JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

Some guy *cough* Goodfella *cough* said they would make you the fastest man alive... soooo I NEED THAT!

How to article

papsmagu

iTrader: (19)

dont want to hi-jack your thread anymore than i already have so i sent you a pm

fd3s400438

Dear Jhn RX7

I have a very nice 1996 Japanese Spec RBR setup up for road racing and drag strips.You can see the car on the forum photos ( i wish I knew where ) and on cardomain at www.cardomain.com/ride/3089365/1996-mazda-rx-7.

After reading your excellent work and visiting the track with a friend I decided to quit racing and go track side....

I will like to tell you what I have and what I would like to fit and get your opinion on what might be missing...

I have a T04E single turbo with 550ss and 1680ss with 40mm external , massive blitz intercooler , blitz water radiator and all the rest to give me a solid 440bhp @ 20psi

D2 coilovers , double HKS clutch , 17'' Rays with 225-275 R888 toyo semi slics. I also have front and rear strut bars

So far so good. I am thinking of going for the D2 330 8pot big brake kit to get the braking issue out of the way. Also I found front and rear anti roll bars thicker than the OEM. The rear is 19mm and I cant remember the front. I also found these on ebay :

1) ULTRA RACING 4-Point Rear Lower Bar
2)ULTRA RACING 4-Point Front Lower Bar

The same firm makes the 19mm rear anti roll bar.

Do you think that this cover a good track setup

My main concern is the OEM 15 year old engine mounts and 15 year old OEM bushes...

A good set of bushes goes round 500-520 US. Is it any good. Also I found a guy on ebay that works on an exchange base and you send your old engine mounds and he upgrades them with Mazda RX7 FD3S Urethane Engine Mount Upgrade (Pair) or he might do a lighter aluminium upgrade as well

Finally. Regarding wheel alignment. Are you using OEM numbers. Have you changed front or rear camber/caster and if yes by how much???

Thanks for your time . Great work

JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

Fd3s400438,

It seems like you have a pretty good base to start out with. Just remember, making alot of horsepower produces alot of heat. When on the street or drag strip your current setup may be fine, but once you get the car on the road course pushing the car nonstop for extended periods you may start to have issues. I would seriously recommend you make sure you have a solid cooling system, and don't forget... Oil plays a huge role in cooling with rotaries.

I would recommend replacing all of the factory bushings if they have alot of miles on them. OEM for the pillowballs in the rear and OEM or polyurethane for the rest. Delrin if you don't care about comfort. The first event I did was on my worn bushings and after the event I has significantly more clunks and looseness... The track killed whatever life my bushings had left.

As for the brake upgrade. I would seriously reconsider. Just because a caliper has more pistons does not make it better. Also, when upgrading your brakes you really need to pay attention to what is happening to the brake bias. If you go too strong in the front and don't compensate for the rear then your braking performance will be worse. PM miata_mx5 for suggestions on upgrading your brakes. He is who I go to for all my brake inquiries as he works for Endless USA and knows his stuff. I believe he has also had some experience with D2 products as well so he can give you some insight.

Narfle

iTrader: (16)

That's a pretty aggressive fitment isnt it? What size tire do you plan to use? Getting new fenders?

cabaynes

iTrader: (4)

Dear Jhn RX7

You're my hero

KKMpunkrock2011

iTrader: (5)

fd3s400438, in regards to your motor mount question there are two vendors on here that offer motor mount upgrads, banzai and IRP, they both insist that you use the steel motor mount brackets as the aluminum ones bend/warp. The weight savings is negligible and most people don't consider it worth while.

JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

Tires are Advan AD08's 255-35-18 all around. The AD08's run really wide so their 255 is almost a 265 compared to other brands. The rear fitment is on the aggressive side, however I will be rolling the fenders to fit the wheels or flaring them if necessary (however I am pretty confident that it will work with just a roll). The fronts I know will work without any issue and the fenders are already rolled.

And im REALLY hopping the wheels show up soon, they have been at the powdercoaters for quite a while now. But from what I am told these guys are really good as they are the ones who do all the powdercoating for Work Wheels USA. Hopefully it will be worth the wait!

fd3s400438

Dear JHNRX7

Looks like the bushes is the first thing to do . Power Flex or Super pro ???

Also you did not comment on the alignment settings. OEM mazda camber -caster etc or something more agressive?

Finally. Brakes. Since the OEM will not cope what do I do? Another choise is a WILWOOD 4 POT 330mm kit which maintains the 4pot OEM setup...

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Dear JHNRX-7,

I also require assistance on modifying my car. Will you please give me advice? I'm willing to pay dearly for it.

Regards!

Miata_mx5

Have you tested the OEM brakes to make sure they will not cope? What pads and brake fluid are you using on the stock brakes? Is the factory caliper in good condition? The FD is a car with pretty good factory brakes and just needs some polishing on the edges to make it work great.

All an upgraded caliper will do is hold more pad and heat compared to the stock FD caliper. The feel and thermal capacity of the brakes comes from pads, disks, and the such. Race teams DO NOT buy race brakes for outright "stopping power".

