Gymkata's Stealth Build Thread
10-11-14, 08:12 PM
#1
Instructor
Thread Starter
Gymkata's Stealth Build Thread
So, it’s finally time for a Gymkata build thread, though the majority of the good pics will likely come in the coming months/year. I was going to wait to start a thread until I got my next mods installed, but tonight decided F it…how about now.
I bought my 2008 ISF new in 2009 and have been obsessed with it and its potential ever since. I suspect most of you who have been on this forum for a bit will recognize me for my occasional overzealous journey into the theoretical capabilities of various aspects of our cars. I look back fondly over the last 5+ years of ownership and laugh thinking about the plethora of wheel/tire threads, exhaust threads, tuning “coming” threads, etc, etc, etc. I have enjoyed the well put together build threads and performance/track day threads the most, and appreciate when owners take the time to tastefully modify their vehicles and share their trials and tribulations with us all afterwards in a detailed manner. I also appreciate the candid responses/advice from our several resident experts that chime in on the regular.
As much as I would have liked to modify every aspect of the ISF that I thought needed improvement right off the bat, I have ended up very slowly modifying it over time. I was recently very close to selling the ISF and getting a newer/faster/more tunable vehicle, but ultimately decided I can achieve everything I want with my ISF (except ridiculous straight-line acceleration) and spend a lot less than buying a new car…I would like to continue on my path to early-ish retirement.
I kept the ISF stock for a decent period of time…then I started with a JoeZ intake pipe and a Tom’s air filter…a while later I did my first exhaust install and put on a Borla catback. A while later my wife surprised me by having Sikky headers installed while I was overseas for work...she even had it dyno’d after the install…405whp. I got to give thanks to Jason L. for showing her how good the ISF sounds with headers and exhaust.
I wasn’t overly thrilled with the stock Bridgestone RE050A tires and upgraded to 245/35R19 & 270/30R19 Continental DWS tires in 2010 (?). While they were good for an A/S tire, with I/H/E they couldn’t get enough traction under acceleration for my liking. Once the rears were sufficiently worn I upgraded to Michelin PSS in the same 245/275 sizes…what a fantastic tire. I have had those tires on since 2012ish and love em. On the PSS tires, I even managed a 12.09 ¼ mile @116.12 bouncing off the rev limiter in 4th on my 1st ever trip to the drag strip in December 2012. I’m going to try and go back before the year is through.
After I get my newest mods installed (OSG LSD and BC coils), I will be about 75% done with the car (…yeah right!). Within the next 2 weeks I will finally be able to put the power to the ground out of corners with the OS Giken LSD. The car currently has 20mm wider, stickier, and lighter tires on all 4 corners, makes 60whp more than stock, and weighs about 75 lbs less.
My overall goal in the future is to maintain reasonable drivability/comfort and end up with even better handling, grip, and power than I have now. With my future planned mods, and provided the SARD tune actually makes its way to market, I’m looking for an end result of 85whp over stock, a 3500 lb curb weight, and the ability to push much harder through turns than when I took delivery.
Below is the list of modifications I either have or am planning on getting in the next year. The specifics of a few of the desires (i.e. exact wheels/tires) change on the regular though.
(X) JoeZ intake tube
(X) Borla catback exhaust
(X) Sikky headers
(X) OS Giken TCD LSD
(X) BC Racing BR coilovers with Swift springs 16k/12k
(X) FIGS Lower arm polyurethane bushings
(X) 2pc brake rotors
(X) 18x9.5 +45 Enkei PF01 wheels (powder coated gunmetal)
(_) 275/35R18 Bridgestone RE-71R tires
(_) Optima Redtop battery
(_) lightweight front race seats
(_ ) carbon fiber insert for sunroof glass
(_) SARD ECU - Here's to hoping
I bought my 2008 ISF new in 2009 and have been obsessed with it and its potential ever since. I suspect most of you who have been on this forum for a bit will recognize me for my occasional overzealous journey into the theoretical capabilities of various aspects of our cars. I look back fondly over the last 5+ years of ownership and laugh thinking about the plethora of wheel/tire threads, exhaust threads, tuning “coming” threads, etc, etc, etc. I have enjoyed the well put together build threads and performance/track day threads the most, and appreciate when owners take the time to tastefully modify their vehicles and share their trials and tribulations with us all afterwards in a detailed manner. I also appreciate the candid responses/advice from our several resident experts that chime in on the regular.
As much as I would have liked to modify every aspect of the ISF that I thought needed improvement right off the bat, I have ended up very slowly modifying it over time. I was recently very close to selling the ISF and getting a newer/faster/more tunable vehicle, but ultimately decided I can achieve everything I want with my ISF (except ridiculous straight-line acceleration) and spend a lot less than buying a new car…I would like to continue on my path to early-ish retirement.
