wheels with a chrome finish. They'll give your Z an aftermarket look and feel, while retaining that clean stock look. Available individually (so, you bent a rim, eh?), or as a set. These also fit the 1990-96 Z32. The wheels are 18" x 8" with a 30+mm offset, made from lightweight aluminiun, squeeze-cast technology, nickel-chrome plating.We suggest the purchase of a set of wheel locks with these.

Sale Price: US$350.00 (Regular Price:US$450.00)

Nissan Wheel Locks, 350Z

Like your wheels? Nissan gets about $1000 EACH for Track Model wheels or only $700 a piece for Touring Model wheels, and this is before we start figuring in tires. Want to keep them? Get a set of these 4 locks and keep your car off cement blocks! Sure, insurance might cover- eventually, but these are instant insurance. Nickel and chrome plated for superior durability and corrosion resistance.

Price: US$24.99

350Z LED Tail Lamps IN STOCK NOW!

2008-01-30T04:58:00.001-08:00

These are the factory Nissan LED tail lamps that come on the 2006 model year Z update the look of your 350 to the 06 style. These will bolt in to your 03-05 Z with no permanent modification and directions are included. These are DOT approved and for are oversees customers they are E13 approved. Price is for the pair

Sale Price: US$399.99 (Regular Price:US$507.24)

06 350Z Bi-Xenon headlamps IN STOCK NOW!

2008-01-30T04:56:00.000-08:00

350Z Stage Chart
06 350Z Bi-Xenon headlamps IN STOCK NOW!

Update the look of your Z with these 06 model bi-xenon headlamps. Both the low and high beems are now Xenon and the marker lamps are restyled. Price is for the pair. These will bolt in to your 03-05 Z with no modification and these are DOT approved and for are oversees customers they are E13 approved. Price is for the pair

Sale Price: US$1,299.99 (Regular Price:US$1,689.88)

Project Toyota GT-S AE86/ Building A Coilover

2008-01-29T07:07:00.000-08:00

Project Toyota Corolla GT-S AE86

Building A Coilover
Building adjustable-height coilovers for the AE86 Corolla is not easy. As mentioned earlier, the front axle spindles are part of the strut housing. It's no wonder suspension manufacturers rarely offer off-the-shelf coilover kits, since the stock front suspension housings are no longer made. Those that do typically require a core exchange or cost significantly more than your average MacPherson strut adjustable suspension. We temporarily borrowed a set of front strut housings from a fellow Corolla-phile and sent them to GC, along with the Swift springs.

In order to give the new sport dampers enough space for their full stroke length, the strut housings have to be shortened by up to two inches. This requires two precision cuts: one to remove the top portion that has the machined threads and ridges for the cap holding the inserts in place. And a section cut out to shorten the tubing. Then the top must be concentrically welded back on. GC also hacked off the stock spring perch and welded in a seat for the threaded coilover sleeve to sit on. The spindle was also reinforced with a thick steel plate, welded in to distribute the bending load from the axle. Top it off with a CNC'ed pillowball adjustable camber and caster plate, plus a coat of bling-tastic red paint, and you have a set of coilovers worth more than the car.

Setting It Up
You haven't done a real suspension install until you've done it on a Corolla. Half the effort involves pulling off the brakes, rotor and bearing assembly-just to free up the bottom end of the front suspension. We also had to slot the bolt-holes in the strut tower sheetmetal, so the camber plates (originally intended for another application) would fit properly. By the time you read this, GC should have a proper adaptor plate available.

The rear suspension is much easier to bolt in. Pick up the rear with a floor jack on the rear axle and support the car with jack stands. Unbolt the bottom of the shock from the axle and drop the jack. The rear springs will pop right out.

The new GC coilovers, which also come with custom-turned polyurethane bushings, eliminate the stock springs by concentrically mounting the new spring on the dampers. This is the easiest way to obtain rear height adjustment for corner balancing.

The drawback is that the single-layer sheetmetal used for rear strut towers was never designed to support the rear of the vehicle's weight. Nor were the dinky studs on the axle that the bottom of the damper bolts to. Some Corolla tuners assure us this is safe, but we'll eventually reinforce the lower mount and strut towers by tying in some type of crossbrace or roll bar-even though the mounting points have shown no signs of fatigue after several track days. We also kept the rear springs, just in case the shocks ever decide to rip through the strut towers.

Another advantage of GC's rear suspension is its modular component design, making it easy to disassemble when changing springs, or even shocks. Corolla tuners divide into distinct camps, some preferring to use conventional lowering springs in the stock location, others swear by rear coilovers. Either way, we're covered. If the new geometry doesn't work, we'll just take the springs out and use replacements in the stock location.

After fumbling all these parts onto the car, we needed to sort out a ballpark ride height that allows the suspension to compress and droop properly. Initially, we set each spring perch at a free-length height of the spring, which avoids both pre-loading the spring and also utilizes as much droop travel as the spring will allow. It's a good starting point for setting any coilover's ride height, but this will limit compression travel if there is insufficient total stroke.

We can figure out total stroke by measuring the length of exposed piston rod between the top of the shock housing and the bottom of the bumpstop. Using zip ties wrapped around each piston rod and pushed all the way down to the top of the insert body, you can measure how much the suspension compresses from its free-air position. When the car is lowered, the zip ties will be pushed up to the static ride height. Lift the car up again and measure how far the zip tie has moved up. This will be the amount of droop travel. Everything above the bottom of the zip tie and under the bumpstop is the compression stroke.

To make sure the car doesn't hit the bump-stop in compression, we picked up each corner of the car so only one wheel supported the weight of the car and jumped on that corner. Based on where each zip tie ends up, the spring perches might have to be raised to get enough compression travel to clear the bumpstops.

Our original free-length settings still pushed the zip ties into the bumpstops, so each corner was raised appropriately. Considering there's a finite amount of total stroke, it's probably better to compromise droop to maximize compression stroke. It's far better to have a wheel lift off the ground in cornering than having the suspension bury itself into the bumpstop. The car is still lower than we like, but does the job on track for now.

The dampers give a total useable stroke of only two inches in front and three inches in the rear. Given that we had to compromise one way or the other, we settled on 1.5 inches of compression and the remaining 0.5 inches for droop in front.

In the rear, we ended up with 2.25 inches of compression and 0.75 inches of droop, not nearly as much stroke either way as we'd like. It will work for now as we consult Koni about alternatives that give us more damping and stroke, while still fitting in the existing parts. We're also contemplating a last resort of trimming the progressive bumpstops that came with the suspension.

Fixing A Lowered Car
With Project Corolla sitting almost two inches lower than it was ever designed to, we now have to deal with all the issues that plague an overly lowered car. On the front end, the lower control arms are now pointed up by around five degrees. This moves the roll center a good deal lower than stock, which makes for a much longer roll couple acting on the front of the car. The roll center for the solid axle geometry doesn't change with lowering, which makes for a sharply angled roll axis.

Relocating the front roll center is a simple fix with roll center adjusters (RCAs) now readily available. In the case of the unique Corolla front suspension, it's just a simple two-inch aluminum spacer that shims between the lower control arm and the bottom of the strut housing, pointing the lower control arm back in the right direction.

