Worth the wait
Wheels showed up today. Not sure what time they arrived, they may have been there when I got up this morning... but I didn't notice until I went out to get the mail around 2pm. Anyway, I got the tires mounted today. And, of course, I couldn't just let them sit there, I HAD to put them on the car!
Before diving in, I decided to give the alignment a check. I'd been wondering why the steering was so far off-center when I initially installed the coilover kit. A more accurate measure of camber showed me why. Left front camber was -2.75, right front was about -2.25. So, while I had the wheels off, I checked the front camber adjustment, and sure enough, I didn't have the right side maxed out. I had about a millimeter more negative adjustment on the lower strut bolts. So, I fixed that. Also put on a set of the Dezod front brake pads and raised the front ride height by about 1/4".
And then... I went for a drive.
Now, usually when I go out for a spirited test run in a car, I come back with a smile on my face. I was concerned that might not happen this time because these tires have enough grip to peel the expression off of your face! They're incredible! Not only do they have huge grip, they have the perfect mix of turn-in and feedback characteristics to encourage you to dive right in. And that's with just a 5-minute test drive... and I don't even know what the pressures are set to!
Tomorrow, I'll make some time to recheck to front camber and see how close it is (should be really close now) and tweak the front toe. Then maybe I'll hook up the G-tech and try to find a place to do some 0-60 and braking runs.
I'll be doing a Porsche club autocross this Sunday. That will be a good test of the suspension and the tires. I learned on my short drive today that these tires are a lot like race tires... without getting completely stupid, you simply can't find their limits on the street. They should really shine on a race track.
To anyone who questioned our decision to run 195 tires rather than 205, 215 or even 225... I'm even more convinced now that 195 is going to give us plenty of grip. These tires weigh about 19.5 pounds, any wider tire that would be as grippy as these tires would weigh at least 2 pounds more. With 106 hp and no power mods planned before One Lap, we need all the help we can get!
I weighed the wheels, too. They're just under 11 pounds.
