[MSchwartzGR4]

I have been traveling a lot and not had time to post. I have quite a few updates to post, I am going to try and group them together here and then do a separate update on my previous two track days.

Review (Revemoto), Painted GR Corolla CE Hood, 1.5 out of 5 stars:
-Paint Quality 0 out of 5
-Customer Service 2 out of 5
-Paint match to OE color 5 out of 5

Do not buy from Revemoto. To start their customer service is complete crap. They claim OE or better quality paint. If you have had any Toyotas over the years then you know their paint is not a high bar. I have had this hood for less than 3 months (about 3500 miles and 2 track days; For comparison I have 0 chips on stock hood with 7500 miles and 3 track days) and the paint is chipping significantly in multiple regions. It is not cost effective to send this hood back for lifetime, I contacted them about a partial refund to use for local paint repair. It was difficult and took a lot of back and forth to get some money back (this was 2 weeks into owning the hood).

These are not rock chips, the paint is chipping in large chunks and delaminating from the base layer. See pictures, you can see either paint or primer where the chips are not bare metal. The simple fact is I wish I just bought an unpainted hood from Limit+1 and had a local shop paint it for me. Now I am out more money and I have to find a shop to have this hood repainted.

View attachment 30867
View attachment 30868 View attachment 30869


SXTH Turbo Inlet pipe, 3 out of 5 Stars:
-Quality 4 out of 5
-Customer Service 4 out of 5

The install is a bit of a pain. The overall build quality is good. My gripe with this product is the seal material spec'd for the turbo Inlet adapter. I was doing a pre-track day inspection and saw this:

View attachment 30865

I thought I had mis-installed the inlet adapter and pinched the seal. Upon disassembly I realized it had melted and that I had seen some seal material that had oozed out from between the two surfaces. My concern is the potential for hot melted rubber to be sucked into the turbo.

View attachment 30866

This is clearly not a high temp seal and has melted with about 3,500 miles of driving. They do not sell a replacement and their recommendation is to buy one at the hardware store. The stock toyota seal is high temp, I compared it and it has no deformation with 7,500 miles of use. I am going to try to source a high temp seal to replace the melted seal. Iwent back to my stock one temporarily for my track event. I did notice that Intake manifold temps have dropped with the stock one. This leads me to believe that the Aluminum one is heatsoaking more than the stock plastic unit. If I do reinstall I will probably wrap it with the gold foil tape to reduce heat transfer.

Thanks for the heads up about Revemoto, been interested in getting a CE hood once this winter season ends. Will definitely cross them off my list to check out. Appreciate your posts man always detailed

 

[Mr. Toad]

Track day download:

To start I have new information on the AWD shutdown/Overheat. I have finally hit a true shut down at Ozarks International Raceway this past weekend (I think everytime I got the message previously it was the warning not the official shut down). I have thought it shut down on me multiple times in the past but I never noticed any difference in handling. At OIR I got the message then half a lap later the message changed and the car became nearly impossible to drive under hard throttle. The rear end became Loose under throttle (thought this was unusual but another GRC owner at the track had the same experience). My theory is that it was unable to transfer enough weight to rear end to get rear traction.

Before these track days I changed the engine oil to 5w-30.

Hallett, September 21-22, 2024, Apex Driving Academy:

This was a hot we hit mid to high 90s on the first day and then got some rain on the second day. It was fun to learn the wet line a bit at hallett. On the first day I hit the AWD overheat (at least what I thought was the overheat) every session usually within 2 laps of the end. I got a new PR at the track during the second session of the day at 1:35.72 (was previously aprox. 1:41). From there I got progressively slower. I believe this was in part do to my instructor. He was teaching me a line I did not feel comfortable with that was difficult for me and my car to hit consistently. He was a good driver, he just was less familiar with the track than my previous instructor (in June).

Day 2 was fun. I was nervous with the potential for rain. During the 2nd session it started as a light sprinkle and by halfway through it was a fairly decent rain and the track got progressively slicker. This was a fun session and the only session I have ever had at Hallett without triggering any AWD overheat messages.

Here is a link to the full playlist of all the videos I have from Hallett in September.

