My FD Is Going to Be in TPR!
 

I am sure that there are a select, but growing, group on the forum that have seen and read TPR magazine (Tuner Performance Reports). If not, you absolutely need to visit their site @ www.tprmag.com and get aboard. The magazine is founded by the same individual who gave birth to Sport Compact Car back when, and TPR is now his own personal effort for those of us who feel that cars, in particular FD's, were meant to be modified.

Now, as we all know, the extent of much of our knowledge about aftermarket products is as a result of others trying it first. Then, maybe you read about it on this forum; and opinions on the forum are as diverse as the people who participate.

So TPR jumps into the fray, and assists tuners by impartially testing (yes, testing) aftermarket products and proving (or sometimes, disproving) their claims. As noble an approach that is to editorial content in a magazine, it is a gutsy approach, as we all know how testy advertisers can get when you pan their product (drop the publisher an email an ask him about AEM!). But, the magazine serves a real, and unique need in the market, unless you are absolutely insistent that ladies and tasteless/gratuitous comments must accompany photos and stories of cars. Those of you who are amongst that bunch will be disappointed, I'm afraid. But for the rest who know there are other places to source that stuff, and feel they need a truly technically oriented magazine....well, you should send those guys a check and get this mag delivered to your door. It's that good.

With that intro, I did want to share a few photos of my FD that is slated to appear in a future issue of TPR. I met the TPR gang down in Atlantic City, and once we got to talking about RX7's, I offered a chance to check out my car as they made their way back to the airport and sunny California. I learned yesterday that it's slated to appear, and they were kind enough to provide me with some advance shots from the shoot. Hope you like the car!

Your car looks great. Outstanding. Does it look and run as good in person as it does in these photos?

holy hell your interior is clean!!!! i want mine to be like that!!!! what all is done to the center console? or is it just that nice stock above 93?

Congratulations! You're car looks superb. I'll make sure to pick up the mag when it gets featured.

not a fan of those sideskirts but man ur FD is hot.

Isn't it strange how some FDs just look great and others just look ok? I gotta say, your fd really looks good. I've seen the same wing and skirts on some fds but sometimes it does not look right but on yours it looks greatl

Yours definitely has the 'look'

Anthony

Also interested how your interior is soooo clean, it does not appear to be painted....Not even the best parts of my 93's interior look that good and mine barely has 50k miles :(

Let's get this out of the way, and it will explain a lot. I'm completely anal about my cars.

My car is a 36,000 mile car that I bought from a middle aged guy 4 years ago. I'm fastidious about cleaning it, and use very mild cleaners on the interior surfaces. But, that's a very stock appearance. I suppose you could try different matt-finish sprays to try to duplicate it, and I would take a look at Eastwood (www.eastwoodcompany.com) for a possible source of the correct patina. They're a restoration supply house that has made a science out of this stuff. Having restored a couple of Corvettes (a '63 fuelie, and a '71 LT-1), the drive for originality amongst that bunch is obsessive, and I found Eastwood to be a great source. BTW, restoring Corvettes will screw-up your priorities for the rest of your life- steer clear!

But the rest of the interior is just carefully used and maintained. Like making sure you don't crap into the car from under your shoes when you get in?

I absolutely love the way the car looks/sits. I've considered doing a '99 spec front bumper, but honestly, the stock bumper integrates better with the lines of the car. The skirts really integrate well with the body- same for the '99 spec wing. And the diffuser is exactly what is needed to finish the back of the car and balance-off the '99 spec front splitter.

How does it run? It's a streetported motor by Chris Rogers, running sequentially with Turbo Engineering Corp modified stock turbos, plus all the usual upgrades. Right now, I'm trying to diagnose an extreme rich condition that I believe is a result of a faulty secondary injector- which happen to be 1300cc units modified by RC Engineering. I should have them back from cleaning/flow testing on Tuesday, and I'll know more when I put it all back together. While trying to figure-out this problem, I've had the top of the motor/rat's nest off the car no less than 3 times in the past month. After you've done it that many times, it's not nearly as intimidating! Maybe I should do vac hose jobs for a living?

Thanks for the comments- happy to answer any questions.

When did u go down to A/C and meet those guys? I went to sema and had my FD there but i parked in the casino parking lot. I went on satuday and never got to go on sunday cause of my grandpas birthday party. When i went there i was getting alot of attention also but mostly on the parkway. These asian guys in a wrx took out a video camra and started filming me drive and these other dudes took pictures. lol i felt famous lol. My fd is a bb base model with a 99 bumper lip apexi side skirts and c-west head lights. and some boot leg fog lights i but hid's in and made them look like 99 spec fogs cause they are the same size and in the same spot. By the way anybody know where to get real 99 spec fogs how much they cost and what kind of bulb they take?

By the way i got a few other mods also but not much. Just dp greddy cat back, petit short shifter greddy knob. feed fender braces. eclipse head unit fozgate front speakers. ast cusco strut tower bar. stock blow off valve vented into the air, and i should be getting my volk rims gtc's 18x10 in the rear 18x8.5 front gunmetal with a machined lip

hmmm

red silicon couplers might look better with the PF IC... just an opinion...

