After a completely unanticipated delay due to you no what I have been beavering away over the last few months ordering another round of goodies. I have been on the look out for some forged alloys for a long while and whilst I was not prepared to spend upwards of £3k on a new set I nevertheless assumed some used examples would have come along by now. But alas for one reason or another I’ve not managed to secure any. I’m happy with my Rota Titans, there surprisingly light for their size (17x9) and I have had zero issues with them on road or track but I always intended to purchase two sets. So after spending way too much time trawling the net and finding out the wait for my first two options were going to take me into Spring 2021 I have finally pulled the plug on some Works Kiwamis in 18x8.5J in Bronze. They look set to land end of Dec/Early Jan.

Next up is an ARK Grip Cat back system and that is due next week. After much deliberation between polished and burnt tips I went for polished

After spending approx. 18 months with the Ohlins R & T MP21’s with the softer spring set (40/30) I have ordered up a set of 50Nm springs as they are currently recommending. As I have had a progressively annoying noisy ' clonk' up front with what looks like a bearing issue with the Raceseng top mounts I will soon be getting them taken off and looked at. It’s not 100% conclusive it is the bearings until they are off and inspected so there is a slight a slight chance it could be a damper. Meanwhile Raceseng have kindly offered to send out some new bearings once they have finished the next production run but meanwhile I bit a sour bullet and grabbed a front set of Ohlins own top mounts in case they take a while to arrive. I then have an option if the Raceseng’s are at fault to not have to revert to stock springs and dampers. If the Ohlins are the issue, which I really hope are not, then I have a few months of warranty left to get them sorted and I at least have the option to add the Ohlins top mounts to the stock dampers to retain a preferred degree of camber. Not an option with the Raceseng as they are Ohlins specific shock bushings.

Finally, I have been in touch with TD and hopefully Mike will still be offering a Black Friday sale. If they do, I will defo be booking it in for their N/A tuning package.

Best get researching on tyre choices

Ooooh! Look what’s arrived


Looking forward to getting this mounted

That exhaust looks outrageous! I don't think I've come across Ark before. What sold you on their system?

Annoying experience of drone on previous systems and the necessity to not make the same mistake. A few other ARK owners testified to it being of good quality and that the Helmholtz tech works well. I’m also happy with the sound clips I have heard even on the stock manifold so with the NA TD tuning package it should sound even tastier and am also confident it will be pass any track noise restrictions

I've just been checking out some videos and it sounds ace! I'm looking forward to hearing what it sounds like on yours with the TD package?!
If you don't mind me asking, 20% off. I've had a quick look on Torqen but I couldn't see an mention of a discount so wasn't sure if it was already applied?

https://www.torqen.uk/toyota/toyota-...202-0113g.html

Apologies, I wasn’t very clear. What I meant to say was the price I paid and as per your link seems to be an almost 20% saving over the nearest other uk supplier of this system. I’ll remove that bit on my original post

By tomorrow, bar the wheels, all my goodies will have turned up for me to get it booked in the garage to get the car prepared for the Bedford track day. Just in time for my glorious sub leader to announce a countrywide mini lockdown. My timing is impeccable

Looking forward to next week. I have quite an assortment of parts mounting up and with only recently being able to get them booked in next week they will all have to be fitted at the same time. Not always an ideal scenario as it can be difficult to detect the individual benefits they might have. Not in the plan but neither was a worldwide pandemic



New parts to be fitted:


ARK Grip cat back
Whiteline Roll centre/Bump steer kit
Stiffer Ohlins 50Nm springs all round
Ohlins adjustable front top mounts
Porsche brake air scoops
Cusco strut brace and brake stopper


Due to some knocking issues at the strut tops mentioned in previous posts the Ohlins coilovers will be coming off for an inspection as will the Raceseng top mounts. I would much rather the bearings in the top mounts are at fault rather than an issue with the dampers as that would mean a warranty claim and back to stock suspension for a PITA long period. If it is the bearings, I have some Ohlins top mounts to go on and some new Raceseng bearings are already on the way from the USA.



The ARK cat back sits a little lower than the stock one due to the Helmholtz resonators so I am hoping the stiffer springs will lift the back end otherwise we might have to raise the rear ride height a touch to compensate.



If all goes well and all the new parts go on, it would be nice to get a track day in before the year is up

ARK Grip mounted, new stiffer 50Nm Ohlins springs, Ohlins top mounts, Whiteline roll centre/bump steer kit and Cusco strut brace with brake stopper all finally fitted
Bit wet and windy for some undercar pics so a few quick snaps for now









Really pleased with results. The drive back was a joyous event. It sounds awesome and feels more planted that it ever has. It is difficult to know which has improved the handling the most; the stiffer springs or the roll centre kit, but between them it has much improved things. Spring preload was set as for the new 50Nm spring data and I left the damping at 10 front and 12 rear from stiff so I could best determine a comparison to the softer springs.


The dampers were removed and inspected, and all is well. The Raceseng top mount bearings have no visible damage but as the Ohlins top mounts are now fitted we suspect the bearings were at fault as now, I only have an extremely faint click when the suspension is compressed at low speed.


The replacement bearings have just this week turned up in the UK so I will have them replaced just as soon as and might offer them up for sale.


As for the Ark Grip cat back, all I can say is I am well made up with my eventual choice. The sound it makes even with the stock manifold and cats still in place is awesome At idle you can hear that fat boxer character for the first time. At motorway speeds, thanks to the Helmholtz designed resonators there is absolutely ZERO drone. As for concern about clearance, as well as the stiffer springs the ride height has been slightly lifted at the rear to compensate.



I will get some sound clips once the weather improves


I might have to go to the shops again…………











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