Still working on this post and will add more later on...

Thanks for this update. I believe I saw some posts/threads on this site (from SavageGeese perhaps??) that seems to point to a software issue as opposed to an actual temperature-based shutdown. Has anyone heard any updates on whether this issue is fixable through the aftermarket?

 

[kingofthehill29]

Thanks for the heads up about Revemoto, been interested in getting a CE hood once this winter season ends. Will definitely cross them off my list to check out. Appreciate your posts man always detailed

I am really disappointed with the quality. I wasn't going to post about it initially but after finding quiet a few more chips I decided I wanted to make an online post somewhere to document my issues. The lifetime paint warranty they offer is a gimmick, it is not cost effective to do unless you live near their facility in Houston.

Thanks for this update. I believe I saw some posts/threads on this site (from SavageGeese perhaps??) that seems to point to a software issue as opposed to an actual temperature-based shutdown. Has anyone heard any updates on whether this issue is fixable through the aftermarket?

I liked that video, Im glad it seems that they are narrowing down the issue. I am sure Graham and Ecutek have already come to a similar theory as mine. I posted my thoughts on the issue here.

 

[kingofthehill29]

So I ended up going back to my stock muffler. The RK system drones and is on the loud side. It is such a disappointment that no other manufactures have been able to release a muffler that is lighter than stock. I am debating what I want to do with the RK system. I feel like the stock exhaust has better throttle response on the low end and the car feels quicker plus no drone.

The nice thing is now my car is back to being a quiet commuter car that most people don't suspect of being fast. Which was my overall goal, to have this car be a bit of a sleeper.

Edit (11/4/2024):
Well I might be going back to the RK exhaust. I have encountered valve float with the stock muffler. I have also noticed that I have two locations with an exhaust leak. The flange where it mates to my Limit+1 down pipe (and I did replace the stock toyota gasket with a new one when I installed the exhaust.) and it appears I may have a very slight leak at a weld on the resonator (pictured below). The flange leak is substantial and I wonder if it is contributing the the drone. I think I have a solution to that leak, I will post more details if my plan works. The one in the resonator welds is a pinhole and has very small amount of black soot around it, I am going to assume that one is fine, I might send pictures of it to RK Ti to see what they think. Right now I am going to try and solve the flange leak, which is substantial and I believe it is caused due to mating tolerances on the two aftermarket components.

 

[kingofthehill29]

I have officially reinstalled the RK Ti Exhaust. I think I have solved the exhaust leak at the flange, I get a little less rasp at cold start as well. I created a crude Paint drawing detailing what is happening. On the Muffler side the donut gasket is flush to sub-flush from the flange. This prevents the donut gasket from compressing to create a seal because the downpipe flange touches the muffler midpipe flange before the dunut gasket. I found a exhaust gasket that fits perfectly here that I stacked under the donut gasket. The idea is this will act as a spacer and allow the donut gasket to seal. Short of a longer donut gasket this is my best solution.

I also installed the HKS exhaust valve canceller, I know that the exhaust buddy is cheaper but when I reached out to the seller on FB he wouldn't accept paypal, and I have never used Venmo. I prefer paypal for online transaction. I also replaced the exhaust hanger bolts with Titanium bolts, not a significant weight reduction but it is cool since the bolts came from my dads stash of titanium bolts that he used to make in his machine shop years ago.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Well I did the thing, Paid off one car and bought another. I love the GRC but it has its limitations on track. I am planning on keeping it as my weekend fun car and build it to be more of a street car. I do plan to track it two more times next year before retiring it from track use. I really want to go back to Hedge Hollow and see how I have improved since my first ever track day and I want to take it to OIR to see if I can go sub 3 minute with it.

I just picked up a BRZ, this is going to be my daily driver (to keep miles off my GRC) for the next 6 months. Then I plan to start tracking this car and eventually making it a full time track car (once paid off). I plan to track it for at least a year with minimum modifications (brakes, catback exhaust, and maybe a tune to get flat-foot shifting).