Are those BBS rims on the car? If so what size? They look nice

That rear diffuser is so pimp.

nice car. the magazine doesn't do much for me though. and yes, i just read several technical articles on their website to give them a chance.

The wheels are Mim/Speedline. MiM was a private label brand out of Italy; Speedline made the wheels, and MiM marketed them- they do look like BBS rims, though. I believe I bought them through Discount Tire a few years ago. They're 17" X 9.5" all around wrapped with Nitto 235-45 ZR17's. I'd love to go 18", but the roads here in NY really don't permit them.

Word: Pimp
pronunciation: 'pimp
Function: noun
Etymology: origin unknow
: a man who solicits clients for a prostitute

I clearly have the wrong dictionary- please explain 'pimp'.

Your FD is really tight. Great look. Congrats!

I agree. I just put the Greddy elbow on the car, and I need to have a hard pipe made to connect the elbow to the IC, so the local hose/fitting store supplied the blue stuff, and there was no choosing.

It's a solid step forward from the rest of the rags out there. Honestly, I'm tired of the other books that are written for guys who breathe through their mouth. I had a chance to spend some time with these guys, and the magazine is a personal effort, so funding is tight, but they're fueled with great intentions. I've spent over 20 years in the magazine biz, and I know very well how much it costs to do it right; to do it on your own is nuts- give them credit and some support, or we'll be left with the other crap to read....

Drop them a line and tell 'em what you would like to see. They'll respond

Mine is a 36,000 mile car that is parked in our new heated and A/C'd garage. I imagine that exposure to the sun probably fades the finish.

Great looking car man. Looks like you are pretty meticulous. Did your y-pipe and crossover pipe just bolt right up to the PFS IC.

Congrats Bob! They made a good choice on your car. It is easily the cleanest FD I've ever laid eyes on and has all the right mods.

Good luck getting your rich running condition sorted. Modified cars (especially FDs) can be a pita sometimes...

:rlaugh: well, incase you really don't know, it means nice/cool/awsome. just like it would be to have a stable of fine bitches.


any major retail outlets i might find the mag in florida? i'm willing to pick up a copy.


my advise?

• copy grassrootsmotorsports.
  
• change the name so something without "tuner". that word is dead to me. and i don't want to be seen in public with anything with it in its name. way too many negative associations with the "tuner lifestyle yo" for me.
  
• for the same reasons as the last one, no body-kitted "sport compacts" on the cover, ever. the same goes for drifting. i know it's a pain to come up with a wild cover each month, and that covers are important for hooking a casual buyer... how about more technical/application based covers, like bare engines and cars on tracks.
  
• no testing useless crap. one of the articles i read on the site tested an intake, CB, AVCR... and a grounding kit. they actually noted that the grounding kit "made" ~.7hp IIRC. wow, that's for the info guys! and then they ended the article by saying it was important to test several grounding kit hook-up points to get the most power... meh.

that's all i can think of atm.

I figured as much, but you never know. I bought a Haase/Honda CR125 shifter kart about 5 years ago, and had it shipped to NY via a trucking company. I went to the depot to pick it up, and when I'm escorted to the warehouse where the kart is stored, the guy helping me tells me it's 'stupid'. At first blush, I'm about to on the defensive, but realize what the guy really meant was that it was so neat, it was 'stupid'. Go figure.....

TPR can be found in select Barnes & Noble stores.

Drop these guys a line with those suggestions- I believe they will really value your opinion. I happen to agree with most everything you've said!

Yep, straight bolt up operation. Now I need an aluminum pipe to get me from the IC to the Greddy elbow. That silicone hose is a temporary fix. Any suggestions anyone??

Hey Alberto!
I've absolutely exhausted every possible cause for the rich condition: checked MAP sensor twice (voltage and resistance), changed coils, wires, and plugs (timing light on each lead gives me a signal), checked every vacuum hose, replaced all gaskets, replaced EGR valve/solenoid and ISC, I swapped the PFC with the stock ECU, replaced the fuel return line as it had the slightest crimp in the steel line under the UIM, and finally put jumpers on the F/P and ran it. Removing the UIM (again!!!!), the #2 rotor secondary intake runner in the LIM was wet; the other 3 were dry. Stuck injector??? And my secondaries are modified 850cc injectors reworked by RC Engineering- there's tales that say they can have problems. So, fingers are crossed, because I've flat run out of ideas. ....

What's up with your car? Send me a PM....

Sorry to hear you haven't figured it out yet.

As for me, 104f/85r compression numbers on the 1800 mile motor = not good. Waiting for someone to return my emails before I start getting nasty....

those side skirts are awesome man, def the ones im getting when i get the 99 spec front..

your car def looks good

Dude thats one hell of 7, its extremely clean. I wish my vr was like that. lol Maybe once I fix the little problems I can clean her up to almost look as good as yours. I'll have to check out that magazine to get more info on your car.

