2002 Tacoma for Autocross

Went out to the shop thinking I would drop the rear a bit more with the 2.5" blocks, but ended up going for the 3" blocks instead!

The stance is almost level now with the rear fender wells measuring roughly 1/8" higher off the ground than the fronts. I have not had a chance to go for the canyon test runs yet, but I took her out for the initial run on the rough streets, big dips, and steep driveways to the local photo spot and there were no issues of rubbing or bottoming out to note as of yet.



Even better to report, the truck feels like the handling has indeed gone up another measurable notch!! It seems way more planted and balanced with the extra weight bias in the rear now and slightly lower center of gravity. I was able to hit my handy 90 degree test curve with more confidence and speed than ever after a couple passes, and noted less weight transfer under braking and cornering. Even the front end and steering feels lighter and quicker with more pounds in the rear now, hopefully this will help to alleviate some power steering pressure losses in the hard tight s-turns I was detecting on the last course. Also feels like less weight in the front should help with less rollover/better traction up there too.

As a nifty bonus the ride is just nicer cruising down the street - taking hits in the rear with some weight back there seems to benefit these trucks by smoothing out the hard hits when there is no weight in the bed. Also the seat position is a bit more laid back now with the rear lower which I like since I can't recline the seat too much in the regular cab. This truck just keeps getting nicer and nicer as the performance increases all the time, seems dreams really do come true!!

As stated, it certainly feels like the truck went up yet another notch in the handling department and I am blown away with my first impressions. I am going to have to get some seat time to get used to it's new limits, and hopefully dont run into any issues in the ultimate local rough canyon spirited testing phase coming up next..

 

Just randomly came across this one perusing the web..

 

Hell yeah! Glad to hear you're seeing good performance increases with each adjustment. I'd be super curious to swap trucks at an event and see just how different they are. Not sure mines ready for a road trip to California though.

 

This photo generated a bit of buzz in the club I run with. Officially time to take the suspension setup a bit more seriously and try to keep them closer to the ground.

 

Holy crap! There's no denying you're getting some good traction!

 

No doubt about that! If I could actually make use of the inside tire in the turns I would probably do even better going through slaloms the truck "walks" back and forth picking up each tire.

 

Hard to tell, but almost looks like the rear tire is in the air too. Since the shadow isn't connected.

 

That is in fact the case. I'm amazed somebody got it in photo, but we could feel it in the truck many times.

 

You're planning on getting upgraded front and rear sway bars?

 

Installing a rear, running the stock front one for awhile. Really need to fix/replace my seized coilovers in the front.

 

You've adapted to racing in a less than optimal vehicle performance scenario. Imagine how much better it will be with properly working parts.

 

I got a buzz looking at this photo too!! Good thing you got a passenger riding along to keep her from rolling over!

I'm running the oem SRunner bar on my truck and can really tell a difference in keeping the front level(er) in the curves. I'd think you could do the same for your year/model or does Addco make a bar (note the Addco front rubbed on my wide tires, different truck though)? Cheap handling upgrade and an easy install that does not impact ride character too much.

Yeahp, not sure how much of it is the placebo SRunner effect but it sure feels like the new 02 and later SRunner bar is another notch up in the handling department from my initial testing. There was definitely a difference in the design and curves, subtle but notable nuances that surely make this bar handle better than the rest!

Here is the old vs new, you can see the factory markings are different, the new model has a red stripe on the passenger side where the old had no stripe. They both have a green stripe on the driver side. If you stare hard enough at the curves especially towards the end links you can see they do vary quite a bit..



Right at the ends of the bar you can see the differences in the bars (new model on top). Much sharper curves and angles where it will meet with the end link on the new bar vs a straighter angle on the old, this is where the magic happens it appears. Again they seem almost identical at first glance, but they really are quite different the closer you look!



Anyhow, I was able to take them on the initial canyon run and I certainly had a smile on my face with the extra stability the truck had going into the hard curves with less body roll than ever! This new bar is definitely staying on my truck and dont worry, the 01 SRunner bar made its way to my moms truck so it has a good home too.

 

Also opted to change out my 3" drop blocks for the 2.5" after all. The weight balance and handling felt great with the 3" blocks, but when I started pushing her I was getting some axle wrap during aggressive launches and in some hard fast turns too that I just did not like the feel of at all. Also saw a mark where it had bottomed one time on a bump stop so I was perhaps a bit beyond my travel limit for my street driving duties. The 2.5" felt great during the initial run with the new sway bar, real close to the balance of the 3" but without the axle wrap so far it seems.

That reminds, I did also adjust that rear brake lspv back to factory spec a week or two back thanks to @Murd3rd I believe who mentioned it, and this does give the braking a stronger more balanced feel. New shifter bushings and a short throw shifter kit are up next to improve the old notchy shifting action. Ordered up some rear .25" spacers that stack on my current blocks to test out for the quest for the perfect ride height, may need to add shims to correct my driveline angles too.

Basically the truck is feeling better than ever now and I am just doing minor tweaks here and there, so I just signed up for the next SCCA event coming up on the 12th and 13th. I signed up for competition day (Sunday) as well to see what kind of competition may be out there for the STX class and where Trudy may stack up! Figure may as well get an idea of who may be out there now and what the 2023 season may have in store for the truck..

 

Had a great time this weekend melting some tires both Saturday and Sunday!