Techno Toy Tuning (T3), the tuners that brought out a Honda S2000-powered Corolla for our Junkyard Dogs shootout (SCC, Jan 2007) supplied its RCA kit. A nifty perk of the Corolla's quirky front knuckle is that the steering arms are attached to the lower part of the upright. So with the RCAs installed, not only is the front roll center returned to its original height, the steering arms retain their original geometry, eliminating any bump-steer issues. This is why these RCAs are also called bump-steer spacers.

T3 also makes a negative-camber RCA, which, unsurprisingly, adds negative camber and widens the front track. We passed on those to keep a consistent scrub radius in front and rear, and also because the GC camber plates already provide enough negative camber adjustment.

Track Time
Being able to control and feel each tire's motion makes a night-and-day difference when compared to the tired stock suspension and cut springs. With the front camber set at minus 2.5 degrees (for even tire wear) and zero toe, Project Corolla now pulls a consistent 0.91g on each end of our figure-eight test and runs the course in 27.7 seconds, a couple of tenths shy of a stock all-wheel-drive WRX, which has two more drive wheels and twice the power. Numbers aside, the biggest difference is the dynamic response on track. The spring and damping rates we chose are nicely compatible with the Hankook Z212 street tires currently on the car, and also keep the front and rear roll response well synched. Dive is practically eliminated, but we still do have some issues with the rear suspension squatting, and its laggy response on account of the unsprung weight and uneven lateral links. Next time, we'll further update the suspension with adjustable anti-roll bars, a temporary fix for the rear lateral links, and other handling tricks we're still experimenting with.

Project Toyota GT-S AE86

2008-01-29T07:04:00.000-08:00

Part 2: Shocking New Development

all contributors: Jay Chen

Corolla tuners are strange people, weirdos obsessed with making 22-year-old cars go fast. It's not much different from trying to retrofit an old black-and-white TV with Dolby 5.1 surround. Why don't Corolla tuners just buy modern cars? Because they're strange. And often cheap. Many Corolla tuners try to find speed with a budget that would shame a 15-year-old high school student.

As much as we'd like to save money, using half-ass budget parts won't cut it for a car that has to make up for two decades of advances in automotive technology. Now the car is running reliably, we're addressing the most critical issue: keeping the tires planted. Even though the AE86 Corolla chassis is known for its balance and user-friendliness, the suspension has some inherent drawbacks when compared to modern designs. Take the front set-up. The MacPherson strut lay-out has minimal camber gain, especially when the car is lowered significantly-one of the first modifications executed by Corolla owners. For this reason, most tuned Corollas run an obscene amount of front camber in order to maximize the contact patch in cornering. The front suspension also combines the spindle with the bottom of the strut housing, meaning any suspension updates involve removing and disassembling the entire front wheel and hub, so the stock spindle and strut housing can be sent off for modification.

The rear suspension is a solid live axle with four unequal-length lateral links, combined with a Panhard rod that constrains movement solely to vertical motion-a similar thing is found in most muscle cars, new and old. Two short lateral links connect the chassis to the top of the axle casting on each side, while two longer links connect the chassis to brackets protruding from the bottom of the axle. The springs sit farther inboard on the axle than the dampers.

While this design is great for putting up with gobs of torque with no camber change as the car squats, it is an immense lump of steel-unsprung weight that can potentially bind as the axle rotates when the car rolls. These links also have a tendency to resist squat the more the rear suspension swings up. Not good when planning to lower the car a couple of inches.

Add all this to the fact that the rear camber and toe are non-adjustable, and you end up with a car that should thoroughly suck in terms of road racing. But it doesn't for some reason, and racers still love this nimble cult classic.

Picking Your Rates
The foundation of our suspension update is a set of custom coilovers built by Ground Control around some Koni race dampers. We started off with spring rate selection using existing coilover springs available through Swift Springs. Most Japanese Corolla tuners will recommend 8kg/mm (447lb/in) and 6kg/mm (335lb/in) spring rates for the front and rear, respectively, for an aggressive street/track set-up. Assuming our gutted Project Corolla weighs a somewhat light 2200 pounds and has a distribution of 54 percent front and 46 rear, these spring rates would be appropriate for a weight distribution range of 57/43. This is a good ratio, since a little less rear spring will keep the rear suspension better planted.

However, we're not in Japan. Our roads are definitely not the same. Keeping in mind that Project Corolla currently still runs stock pizza-cutter wheels and street tires, we decided to proportionately downgrade as best as we could and settled on a combination of 6kg/mm (335lb/in) and 4kg/mm (220lb/in) springs in front and rear, respectively. This corresponds to a weight balance of 60/40, not bad considering the nature of the tires and that most of the stripped-out weight came from the interior's rear. Assuming a motion ratio of 1 for the front and soon-to-be coilover rear suspension, this gives us a natural ride frequency of roughly 2.4Hz for the front and 2.16Hz in the rear. Most regard 2Hz as a good ballpark for a well-tuned street car. Ferrari Challenge cars have a ride frequency of roughly 2.5, so Project Corolla will have a rough ride to the track for sure.

Just to be sure, we did some back-of-the-book calculations to see how much each corner would compress with the assumed vehicle weight at front and rear. Some suspension tuners will use a factor of 1g to 1.5g of vertical acceleration on top of the weight already supported by each corner, to simulate extreme suspension inputs and ensure adequate compression travel for the spring rates chosen.

Assuming each rear corner supports roughly 440 pounds when static, if you take out the unsprung weight, 1g of compression force would mean 880 pounds of force, which would compress the spring four inches from its free length, a significant amount of travel for a lowered car. The fronts would compress 3.3 inches in total or 1.6 inches from the car's static ride height. This will give us a ballpark figure for the amount of compression stroke needed in the dampers we choose.

Proper Damping
Ground Control (GC) worked with Koni to pair up the appropriate dampers and the required spring rates. We chose Koni for its wide range of monotube and twin-tube motorsport dampers. Depending on the model and the money you're willing to spend, Koni offers both single-rebound only or independent compression- and rebound-adjustable shocks valved with linear, digressive or progressive damping profiles.

Taking overall stroke length into consideration, sufficient compression and droop travel is absolutely critical when building a custom set of coilovers. A good starting point is to add the required amount of compression travel (from the calculation we just made) to the desired amount of droop travel. Add the bumpstop length on top of that to get the total stroke length.

The optimum amount of droop travel is often a matter of opinion. For example, some front-wheel-drive race car drivers like minimal droop in the rear suspension to lift an inside wheel off the ground in cornering. This will make a typically understeering car rotate better. Having a good deal of droop on rear-drive cars is a good thing, because rotating a rear-drive car is a whole other ball of wax, and you want to keep all the wheels on the ground at all times.

Jay Morris, the mastermind behind GC suspension, picked a single-way, rebound- and compression-adjustable, twin-tube damper for the fronts (Koni part number 8641-1453 SPGC. The GC in the part number means that it's only available through Ground Control). Morris worked with Koni to have the damper valved in three digressive phases for low-, medium- and high-speed compression damping, while keeping the rebound profile fairly linear.

The new rear coilover (Koni part number 30-7325), was derived from a proven GC design used on the Datsun 510. The four-position, rebound-adjustable only, high-pressure monotube damper has a total stroke of seven inches and was originally intended for circle track and road racing. According to Koni, the linear damping profile is well suited for shorter-stroke suspensions with motion ratios near 1.

