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After the last shakedown in my local track in Greece i realised what has been said already earlier in this post but praised in general by all RX-7 owners.
Cooling is key.
The cooling system on the car i bought was custom alright but it was made with the perspective that they were keeping the stock turbos.
Nevertheless, when i bought it - it was signle turbo already meaning that the cooling wouldn't be sufficient and especially on track.
That said the car lasted only 3 laps, in small boost before reaching 104 celcius ECT.
So the next step is to redo all the cooling system, adding an as large as possible radiator and bigger intercooler in a v-mount setup.
Thankfully these boards have lots of information and pics from different setups so i can lay eyes on
Really enjoyed that video. Looks like you guys are really passionate about cars and it shows. What are your plans suspension wise? Looks like the car has a lot of squat and roll with the current setup... Exhaust sound is just about perfect though!
It is always nice finding people who like the content and enjoy their cars as well.
The car certainly needs suspension and the one and only way i was thinking of going was Ohlins.
A small change of plans though as it looks like there could be another product, which looks and sounds promising enough to make me change my mind and try that instead.
Lot of times it happens with people that we want to discover something new, be the first to try something that others can relate and like after.
As this could be the case, i could give it a try.
Ohlins will always be there in the end and wasting some money down the drain is something i think all RX-7 owners are familiar with :P
Your comments about the squat and roll are spot on! The car is on some Bilsteins with HKS springs and dives in the corners taking a lot of angle.
Suspension is the first thing i am going to tackle after all the cooling of the car is sorted.
PS: For the track the exhaust sound might be perfect, but getting to or away from the track is another issue :P
Small update regarding the build of the car and an issue that i might had at the tracks of Spa and Nurburgring.
Trackdays at Spa have a noise limit of 103db for the most part.
There is a total of 3 days in the whole of 2018 which can go to 107db.
When driving the car in Greece with its current exhaust and external setup, i realised that tt should be too loud, for Spa especially.
The exhaust was a 73mm, custom - single box and the wastegate from the turbo was releasing externally.
All in all a very nice but loud setup.
So, i got my hands on a 90mm exhaust provided from a friend, with 2 boxes in place and decided to go for the switch.
I also had the wastegate changed and is now going inside the exhaust for reduced noise.
The exhaust noise i dont mind missing as it was seriously and illegally loud for the road.
But the sound of the wastegate i kind of miss and i am thinking of a way to easily make it external again, try it out at Spa and see how this goes.
If it's ok then i will keep it like this, if not then i will have to switch it back again.
For the Ring the sound limit is 130db+ so the sound would not be an actual issue, but the marshals on TF days are very subjective and if something catches their attention in a negative way, boy you are in for a surprise.
They will start scrutinising your car until they find a reason to not let you go in...
A small Facebook vid showing how much less the noise is compared to the ones above.
What are the sound limits at the tracks you are visiting there?
Curious to know if there is people with external waste gates that are eligible to join days below 103db.
What are the sound limits at the tracks you are visiting there?
Curious to know if there is people with external waste gates that are eligible to join days below 103db.
My single turbo, wastegate routed back to exhaust header, single Borla muffler (straight through, non-chambered), 3 in stainless tubing is usually 99-101 db. The only track that is strict on sound is Laguna Seca (92 db for track days, 103 db for race weekends) All other tracks in Northern California are 103 db on race weekends.
My single turbo, wastegate routed back to exhaust header, single Borla muffler (straight through, non-chambered), 3 in stainless tubing is usually 99-101 db. The only track that is strict on sound is Laguna Seca (92 db for track days, 103 db for race weekends) All other tracks in Northern California are 103 db on race weekends.
Guy
Nice info, good to know.
So your exhaust only has one back box with nothing in the middle if i got the right?
And this is below 103 db?
Interesting!
Anyone else with any experience on another setup out there?
So your exhaust only has one back box with nothing in the middle if i got the right?
And this is below 103 db?
Interesting!
That is correct, only a single muffler on the car.
Just after the muffler, my set up has a 90 degree turn out attached to a V-band clamp that allows me to point the exhaust away from the sound meter.
Excellent, that gives me some perspective on the matter.
My setup when i bought the car was identical to what you are describing.
Straigh pipe, one box, 3 inch but to my ears the thing sounds louder than 103db!
So i changed to a 3.5 inch, with 2 box, still no cat and the car sounds so much less noisy...
PS: Having looked at your videos i have to say that it sounds kind of similar to my original setup, without the external wastegate noise of course.