 

[kingofthehill29]

I think I have the GR Corolla where I want it for now. I am waiting for a free flowing exhaust that is lighter than stock and a little quieter than the RK system. Though since my last attempt to fix the leak at the connection between the downpipe and the catback I have less drone at highway speeds. Eventually I want to get a larger turbo and upgrade the valve springs, head bolts and cams, then try and tune for 400 whp. That is years down the road though.

As for now I did install the SXTH carbon intake cover. I lost some of the bolts on the stock one then I used lock tight on the bolts and some got on the cover causing it to crack and break. I also installed 4 titanium bolts on the cover as well. I did net some weight savings but it was insagnificant.

 

[grjayrolla]

is there any room to make more power? limit plus 1 says with e50 and intake they made around 304. curious how you were only able to make 318 with a lot more modifications

 

[Wsidr1]

is there any room to make more power? limit plus 1 says with e50 and intake they made around 304. curious how you were only able to make 318 with a lot more modifications

I see you just joined. There are quite a few guys on here making power seeking mods, from intake and tunes to new valve springs and cams. Check out some of the build threads.

You mention fuel blend. Check out Hank's build thread. He covers ethanol blending really well::

Hank's GR Build - From an Engineer's Perspective | Toyota GR Corolla Forum - Ownership Discussion

 

[kingofthehill29]

is there any room to make more power? limit plus 1 says with e50 and intake they made around 304. curious how you were only able to make 318 with a lot more modifications

This was on stock clutch and valve springs (IIRC ive readd that stock clutch holding capacity is around 350 ft*lb and stock valves spring start having float issues above 320 hp). They weren't trying to set records, plus the WHP of 318 is not that bad considering it makes 340 ft*lbs of torque. Im sure the tuners could have written a tune that produced a lot more horsepower but at the cost of torque. this can be seen with my baseline dyno, it produced 297 whp and 280 ft*lb torque. The 93 tune running the same fuel was 293 whp and 295 torque. Definitely feels a lot quicker on the 93 tune than stock even though it is less whp. I can't remember who stated it but "Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races."

 

[kingofthehill29]

Well since this is no longer going to be a track car for me I want to focus a little more on aesthetics and comfort. I am thinking of installing installing Red Rally Armor mudflaps. I also want to quiet the car exhaust down a little bit without hurting the exhaust flow. I am either going to add a resonator to the mid-pipe section of my Limit+1 downpipe or replace the catback with a HKS legal-Max system. If I go the HKS route it will add a bit of weight back but it will give the option for a potential 1-1/4" hitch for a bike rack. Not sure what route I want to go yet.

Over thanksgiving I had a bit of a mishap (100% my stupidity), I was running to the autoparts store and decided that I should drop off some used oil. Apparently I had one jug that didn't have the cap secured. Oil spilled everywhere and got under the rear seat. I had to strip most of the rear interior out to clean it up and the rear seat cushion absorbed it like a sponge. I was able to find a rear seat from a Core on ebay and I installed my seat cover on it so it matched. I still have a slight chemical/oil smell in the interior from the clean up. I did remove the child seat anchors (I have zero need for these and if I ever need them it would be a 15 minute process to reinstall) to gain another 1.5 lbs of weight reduction.

Today I made the decision to remove the tow hooks from the car since I no longer plan on tracking it (will track my BRZ). I also added a Mighty Car Mods Chopped decal to the bumper. I think it looks cool.

 

[CrazyAirborne]

Well since this is no longer going to be a track car for me I want to focus a little more on aesthetics and comfort. I am thinking of installing installing Red Rally Armor mudflaps. I also want to quiet the car exhaust down a little bit without hurting the exhaust flow. I am either going to add a resonator to the mid-pipe section of my Limit+1 downpipe or replace the catback with a HKS legal-Max system. If I go the HKS route it will add a bit of weight back but it will give the option for a potential 1-1/4" hitch for a bike rack. Not sure what route I want to go yet.

