rynberg

Yes! If more people adopted this attitude, there would be:

a) much shorter mod lists
b) less broke-*** FD owners

It's threads like the recent HKS coilover thread here or the big brake kit in the suspension forum that scare me -- people spending $2500+ because the parts LOOK cool. Good grief.

However, I still say you need dual oil coolers for reliable track use... I am hitting 250+ on a 50F day -- and that's measured AFTER the cooler.

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

hehe...I spent the money on my brakes because I needed too not just because they look good
Too many cracked rotors, use of temp strips that indicated overheated calipers and rotors, and the fear of brake fade spurred me on.
Regards,
Crispy

rynberg

Yeah, I know there were good reasons for YOUR brake upgrade. BTW, are you still sporting the fake bullet holes....

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

The stickers are on the cusp of being removed. I'm a shallow person and just can't take the ridecule any longer

Crispy

SleepR1

Mazdaspeed increased their prices on Type RS rotors. They're about $20 more than back in early 2002, when I ordered them. Fronts were $166 each, now $185 each. Must be the Yen, or just plain old inflation?

Section8

iTrader: (6)

I'm planning on doing as many track events as possible once I get my 7, but I'm gonna start out with a stock car, since I have no experience other than Karting and 2 RevItUp events. I only plan on putting good brake fluid in, and good brake pads, and checking the rest of the car to make sure it's solid.

I figure it's best to learn the car in its stock form than to try to modify the crap out of it and not know what to do with all the power and extra handling.

macdaddy

Section8, I agree with your thoughts completely. A good helmet, a careful tech inspection, decent street tires, fresh brake fluid and good pads is all you will need to get started on track. Your best investment now is seat time, not car mods.

My personal budget priorities when starting on the track were:
1. safety: helmet, neck roll, 5-pt harnesses, roll bar, fire extinguisher
2. grip: R-compound tires (and the wheels for them)
2. brakes: as noted in the above thread - once you are good enough to start pushing the car hard, you will likely start getting some brake fade on some tracks - you'll then need to decide whether to drive the car within its limitations or upgrade the brakes.
3. suspension: F & R swaybars, shocks, springs, coilovers (cornerweighted)
4. horsepower

The care and feeding of any FD is expensive. The track will definately increase that appetite - but if you only improve the car when you are at a level as a driver that you can take advantage of it, then you will spend wisely.

allenhah

iTrader: (4)

I've been struggling with point one a little bit these days regarding the roll bar and harnesses...I've heard some controversy of using a roll bar without a helmet, and the danger of using harnesses without a roll bar. I think if you're looking at a car that is still a street car, you should stay away from a roll bar and harness...the stock 3-point seat belts with use of cg-lock should suffice for a street car driven occasionally at a HPDE event or the like.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Unless you have leather seats, and then your **** will be sliding all over the place at a HPDE with the stock seat beat. Once you strap on a harness for a DE, you'll never want to go back (rollbar or not).

allenhah

iTrader: (4)

I totally agree Mahjik...the use of a harness is by far superior in terms of driver control and whatnot, but I had read that the use of a harness with no roll bar is more dangerous than the stock seat belt because a harness does not allow you to slide down the seat in the event of a rollover while stock seat belts are designed to allow that.

That's why I'm still a little hesitant about putting in the harness. Sure I could put in a roll bar to solve that problem, but then of course we have the problem of your head hitting a solid steel bar in the event of an accident on the street when you're not wearing a helmt. I suppose the use of padding might resolve that.

Okay great...now you got me thinking of putting in a roll bar and harness setup.

=]

The last HPDE event I went to, I tried using one of the snap-in torso belts from Sparco, and it seemed to work quite nicely. Definitely not as secure as the harness, but it was far better than not using it. Shortly thereafter, they released the CG-Lock, and I've tried using it on the street a few times, and it definitely seems to do as it claims. I have yet to try it on the track t hought, but I would imagine that it would fulfill the same purpose as the torso belt.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Well, that's the problem with having a street/track car. You can't have the best of both worlds, so you have to compromise somewhere. As I said in another thread, I'm more likely to have someone hit my car on the street than I am to roll my car on the track. While I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just placing my eggs into a different basket.

While I do plan on eventually adding a roll bar, I'm ok with using just a harness for the track in the meantime.

allenhah

iTrader: (4)

Totally agreed. That's why so many guys start out with these "street/track" setups but almost always end up going straight track-setup eventually. A perfect street/track setup is simply impossible.

allenhah

iTrader: (4)

Well...except maybe for a GT3. IMHO those are the best compromise cars money can buy. If you're looking for a little more "street", I'd say the new E46 M3's are the best compromise...

CrispyRX7

iTrader: (139)

I'm glad to see this thread is still alive.
I see a trend int he commentary that the car should be appropriately modified as the driver "improves." Amen. My first event was done on a bone stock car with nothing more than Hawk Blue brakes pads...and it survived. This probably because of my novice driving skills. I drove an autox sometime later and found myself sliding around in the seat so installed a 5 point harness...with NO ROLL BAR, oops! As I grew to be a faster more controlled driver, other issues began to affect my performance and the ability to keep the car running well. And hence the "need" for higher performance equipment - bigger brakes, better cooling, more wheel and tire, more safety, etc etc. But please note there was little attention needed in the area called "power." I guess what I'm saying is mod the car as is appropriate for the driver, with the exception of safety of course. And safety does include decent brakes. The only real way to find out what *YOU* need is to talk to folks at events you drive. This forum is a wealth of information but can be very misleading at times. Face to face dialogue with expereinced RX-7 owners at a track event is worth it's weight in gold, especially if your instructor is an FD owner as well.
FWIW
Crispy

cruiser

Amen to that. I have dual oil coolers and 2 weeks ago at trackday ambient temperature was like 100F and track temperature over 120F. I could only do about 3 fast laps before my stock water temperature gauge started to climb past the middle - time to slow down, stop boosting, opening the hood and go for a 5min relaxation drive

I wonder what racers use in regard to oil coolers - even bigger units or would Mazdaspeed front bumper help enough ?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Very good post Crispy.

I wish I would have taken my FD to the track before I started modifying it. I would appreciate what I've done to it a lot more. I do agree that people tend to worry more about power modifications more than modifying their braking, cooling and safety when it comes to these cars.

However, I'm just glad to see more people on this forum getting into road racing verses drag racing.

cruiser

Yea... so many "drag racers only" around one would think this is a Supra forum