Just looking for some help on setting up my new FD. Car was purchased
a couple months ago and is close to new. Only has 16k miles on it.
I am intending it to be a street/track car. This will mostly see weekend driving and track time. I have set up other cars for track time but never a rotory, any help would be great. Here is what is done so far.

-AST elimination
-HKS downpipe
-HKS mid pipe
-Racing Beat cat back
-Greddy intake kit
-Walbro 255lph hp fuel pump
-NGK Spark plugs
-Magnacor 10mm plug wires
-Diff and tranny fluids changes to Redline MT-90
-Rad flush & fill
-Vacuum line replaced
-Slave cylinder rebuild
-Stainless steel Clutch lines
-Apexi Power FC (Tuned to 13PSI) 290whp
-Volk CE28N'S 17X8.5 w/Advan AO32'S
-Status Seats, Suzuka's

Looking for a reliable strong track car. I am not really interested in achieving big hp yet. reliabilty and strong handling is key. My next two mods will be brakes
and Coilovers. Let me know if you would change or add anything.
Thanks
John

 

add oil coolers for sure. im not gonna run my car at mazdafest because i dont have them. gotham racing has a dual setup for 750

 

You can also buy a used set of R1 coolers on the forum or ebay as well for now.

 

Since you mentioned brakes and coilovers are already on your "TODO" list, here are a few suggestions:

1. Larger radiator
2. Lower temp thermostat
3. Gauges with Peak/Hold and warning indicators (water and oil temp)


More suggestions here:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/fd-road-racers-only-your-upgrades-your-rationale-136678/

 

Oil coolers huh, I guess I will have to limit me lap counts until installed.
Does anyone have any experience with water water? Is it worth while?

Mahjik: Never thought to search this one, I thought I was being original
John

 

I love my tanabe sustec s/s coilovers, I highly recommend them for a street track car.

Also, stick with stock brake rotors and some race pads (hawk blues etc) until you are sure you need to upgrace your braking system.

The dual oil cooler setup (whether stock or aftermarket) is a must. I don't recommend tracking the car without it, esp not at 13 psi.

 

Make sure you replace the front strut bar mounts, they are a weak item in the assembly. Sign up with Mazda Competition and you can get all the performance upgrades at dealer cost. You just have to post results of some form of competition.

http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/weba...0001&langId=-1

Another potential upgrade is to install upgraded trailing and toe links in the rear suspension. Rotary Extreme makes a good set.

You also might want to get in on Delrin bushing GB too.

 

I don't recommend tracking the car at 13 psi with the stock twins. I do not see an upgraded intercooler on your list. If this is true, I would absolutely not run more than 10 psi.

I hate Hawk pads but the Blues are good and cheap -- just make sure to swap them out for track use only and IMMEDIATELY clean the wheels and the sides of your car. People have ruined their paint by not doing this.

Go out and have fun. You do not need an "upgraded" suspension to have a good time at the track in this car. The stock brakes are ok on street tires with more agressive pads. Tracks that are extremely hard on braking will need upgraded brakes unless you adjust accordingly.

Dual oil coolers are a MUST for track use, IMO. The single stock cooler will result in oil temps exceeding 255F, even in cool weather. Stock dual coolers are adequate for track days not exceeding 85-90F.

You should have boost, water and oil temp gauges with peak warning lights. These really come in handy. I recommend flyrx7's tripod gauge holder. I have been running this for 3 years and it works great for track use and looks good on the street.

 

Ok, I will have the power fc detuned to 10psi. I thought 13 PSI was conservative??
Oil coolers have bumped up to the top of my must do list!!
Anyone have any ideas on Water wetter? To help keep temps down.
John

 

would I be better to go back to my stock ECU with this set up?? The car is running rich
on this tune.

If I can't get the oil coolers in for the first track day, I will have to keep lap sessions
down to 4-5??
John

 

Constant higher boost generates a lot more heat. Too keep the heat down, you'll run lower boost. The lower boost settings on road racing is for heat concerns, not necessarily for A/F concerns.

 

keep your pfc. im not going to track it because of not having intercoolers. but i like to play it safe.