I kept the ISF stock for a decent period of time…then I started with a JoeZ intake pipe and a Tom’s air filter…a while later I did my first exhaust install and put on a Borla catback. A while later my wife surprised me by having Sikky headers installed while I was overseas for work...she even had it dyno’d after the install…405whp. I got to give thanks to Jason L. for showing her how good the ISF sounds with headers and exhaust.
I wasn’t overly thrilled with the stock Bridgestone RE050A tires and upgraded to 245/35R19 & 270/30R19 Continental DWS tires in 2010 (?). While they were good for an A/S tire, with I/H/E they couldn’t get enough traction under acceleration for my liking. Once the rears were sufficiently worn I upgraded to Michelin PSS in the same 245/275 sizes…what a fantastic tire. I have had those tires on since 2012ish and love em. On the PSS tires, I even managed a 12.09 ¼ mile @116.12 bouncing off the rev limiter in 4th on my 1st ever trip to the drag strip in December 2012. I’m going to try and go back before the year is through.
After I get my newest mods installed (OSG LSD and BC coils), I will be about 75% done with the car (…yeah right!). Within the next 2 weeks I will finally be able to put the power to the ground out of corners with the OS Giken LSD. The car currently has 20mm wider, stickier, and lighter tires on all 4 corners, makes 60whp more than stock, and weighs about 75 lbs less.
My overall goal in the future is to maintain reasonable drivability/comfort and end up with even better handling, grip, and power than I have now. With my future planned mods, and provided the SARD tune actually makes its way to market, I’m looking for an end result of 85whp over stock, a 3500 lb curb weight, and the ability to push much harder through turns than when I took delivery.
Below is the list of modifications I either have or am planning on getting in the next year. The specifics of a few of the desires (i.e. exact wheels/tires) change on the regular though.
(X) JoeZ intake tube
(X) Borla catback exhaust
(X) Sikky headers
(X) OS Giken TCD LSD
(X) BC Racing BR coilovers with Swift springs 16k/12k
(X) FIGS Lower arm polyurethane bushings
(X) 2pc brake rotors
(X) 18x9.5 +45 Enkei PF01 wheels (powder coated gunmetal)
(_) 275/35R18 Bridgestone RE-71R tires
(_) Optima Redtop battery
(_) lightweight front race seats
(_ ) carbon fiber insert for sunroof glass
(_) SARD ECU - Here's to hoping
Last edited by Gymkata; 05-14-15 at 01:30 PM.
10-11-14, 08:13 PM
#2
Instructor
Thread Starter
A Few more pics and and a couple videos I've shot along the way. The first video is two of my runs at Cecil County Dragway in Dec 2012 and the 2nd video is an audio comparison in May 2012 of my car when it only had Borla exhaust and Caymandive's car with Borla exhaust and Sikky headers. I shot the 2nd video because Sikky headers were relatively new at the time and many members wanted to know the difference in sound with the headers. The night pic with the 4 ISFs lined up was my first ISF meet with Jaslapp and 2 others in (2010?).
Last edited by Gymkata; 10-13-14 at 01:28 PM.
10-11-14, 08:15 PM
#4
Instructor
Thread Starter
Below are the components that affect my current/planned weight reduction:
(X) Borla catback exhaust (-16lbs)
(X) OS Giken TCD LSD (+? lbs - but added weight is low and in the rear)
(X) BC Racing BR coilovers with Swift springs 16k/12k (-10lbs)
(_) 2pc brake rotors (-23 lbs unsprung rotational mass)
(_) 18x9.5 +45 Enkei PF01 EVO wheels in SBK (-20lbs unsprung rotational mass)
(_) 275/35R18 Michelin PSS tires (-8 lbs unsprung rotational mass vs stock RE050A tires)
(_) Optima Redtop battery (-11lbs)
(_) lightweight front race seats (-50lbs? guess)
(_ ) carbon fiber insert for sunroof glass (-40lbs? guess)
Total: approx 178 lbs (minus extra weight from LSD)
Track day weight reduction: 66 lbs
Total track day weight reduction: 244ish
Track day weight reduction is the removal of:
- 10 oz (0.625 lbs) - 1st aid kit
- 5.5 oz (0.34375 lbs) - Cargo net
- 4 lbs 11 oz (4.6875 lbs) - Trunk mat
- 2 lbs 8.5 oz (2.53125 lbs) – spare tire floor cover
- 8 lbs 12 oz (8.75 lbs) – Jack and tools
- 37 lbs 11.5 oz (37.71875 lbs)- Spare tire, spare tire screw, & two foam inserts
- 11 oz (0.6875 lbs) – D.S. plastic tray that carries first aid kit
- 8 oz (0.5 lbs) – P.S. plastic tray that covers Amp
