peter's canadian imola ZHP project

[slater]

Huh, sounds like a Canadian Portland, OR, weather-wise. I had no idea. Maybe being on the water helps keep the temps up.

yep. i am mega envious...

[Rovert]

Last year I didn't really need my winters on for long. The rubber saw one day of snow. Maybe this year there will be more snow. I have still yet to feel how an LSD reacts in adversely slippery conditions.

[slater]

Last year I didn't really need my winters on for long. The rubber saw one day of snow. Maybe this year there will be more snow. I have still yet to feel how an LSD reacts in adversely slippery conditions.

get thee up to the mountains, trevor!

here's a pic of the current ride height, and Style 68's. 10mm spacers being used. this is just about the max height for the front bilstein PSS. one amazing thing about having a car with perfect weight distribution - you can actually set the perches to the exact same spot on both sides of the car, and achieve the same results! expecting that on something like, oh i dunno, an audi, is bonkers...

loving how it looks... and i shaved about 7lbs per corner in unsprung (and rotational) weight.

[slater]

trevor: spent 5hrs last night on the AS/3's and i have to say, they are pretty darn good. the ultimate grip levels are not as high as the PSS - and that makes sense - but for a tire marketed as an 'all season' (or 'no season' in my opinion ) tire, they definitely do not perform as such! ultimate grip is not excellent when cold - they require a lot more heat to get grippy, than the PSS. lateral grip is very good with good feedback - low sidewall flex and good turn-in; not as sharp as the PSS. braking is decent but not as good as the PSS. have not driven on them in the rain enough to give fair feedback. ride quality is very good. and, they are heavier than the PSS by a few pounds per tire. however...bottom line - if the PSS did not exist, i would use this tire! they do seem a bit pricier than the PSS on tirerack.com.

[NoVAphotog]

trevor: spent 5hrs last night...

Thoughts after that time on the other PSS?

[slater]

Thoughts after that time on the other PSS?

oh yeah! i was going to get to that.


BIG PICTURE UPDATE
last night on the way home, it just sort of hit me - i liked my ZHP before i started this project. and i really liked it for all of it's flexibility - it just did everything well. and i started accumulating parts over the last year for a 'refresh', which basically was going to turn it up a notch, but maintain flexibility.

well... the car turned out different than i anticipated. a lot different. it is louder, stiffer (more on that below), more communicative. it feels almost wrong to be my daily driver - and family car - and when i was mulling this all over last night on my way home, i realized that this is my dream car. yes! it's still getting good fuel economy, it's not too loud, it's not too stiff, it can indeed be driven by my wife... it is raw in all of the right places and just makes me smile ear to ear. it's COHESIVE. it's an experience. and i am so CONTENT with it that i kinda can't believe it! never have i been so content with a car.


MORE THOUGHTS
i got some highway time, twisty road time and city traffic time. here's some thoughts on some new bits:

- Bilstein PSS: wow. they are indeed stiffer, but not too much. i think the key part is that the dampers are SO fast to react - they really sharpen the cars' reflexes without killing you. the damping is a little too quick on really choppy surfaces, but still miles better than tired OEM dampers. but overall, the damping profile is so well-judged, i don't see why you'd spend the extra on the PSS10's.

- BW spherical RTABs: oh my crap. no more loading up in the rear as with the poly RTABs... if you go around a tight bend (like at large intersection, or a low-speed bend), especially on uneven pavement, and put the power down - no fuss, no "wait, WHAT do you want me to do?!" - it just puts it down with sublime "i've got this" attitude and goes. it feels... innate. and they're quiet.

- MFactory LSD with 3.46 ratio: love love love it. it makes the car intuitive, playful-yet-controllable. and the shorter ratio is present everywhere - the car feels so much quicker, especially in 2nd and 3rd. on the highway - 75mph is sitting at 2950rpm, and i averaged 30MPG at that speed, at 35ºF ambient temp. not bad! on the 50mph roads i was averaging about 32MPG at the same ambient temp.

- CDV delete: should've done this a long time ago. much better clutch take-up.

- shifter: best part of the car now? i dunno, perhaps. getting off the highway onto a tight exit ramp, double-clutch downshifting to 3rd, then 2nd... there is zero drivetrain or shifter slop. it's car-guy ecstasy.