Over thanksgiving I had a bit of a mishap (100% my stupidity), I was running to the autoparts store and decided that I should drop off some used oil. Apparently I had one jug that didn't have the cap secured. Oil spilled everywhere and got under the rear seat. I had to strip most of the rear interior out to clean it up and the rear seat cushion absorbed it like a sponge. I was able to find a rear seat from a Core on ebay and I installed my seat cover on it so it matched. I still have a slight chemical/oil smell in the interior from the clean up. I did remove the child seat anchors (I have zero need for these and if I ever need them it would be a 15 minute process to reinstall) to gain another 1.5 lbs of weight reduction.

View attachment 32792
View attachment 32793
View attachment 32794

Today I made the decision to remove the tow hooks from the car since I no longer plan on tracking it (will track my BRZ). I also added a Mighty Car Mods Chopped decal to the bumper. I think it looks cool.

View attachment 32795

if you didnt try oileater, that shit is awesome and really does a great job on getting rid of oil spills. something I always keep on hand. overall is easy on skin and plastics and stuff.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Well I bit the bullet and went with an HKS catback, will probably sell the RK system at some point. It sounds to me to be as loud as the stock was with the downpipe (in the car driving); I was hoping it would be louder. Standing behind the car it is still fairly loud (louder than stock muffler), so this system does a good job projecting the volume behind you. Tone is spot on, I like the tone better than the RK system. My hope is that it will get a little louder with break in. I have only done one hard pull so far and no valve float so it is not near as restrictive as the stock system. This system has added roughly 6.2 lbs to the car over the stock system.

Driving impressions, it doesn't feel like there is any change in power from this system and the RK system (stock felt like the throttle response and acceleration were slightly better than the RK system.) No drone at 65-75 mph, my RK system had a terrible drone at those speeds.

I am debating on adding an inch and a quarter hitch (so I can transport my mtb with the GR), not sure on the compatibility and that would be an additional 24 lbs on the car. That is a long term plan, not sure yet. I would also like to add a rain light and a cover to the center. Overall I am starting on the path of making this a great fun daily driver. My original plan was to build the car with a focus on performance, now I want to make it a great fun DD, so performance is a key metric but I am going to also start focusing more on aesthetics, ease of life, and comfort mods. Hence heavier exhaust system and considering a hitch. I am also planning to add mud flaps eventually and emphasize the rally car look. I also plan to replace the Conti. ECS02 tires with DWS06 tires next time my tires are worn out.

 

[kingofthehill29]

One Year Review (2/5/2025):

Today is officially one year of ownership on the GR. I have exactly 13,400 miles on the odometer, wanted to keep it under 10k for the first year but it is too much fun to drive. I originally bought it with the intent of keeping it stock. And I was successful for about 3 months. Then I paid it off and UPS started delivering goodies!

I did not have a single mechanical problem (other than ones induced by modding) from the car. It was flawless and very reliable. No fires or oil consumption issues either. (Knock on wood). I took it on one roadtrip to Chicago to have it dyno tuned at limit+1 then to OIR. In that trip I had no gripes with the car at all. It was comfortable and even got 30-32 mpg rolling down the interstate at an average pace of 75 mph.

I had a total of 5 track events for the year. This car has opened a world of possibilities for me, I did not even know I could get on a racetrack until I bought the car and got my NASA day. I have also decided to retire this car from track use. Partly because of the AWD overheat, but mostly because I want to keep this as a clean cool daily driver. ANd track use was putting some noticeable wear on the car.

To start the few dislikes I have with the car:

• The weight, I half expected this car to weigh 2,900 lbs to a max of 3,100 lbs (the CTR is a bigger car and weighs in at 2,910 lbs)
• This doesn't affect mine but all of the GRC's should come with the CE wing and CE hood. These should be what distinguishes it from the corolla hatchback
• More color options, I like the white but this car should have had multiple skittle color options (at least a canary yellow or Bright orange option)

If I didn't label it a dislike then it is safe to assume I like it , but I like the lack of a center console. The bolstering on the seat is more than enough to support my arm when driving. And lacking a center console make the car feel more minimalist, which I really like. To many cars now have way to many storage options and they all just get full of useless junk.

I also really like the seats, they are simple and comfortable, the side bolstering feels perfect as well. I did take this car on a longish roadtrip and that didn't change my opinion.