The truck is feeling great out there, and I am getting more used to her all the time it seems. Unfortunately there were no other entries in the STX class so no idea how she is stacking up against other STX cars and drivers at the moment.

Funny I had mentioned that short throw shifter coming next, wouldnt you know it that on Saturday the course was so open I had to grab 3rd gear twice on the same lap! I tried the extra shift Sunday on one lap but it didnt increase my lap time. They change the track up a little and reverse the direction from Saturday at this event so its quite different day to day.

So next up is that short throw shifter and the new shifter bushings. Also have them 1/4" spacers I plan to test for a bit more drop in the rear.

Trudy did take 57th place out of 84 entries, and this is with the PAX time class index adjustments calculated to "even" out the competition. So 1 out of 3 sports cars drivers are wondering how the Tacoma is beating them on the weekends! Look at all the cars the Tacoma can out handle as is (it definitely is not out powering anything).. sorry to those Miata, Corvette, Tesla, Porsche, Camaro, S2000, Subaru, etc. owners out there:



I ran 24 laps on Saturday, and only 4 timed competition runs for Sunday as is standard. They did "fun runs" after but I had to leave and missed out on all that extra action this time around. They are making changes as well to the format and will be providing course workers from now on, so no more having to work the course.. although I actually kind of enjoy watching the action up close and staying active between runs.

They also mentioned that there will be an event in December and January, but we are not certain about future events at this time since they are remodeling the track at Autoclub Speedway soon. So all said I am not certain if there will be events next year at this club yet, and if so I am unsure if anyone is going to be in the STX class. Kind of throwing a wrench into my potential STX title run next season, so I may have to change up my plans to ensure I extract the most fun possible next year. I noticed the street prepared guys are running slicks and the top guy was barely one second ahead of me. Wondering if I had some slicks if I could get into this class and be in the running perhaps..

There were plenty of great compliments about my driving and how the Tacoma moves out there which was really great to hear directly even from multiple national champs. I was told I would be "dangerous" wit a sports car but I replied the Tacoma is the most dangerous vehicle on the course, it doesn't even meet roll over guidelines!

Oh yeah, one guy was drooling and mentioned he "saw the light" under my front tire in a hard 90 degree turn, guess I am in the club now @BananaMan!

This just keeps getting funner and funner basically, let's see where this goes next two events and maybe I'll revise my plan for next season. If there are no more STX competitors I will probably just go on Saturday since you get so much more run time, as I am not sure if I want to buy slicks/wheels/swap at the track etc..

If I decide to go for practice days only, I think I may finally try slapping that supercharger in there and see what she can do with a bit more grunt!

 

I'm super jealous at the amount of runs you got to do in one day... The most I've ever gotten was 7...

 

At my club there have been a few occasions I could have taken more runs but felt "done" and left since I had my fill for the day. For Saturday they actually state "12+ runs" is normal, so you get a minimum of 12 runs and can squeeze in almost twice the amount if you move through the grid quickly (take an open lane vs a line of tire tuners in the "pits"). Think it averages to around 15-20 runs per Saturday for me since I dont waste too much time tuning between runs yet. Hence why I may end up just going Saturdays if there is no "somewhat equal" competition to go against.. just to maximize the driving fun.

Sunday you can pay for "x-runs" which are 4 extra runs after your first 4 official timed laps, and then if there is any sunlight left they usually open the course for "fun runs" since many folks want to keep on going. It really becomes a super full weekend where I have all the seat time I need so I started cutting out some of the action and just hit a couple Saturdays this year.

If you are a car guy I highly recommend So Cal, dont believe all the negative hype.. Many people I know move from this state for many reasons, but I have met more than one automotive enthusiast that said there is no better place to be!

 

Love the truck man! What wheels are you running? Also are those stock Tacoma buckets ?

 

Thanks a bunch, those are stock buckets from an SRunner or also found in the "Limited" first gen's. They are way more comfy and supportive than the bench and stock buckets too but really hard to find (I have had them all in my truck).

In that old first pic I was running 17" 2012 Lexus IS250 wheels (note these need to have the centers bored out to fit over the front hub), nowadays I am running Enkei PF01 18 x 9's for lighter weight and more rubber of course. Just added some 5mm wheel spacers last week (in place of my old 3mm). The truck is a couple inches lower now than when I first started out too, boy time sure flies..



I ordered up some oem fipg for my short shifter install, but for some reasons the order seems held up and I am still waiting..

Signed up for the December event already coming up this weekend, and unfortunately I am not seeing anyone signing up for the STX class so I will just be going on Saturday. Should be fun though as they now have their own course workers and are saying we should be getting even MORE run time accordingly!!

Kind of looks like STX is not happening at my event, more and more that supercharger is starting to call out to me to just go have as much fun as I can next year...

 

Wow man that truck is one of my favorites on here for sure. Mine is no where near that clean as mine has been used and abused but I want to make it look nicer and starting with the interior the buckets are a must for me. And as for the wheels I really like the Lexus wheels on there. I’m just going to do a basic flip kit on the rear and update the front stock suspension for I drive it daily. It’s got 356k miles on it. All stock.

 

Thanks again for the kind words, Trudy is certainly my favorite Tacoma in "the World"!

She is my daily driver too and rides way nicer than when I got it thanks to some choices in mods, even with 200 treadwear tires I run daily! One more better shot of them current tires/stance while we're here..



265's fit too, and I plan to try this size for the next set of RE71RS to come.