Daily Drivers: Does It Ever Get Easier?

[IPOGT]

You're not overdoing it. It's the nature of the beast.

Unfortunately an R is not a true street car/daily. It's really a specialty car for street/track. The tires alone are just not designed for street use, and that's just the beginning. Basically, it's use it at your own risk on rough city streets.

My R has 31k miles on it. The underside of the splitter is trashed, the CF wheels have some scuffs, I know eventually I'll crack one because I cracked a GT500 CF wheel on a pothole.

Try to enjoy the drive, if it gets hurt, just fix it.

P.S. splitters and belly pans are consumables. Have an extra set on hand for that rainy day restoration.

I gotta be honest. I think I’d throw up if I had to replace a CF wheel from a pothole.

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[TonyNJ]

I gotta be honest. I think I’d throw up if I had to replace a CF wheel from a pothole.

It's not that bad of a feeling. I mean, it sucks, but it really just makes you hate the town's administration and public works department for not being on it.
It's repairable. Mild crack. A little epoxy and it'll be good as new.

Until then...

 

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

It's not that bad of a feeling. I mean, it sucks, but it really just makes you hate the town's administration and public works department for not being on it.
It's repairable. Mild crack. A little epoxy and it'll be good as new.

Until then...

That sucks. I'd be sick.

 

[Postal Bob]

and what is specifically fragile on a GT350R? The R is literally build for track abuse, it can handle a pothole. Trackrats get two tires airborne off the curbing.

There are no potholes on a track. A pothole will crack the CF rims.
And riding up the curbing on a racetrack's turn is nowhere the same as hitting a pothole. Hitting a pothole is like driving straight into a street curb.

 

[Dana Pants]

There are no potholes on a track. A pothole will crack the CF rims.
And riding up the curbing on a racetrack's turn is nowhere the same as hitting a pothole. Hitting a pothole is like driving straight into a street curb.

doesn’t everyone just put the CF wheels in the attic and run proper aluminum wheels?

edit: and track rats consider wheels a wear item because they get trashed constantly.

 

[wingnutt]

I have 50k miles on the streets in my R (probably one of the few who has driven from coast-to-coast) and I have been in some shitty downtowns…San Fran to LA to San Diego, Albuquerque, Flagstaff, El Paso, Amarillo, Dallas, Shreveport, Houston, Wichita, Texarkana, Atlanta and Savannah. Next up is a trip to Billings to drink smoked old-fashioneds with my favorite aircraft mechanic!

long story short, this…

Try to enjoy the drive, if it gets hurt, just fix it.

P.S. splitters and belly pans are consumables. Have an extra set on hand for that rainy day restoration.

…I have fixed a missing shifter bolt on the 405, a busted splitter with zip-ties somewhere in New Mexico, a sudden air loss in driver rear tire in Valdosta.

Keep a spare splitter on the shelf, all the rest is easy

 

[Ahung12]

Thanks all. I don't mind having and using spares as needed, but I REALLY don't want to hang up the CF rims. I think I'll use them until one gets cracked and then weigh repair vs cost of a new set of 20" AL replacements.

 

[NPTR]

I’m running CF rims on street. Is there some risk? Yes. Am I just extra careful and cautious? Yes. I even make note when I’m not driving the R where good / bad surfaces are locally. But it’s worth it to me, because enjoying this car as-is was important to me. The CF wheels are a huge part of what differentiates the R and made it feel / drive / look special. I thought about getting replicas, but taking these wheels off and letting them collect dust was just sad to me. Like a kid who leaves a toy in the box and doesn’t play with it to just sell it down the road. I want to play now!!

What I’ll likely do, however, is get a set of reps and put all seasons on them for when the temps drop sub 50. That really limits my driving season in NY so that’s prob my play…

 

[Champale]

The cheapest way to give yourself a little more ground clearance on an R is to run the non-R tires - 295/35/19, 305/35/19. That gets you about half an inch more clearance.

Or you can have 20" wheels built that are not much heavier if you go to the right companies but they won't be cheap. Litespeed does magnesium ones that will weigh about 18lbs in 20" if I recall correctly. My current 20" wheels are 23lbs front, 21lbs rear so not a huge increase.

 

[RJ787]

For those who street drive their GT350/R's regularly, how concerned are you about bottoming out the suspension and/or belly pan when moving quickly over the rough stuff?