Check out www.urbandictionary.com

One definition says:

pimp
1) something badass or new and fresh.
2) a male who uses females to make money to buy more ho's and in turn blows that money on gold lining for his shoelaces.
"those ho's over there are just askin' to be pimped"

Basically, I like it!

Would look cleaner without the wing but it's still a sharp ride. :)

LOL!!! That's hysterical! Thanks for the link- it will be put to good use!

I think I have it figured out- won't know until the injectors get back here this week and screw it all back together. Cannot imagine what else it could possibly be...

Are all 3 chambers generating 104 psi?, and 85 psi on the rear? As one who has fretted about compression for the past year and a half, Mazda allows a 10% variance between chambers- not sure about rotors, though.

Is that the PFS cat-back and the RE rear diffuser copy? Did you have to trim the diffuser any? I've had mine since the group buy but never put it on and was just wondering.

Who's the editor of the mag? Not Larry Saavrda or however you spell his name?

Tim

Hi Tim:

That's a Racing Beat cat-back, perfect sound, not obnoxious.

That's right, you were on that group buy! Did not have to trim the diffuser at all. I lightly sanded it, primed it, and sprayed it with the matt black finish. I used something called Plasti Dip. I bought it at either Lowe's or Home Depot. It 's the spray can version of the stuff you dip the handles of your pliers into. It's slightly rubberized, and thus will not get beat up like a regular paint would.

The guy who started it is Greg Gill, and Larry Saavedra used to work for him. They're giving some thought to expanding the pure tech concept to other auto markets driven by the aftermarket. I like the idea, but it takes time, and it ususally pisses-off at least one advertiser per issue. But, that's a good thing, because the readers get the straight info without regard for how big an advertising schedule the manufacturer has in the magazine....trust me, that stuff does go on.

Bob

good sugguestions...but strange how you look down on the term "tuner" but use the term "pimp" to describe things :rlaugh:

i totally agree, its embarassing to be reading a magazine and when people walk by see a half dressed 25 year old lying over a bodykitted sport compact with a nasty paintjob and 3 foot high wing(even if the car is very well done and is a real powerhouse) on the cover and give you a dirty look

"they actually noted that the grounding kit "made" ~.7hp IIRC."
they can make up to 4, depending on how old grounding is, i remember people changing grounding wires on their Subaru GC8's and with the combonations of the cars being 4-7 years old and the factory grounding not being the greatest they got like 4whp. obviously thats not typical and on a new car you'll probably get 1-2 hp tops

Very nice indeed. You seem to be as strict regarding the car of your interior as I am. Only not so nice piece in my interior is the ash tray which has it's paint peeling. I was never really moved to replace it since I use it to hold loose change though.

Very nice, clean car though, congrats on the magazine spot, and I'll definately check out an issue or two.

I still have my ashtray if you want to make that interior perfect! I have a JDM armrest/coin tray in mine.

LOL! Let me help some of you people out. Mr. GCThree lives an uppity neighborhood In New York where the more common names herd are "Muffy" and "Buffy". The "O.C.s" got nothing on this town! If I sound a little bitter it's because I AM! LOL seriously, my hometown is West Hempstead-the next town over and Garden City were our rivals. Imagine this - W.H. Rams vs. G.C. Trojans "Battle of the Condoms". Anyway, they spanked us in the championship game many years ago...

Seriously, GC, your ride's beautiful and you're working with a great guy in Gregg Gill. I've worked with him in the past and have found him to be a very intelligent, well to do person and very spirital - something you tend not to find in this business.

In any case, I don't know if he busted your chops about having a 7 and he not understanding why you haven't "upgraded" to an Evo or STi - he's hammered me on that subject many of times. I'm just glad he's "seen the light" and is now featuring our car. I look forward seeing your ride in this issue.

~Mike

Hey Mike:

I happen to be a kid who grew up in Queens (how ya' doin'?), and through hard work, found our way to GC. That said, there are no shortage of those 'types' you mentioned in GC, but I 'ain't' one of them! (I'd be wheeling a 560 SEL 'Benz if I were). Get over those past athletic failures, man! They may have defined your life until now, but it's time to move on!

Gregg is a great guy, and his book will go places- I was very impressed, and guys like him (who break with convention) need out support.

Good to meet you- where did you work with Gregg? McMullen Argus?

LOL! How YOU doin?!!! I was just teasing, seriously! I was in no way serious. I just noticed your location and it brought me back to the"olden days" that's all! Sorry to offend you. I think if you grew up there you may have appreciated it a bit better.

I met Gregg when I was working at Michelin. He's help me find work out here in L.A. I need to give him a call.

~Mike

car looks great!

seen u mentioned u got the diffuser thru a group buy, is it the one from rotary extreme? i like the fact that u didn't have any fitment issues

Yep, it's the one from Rotary Extreme, and fit well.

No offense taken!

You worked at Michelin? Do you know Hargrave? How about Murtaugh?

6 degrees of separation......

Bob

I PM'd ya....

~Mike