Penguin Garage got our hands on a GR Corolla Circuit edition! The buyer got it from Swope Toyota in Elizabethtown Kentucky. The color is phenomenal, I honestly didn't expect to like it as much as I do. We will need to get a proper detail and ceramic coat from a local detailer before long.
At 621 miles we changed the oil to get ready for the first AutoX weekend in the car. We switch to a Liqui Moly 5w30.
The first AutoX was awesome, day 1 was a test n tune and the car saw 16 or 17 runs. We did some hot lapping and kept eyes on oil and water temp. Everything looked good. The car was 100% stock at this time, and boy do these tires suck. The stock Michelin Pilot Sport 4 leave a lot to be desired on the AutoX course, which isn't a surprise considering their treadwear. The car did have understeer tendencies on entry if too fast and exit if too much throttle. 30:70 center diff setting worked best to reduce the understeer, but the car still wasn't wanting to rotate unless you really threw it into the corner.
Day 2 of the AutoX was competition, we had a co-driver and the car saw 18 runs. The tires cried the entire day. We left a lot of time on the table but the tires were a big hinderance to speed. Car didn't skip a beat outside of the not properly done launches by me and the co-driver. Little clutchy smell. We'll figure out the right launch technique to reduce the clutch wear.
We've done some basic wheel fitment testing on the car.
18x9.5 +35mm WedsSport TC105N 265/35/18 RE71RS no additional spacers. This fit as expected without issue. Not aggressive really. Plenty of caliper clearance.
18x10 +38mm Enkei RPF1 265/35/18 RE71RS no additional spacers. This one I was a little worried about caliper clearance, but we're in the clear. I will do another blog article about this fitment in more detail. This spec is going to be my go to if anyone is looking for an inexpensive option.
18x12 +20mm Konig Heliogram 315/30/18 Hoosier A7 no additional spacers. This one was more a test for limits than it was for a real fitment. And it's safe to say we found it. haha. These poke a substantial amount (surprise), plenty of rear clearance inboard, front inboard clearance was 1 piece of sand paper....
We've got a few other wheels we will test fit.
Volk Racing TE37 SAGA 18x9.5 +38mm
Volk Racing ZE40 18x10 +35mm