This car already has major aftermarket support given the small sales numbers. It really makes it easy to customize and mod the car to my liking. This feels like a Tuner Car. I absolutely love it!

If I had to give it a rating it would be 4.8 out of 5 stars.

 

[Madscientist]

One Year Review (2/5/2025):

Today is officially one year of ownership on the GR. I have exactly 13,400 miles on the odometer, wanted to keep it under 10k for the first year but it is too much fun to drive. I originally bought it with the intent of keeping it stock. And I was successful for about 3 months. Then I paid it off and UPS started delivering goodies!

View attachment 33567

I did not have a single mechanical problem (other than ones induced by modding) from the car. It was flawless and very reliable. No fires or oil consumption issues either. (Knock on wood). I took it on one roadtrip to Chicago to have it dyno tuned at limit+1 then to OIR. In that trip I had no gripes with the car at all. It was comfortable and even got 30-32 mpg rolling down the interstate at an average pace of 75 mph.

I had a total of 5 track events for the year. This car has opened a world of possibilities for me, I did not even know I could get on a racetrack until I bought the car and got my NASA day. I have also decided to retire this car from track use. Partly because of the AWD overheat, but mostly because I want to keep this as a clean cool daily driver. ANd track use was putting some noticeable wear on the car.

To start the few dislikes I have with the car:

• The weight, I half expected this car to weigh 2,900 lbs to a max of 3,100 lbs (the CTR is a bigger car and weighs in at 2,910 lbs)
• This doesn't affect mine but all of the GRC's should come with the CE wing and CE hood. These should be what distinguishes it from the corolla hatchback
• More color options, I like the white but this car should have had multiple skittle color options (at least a canary yellow or Bright orange option)

If I didn't label it a dislike then it is safe to assume I like it , but I like the lack of a center console. The bolstering on the seat is more than enough to support my arm when driving. And lacking a center console make the car feel more minimalist, which I really like. To many cars now have way to many storage options and they all just get full of useless junk.

I also really like the seats, they are simple and comfortable, the side bolstering feels perfect as well. I did take this car on a longish roadtrip and that didn't change my opinion.

This car already has major aftermarket support given the small sales numbers. It really makes it easy to customize and mod the car to my liking. This feels like a Tuner Car. I absolutely love it!

If I had to give it a rating it would be 4.8 out of 5 stars.

View attachment 33568

How is your fuel economy after the tune?

Also, not sure where you are getting your weight data, but a '23 FL5 CTR comes in at 3183 on Car & Driver's scale. A '24 GRC Circuit comes in at 3268. I also wish it was less, but wouldn't trade AWD for 83 lbs.

 

[kingofthehill29]

How is your fuel economy after the tune?

Also, not sure where you are getting your weight data, but a '23 FL5 CTR comes in at 3183 on Car & Driver's scale. A '24 GRC Circuit comes in at 3268. I also wish it was less, but wouldn't trade AWD for 83 lbs.

I haven't tracked it since tuning as much, because I was going to e50 for a while and tracking complicated my process. I have recently started tracking again on 93 but it has been low, mostly due to the cold weather, long warm starts and winter blend fuel. Plus I historically get bad gas mileage when I am driving mostly city. Right now I am averaging 21-22 mpg on my commute. Before tune when I tracked in the summer it was more about 24 mpg for my commute. Once it warms up and gas switches back to the summer blend I fully expect to be back in the 24mpg range.

As for weight it was a google search. I can see that it may be misleading. Still 3183 is lower and the car is larger. I just wish it was a tad lighter to give it a better power to weight ratio. Ideally I think this car should have weighed in at around 3000-3100 lbs from the factory.

 

[tomfrommyspace]

One Year Review (2/5/2025):

Today is officially one year of ownership on the GR. I have exactly 13,400 miles on the odometer, wanted to keep it under 10k for the first year but it is too much fun to drive. I originally bought it with the intent of keeping it stock. And I was successful for about 3 months. Then I paid it off and UPS started delivering goodies!

View attachment 33567

I did not have a single mechanical problem (other than ones induced by modding) from the car. It was flawless and very reliable. No fires or oil consumption issues either. (Knock on wood). I took it on one roadtrip to Chicago to have it dyno tuned at limit+1 then to OIR. In that trip I had no gripes with the car at all. It was comfortable and even got 30-32 mpg rolling down the interstate at an average pace of 75 mph.

