The GTM Supercar Build Log

Archive for September, 2011

More Ride Height Adjustments

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

I recently ordered a Koni spanner wrench in hopes that I could get the rear coilovers adjusted further to increase the rear ride height.  Despite the coilovers being Konis, the spanner didn’t fit ‘as is’ so I had to modify it quite a bit to make it suitable.  With the spanner usable I was able, with the use of a lot of elbow grease and a strap wrench, to get the coils dialed up a handful of turns, raising the ride height 1/2″ further. After settling the front height is now at 4 3/8″ and the rear is at 4 5/8″.

Driving feel is much improved; it’s amazing how much of a difference 1/2″ can make. I would say the improvement with this adjustment is as great as when I adjusted the height earlier this year. Handling and stability is excellent and the car doesn’t react to the road surface nearly as much.

Driving and Tuning

Sunday, September 25th, 2011

Everything has been running great since doing the coolant leak fix and getting the AC running. Just ticked past 2200 miles today and set a new record for ‘number of cameras sticking out of car windows’ in a 45 mile drive with 6. It never gets old.

Over the last month I have been working on the GTM’s engine tune. With more HP Tuners knowledge under my belt I have been focusing on fine tuning drivability, fuel efficiency, etc. I started from scratch, basically, and got the fueling (VE) and MAF airflow tables in line, making throttle response much crisper and smoother. I was able to ‘undo’ a lot of the things I tweaked last summer when I was just trying to get the motor to run and not stall at stops. Fuel economy is much better now that the motor is not running so rich at lower rpms. While tuning takes a lot of seat time to get data logs and results, that’s certainly not something I’ll complain about.