FB Front Suspension Setup?
Old [Sch|F]ool
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 12,855
Likes: 567
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
There isn't much info on the FC suspension for two... three...
Amongst the reasons are such diverse elements as:
Not many people have done it (The first I've heard of was Abe Omid about 10-odd years ago, posted his exploits on Mazspeed.)
There are a few different ways of doing it, so people aren't starting from the same starting point (Abe did his his way, when I did mine a couple years later I did it my way, Alex did his his way, others did it their way...)
There aren't many sanctioning bodies where RX-7s are competitive where the swap is allowed, and where they are, the competition is so varied that there is no "formula" for anything
Making the FC suspension work is highly dependent on how the rear suspension is set up, too, if you have a low Panhard and 3-link then you can get away with different things than if the rearend is stock
Interestingly that last one is true for FB as well, although people will TELL you that they have their frontend set up a certain way, and they have the rearend set up a certain way.
Amongst the reasons are such diverse elements as:
Not many people have done it (The first I've heard of was Abe Omid about 10-odd years ago, posted his exploits on Mazspeed.)
There are a few different ways of doing it, so people aren't starting from the same starting point (Abe did his his way, when I did mine a couple years later I did it my way, Alex did his his way, others did it their way...)
There aren't many sanctioning bodies where RX-7s are competitive where the swap is allowed, and where they are, the competition is so varied that there is no "formula" for anything
Making the FC suspension work is highly dependent on how the rear suspension is set up, too, if you have a low Panhard and 3-link then you can get away with different things than if the rearend is stock
Interestingly that last one is true for FB as well, although people will TELL you that they have their frontend set up a certain way, and they have the rearend set up a certain way.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 31,819
Likes: 3,223
From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
tactually every race car i've ever worked on (not a lot, bunch of Rx7's, a miata, hondas), the front is really simple.
the real magic like PJ says, is to get both ends to work together.
for toe, we've played with it, and it does nothing, even on FWD, we just run zero +/- 1/16"
for camber we'd start maxed out, and then take temps, we usually then take some camber out, but it is tire dependent and track specific. we run asymmetrical camber, because our tracks are either mostly left or right turns.
for ride height. our cars have always been faster lower. you want to watch for bottoming, in the front it doesn't seem to be quite as big a deal as the rear. if you can do something to put the geometry closer to "stock" it does help (roll center correctors, etc).
for spring rate we just go up until the car gets slower, and then go back down.
sway bars we don't play with much, FWD has it removed, and we usually keep the RWD stock so we can spend the points on something else. there are people who will tell you you don't want sway bars at all, and just run springs. if you wan the middle way, do the springs first, and then the sway bar. the fellow who advocates no sway bars started this way, he does have a lot of trophies.
shocks are super important. a spring is a spring, so you can buy cheap ones. spend the money on shocks instead.
the real magic like PJ says, is to get both ends to work together.
for toe, we've played with it, and it does nothing, even on FWD, we just run zero +/- 1/16"
for camber we'd start maxed out, and then take temps, we usually then take some camber out, but it is tire dependent and track specific. we run asymmetrical camber, because our tracks are either mostly left or right turns.
for ride height. our cars have always been faster lower. you want to watch for bottoming, in the front it doesn't seem to be quite as big a deal as the rear. if you can do something to put the geometry closer to "stock" it does help (roll center correctors, etc).
for spring rate we just go up until the car gets slower, and then go back down.
sway bars we don't play with much, FWD has it removed, and we usually keep the RWD stock so we can spend the points on something else. there are people who will tell you you don't want sway bars at all, and just run springs. if you wan the middle way, do the springs first, and then the sway bar. the fellow who advocates no sway bars started this way, he does have a lot of trophies.
shocks are super important. a spring is a spring, so you can buy cheap ones. spend the money on shocks instead.
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t_mak@mail.plymouth.edu
Suspension/Wheels/Tires/Brakes
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Jun 12, 2001 06:42 AM
