Today was go-kart time! My adrenaline is still pumping from the experience. All I can say is I made the right decision to build this thing. It is going to be more fun than I can handle! Below is a video of my first trip out. The quality is poor, it is just my phone mounted to the "dash" of the car with a bar clamp.
Initial driving observations:
1) It is very un-nerving not being able to see behind you AT ALL. I will not be driving on the road again until I have her street legal with mirrors and my rear view camera system.
2) I never realized how much loose gravel was on the road leading into our sub-division. With the open front tires it is all inside the cockpit of the SL-C now. I should have had on safety glasses because the gravel hit me in the face a few times.
3) My lift pump is LOUD. You can really hear it in the video. It is an Earls/Holley vane pump. I may start looking for something quieter to replace it with. It should be less noticeable with the body one.
4) Sitting this low to the ground is a whole new experience and will take a lot of getting used to.
5) Even without the body on it this things turns heads on the road (or everyone I met on the road thought I was nuts, one or the other)
6) I did manage to pull it thru all six gears a little aggressively on a trip after the video I took. I have never driven anything with near the acceleration or handling that the SL-C has. I cannot imagine this car with 750 plus horsepower. You would need to be on par with F1 drivers to handle this thing at that power level. 475ish HP and 430ish ft lbs of torque will be plenty for me to have fun.
7) The Porsche transaxle and stock shifter shifts completely effortlessly. It took no time at all and I was not evening thinking about my shifts, they just happened.
8) As others have commented, the ride is quite smooth, all things considered.
9) I have my ride height set at about 4 1/4" in front and 4 3/4" in the rear currently and if I hit my driveway at the wrong angle it scrapes. I will definitely need the Stanceparts lift system. It is installed but not working currently, I have a faulty air valve.
10) I appear to have a pinhole leak in my radiator, big bummer!! Not looking forward to pulling that to fix it!
11) Either my radiator cap or overflow tank are leaking when the car cools down. I am getting some coolant running down the side of the tank as it cools down. It is from the pressure side of the Moroso tank, not the overflow catch can side. Another bummer if it turns out to be the tank!
12) The Holley Terminator X really needs to be tuned by someone who knows what they are doing. I have an idle surge that I can minimize but not eliminate. Anyone on here good with the Holley Terminator X system? Once off idle it runs good.
13) Engine temps maintained right at 195 when idling or driving with only one fan running and the oil cooler fan had not kicked it yet.
14) I cannot wait to finish her and get her on the road now. I am definetely going with the plan similar to Rumbles and get it on the road without paint and interior work to fine tune things (and to enjoy it this summer) then finish it out after that.
Below is another video of a short walk around of the chassis after I came in from my go-kart testing. In the end I am happy with my exhaust note, I guess it is loud enough.