Test Bench: Lancer EVO MR

2008-01-29T06:59:00.000-08:00

Test Bench: Lancer EVO MR

The Parts
Our EVO MR was, until recently, the only car in our fleet that had yet to lose its automotive virginity to modification. Despite having been around for almost 11 months, the near perfection of its natural abilities had never been disturbed.

But Road/Race Engineering knew the EVO could benefit from slightly increased rear roll stiffness, especially when on the track. After a call to the pros at The Progress Group, a moderately thicker adjustable rear anti-roll bar was created.

The new bar is 25mm-3mm larger than the factory bar, and is three-way adjustable. The innermost adjustment results in the least compliance, while the outer hole offers handling that is closest to stock. Because the bar is a solid design, the diameter didn't have to be increased much to make a substantial difference in roll stiffness.

The Plan
The entire installation and removal process was simplified with the exhaust unbolted at the muffler. From there, the wrenching was straightforward enough, but it wouldn't have hurt to be an expert with a Rubik's Cube when finagling the stock bar out from the subframe and over the axles.

The same was true in the installation of the RRE bar, which came with bigger brackets (to allow for the installation of the thicker bar), polyurethane grease, bushings, and all necessary hardware for the install. The bar uses the stock end links, which are a ball-joint design. After a little wrestling, the installation was a simple bolt- up affair.

The Results
The middle setting is the happy medium between the other two, but we wouldn't know because we're the hard-core, inner-setting type. That means the EVO can now hang its tail out and tuck its nose in at will and it breaks traction neutrally and progressively around long corners.

With the addition of the Road/Race Engineering rear bar and 235/45-17 Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires, we were able to eke out another .03g on the skidpad, bumping our Project EVO MR from .94 to .97g, on an extremely dusty surface.

steering ae86

2008-01-29T06:58:00.000-08:00

Project Toyota Corolla AE86

Manual steering cars also use a smaller-diameter spline on the end of the pinion gear. This is by far the biggest issue with the manual swap-locating steering yokes or U-joints with the right sized female splines on both sides and extending the steering column to reach the new rack takes endless scouring of junkyards and forums. Two parts are needed, the actual yoke with the same smaller-diameter spline on both the pinion and column side, and the longer version of the male spline, stuffed into the steering column with an interference fit. The longer male steering column spline is necessary as the pinion box on the power rack is significantly taller.

There are three ways to get these parts, get lucky and find the pieces (or entire steering column) from an AE86 or older manual-steering Corolla in a junkyard, from forums (along with the matching steering column spline. Gimp up a long yoke by taking two much more common power steering yokes, hack off the end of the small spline on one and weld it to the end of the big spline of the other), or take it like a man, bending over at the dealer and buying the parts. We went for option three. Welding together two cast pieces in a critical component didn't seem like the smartest idea-and we strongly advise against it. At the time of writing, Toyota only showed seven yokes left in America.

The last difference is in the steering knuckles at the bottom of the front struts. Manual-steering cars have a longer arm on the steering knuckle that the outer rod end attaches to. The trade-off is (again) slower steering for less work. We stuck with the shorter power steering knuckles that came with the car. Not so much because we wanted faster steering, but because the longer manual steering knuckles force the tie rods further back at an increased angle, which contributes to an on-center vagueness and minor bumpsteer issues. Our Frankenstein steering is down to almost two turns lock-to-lock and kicks back from surface changes hard enough to sprain the wrists of the unwary. Outrageous for an everyday street car, Project Corolla turns and rolls like a go-kart.

To make it even harder on ourselves, we dumped the flimsy stock two-spoke plastic deathtrap steering wheel for a much more solid 350mm diameter Momo Mod 07 dished item. It might seem vain, but the inch-and-a-half reduction in diameter and the more solid construction adds a lot to steering feel as well as placing the wheel in a better position. The smaller wheel does, however, require quicker hands and more effort, and will also kick back quicker.

Another side effect of the new steering hardware is the added steering angle, which now rubs the tires against the inside fender along the frame rail at full lock. We resorted to a temporary street solution by fitting a set of 14x7 Toyota Celica Supra Mk2 wheels. They're half an inch wider than the stock Corolla pizza-cutters, have slightly less offset, which pushes the wheel out a little more to stop the rubbing, and weigh almost as much as steel wheels.

Shop Corner: Diamond Bar Auto Care
While the shop looks like any other gas station repair shop from the outside, the array of Corolla, Starlets, JDM-swapped Soarers, RX-7s and 240SXs in the parking lot is just a hint of owner Ray Gonzaga's vast experience with eclectic Japanese rear-wheel drive. His prized 1983 400hp turbo Starlet race car is also an indication of how serious and crazy he is. But this is a good place to go for Corolla service and tuning. Gonzaga and his team will do anything from an oil change to the rare JDM engine change. He has over 20 years of experience racing and tuning Toyotas.

Power Steering Is For Little Girls

2008-01-29T06:56:00.000-08:00

Project Toyota Corolla AE86

Power Steering Is For Little Girls
That's really not true. If anything, it's the other way around, since there's a good reason why manual steering is all but extinct. Anyone who insists on manual steering over power is still living in the Dark Ages. Only mid-engine sports and race cars still use manual steering, as there's little weight sitting on the front axles and it requires less hardware and space. We just didn't have an option-Project Corolla came equipped with power steering, but all the hardware was cannibalized long ago. All that was left was a sloppy power rack with fluid gushing everywhere. Bang for buck and weight, it was cheaper to go with a manual steering conversion, although there are drawbacks on track and in everyday use.

The swap to manual steering is a double-edged sword. It offers more steering feedback, giving a driver immediate information on how the front tires are loaded, without the buffering benefits of power steering. But a manual system will kick back through the steering column just as immediately and violently. In most cases, a lack of power-assisted steering also means that manual cars have a higher steering ratio and thus slower steering, making steering effort easier for the driver.

We didn't want to do the standard conversion and end up with sloppy econobox steering. So we opted to update our manual rack with a Quaife Quick Steering Ratio (QSR) rack-and-pinion kit made specifically for left-hand-drive AE86 Corollas. The kit replaces the internals of the Corolla's stock manual rack with a lower steering ratio, from 3.5 turns lock-to-lock down to 2.5. This is done by changing the diameter of the pinion and modifying the teeth on both parts.

However, the conversion isn't simply a matter of bolting in a new manual rack-and-pinion. Most parts are too costly to buy new and almost impossible to pillage from junkyards.

On the AE86, there are several differences that need to be addressed. The manual rack itself is somewhat rare in the US, as most Corollas came here with power steering. And the only other vehicle to share the same part was the first-generation MR2. We were able to locate one through Df Power Rebuilding in Buena Park, California, which specializes in rebuilding steering racks and CV joints. Diego Figueroa at Df Power was able to locate and rebuild a manual rack with the Quaife QSR components within a couple of days. That was the easy part.

Finding the rest of the bits and pieces was the hard part. We took Project Corolla down to Diamond Bar Auto Care to help us deal with dropping the front subframe, pulling the steering column and the modifications needed to make a manual steering car. Power rack housings have a larger diameter and use different mounting brackets and bushings on the passenger side, so it can't just bolt in.