 

For what its worth on a warmish day and dual coolers unducted i was still seeing 250+ on the oil temp gauge. Oddly enough my motor quit on me that day... (im still havent decided if its related or not tho) Moral is dual coolers arent enough if they arent ducted.
My coolant temps never topped 95*C but thats with a koyo. oh i was running 13psi, but with a M2 large IC.
All i had for brakes was hawk HPS pads, I got through most of the day without fade, I was defenatly expecting worse.

 

You don't have to do anything to the PFC. Just lower your boost to 10 psi for the track days. 13 psi is not conservative, not on an FD. It's perfectly fine for street/drag use, but it's hard on the stock twins in a road racing situation. More importantly, it's almost impossible to keep water temps in check running those boost levels on warm track days. You could get away with it on a 50F track day, but not a 90F day. Also, with the stock IC, you will have skyhigh air temps in a couple of laps running 13 psi.

Even hard street driving is NOTHING like road racing. My typical track day is 5 20-minute sessions. I would say that out of that, a conservative estimate would be about 75 minutes at WOT above 5k rpm.

Water wetter helps a little bit, but I've heard rumors of it eating coolant seals. Royal Purple makes an equivalent product that is supposed to be OK. A lot of hearsay on that issue though.

If you are running cooler track days, the single oil cooler will be OK at 10 psi. But if you are regularly going to be tracking the car, a dual oil cooler setup would be near the top of my list.

 

I think it only makes sense to go with a better oil cooler system.
John

 

any ideas on where to purchase an oilcooler kit? I was thinking Greddy, ARC etc?? I have seen a couple on the RX-7STORE etc but prices seem high and brand is on known?
John

 

If it were me I wouldn't mod a FD w/ 16k miles on the clock, but if you do all these guys are right on.

Enjoy your car! Maybe I'll see you at the track

 

I'm going to my first Autocrossx event, in the FD(I did Zoom Zoom once). To prepare I'm going to replace my brake fluid(what kind?), install new pillowball bushing, oil change, new battery(really need one), new brake pads(what kind?), and maybe change the tranny and diff fluids before the race. My tires are pretty decent Toyo Proxy 4's and they have good tread. I'll bring a mini air compresssor to make the most of the tires. I searched the racing forum, but I didn't see anything FD AND autox specific.

My FD has 131k on the chassis, Tokico Illuminas( no idea on the springs and no idea if the min or max setting is the stiffest. I assume everything else on the suspension is stock. Got a squeak in the the front suspension...), PFS intake and SMIC, mild streetport, dp, RB single catback, Pettit AST, silicone vac hoses, and a boost gauge of course.

The rad, rad hoses, and fluid was replaced 2 years ago, should I replace the coolant?
Beyond replacing every suspension bushing, toe links etc... Anyone have any other suggestions on autox prep?

 

i would replace the walbro fuel pump with something more reliable, like cosmo/supra/rp denso unit. With your mods and stock injectors, the injector duty probably will be too high, you might want to get some 850cc secondary injectors fitted into the primary rail to lower the injector duty. Last thing you want is a injector/fuel pump failure on track.

Get the best coilover you can find, make sure the toe link and tie rod doesn't have too much wear, replace the suspension bushings with hardened mazda competition bushings.

 

Some of these suggestions are overkill and not necessary. This is a non-competitive street/track car. There's no need to go all crazy with mods or stiffer suspension bushings or what not. It makes me wonder how many people posting this thread have even been to the track????

yuichiror: auto-x is nothing on a car, compared to tracking it. It requires nothing more than normal maintenance. You will not overheat or fade brakes or anything of that nature.

 

thanks for the help. As for not modding a car with 16k I am not doing anything that is
permanent. i think the walbro unit is pretty good, I have used them in my other cars
and it has been strong. Well the GTR had a Nismo!
John

 

here is my vote, these are going on my FD in the near future:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=dual+mocal

 

Thanks rynberg. I've been reading the race car tech forum and I read all these suggestions. However, the discussions don't seem to diff between tracking and autox. I guess I never noticed that "tracking a car" means to take it road racing. Again, thanks!

 

I have heard that many do not notice a difference in temps with a upgraded rad??

 

Your in eticobke I believe right? Who works on your car?