When you mess with upgraded calipers you have to make sure the front caliper piston sizes are sized to work with the OEM bias, ABS, and a lot of other variables. Well thought out kits have all this stuff taken into consideration. Obviously 99+ brakes are a good option as well because all of this has been thought out by Mazda and you get the thicker and larger 314x32 mm front rotor.

If all you are looking is the "feel" of more bite in the brakes, that can be fixed with good brake pads.....

Scrub

iTrader: (25)

+1

fd3s400438

Dear Miata MX5

Because all these years my car was focused for drag strips and street racing I can honestly say that my OEM brakes are a dear mess. Pads are almost done ( EBC GREEN STUFF ) , OEM disks have well passed the 20mm wear ( they are 40 grooved platees and most grooves have been polished out due to braking and old age ) . Brake fluid is brand new Motul BRF 600

I have noticed two things:

1) The ABS comes very very easy into play even in the dry with good tarmac roads
2) On hard braking the pedal feels solid as a rock with no actual work being done. At this point I have to let go of braking and press the pedal for a second time to achieve some braking

This is why I was considering big brake kits for both better results and track use

PS if I go for 99 spec brakes do I get all the stuff from a 99 or do I get to keep my calipers in place. Bear in mind mine are 294x22 and as you said the 99 are bigger

yzf-r1

iTrader: (1)

https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/powerflex-vs-superpro-939846/

Don't think you can really go wrong with either, but general consensus seems to be fewer quality issues with Superpro

lol

Scrub

iTrader: (25)

Dear Jhnrx7,
We will be contacting you shortly to organize a group buy to reduce the rates of your guru services. How many people will it require for a reduced hourly rate? Looking forward to hearing the many ways in which my car can be improved upon.

Respectfully yours,
Dan

JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

I will need at least 50 people to make this happen. I will also need all payments submitted up front.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Proceed carefully, lest ye incur the wrath of JHN Are Ex Sebben!

JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

You stay away from my hill!

You dont need in on the group buy anyway... its all info I learned from the all knowledgeable goodfella

G's 3rd Gen

iTrader: (11)

0110-M-P

iTrader: (10)

I'm about to embark on a ducting adventure this summer...is all that ducting done with .063" aluminum?

BridgePorted12A

iTrader: (6)

He overnights them from Japan

muibubbles

iTrader: (36)

reviving old comment.. so you used .050 aluminum assuming thats inches thats between 16-18 gauge correct?

JhnRx7

iTrader: (12)

Thats correct. Thanks for the bump because its time for an update anyway.



Brakes

If there was one thing I took away from my track experience in the Fall was that the brakes on my car needed some serious help. I was running Hawk HP+ pads in the front with Brembo x-drilled/slotted rotors and Motul brake fluid.

I had already decided I wanted to make the most out of the stock system so I went ahead and added dedicated ducts to help with cooling. However, the Hawk HP+ pads just wont cut it for my needs so I started looking for a track only competition pad that I could swap out for track days.

I did some shopping around for different competition pads and considered Hawk DTC series, Carbotech XP10, and Endless. I have heard all the Porsche guys raving about Pagid, but they dont seem to have much for the FD. I have heard mixed reviews on the Hawks and wanted to jump ship myself so I ruled them out. I had read some good reviews on the Carbotech's, but have also heard they are very aggressive on the rotors and can have short pad life. I have always been a fan of Endless, but never really knew what they offered in terms of Competition pads for the FD. It turns out that they have quite a large selection.

Endless Racing Compound Guide

Every single compound listed there is available for the FD.

After speaking to miata_mx5, the Endless USA rep, I was considering two pads. The ME22's or the MA45B's. MA45B's are actually an endurance pad used by race teams in the 12 hours of Sebring. They recommended this pad because it could potentially last an entire season or longer depending on how many events I do. However I opted for the ME22 because it has a higher coefficient of friction and will give me more bite.

I matched the Pads with some Endless RF-650 fluid which has a dry boiling temp of 323C


So they arrived yesterday along with a couple of blanks I will be using with these pads. I will be swapping the blanks out with these pads so I am not mixing compounds with my street pads and I will not have to resurface the rotors each time. Thats enough fluid to last me plenty of flushes




I went ahead and installed them to use for Deals Gap.






Endless Bedding Procedure

Unfortunately I do not have temp paint yet, but I followed the procedure for bedding and made sure my ducts were closed to get them nice and hot. The bedding made a huge difference and is ABSOLUTELY necessary.

I will be able to give a better review on these pads after Deals Gap and a track event. However, I can say that I am VERY impressed. I had no idea what brake modulation really was until I felt these. There is so much control it is unbelievable. My old Hawks felt like there were only two pressures compared to these.... off or on


Rotor after being bedded in.



Endless plug over.

GodSquadMandrake

That's really good information. Thanks for the comparison to the Hawk HP+. I have been using those pads and I actually really liked them. The modulation seemed wonderful to me. So to hear you say these Endless ME22 pads are even better is kind of exciting. I'll have to pick a set of those up and some new rotors. Hopefully that will last me for a while on Tsukuba circuit. I won't really be going much over 100 MPH there so I hope they work without fading too bad.

Scrub

iTrader: (25)

I can has test drive? BTW, I have temp paint if you wanna have a paint party this weekend....you supply the rave music

-Dan
(Mah bitch co-pilot)