Questions for Palting

Palting, I have a couple of questions for you about your C4S (Congrats on the AutoX class win BTW! enjoy those new tires!) and I thought your answers might be helpful to everyone so I thought I'd ask publicly if you have the time to answer. 1) What modifications have you made to your C4S for track / autox purposes? 2) I believe I read that you went ROW 030 suspension, is there some reason you did this instead of PSS9? If you had it to do over again would you do ROW 030 again, or something else? (PSS9, H&R, etc.) TIA, I'll probably have some follow up questions based on your answers to these two, hope you don't mind. GR

Hey... I've got a question, too!@!!! How are those Dunlop tires working out??? I have MPSCs that I need to change out and was wondering what type of luck you had as a "beta" tester?

Sounds like we need an "Ask Palting" forum. Ladies and Gentlemen, today's special guest on "Ask Palting" is none other than Palting himself! Can I get a round of applause? .... cue Merv Griffin theme ....

Sorry for the late reply. Got a little sidelined Mods. So far, no real performance mods. The only changes/add-ons are a fire extinguisher, harness bar and 6 point harness. I take off the harness bar and harness when off the track, and occasionally get too lazy to put it back on again when I go back on. I also have the hollow spokes for the track tires, and the solids for the street tires. No, I have not gone the route of the ROW 030. I am waiting for the X73 sport suspension, but may go with the PSS99. I am in no hurry. I still have steady progressive improvement everytime I go to the track. It is amazing what these bone stock C4S's can do, and I don't believe I have hit their limits yet. The limiting factor to the car's performance is still me!! Those Dunlops were great!! They have a very high dry grip, and actually have a slow give-way sensation when beyond their limit. No sudden loss of traction. Unfortunately, the tires are directional, and I didn't have the time to flip them on the rims and swap sides. As a result, the left sides are corded. I can't compare them to MPSC, though, since I have yet to try those. I suspect they are vey close in performance and durability. Thanks for asking. I'm flattered. BTW, my cat converters have developed a rattle. They have to be replaced, under warranty. Since they have to take the ehaust pipes down to replace it, guess what's going in on free or minimal labor cost? VROOM-VROOM!!!

Fabspeed exhaust? PSE?

Headers?

PSE!! Arriving in 2 days.

Did you get it from that dealer in PA that was running a special? If not, how much was it? Are you just installing it with the pipes open or are you going to hook up all the vacuum, electrical and switch too?

I recently flipped my MPSCs and got lots of extra wear. I take it you can flip the Dunlops but you just didn't get to it in time???? What is the exact model designation of the Dunlops??

Yup, got it from that PA dealer that advertised in Pano. $1590 delivered. No sales tax even. The tires were Dunlop Super Suport Race. They are DOT approved R compound tires. As I understand it, they were designed specifically for track use, but can be driven on the road for use to go to and from the track.

Palting, Have you decided whether or not you are going to hook up the vacuum/electrical for the PSE or just run it wide open all the time and nix the dash switch? One side of me thinks it would be so much easier and cheaper to do the install without the switch, while the other side of me thinks it would be really cool to have the switch and be able to control it. Speaking of which on the 02-03's does the switch over-ride the automatic settings? In the past the exhaust opened and closed and opened again at certain speeds, now with the switch if I turn the exhaust on (open) does it stay open until I turn it off or does the computer still close it at certain speeds?

It is my understanding that it stays open, loud, if the switches are not installed. I am having it installed without the switches. If I find them too loud for day to day, I can always install the switch later. The electronics installation adds several hours to the labor. I don't see the logic in spending the additional dough if I don't plan on using the quiet switch off the bat.