We replaced the driver-side bushing with a polyurethane unit from Prothane, while the passenger- (right-hand) side bushing was replaced with a CNC-machined Derlin bushing from Techno Toy Tuning (T3), made specifically for a power-to-manual steering conversion, since Toyota has discontinued the bracket and bushing parts.

The T3 bushing instructions require a bead of weld to be laid down along the rack housing to keep the bushing from sliding around on the rack, but we just drilled some holes and inserted pins into each half of the bushing to keep it in place. Our concern for the difference in stiffness of the two materials wasn't noticeable in steering feel, since the stiffer Derlin bushing was so much thicker and had more material to deflect.

Project Toyota Corolla AE86

2008-01-29T06:55:00.000-08:00

Project Toyota Corolla AE86

Adjusting the lateral link arm's length to control pinion angle also has an added benefit of altering anti-squat characteristics. Since the upper arms are at such an extreme angle and are at the upper range of their arcs, any extension will lessen the angle between the top and bottom links noticeably. This helps to reduce binding resistance and anti-squat. But there is a limit-extending the upper arms too much will push the pinion angle up, as well as increase the likelihood of axle contact. We could take out more anti-squat by shortening the lower arms (which allows the upper arms to be extended further without compromising pinion angle), but then there would be changes to the wheelbase, which we're not ready to play with yet.

Anti-squat is not always a bad thing. Drifters take advantage of it to help aggravate the car and break the rear tires loose to initiate a slide. This method is obviously more useful with greater grip and power. If we were drag racing, we'd leave it at a slight downward angle, so as the car reaches full squat from launch, the pinion lines up with the driveshaft. But we aren't drag racing and we have no power.

For those with power and/or drag racing aspirations, Whiteline also makes a set of brackets for the axle side of the lower lateral links, which allow the back end of the lower link to be remounted at two even lower positions. By lowering the pick-up point, the angle between the arms increases, adding more anti-squat without altering the pinion angle. We installed these brackets to each axle end, but kept the stock end-link position, so we could at least keep the lower link parallel to the ground if we decide to lower the car more in the future and change the pick-up points.

We also replaced the front and rear anti-roll bars. Although the stock bars worked well enough, the added roll stiffness is a good thing when running fairly soft springs, it helps with faster transient response. But a lot of roll resistance isn't necessarily desirable. As the car now sits on Hankook Z212 street tires, we wanted a limited amount of roll resistance since street tires have less traction. Too much would overload the outside tires in a turn, while not allowing the inside tires to provide maximum contact, causing the car to slide prematurely.

Whiteline offers two rear bars and three front bars-all solid. The rears are 18mm in diameter (with and without adjustable blades), while the fronts are 24mm (with or without adjustable blades). And there's also a monster non-adjustable, extra-heavy duty 27mm bar that looks more appropriate for something bigger-like a 240SX. We're not sure why such an item is available. Even on race tires, a large front bar should make any car push severely. We opted for the adjustable fronts and rears, adjusted to the least resistance for street tires (and decided to save the monster front bar for testing, when we have a lot more rubber). Both bars have Whiteline end-links with polyurethane bushings and reinforced body mounting brackets. For this particular application, the well thought-out brackets offer two attachment points for the end-links.

Depending on which of the four adjustment settings chosen, you can use a different attachment point to avoid end-link bind and body contact. We have noticed that, depending on how much twisting resistance there is, the front bar might have clearance issues with the frame rail on severely lowered cars.

The main advantage of all this is a greater range of adjustability as we progress through different levels of power and grip. We still have enough adjustment to better dial in the car for the characteristics and driving purposes we have in mind.

Quaife's QSR rack-and-pinion kit is designed for manual racks only. The steering ratio is reduced by increasing the pinion diameter, which means more travel per rotation of the steering wheel. The gear teeth are cut at a different angle to accommodate the larger pinion and inductance-hardened to reduce wear.

Side by side, the power steering rack (top) has a larger-diameter housing as well as taller pinion housing. The red manual steering bushing on the right won't fit into the power steering bracket.

The Techno Toy Tuning Derlin manual steering conversion bushing is much larger to fit the original power steering brackets. We drilled holes on each half of the bushing and inserted pins to keep the halves in place.

Project Toyota Corolla AE86

2008-01-29T06:51:00.000-08:00

Part 3: More Adjustments Than A Midget Suit

all contributors: Jay Chen

In the last installment of Project Corolla, we dialed in a set of custom Ground Control coilovers, then figured out spring rates and ride height adjustments to make the suspension work on the track. We chose 6kg/mm springs in front, in conjunction with specially valved Koni twin-tube dampers and 4kg/mm rear springs, mounted on monotube shocks. While we've had some issues with the overall amount of suspension stroke, we've made the setup acceptable-for the time being.

Roll, Squat And Bind
One trend among tuned Corollas is the tendency to lower them by too much. Even with spring rates sufficiently high to enable proper suspension function with such a short stroke, there are severe alterations to the stock geometry. What little stroke there is becomes confined to one extreme of each control arm and link's arc of motion. Also, when the springs are stiffer than the chassis, the chassis does all the flexing.

Fixing geometry problems in most modern cars with independent rear suspension is a matter of modifying the bushings or pick-up points to make the stock camber and toe curves work. Corollas are anything but modern and independent. Ironically, we had to steal tricks from muscle car and truck gurus to make our live axle stick and turn.

With a live rear axle, lowering the car does two critical things. First, the pinion angle is changed, so that, in static state, it's already pointing down. It does so even more when the car squats under acceleration (assuming it has enough power for the job). This means more resistance at the differential input shaft when the driveshaft yoke is contorted. More importantly, most cars are like the Corolla and have unequal lateral links. The anti-squat reaction from these links is further increased, since the lower link is now nearly parallel to the ground, while the short upper arms point up at a steep angle, pushing the instant center far below the center of gravity.

There really isn't a good fix for this without whipping out the welder and acetylene torch, but we're trying to solve it with an assortment of adjustable links, bars and brackets from Whiteline Automotive. It seems the AE86's popularity has stretched to Australia and Whiteline has invested a good deal of time developing and racing the platform, as well as writing papers on proper set-ups for it. Based on this experience, the company has developed a range of products that allow a Corolla to be adjusted for a variety of purposes.

To correct the pinion angle and reduce anti-squat reaction, we replaced the stock unequal-length lateral links with adjustable units. These are steel pieces with polyurethane bushings inserted in each end, which keep out some noise and vibration (unlike a heim joint). The lengths of the arms are adjusted with a threaded center section and jam nuts. There are many ways to screw this up when fiddling with the lengths, so we kept it simple. We put the lower links at the stock length to preserve the original wheelbase and adjusted the upper arms to force the pinion angle parallel to the ground. Depending on how far a car is lowered, there's a chance the upper arms will contact the axle housing under compression, so we had to move the axle through its range of motion to double-check. Otherwise, there would be suspension bind issues.

The rear suspension bits from Whiteline Automotive include adjustable rear upper and lower lateral links, an anti-roll bar and traction brackets at the ends of the axle. Note the upward angle of the upper arm and near-flat position of the lower bar, even with the suspension in full droop. By adjusting the lateral link lengths, pinion angle and anti-squat geometry can be tweaked. Traction brackets also add anti-squat by increasing the difference in angle between the upper and lower bars.

Whiteline's solid front anti-roll bars come in two diameters, 24mm (adjustable as shown here) and a super-beefy 27mm bar that we're almost afraid to put on the car.

