Some people may have heard of my Miata. His name is Rooster. This is not his build thread.
Rooster was a complete car in my head before I even started him. I had a plan and I've been executing against it since I pulled him in my driveway and took a wrench to him, literally, within 30 seconds after arriving in Dallas from Tampa, Florida.
The Don is not that.
The Don is my daily driver. A 2003 Lexus GS 300 Sport Design edition. I bought him in January of 2009 - just after we had our first child and just before I took my old black NB in for a brand new paint job. The need for a more child-friendly car and not to be daily driving my freshly painted NB drove the purchase decision. He has every option available from Lexus in 2003. The window sticker read in excess of $45,000 when the car was new. He's a nice ride. And I have no idea what he's going to turn into.
I've already dropped him on Tanabe springs with the addition of 18mm roll center adjusters at the front. The result is a raked stance with the front wheels tucked nicely into their wells.
He also wears 19" wheels front and rear. 8.5" width in the front and 9.5" width in the rear. 245 and 275mm wide rubber, respectively. It's a nice, aggressive-looking setup that fits without rolling or shaving fenders.
Well, a week from now I'll be dropping him off with Jeff Tsai at Performance Dynamix for a little bit of serious surgery.
Jeff is somewhat of a turbo GS300 guru. He's got a swapped VVT-i GTE car that made near 4-digits at the wheels and is currently being rebuilt. He's got another NA-T car that made over 800 at the wheels on pump gas. He knows these cars inside-out so I feel like I can trust him with my modest goals.
Two weeks from now I'll be picking up my car from Jeff with a NA-T setup making as near 400whp as is safely possible for a reliable daily driver. Compared to the roughly 180whp it makes stock, that will be a nice improvement.
So...I guess I'll keep notes on the project here. Like I said, I've got no idea where this is going but I have a feeling that the NA-T setup isn't going to be the end of it.
In the parking garage at work
The Don with Rooster - both heading out to Cars & Coffee in Dallas
The only non-Instagram photo that I have of The Don
Rooster was a complete car in my head before I even started him. I had a plan and I've been executing against it since I pulled him in my driveway and took a wrench to him, literally, within 30 seconds after arriving in Dallas from Tampa, Florida.
The Don is not that.
The Don is my daily driver. A 2003 Lexus GS 300 Sport Design edition. I bought him in January of 2009 - just after we had our first child and just before I took my old black NB in for a brand new paint job. The need for a more child-friendly car and not to be daily driving my freshly painted NB drove the purchase decision. He has every option available from Lexus in 2003. The window sticker read in excess of $45,000 when the car was new. He's a nice ride. And I have no idea what he's going to turn into.
I've already dropped him on Tanabe springs with the addition of 18mm roll center adjusters at the front. The result is a raked stance with the front wheels tucked nicely into their wells.
He also wears 19" wheels front and rear. 8.5" width in the front and 9.5" width in the rear. 245 and 275mm wide rubber, respectively. It's a nice, aggressive-looking setup that fits without rolling or shaving fenders.
Well, a week from now I'll be dropping him off with Jeff Tsai at Performance Dynamix for a little bit of serious surgery.
Jeff is somewhat of a turbo GS300 guru. He's got a swapped VVT-i GTE car that made near 4-digits at the wheels and is currently being rebuilt. He's got another NA-T car that made over 800 at the wheels on pump gas. He knows these cars inside-out so I feel like I can trust him with my modest goals.
Two weeks from now I'll be picking up my car from Jeff with a NA-T setup making as near 400whp as is safely possible for a reliable daily driver. Compared to the roughly 180whp it makes stock, that will be a nice improvement.
So...I guess I'll keep notes on the project here. Like I said, I've got no idea where this is going but I have a feeling that the NA-T setup isn't going to be the end of it.
In the parking garage at work
The Don with Rooster - both heading out to Cars & Coffee in Dallas
The only non-Instagram photo that I have of The Don