I had a total of 5 track events for the year. This car has opened a world of possibilities for me, I did not even know I could get on a racetrack until I bought the car and got my NASA day. I have also decided to retire this car from track use. Partly because of the AWD overheat, but mostly because I want to keep this as a clean cool daily driver. ANd track use was putting some noticeable wear on the car.

To start the few dislikes I have with the car:

• The weight, I half expected this car to weigh 2,900 lbs to a max of 3,100 lbs (the CTR is a bigger car and weighs in at 2,910 lbs)
• This doesn't affect mine but all of the GRC's should come with the CE wing and CE hood. These should be what distinguishes it from the corolla hatchback
• More color options, I like the white but this car should have had multiple skittle color options (at least a canary yellow or Bright orange option)

If I didn't label it a dislike then it is safe to assume I like it , but I like the lack of a center console. The bolstering on the seat is more than enough to support my arm when driving. And lacking a center console make the car feel more minimalist, which I really like. To many cars now have way to many storage options and they all just get full of useless junk.

I also really like the seats, they are simple and comfortable, the side bolstering feels perfect as well. I did take this car on a longish roadtrip and that didn't change my opinion.

This car already has major aftermarket support given the small sales numbers. It really makes it easy to customize and mod the car to my liking. This feels like a Tuner Car. I absolutely love it!

If I had to give it a rating it would be 4.8 out of 5 stars.

View attachment 33568

How are the Hipermax R's treating you? I'm considering those and Apexi N1 since they have easier to get damping and camber adjustment. 14K/20K rates sound like they'd be real harsh on bumpy socal streets though.

 

[kingofthehill29]

How are the Hipermax R's treating you? I'm considering those and Apexi N1 since they have easier to get damping and camber adjustment. 14K/20K rates sound like they'd be real harsh on bumpy socal streets though.

I like them for the most part, I do regret them slightly when I am on a really rough road (since I am no longer planning on tracking the car). But all regrets are gone when I get it on a tight twisty road. It really holds the road well with the coilovers.

I don't know how my roads compare to SoCal, I have never driven Socal roads, but roads here in NWA are much better overall than roads around the DFW metroplex. Overall our roads are notr bad at all, rarely do I see potholes.

 

[tomfrommyspace]

I like them for the most part, I do regret them slightly when I am on a really rough road (since I am no longer planning on tracking the car). But all regrets are gone when I get it on a tight twisty road. It really holds the road well with the coilovers.

I don't know how my roads compare to SoCal, I have never driven Socal roads, but roads here in NWA are much better overall than roads around the DFW metroplex. Overall our roads are notr bad at all, rarely do I see potholes.

Appreciate the opinions. GL with the BRZ build (when its time )

 

[kingofthehill29]

Not a whole lot new to report. I did go back to the 60A bushing (was 70A) on my pitch mount and it has improved the overall ride quality. I much prefer the 60A. A lot less vibration. I also sent in my exhaust to RK ti for a warranty claim for small defect in the weld causing a leak at the resonator. They fixed it up quickly and upgraded the hanger to the latest version and added a support brace for the resonator. I have reinstalled and it does seem to have slightly less drone. I am thinking of going with their side exit at some point in the future, I still want to eventually add an 1-1/4" hitch for a bike rack. I am glad to have my exhaust back, it is giving my life a little more sense of normalcy. On a side note, I put headphones on to listen to a podcast that had 46 minutes left when I started swapping exhaust, when I was done it was at 6 minutes left. took 2 hours the first time I swapped exhaust.

I am thinking of selling the HKS system, if anyone has interest please PM me. I am not officially selling it but offers will be considered, it only has about 1,500 miles of use and I would be willing to drive up to 250 miles to deliver. It sounds good but I like my RK ti a little better. I really like titanium, but maybe that has something to do with the fact that my dad used to make a lot of titanium parts in his machine shop when I was growing up and we still have some left over titanium nuts/bolts I like to use.