3/2/2007, 160363 miles: 22.9MPG

So after a month of driving about 30 miles per day, I'm hitting just around 22 miles per gallon. There's tons of work to do on the car before I could even consider taking it out on an HPDE. Namely:

1. Under braking, car pulls to the right ... but that's because the cheap-ass ghetto previous owner put different sized tires left and right! L: 195/65-14 (stock size), R: 185/65-14. Man, talk about cheap! This'll be remedied soon with a whole set of 5 ultra gummy sticky Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 (the full size spare is toast also)
   
2. Tie rods are scary. Underneath the car the other day, I grabbed the center of the tie rod end (where it's threaded for toe adjustment) and I could move it back and forth 1/8"!! Definitely not safe.
3. Possible driveshaft wobble. Right around 85MPH there's a really high Hz vibration that shakes the rear view mirror. I'm guessing guibo and center support bearing (known to go bad around this mileage), but won't know for sure until I fix #4 and #1 first
4. Blown shocks. This is the biggest dilemma of all...shocks are total toast. So bad, that when I hit rough patches on the 101, the car starts drifting into the right hand lane (also partly because of #1)!! Dilemma because I'm not sure whether I should go all out with the full SpecE30 suspension now, or go daily driver/non fun mode with a set of cheapie KYB GR-2s.
   
5. Brakes need to be replaced. New OEM rotors and new dual-purpose street/autocross pads (probably Porterfield R4S) and a spare set of dedicated track pads.
   
6. Bushing replacements everywhere. Under acceleration, the rear end is "squirmy". But to be honest, this can probably wait. I just think urethane is cool.

Despite all the shortcomings, it is SO much fun to roll around in a 17 year old beater. I don't have to worry about car dings, I can drive the bejeezus out of it, I don't have to worry about following anyone (because of the rocks they'll kick up, marring the hood finish), I can kick the tail out everytime I go around corners... hehheheheh, what a blast. It's so utterly completely different from the Q-ship barge long-haul luxury liner M5.

I can't wait to get this car sorted out!!