I live in the Chicago suburbs and commute into the city. My beater is taking a break so I've been daily driving the R for the past few weeks. I get worried about going normal speeds over some of the extremely shitty road surfaces we have here (those who know Rt 53 by Streets of Woodfield/Woodfield Mall all the way to Half Day Road know what I mean). So much so that I'm swerving and/or slowing down significantly. Am I overdoing it?

For comparison, in the past I've owned an Evo IX and S2000 with aftermarket suspension and I've never been concerned about this stuff before. The Evo was probably closer in terms of damping, but the S2000 was closer in ground clearance.

I drove the R yesterday for 1 hour and actually thought to myself afterwards, no joke, "How do people daily drive these?" Maybe it's me getting old (33, yes I know...) and the daily beater being more cushy.

But yes we understand your concern on the CF wheels/ride height. I've had to daily it for weeks for multiple reasons. Usually tend to drive on familiar roads that aren't damaged and places that don't have steep entrances/exits to avoid scraping the splitter. And I rarely drive it at night since potholes can sneak up easier. I have 9k miles and the wheels look like 9/10, and I've hit potholes where I was convinced the wheel suffered damage, but so far so good.

I live about 15mins from downtown Kansas City, MO- I only had my brand new 2018 for about a week when I hit a pothole and damaged my front driver's side tire and wheel.

Honestly, it doesn't matter where you live or what you drive, if you want to keep it nice, it won't get easier.

Remind me where this was, so I can steer away from it

 

[MAGS1]

Thanks all. I don't mind having and using spares as needed, but I REALLY don't want to hang up the CF rims. I think I'll use them until one gets cracked and then weigh repair vs cost of a new set of 20" AL replacements.

There’s a thread that Tom @Tomster has about repairing the CF wheels that is really good and worth the read. I know there’s a few others that have done it as well.

Unfortunately a lot of our roads here in the Chicago area just plain suck. Do your best to avoid the big car eaters. I have been starting to see crews out making repairs to the really bad spots out here in the western burbs. Hopefully they start tackling your area soon.

 

[Tomster]

There’s a thread that Tom @Tomster has about repairing the CF wheels that is really good and worth the read. I know there’s a few others that have done it as well.

Unfortunately a lot of our roads here in the Chicago area just plain suck. Do your best to avoid the big car eaters. I have been starting to see crews out making repairs to the really bad spots out here in the western burbs. Hopefully they start tackling your area soon.

They are easy to repair. I have the ceramic material to repair the ceramic lining if anyone should need it.

 

[526 HRSE]

Thanks all. I don't mind having and using spares as needed, but I REALLY don't want to hang up the CF rims. I think I'll use them until one gets cracked and then weigh repair vs cost of a new set of 20" AL replacements.

You need to ask yourself why you need carbon fiber wheels on city streets. Is it for clout? What was the purpose in buying the R? The wheels are the main difference between the two cars. You better cherish them.

 

[Tomster]

You need to ask yourself why you need carbon fiber wheels on city streets. Is it for clout? What was the purpose in buying the R? The wheels are the main difference between the two cars. You better cherish them.

I don't necessarily agree. They are very robust and easily repaired. Typical curb rash or cosmetic stuff can be repaired and painted at home with no need to send it off for repair. Major damage can be repaired by a repair facility if someone isn't comfortable with the repair process. The beauty of the R wheel is that it's painted. No beauty weave to work about and any repairs accomplished are painted over.

The car was designed around the CF wheel. That's one of the things that make it special. Not running them on the car takes one of of the things away that make the car unique.

Damage a forged aluminum wheel and you are most likely looking at a new wheel. They can't be repaired like CF can be.

 

[526 HRSE]

I don't necessarily agree. They are very robust and easily repaired. Typical curb rash or cosmetic stuff can be repaired and painted at home with no need to send it off for repair. Major damage can be repaired by a repair facility if someone isn't comfortable with the repair process. The beauty of the R wheel is that it's painted. No beauty weave to work about and any repairs accomplished are painted over.

The car was designed around the CF wheel. That's one of the things that make it special. Not running them on the car takes one of of the things away that make the car unique.

Damage a forged aluminum wheel and you are most likely looking at a new wheel. They can't be repaired like CF can be.

You'd drive them on city streets? Out here in California on these Governor Newsom roads, if you can stay on for 8 seconds, you feel like you've accomplished something.

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