With our lowered car hanging in free air, the front anti-roll bar comes uncomfortably close to the chassis frame. Also note the exposed metal on the inner fender where the tire rubs, on account of the new steering hardware.

Sport Compact Car Magazine: Wallpapers

2008-01-29T06:47:00.000-08:00

Free Stuff

Instructions for Windows 95/98

Right click on a desktop image size to download

Select Start Menu:Settings:Control Panel

Open the Display Control Panel

Select the Background tab

Press the Browse button

Locate the file you just downloaded and select it

Press the Apply button

Press the OK button

Instructions for Macintosh

Hold the option key and click on a desktop image size on the right to download

Go to your Apple Menu:Control Panels:Appearance

Select the Desktop tab in the Appearance Control Panel

Select Place Picture

Select the file you want to use

Press the Set Desktop button

Project WRX V08 - Part 1

2008-01-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

Project WRX V08 - Part 1

Our conservatively styled sedan (on stock wheels, at full ride height and with a giant wing) now turned lots of heads, but not in a good way. It was also difficult to see out the back. Perhaps one could adapt to the mirrors eventually, but we had a hard time judging closing speeds out of them. Before going to paint, we pulled off the mirrors and wing-though we'll keep them to test on the track later down the line.

In keeping with SCC's heritage, we decided to paint our new WRX flat black. But this car was going to be displayed in the Subaru booth at SEMA. We really couldn't get away with another rattle-can Krylon job like on our old Project STi.

Our good friend Marc Maksimow has a reputation for knocking out SEMA-quality paint jobs on tight SEMA-car timelines. He welded up the holes in the trunk (from both our stock and APR wings), then sanded and masked the body. During the prep phase, we decided to dump some of the hideous side body molding and added the must-have, Subaru dealer-option mesh grille. For paint, we went with a real spray gun and paint booth, and shot Project WRX V.08 with the R-M Carizzma Flat Black satin finish from BASF. The results came out better than anyone expected (other than the BASF guys). Maintenance is extremely low as well; the paint doesn't require any color sanding after being shot (just let it dry and it's ready to go), and cleaning the car doesn't require any waxing. Even Coleman is now considering having Project Silvia shot with the stuff.

The BASF paint made all the difference. Project WRX V.08 finally felt like a real SCC car. Something had to be done with the suspension, though. Despite the updated design (see Nov 2007, p104) the stock suspension still allows a lot of roll, squat and dive when the car is driven hard.

But, with an all-new suspension design and a tight time frame, we knew we'd have to go with a Japanese set-up, taking advantage of their earlier Impreza release date and resultant aftermarket R&D lead time. TEIN Japan had just finished developing one of its (unfortunately named) Super Street coilover systems and Katsuma Nakai, R&D manager at TEIN USA, was eager to test it out. He installed and adjusted the new springs and dampers. Our initial impressions are that it's a good compromise between comfort and performance on the street, but we'll save final judgment until after we test it at the track. The beauty about working with TEIN USA is that the company can re-valve the dampers in-house. It also has a wide assortment of spring rates in stock, so we can stiffen things up as we increase power and tire sizes later.

The final upgrades for this installment are the wheels and tires. For wheels, we chose Prodrive's forged GC-06H and selected the widest 5x100 bolt pattern size that was confirmed to fit-18x7.5 with a +48mm offset. Prodrive has a long history with Subaru through rally competition and we really wanted to bolt some of that mojo onto our car. Besides, the wheels just look good. They are readily available in gold and gunmetal, but white can be ordered specially. We wanted our set in white, but Prodrive was out of stock. Believe it or not, the wheels on our car were originally British Gold. We dropped them off with Sander Huang at The Wheel Supply in Walnut, California, to have them acid-dipped and powder-coated in white.

We really weren't sure how much tire could fit under the stock fenders. We eyeballed it and measured the wheel wells, but with only a stock 205-width tire, we went with a conservative 225/35/18 Advan Neova from Yokohama. Editor-in-chief Leh has us under strict orders not to crash the car before SEMA, so, like so much else, you'll have to wait for the next update to see how well the tires perform.

In the next installment of Project WRX V.08, we'll let you know just how much we got done before SEMA. You can look forward to rear spoiler number three, a little more pep under the hood and some fine touches to the interior. Shortly after that, engineering editor Chen and I will get this puppy out to the track and find out how well everything works together.

Here are our Prodrive GC-06H wheels after the gold finish was removed in an acid bath.	Nakai-san at TEIN test-fits and sets up our Super Street coilovers.	After the acid dip, The Wheel Supply powder-coated the wheels white and mounted a fresh set of Yokohama Neova tires.
Designed for use with street tires, the TEIN SS coilovers feature upper front pillowball camber plates and adjustable damping.		Here is a teaser of our new satin black finish. In the next update, we'll show how the car came out for the SEMA show.

Project WRX V08 - Part 1

2008-01-29T06:41:00.000-08:00

Part 1: Our All-New And, Hopefully, Long-Term Project Car

writer: Andy Hope
photographer: Andy Hope, Joey Leh

We've gone through a few WRX projects in recent years. It seems as though right when we start getting one sorted out, an updated version comes along to replace it. Our last one didn't make it very far past its introduction before it was hauled off. Well, we just took delivery of an all-new 2008 Impreza WRX from Subaru. To avoid any confusion, we'll call it Project WRX V.08. This one is slated to stay in our fleet for a few years and we're not wasting any time. Research and development are already well under way.

It might appear as if this project is moving a little too fast. Normally, the speed of development is governed by the need to test the car after each modification. But this time, our short-term objective is a little different-and coming up really quickly. We have to prepare the car to be displayed in Subaru of America's booth at the 2007 SEMA show, which will have passed by the time you read this.

If it looks like we've gone to full-on Pimp My Ride status, don't worry. There'll be plenty of time to reverse-engineer and test everything after the show. But for now, we're blazing forward. At the time of writing, we've had the car for a little less than a month and we only have a couple of weeks left to get it ready. Here's a brief rundown on what we've done so far.

To save time and avoid future embarrassment, we've taken a fairly conservative approach. Instead of loading up with unfamiliar products, we're working with aftermarket companies that have already proven their worth within the Subaru tuning community. Without taking the time to really shake the car down, it's hard to say if certain modifications are really necessary. But going with established tuners gives us the best shot at making our WRX better.

The first stop for Project WRX V.08 was Stillen subsidiary Brake Pros. With the entire staff of SCC being track junkies, we knew this project would be spending a good deal of time doing threshold braking. After a few hot laps, the brakes are usually the first things to go away. The crew at Brake Pros took measurements and put together a front brake kit using 13-inch diameter two-piece rotors and four-piston AP Racing calipers. The front mounting points on 2008 WRXs are exactly the same as older 2002-on WRXs, so many existing brake kits will fit the new model.

A big plus for the AP Racing kit is that, amazingly, the larger brakes manage to fit under the stock 17-inch wheels. This will be great, as we will still be able to use the stock wheels and tires on rainy days. While Brake Pros finished the rear kit, we grabbed the car to get the next group of parts started.

