New toys for 1993 90CS (long)

[Chris Newbold <cnewbold@transarc.com>]

Almost a month ago I spent two days at Watkins Glen with the
trackmasters group working on my skills. In the weeks (and hours :-)
preceeding the trip, I did a bit of work on my 1993 90CS (no Q)...

1) New wheels and tires: 7.5"x16" TSW Imolas with 205/55ZR16 Dunlop
D40M2s from Discount Tire Direct. They look great on the car (kinda
like the OZ Touring car wheels). Handling and ultimate grip have
shown dramatic improvements at higher speeds, though the change is
not as noticable around town. Ride deteriorated only slightly.

2) New rear rotors. They are Girling "aftermarket" (though the OEMs
were also made by Girling...) and came from Clair Parts Express for
about $30 ea. These went a long way to fixing that "pitching" feeling
you get under braking when the rear brakes aren't doing much...

I installed these (and the pads, below) myself in the hours preceeding the
event. If anyone needs some tips on 1993-95 90 brake work, lemme
know... :-)

3) New pads at all four corners. It was hard to find pads for this
car; it's not too popular with tuners. IA and Hoppen could supply
Pagids, but at $235 for the front alone, it was more than I could
afford. A trusted mechanic recommended Hawk, but there were no
applications for my car... So, I called TAP and they offered me
a set from an Italian company called Rofren. I'd never heard of them,
but TAP swore by the pads (used them on their race cars) and they
were within my buget ($125 front and $90 rear).

These things are amazing! Best $220 I've ever spent on the car. I
immediately noticed improved pedal feel, much more linear than stock.
I couldn't get them to fade on the street, unlike the stock pads which
needed significantly more effort after some long, downhill twisties...
More on this later.

4) Removed the splash guards behind the front rotors. Last year at the
Glen, I was roasting and warping rotors like anything, so I figured
anything I could do to get more air across them would help. Along with
the Imolas (which are very "open" compared to the stock Ronals), I hoped
this would be enough... This took a little effort because the shields
are bolted on from the outside (behind the rotor), so I needed to remove
the calipers and the rotors to get them off.

5) Flushed brake system and filled with ATE Super Blue Racing. $10/liter
from GPR!

Many hours, a few scraped knuckles and much cursing at the German
engineering of the rear calipers later, I was ready to go... See my
next post for the results!

-Chris