- 1 oz (0.0625 lbs) – 3 plastic caps in truck
- 2 lbs 1 oz (2.0625 lbs) – both back seat floor mats
- 2 lbs 3 oz (2.1875 lbs) - P.S. floor mat
- 1 lb 15 oz (1.9375 lbs) – D.S. floor mat
- 3 lbs 11.5 oz (3.71875 lbs) – Engine cover
- 1 oz (0.0625 lbs) – cigarette lighter coil
- TOTAL: 66 lbs (rounded)
(I'm sure there are other things I could add to the above list)
(X) Borla catback exhaust (-16lbs)
(X) OS Giken TCD LSD (+? lbs - but added weight is low and in the rear)
(X) BC Racing BR coilovers with Swift springs 16k/12k (-10lbs)
(_) 2pc brake rotors (-23 lbs unsprung rotational mass)
(_) 18x9.5 +45 Enkei PF01 EVO wheels in SBK (-20lbs unsprung rotational mass)
(_) 275/35R18 Michelin PSS tires (-8 lbs unsprung rotational mass vs stock RE050A tires)
(_) Optima Redtop battery (-11lbs)
(_) lightweight front race seats (-50lbs? guess)
(_ ) carbon fiber insert for sunroof glass (-40lbs? guess)
Total: approx 178 lbs (minus extra weight from LSD)
Track day weight reduction: 66 lbs
Total track day weight reduction: 244ish
Track day weight reduction is the removal of:
- 10 oz (0.625 lbs) - 1st aid kit
- 5.5 oz (0.34375 lbs) - Cargo net
- 4 lbs 11 oz (4.6875 lbs) - Trunk mat
- 2 lbs 8.5 oz (2.53125 lbs) – spare tire floor cover
- 8 lbs 12 oz (8.75 lbs) – Jack and tools
- 37 lbs 11.5 oz (37.71875 lbs)- Spare tire, spare tire screw, & two foam inserts
- 11 oz (0.6875 lbs) – D.S. plastic tray that carries first aid kit
- 8 oz (0.5 lbs) – P.S. plastic tray that covers Amp
- 1 oz (0.0625 lbs) – 3 plastic caps in truck
- 2 lbs 1 oz (2.0625 lbs) – both back seat floor mats
- 2 lbs 3 oz (2.1875 lbs) - P.S. floor mat
- 1 lb 15 oz (1.9375 lbs) – D.S. floor mat
- 3 lbs 11.5 oz (3.71875 lbs) – Engine cover
- 1 oz (0.0625 lbs) – cigarette lighter coil
- TOTAL: 66 lbs (rounded)
(I'm sure there are other things I could add to the above list)
Last edited by Gymkata; 10-12-14 at 09:07 AM.
10-11-14, 08:17 PM
#6
Instructor
Thread Starter
The car is up in the air at the shop right now (27OCT). The coilovers and FIGS bushings were installed today, and the OS Giken will go in at some point over the next week depending on when some additional parts come in. I took the opportunity today to snap a few pics of the undercarriage to see how well the Borla catback exhaust (2.5 years old) and the Sikky headers (2 years old) are holding up to wear, tear, and the elements.
The Borla exhaust seems to be holding up pretty well and the Sikky headers still look brand new.
The Borla exhaust seems to be holding up pretty well and the Sikky headers still look brand new.
Last edited by Gymkata; 10-27-14 at 05:30 PM.
10-11-14, 08:17 PM
#7
Instructor
Thread Starter
I got the car back a few hours ago. The difference is fantastic. With the BC coilovers and Swift springs the car rides maybe a touch firmer than stock, but more comfortable due to better dampening. The OS Giken TCD is great in the little I've driven it. On the 180 degree switchback on the back way to my house where the car usually slips a tire badly, it hooked like a champ on the way back. I'm impressed so far. I will provide a more detailed write up in the days to come.
01 NOV 14: I drove the car in light rain today with stability and traction control off. The handling is so so so much better/predictable as the rear end looses traction with the OS Giken. It has a decidedly mechanical feel, especially while turning at crawl speeds. It is seamless at high speeds but you can feel the individual disks lock up at low speeds. It doesn't bother me at all, but I can see it may bother others who covet a smooth luxury feel. I gotta throw out a thanks to FREED ENGINEERING for a nice professional install.
01 NOV 14: I drove the car in light rain today with stability and traction control off. The handling is so so so much better/predictable as the rear end looses traction with the OS Giken. It has a decidedly mechanical feel, especially while turning at crawl speeds. It is seamless at high speeds but you can feel the individual disks lock up at low speeds. It doesn't bother me at all, but I can see it may bother others who covet a smooth luxury feel. I gotta throw out a thanks to FREED ENGINEERING for a nice professional install.
Last edited by Gymkata; 11-01-14 at 01:43 PM.
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