Aside from the obvious association between K&N Engineering and rally racing, the company really made its mark in the Impreza community with its Typhoon intake system. Powder-coated in wrinkle red, to match the STI's intake manifold, the Typhoon drew plenty of attention. However, power increases proved that it was more than just a showpiece. After two days of prototyping, K&N adapted its Legacy 2.5 GT cold-air intake to our Impreza, netting impressive peak horsepower and torque gains of 27 wheel-hp and 32lb-ft, respectively. FThe K&N intake doesn't affect driveability at all, but it does raise the 'wooshing' noise of the turbocharger compressor and the stock bypass valve significantly.

The car was becoming more fun to drive as we headed from K&N over to APR Performance. While the car still looked bone stock, the turbo was now screaming "I am not a Camry." Still, you couldn't help but notice that no one else found our WRX worth a second glance. That was about to change.

KC Chow handles all the R&D at APR. His work can be seen on several former USCC entrants and on many current time attack cars. Our car got the usual treatment, included a large 3D carbon fiber rear wing, relatively small carbon fiber side-view mirrors, plus a front splitter and subtle air dam insert that fit just right.

Our first upgrade was these four-piston 13-inch diameter AP Racing front brakes from Brake Pros. We'll have something for the rear soon and will publish some testing results in a future installment.	Surprisingly, the huge AP Racing brakes fit under the stock wheels.	These APR mirrors are much lighter than the stock ones and should cut down on drag. For the street, however, we prefer the flexibility of the factory power-adjustable mirrors.
The K&N Typhoon intake gave us a decent increase in power. But, more importantly, the car now makes all those great suck and blow sounds like any turbo car should.	APR prototyped a carbon splitter and lip insert on our car. If you want these to go into mass production, call APR. They're in our source box.	After going through two rear wings, our trunk was full of holes. Then, of course, it started to rain. Masking tape made for a temporary fix until we could get them welded up.

Project EVO IX

2008-01-29T06:38:00.000-08:00

Project EVO IX

We swapped in a set of Ferodo DS2500 brake pads and the difference was dramatic. These are the pads Mitsubishi should have included from the factory. A good street-tire pad, the DS2500 provides extra bite and feel, and has a higher heat capacity range than stock. This is important to us because we'll be using our Evo IX at NASA HPDE days as well as autocross events. To that end, we also threw on a set of Goodridge stainless steel braided brake lines and then bled the system with Motul RBF600 brake fluid. The Goodridge lines are simple, direct-fit factory replacement pieces that give a much more consistent pedal feel during track days. Combined with the high boiling point of the RBF600 fluid, the Goodridge lines allowed us to go through an entire weekend with a hard, solid brake pedal where before we'd be bleeding our brakes trackside after just a couple of lapping sessions.

Although we have an 80mm GReddy SP2 street exhaust waiting to go on, we have yet to touch the engine in Project Evo IX. So we figured this was as good a time as any to try out a few stock engine tricks. After seeing too many aftermarket intakes run into air turbulence issues through the MAF, we decided to keep the stock intake box in place. We used a simple K&N Engineering drop-in panel filter and saw a peak horsepower gain of four wheel-hp and a peak torque loss of 0.5lb-ft from our baseline of 253.5 wheel-hp and 247lb-ft. We did, however, see a gain of 7.8lb-ft lower down, at about 4200rpm. The K&N filter won't give that bypass valve whoosh, but it will give you a car that can run past 300 wheel-hp with no driveability issues from the intake. We'll take that any day.

SCCA Solo rules part 14.10, E, #5 state that "VTEC controllers and other devices may be used which alter the timing of factory standard electronic variable valve timing systems." While you won't see any 'powered by VTEC' stickers on the back of Project Evo IX, there is a MIVEC badge on the valve cover. MIVEC, which stands for Mitsubishi Innovative Valve timing Electronic Control system, is the Evo IX's variable intake cam phasing system. By altering the intake cam phasing and the resultant effect on overlap, Mitsubishi engineers were able to increase low-end power and boost response compared to the Evo VIII, without any loss of driveability.

GReddy recently released a new line-up of plug-and-play V-manage variable valve timing ECUs, and we installed one in all of three minutes. GReddy sells the V-manage as a kit, which includes a dummy-proof jumper harness and a pre-programmed V-manage ECU. Tuned in-house at GReddy for compatibility with USDM Evo IXs, the V-manage also includes software so that you can use a laptop to create your own valve timing program, based on engine load and revs. The V-manage doesn't have the ability to alter timing or fuel, that's what GReddy's E-manage and E-manage Ultimate are for, but the stock pre-programmed map is designed to work with most stock turbo Evo IXs. We drove GReddy's own Evo IX, which was equipped with a full titanium exhaust and a V-manage unit. Low-end gains were very noticeable, using the almighty ass-dyno, especially from 2500rpm and up.

Another interesting feature of the V-manage is its data logging. Once hooked up to a laptop, the V-manage software can sample data every 20ms and can record and save logged files. Possible sampled data includes rpm, throttle position, airflow adjustment percentage, airflow input and output, intake valve timing values, ignition timing, vehicle speed, and more. The required USB cable isn't included, but it's an easy purchase at any electronics store.

On the dyno, the V-manage managed (no pun intended) to coax out 3.3 wheel-hp and 6.1lb-ft of torque peak, using the stock paper filter. Once we put the K&N air filter back in, peak gains jumped up to 7.9 wheel-hp and 10.4lb-ft with the extra air. Most importantly, the combination of V-manage and K&N filter helped make 19 wheel-hp and 30.7lb-ft of torque at a very usable 3300rpm. We expect a V-manage will show even more gains with a turbo-back exhaust, a new set of cams, an increase in boost, and custom tuning.

With just a few choice mods, we've laid the foundation for our autocrossing all-wheel-drive machine. Next, we'll take Project Evo IX to the track for testing and then get down to the dirty business of putting together a lower, stiffer suspension that works properly.

With the V-manage's built-in datalogger, multiple parameters can be logged and recorded. Each parameter shown is selectable to be viewed.

V-manage datalog files can be saved as text files and played back later. Data is sampled every 20ms, which can be useful for examining your current program.

Project EVO IX

2008-01-29T06:34:00.000-08:00

In contrast to a two-hour drive to the racetrack, our local autocross events only require a quick half-hour blast down the freeway and often have a semblance of civilization nearby. So they give the perfect battleground to run a street tire-shod project car that doesn't require a tire swap after arriving. We will no doubt become embroiled in the downward spiral of stiffer springs, triple-digit octane and race tires, but for now, we just want to get our foundation straight. Our aim is the Street Touring U (STU) class.

STU rules allow pump gas only, auxiliary gauges, racing seats (seat and bracket must weight 25 pounds), body kits, 245-width tires for all-wheel-drive cars, the use of only one high-flow cat, eight-inch wide wheels, reprogrammed ECUs (but no increase in boost), urethane bushings, camber kits, coilovers, anti-roll bars, turbo-back exhausts and brake pads. The cars are limited to 3.1 liters of engine displacement for forced induction cars and are unlimited for naturally aspirated machines. But before you go and build a stroker Evo motor, Street Touring rules specifically forbid built engines and engine swaps. Popular cars in STU include the Evo VIII, Evo IX, E36 M3, RX-8, Mustang, Camaro, Neon SRT-4 and WRX STI.