- poly diff mounts: i do have some gear whine and more drivetrain noise transmitted into the cabin. it actually suppressed quite a bit after 5hrs of driving - i'm hoping it continues to calm down over time. i don't mind it at all, but my wife and kids might.

- UUC black trans mounts: the only bad spot. i don't know what the heck is wrong, but when i rev the engine at a standstill (in neutral or otherwise), i get vibrations. i didn't have these with the M3 engine mounts i installed just prior to starting the project, and the vibrations happen when stopped - so it's not anywhere else in the drivetrain. they did not fit so well, so i'm going to loosen them, and as UUC recommends, 'drive around the block' like that, let things settle, and then re-tighten. if they still vibrate... i'll try the rogue trans mounts.

i did read that a few folks who installed the UUC trans mounts had vibration that ended up being a broken DMF, which, hey, i might have. i have some chatter at idle and when i shut down the car - it's been there since i bought the car. so maybe the stiffer trans mounts are bringing that issue to light? i dunno. i'll see what it's like after i 'settle' the trans mounts.

bottom line - my car is awesome. it has a new character. it's my favorite car!

[Vas]

I will share my opinion on the UUC trans mounts since I had both the red and then the black installed on my car. The red ones were really terrible with vibrations and passing the gearbox noise into the cabin. So I ditched those and went to try the black ones. Much better but still not great for a street car that is a daily driver. I think if everything is loud and stiff in the car, then it works as a complete package. However with some mounts being rubber and some being poly, it does not work that well.

So the final decision was to go with OE m3 mounts. They are an upgrade over the factory mounts but not overkill like the poly stuff. And now I am satisfied with them.

As far as the zhp from the factory, it is a great package and the car can be quickly turned into a different car with the help of the aftermarket parts bin. However IMO if you want to retain the zhp feel and upgrade parts to make the car better, using M3 bits and pieces is the way to go.

But glad to hear you like the way everything came together for you.

[slater]

So the final decision was to go with OE m3 mounts. They are an upgrade over the factory mounts but not overkill like the poly stuff. And now I am satisfied with them.

thanks vas. how much stiffer are the M3 mounts?

[Vas]

thanks vas. how much stiffer are the M3 mounts?

Let's just say that your wife will not hate you for installing them when she drives the car. I have the M3 engine and trans mounts installed on the wife's zhp and no complaints from her about noise or un-wanted vibration. And at the price point, you might as well try them out before you spend more money on poly.

But with the m3 trans mounts is is a nice improvement over the factory rubber units and they are enough to notice the change. Plus mid corner, you are able to shift into the next gear with more confidence since the rear of the trans is not flopping around. Plus gear shifts become more "crisp".

Btw how did you modify your shifter?

[slater]

Let's just say that your wife will not hate you for installing them when she drives the car. I have the M3 engine and trans mounts installed on the wife's zhp and no complaints from her about noise or un-wanted vibration. And at the price point, you might as well try them out before you spend more money on poly.

But with the m3 trans mounts is is a nice improvement over the factory rubber units and they are enough to notice the change. Plus mid corner, you are able to shift into the next gear with more confidence since the rear of the trans is not flopping around. Plus gear shifts become more "crisp".

Btw how did you modify your shifter?

i like how the UUC mounts feel, aside from the vibration when revving stationary. mid-corner shifting is perfect. i just don't want to lose any of that newfound crispness.

the rogue ones are $55USD, that's pretty cheap. i'll check on the M3 ones.

shifter mods:

- ECS delrin fork bushings (where it meets the trans); i had to shave these down about 5mm each to fit. happy with them now, was not pleased with them when i test-fitted them.
- new selector rod joint and pin (OEM)
- new selector rod yellow washers (x2 - there was no room for the one at the rod joint, so i used BOTH on the rear where it mates to the shifter - this made a nice difference. there was slop with just one yellow washer)
- new plastic shift lever cup and heavy duty bearing grease - i couldn't believe how sloppy the old one was. new one is tight.
- rear shift fork bushing: this is where the magic is. you need axial movement here, but not lateral movement. the stock bushing has a lot of lateral movement (and a lot of axial movement ). i inserted two o-rings into the void on the front of the bushing (where the shift fork enters), to alleviate the lateral movement, and then filled the void with flexible RTV. this allows minimal lateral movement, but correct axial movement. the shifter feels truly mechanical now. no jello.