Love the youtube content, keep it up and thanks for sharing!
Thans a lot man.
Normally i should be sending the car over to Belgium in the next few weeks so i will have my first laps and episodes coming from the Nurburgring and Spa soon.
Cant wait really as in these last months i really feel that i have stalled and i am in need of some action!
The only things that scares me is what the car will ask when it hits the tracks!!
As i am convinced that the current cooling setup will not cut it , i have already bought the V-Mount Kit from Rotary Works.
FD3S Rotary Works V-Mount Kit
I dont why it its not more popular, or if there is something wrong with it but at that price, core sizes etc it looked like the way to go for me...
Yeah sure, a Greddy v-mount kit would be awesome but that cost is not for my pocket at the moment!
Nothing wrong with that kit. There are a few guys running tit. It's a good budget v-mount setup. It performs quite well out of the box and does even better with some ducting.
Also, get some more videos up on Youtube. I've been watching since Ring Banana.
Nothing wrong with that kit. There are a few guys running tit. It's a good budget v-mount setup. It performs quite well out of the box and does even better with some ducting.
Also, get some more videos up on Youtube. I've been watching since Ring Banana.
Good to know. When you say ducting,is there anything particular you have in mind or?
As for the videos, as soon as the car is here we will be bringing some on Youtube.
I think this year should have plenty of material on there as the other Kostas (with the long beard) is also getting his LFX swapped mx5 ready soon and Serxio is K-Swapping his other mx5.
The panels where there since i bought the car but they are custom made and cut.
When i bought the car they were just dressed up with tons of stickers on them and all i did was to remove the stickers and dress with a Suede like material.
So finally, after the car had some issues with the wiring sorted, it arrived in Belgium!!
Last week i drove it for the first time on the circuit of Spa Francorchamps and this weekend i had the first laps at the Nurburgring as well.
I can now officially say that the cooling system of the car was A JOKE for the kind of use i am looking to do and that water temperatures rise to 104 celsius even after 2-3 strong pulls.
Needless to say the car couldn't be driven at speed for a long period and most of the lap in any of those tracks (the Ring was bit better as it has better flow in between corners and you can carry speed even with part throttle) was cruising...
Thankfully one of the guys at work, who is the chief-mechanic of the company, started unboxing the v-mount kit to see if we have everything we need and he got a bit carried away and started working on the car!
Long story short, after a few hours of work the old setup was out and the V-mount with new cooler and rad were roughly on the car.
The only part remaining to be fixed now is to add a fan, as it was not matching with new dimensions of the radiator, and change some vacuum hoses for the boost controller.
As for the kit from Rotary Works, for the money it costs, it is superb.
As it was getting late and we were getting more and more tired due to a long day, we might have hurried to put the kit in so we altered a few parts as it would speed up the process.
What we found was missing from the whole thing, was instructions and of course we ended up on this forums for advice from another topic. Kudos for that!!
Apart from that, i would highly recommend it to someone that wants a good bung for buck solution in regards to his cooling.
Next day i drove the car from Ring to Spa with the new setup and at least when cruising the difference in water temp was quite big.
The non existent fan :P never came on ( i can see when its triggered from the dash ) and water just went down as soon as i started moving with a little bit of speed.
Cant wait to try this on track and see if i can manage to have fun with the big boys here for a longer time
Plenty of pictures and comments on suspension, brakes and engine will come in the next few days.
Regards,
Kostas
Every time i put the car on track, it seems that i have a huge spray of oil from somewhere.
It is coming somewhere from the side of the oil dipstick and it seems to be A LOT!
It sprays in that area there, on the engine, the coil packs etc.
Note that i am not running an oil catch can but even if i did, this somehow looks to be like plenty of oil vapour coming out.
Anyone else with track use, or not, even had a related problem?
I am looking into buying and installing a catch can at the moment and hopefully that will reduce the problem.
Every time i put the car on track, it seems that i have a huge spray of oil from somewhere.
It is coming somewhere from the side of the oil dipstick and it seems to be A LOT!
It sprays in that area there, on the engine, the coil packs etc.
Note that i am not running an oil catch can but even if i did, this somehow looks to be like plenty of oil vapour coming out.
Anyone else with track use, or not, even had a related problem?
I am looking into buying and installing a catch can at the moment and hopefully that will reduce the problem.
Regards,
Kostas.
My 1st guess would be the oil fill neck needs to be resealed
Also important to run about 1 quart low on track or no more than 1/2 way up the dip stick level
12-31-17, 01:57 PM