With the Lancer Evolution IX wearing 17x8 Enkei wheels straight from the factory, we knew we'd be in good shape for STU. We could have gone with an 18x8 wheel and eliminated the extra squish of tire sidewall flex, but didn't feel our hard-earned cash was worth the benefit, if any. Our piggy banks are staying locked until 9.5-inch wide wheels and 265-width tires find their way under our Evo's fenders. We'll be tackling the whole issue of unsprung weight and rotational mass versus eating top ramen in a future test article, but for now, we're just left dreaming about which bitchin' forged gems we'd get to match this car.

The stock Yokohama A046 tires lasted almost 20,000 miles and two track weekends before showing cords, which is apparently a pretty decent amount of time for an Evo. We've heard of some cars running out of tread in as little as 12,000 miles. With a tire this soft and sticky from the factory, we knew we couldn't go for a drop in quality. Looking through the entrant list for our local events, there seemed to be two tires used predominantly on front-running cars, the Yokohama Advan Neova and the Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R. Having already experienced the Neova on an Evo VI in our October 2007 issue cover story, we decided to sample the other variety and went with the RE-01R in the widest STU-allowed size that could fit an Evo: 245/45/17.

Bridgestone's RE-01R features a semi-slick shoulder block, large tread blocks, sculpted water evacuation channels and a wide center rib. Once the RE-01Rs hit the pavement, we were impressed. The tire delivers loads of grip and, most importantly, plenty of feedback in quick transitions. It obviously doesn't have the heat capacity of a race tire, but it's an excellent street tire that works well in autocross situations, where there is plenty of cooling time between runs.

The stock Evo brake line is well designed for a factory piece, with this spiral outer line to protect from damage, but it doesn't have the consistent feel and expansion resistance of the Goodridge.

With new sticky rubber mounted, it was time to address the brakes. The Evo IX is blessed with a highly capable set-up, featuring four-piston fixed Brembo calipers up front (with 12.6-inch rotors) and two-piston fixed Brembos out back (with 11.8-inch rotors). They do a good job of stopping all 3260 pounds of the Evo IX's mass, but the stock brake pad feel is far from adequate. We're sure Mitsubishi engineers designed a special brake backing plate that could accept chopped and formed cardboard, because the stock pads seem to have no initial bite at all. In any situation, to slow a stock Evo, mash the middle pedal all the way down and keep it there, with no modulation to speak of. It's like having an on/off switch for brakes.

Project EVO IX

2008-01-29T06:29:00.001-08:00

Part 1: Going Cone Dodging

writer: Joey Leh
photographer: Joey Leh, Edward Loh

When we first decided to embark upon another Lancer Evolution project, we had to take a step back and think. The Evo is a fantastically fun car to drive, regardless of generation. It's blessed with quick-spool turbo power, loads of grip and an untapped potential just waiting to be unleashed. But the Evo is also well balanced from the factory and, like the Honda S2000, is easily corruptible with the wrong parts. So when we drew up the plans for our Evolution IX project, we knew we would have to have a game plan going in.

We wanted more than our mildly tuned red Evo VIII (our first Lancer Evolution project) delivered and we didn't want to go with a massive turbo like our old grey Evo VIII MR. No, the plan for Project Evo IX was to build a capable and fast street machine that still utilized the stock turbo, yet provided a wickedly fast driving experience. And some competition couldn't hurt either. We're going autocrossing.

For those unfamiliar, autocrossing is an event where cars are timed as they run through a cone-lined course, which is usually set up in a generously sized parking lot. Cars are broken down by class, based on platform and modifications. Times between competitors usually split hairs based on tenths, if not hundredths, of a second. All that's needed to run is a helmet, four tires and a steering wheel. Autocross courses are tighter and smaller than typical road courses, which means lower speeds and the ability to be constantly at the limit of adhesion. The lower course speeds also mean less danger, nearly zero chance of rollover (although anything is possible if a driver is talented enough) and no need to worry about high-speed aerodynamics or instability. We're still going to take Project Evo IX out to a track day here and there, so there'll have to be some concessions made in terms of low- versus high-speed balance, and with heat dissipation in the brakes, but the primary focus will be on cone dodging.

The first step to entering autocross events is finding out where the hell they take place. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is the largest sanctioning body in the US. Unfortunately, they don't hold open track events for street cars in our region, like the National Auto Sport Association (NASA) HPDE program, but they do have the most detailed and structured autocross competitions around, known as Solo and ProSolo. ProSolo differs from the normal Solo autocross in that ProSolo is run head-to-head between two drivers using two mirrored courses. Both cars are sent off using a drag-style Christmas tree and the top times from each course are combined for each driver. The fastest Schumacher-esque cone masters at the end of competition are then run head-to-head in a series of extra 'challenge' events.

One cruise through SCCA's website will track down your local regional SCCA car club, which will feature the calendar of events in your area. Some regions run events that require SCCA membership and some don't. Our local events currently don't require SCCA membership to run, but to accrue points and compete at the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships, membership and dues are required. A course walk, which is exactly what it sounds like, is done once or twice a day, but the glory of autocross is its ability to force you to learn course recognition and adaptation in just a few runs. Drivers such as World Challenge competitor Randy Pobst and Formula Drift pilot Calvin Wan got their start driving around cones in mall parking lots and, hey, if it worked for them, it's got to be worth a set of tires or two.

Ford Focus RS confirmed

2008-01-10T03:52:00.001-08:00

The on-again, off-again Ford Focus RS is now definitely on again. During a press event at the Race of Champions last night, Ford officially announced that a ‘no-compromise RS model’ would go on sale in 2009.

And if you can’t wait that long then Ford has released this teaser picture of what the car could look like. The company also plans to show a concept version of the car in mid-2008. Which coincides neatly with the London Motor Show…

Why has Ford waited so long to launch the Focus RS?

It’s all down to money - whether the financial trouble Ford is in on the other side of the Pond or just making the business case for the RS stack up. The previous car lost money for Ford.

But now the company has won the WRC manufacturer’s title for the past two years, it’s the perfect time to launch a halo car.

That means all of Ford’s technical know-how will be going into the RS, which is being developed by Ford Team RS. This small and specialist team is headed by Jost Capito, the new vehicle line director for Ford of Europe performance vehicles.

So will the Focus RS be a true rally-replica?

Although Ford has yet to announce final specifications for the car, it probably won’t be four-wheel drive. John Fleming, Ford of Europe's president and CEO, had this to say: ‘Make no mistake, I can assure you that ultimately, the car we plan to launch will be worthy of wearing the coveted Ford RS badge’.

We hear the top Focus will get 300bhp, a twin-clutch transmission and a trick-electronic diff, and we've already caught the prototype testing near the Nurburgring (see photos right).

Jaguar XJ scooped

2008-01-10T03:28:00.000-08:00

No sooner has Jaguar launched the XF than it’s readying its next new car: the XJ limo. CAR Online has grabbed the first spyshots of this engineering mule, caught as it ventured out near the company’s Whitley R&D base. The widened tracks and cooling tests at the front indicate this is the new XJ, codenamed X351.

It’s scheduled for launch in 2009/10 and will build on the daring (for Jaguar) design direction pioneered on the XF. That car has split opinion like few others in Jag’s history, so expect some fireworks in the gentlemen’s clubs of London and the Home Counties.

Jag’s rakish new saloon might ruffle a few feathers, but it’s not all change for the big cat. It will keep the aluminium construction of today’s car to trim weight, but gain a much edgier design. When we interviewed design director Ian Callum at the recent XF launch, he suggested that the Mercedes CLS was an inspiration to the style of modern large saloons. Expect a hint of the Mercedes’ slammed look and shallow windowline, but paired with Jag’s new squarer grille and hi-tech lights (possibly LEDs on this iteration).

Bold inside and out

Inside, the XJ will echo the look of the XF’s cabin – which can only be a good thing. The fresh and modern interior of the XF is one of its ace cards; it strikes a fine balance between classical comfort (leather, fine woods, quality craftsmanship) and modernity (pop-up rotary gearchange, disappearing ‘eyelid’ air vents, proximity switches that don’t even need to be touched).

Clearly these snatched pictures don’t tell us too much about the new XJ. Manufacturers use such chassis mules, created from hacked-about current models, to test the engineering set-up on new cars. Only much nearer launch will we see more advanced prototypes in more or less production form.

But X351 will use the existing chassis from the XJ, explaining the cut-n-shut nature of this mule. There’s little wrong with the way the XJ drives – like the outgoing S-Type, it’s saddled with yesteryear looks, not engineering – so there won’t be too much change under the skin.

Key details are an aluminium structure, a straight six and Jag’s new 5.0-litre V8, which is also slotting into numerous large Land Rovers and Range Rovers. The XJ will remain rear wheel drive and the excellent 2.7-litre TDVi V6 diesel will continue too. Unsurprisingly, it’s the best seller in many markets.

Porsche Panamera Hybrid

2008-01-10T03:21:00.000-08:00

Porsche's new hybrids - the Panamera saloon and Cayenne off-roader - will achieve comfortably more than 30mpg, the company revealed today. Porsche's first petrol-electric car will be the Cayenne Hybrid and it will land in showrooms by the end of the decade, capable of 31.4mpg or 9L/100km.

Although Porsche's claims are annoyingly vague (is this figure an average consumption, or at a steady 56mph? They don't let on...), we'd expect the lighter and more aerodynamic four-door to be even more economical.

Anything else I should know about the Panamera?

Porsche is being quite boastful about the space its big four-door saloon will offer. The four-door will be longer than a Mercedes S-class, so Porsche claims the Panamera will offer ‘a brand-new experience of roominess’ and the two backseat occupants will have ‘surprisingly generous headroom’.

The new Panamera goes on sale in 2009, but if you want the full story on the gran turismo from Stuttgart, check out the February 2008 issue of CAR.

Mercedes SLK facelift

2008-01-10T02:43:00.000-08:00

Mercedes has given its SLK a spruce-up just in time for Christmas. Blink and you most certainly will miss it – but the company claims there are 650 modified parts on its renowned roadster, which gets freshened looks inside and out, and fettled engines to take it into 2008.

Anoraks will spot the facelifted two-seater by its reshaped bumper and front air dam, and the large three-pointed star is given more prominence on the SLK’s snout. At the rear, a faux diffuser is grafted onto the car’s behind, alongside trapezoidal tailpipes and smoked, AMG-style rear lights.

Bigger door mirrors sprout from the flanks – now illuminated with arrow-shaped indicator repeaters, and new designs of alloy wheel evolve the look originally penned by Brit designer Steve Mattin, now design chief at Volvo.

New engines

The four-strong engine line-up will continue, led by the SLK55 V8. The three smaller engines are all revised for lower consumption and emissions: the SLK200 Kompressor (up 21bhp to 182bhp), SLK 280 (unchanged at ) and SLK350 (up 33bhp to 301bhp).

Also new is a variable ratio steering system called Direct-Steer. It’s optional on the three base models and standard on the AMG, and is wholly mechanical, meaning a much more direct ratio when just 5deg of lock is applied for quicker responses. Merc claims the turns lock to lock has reduced by a quarter as a result.

Changes inside include a new instrument cluster and three-spoke steering wheel design. Merc’s latest telematics system has been shoehorned in, letting owners use Bluetooth and operate their iPod remotely through the usual stereo controls.

The revised SLK goes on sale in Britain in April 2008. Pricing will be announced in the new year. Despite being the priciest car in its segment, the SLK remains a strong seller – Merc has flogged nearly half a million since its debut in 1997, nearly a tenth of those in the UK.

Mazda Furai concept

2008-01-10T02:13:00.000-08:00

What should I know about the Furai? Does it go like the wind?

we said no jokes! But yes, the Furai will be quick - and green. Power comes from the same 450bhp triple-rotor rotary engine that Mazda used to campaign the ALMS car in 2005 and 2006. And now it’s been developed to run on pure ethanol.

While such a rotary engine won’t be seen in a roadgoing Mazda any time soon, the company isn’t about to abandon the Renesis motor. Franz von Holzhausen, Mazda North American operations director of design, says the company ‘has no intention of abandoning that valuable asset.’ The dark matt finish of the Furai, with red and orange highlights, is a tribute to the 787B, the only car from a Japanese manufacturer to win the Le Mans 24hrs (it too was rotary powered).

Racecar heart, eco blood

The ethanol-powered engine is a move designed to mirror the adoption of renewable fuels in race series around the world, while the switch of the Courage chassis to a closed cockpit is another forward-looking move. Both ALMS and the Le Mans 24hrs regulations are changing to promote such a design, as seen by the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP racer.

The interior of the Furai is a little less extreme than the outside, though it’s still very business-like with few creature comforts.

Rolls-Royce's baby scooped

2008-01-10T02:08:00.000-08:00

BMW has started testing its new baby Rolls-Royce – and our spies were on hand to capture the moment this mule took to the roads around Munich. Size is relative, of course; this might be the smallest Rolls for generations, but it will still dwarf the majority of cars on the road.

Nestling under the disguise of this long-wheelbase 7-series lie the innards of the baby Roller, codenamed New Generation Saloon. The smaller Rolls will slot beneath the Phantom uber-saloon in the range and officials talk of it as ‘a Silver Shadow for the 21st century’. Strip away the BM bodywork, and the baby Rolls will look like the car depicted in our artist’s impression above.

Classic four-door proportions

CAR Online understands the NGS has a classic four-door silhouette that stretches to five-and-a-half metres long. Even Rolls-Royce owners downsizing won’t put up with cramped cabin conditions after all. Will it have the suicide – sorry, coach – doors so beloved of £265,000 Phantom owners? Nobody is certain yet, but it seems likely if customers are to be lured out of their top-spec BMWs, Mercedes and Bentleys.

Analysis of our exclusive scoop shots reveals a platform whose track is noticeably wider than a 7-series’, and the raised ride height is another indicator of what lies beneath this BM body. Check out the size of the brake discs too – required to halt a couple of tonnes of luxury car. The unknown at this stage is the material used to build the NGS; the Phantom’s aluminium spaceframe could be deemed too expensive for the smaller, more affordable car.

Many of the next-gen 7-series’ underpinnings will be used on the secret new Rolls-Royce, and a BMW-derived V12 is likely to provide the propulsion. In the longer run, we’d expect the British luxury brand to dip into parent firm BMW’s hybrid technology; not that Rolls-Royce owners worry unduly about their fuel bills - but they do worry about what people say about them. Even the world’s most exclusive uber-brands will need to face up to their environmental responsibilities in the 21st century.

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