REVIEW: Ronin Speedworks Mazdaspeed Carbon Hood

 
Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 10-13-14, 05:58 PM
  #26  
Registered User
 
Ronin Speedworks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: OC, CA
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Hi guys, so a small update but hopefully with significant news. We've reached an agreement with our production house to take delivery of these hoods unpolished. That saves them time and brings their margins back in line with the fiberglass hoods, but hopefully also makes these dramatically easier for us to get.

We've dropped our prices to reflect the change since non-polished is a bit of step backward. That said we now are offering a fully blinged out UV resistant clear coat as an upgrade option if you so choose. Details are up on the website and we're once again taking orders for these.

FD Ronin Cowl Hood - Carbon Fiber

Just trying to make our albatross a little more attainable.
Ronin Speedworks is offline  
Old 10-13-14, 08:22 PM
  #27  
Senior Member
iTrader: (3)
 
Jason94R2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Delaware
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
happy dance!

Will order as soon as the money is free! IRS helped themselves to some extra this year which has severely limited my FD budget.

Jason
Jason94R2 is offline  
Old 10-14-14, 05:06 PM
  #28  
Full Member
iTrader: (1)
 
Jaemc's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Vancouver
Posts: 60
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for the swift response! I will place my order in early December!
Jaemc is offline  
Old 10-15-14, 01:40 PM
  #29  
Full Member

 
Gyan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 78
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Is the bumpsteer kits required with this hood for clearance in the LSX throttle body area? In my LS1 conversion I've used a Seibon hood without the bumpsteer parts. (I do not want to change the factory steering, & don't trust the bumsteer alteration). Your hood looks good & I may use it in my next FD conversion.
Gyan is offline  
Old 10-22-14, 10:46 AM
  #30  
Moderator

iTrader: (5)
 
Funkspectrum's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Posts: 4,682
Received 17 Likes on 14 Posts
Fantastic. I've been waiting.
Funkspectrum is offline  
Old 10-22-14, 11:12 AM
  #31  
Rotary Enthusiast

iTrader: (29)
 
RX7Fighter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Posts: 778
Received 22 Likes on 14 Posts
i'll be waiting for this
RX7Fighter is offline  
Old 10-22-14, 03:12 PM
  #32  
Registered User
 
Ronin Speedworks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: OC, CA
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Gyan
Is the bumpsteer kits required with this hood for clearance in the LSX throttle body area? In my LS1 conversion I've used a Seibon hood without the bumpsteer parts. (I do not want to change the factory steering, & don't trust the bumsteer alteration). Your hood looks good & I may use it in my next FD conversion.
The need for a bumpsteer kit is a function of what engine mounting kit you're running. Both the Hinson and Samberg kits lower the rack so you'll need bumpsteer correction to keep good suspension geometry under load. The only kit I'm aware of which doesn't lower the rack was a permutation from Grannies Speed Shop which stated hood modifications would be required. That said, mounting kits, and particularly the kit from Samberg (which Ronin carries and offers pre-powdercoated) have developed significantly since those days so I'd be surprised if you have one.

Effectively our hood should clear just about anything a stock hood would clear. I know of no issues involving Samberg's bumpsteeer parts. We use and recommend them. The same can't be said of other manufacturer's....
Ronin Speedworks is offline  
Old 03-09-15, 05:16 PM
  #33  
Senior Member
iTrader: (3)
 
Jason94R2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Delaware
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What is the lead time on these hoods currently?

Jason
Jason94R2 is offline  
Old 03-10-15, 11:45 AM
  #34  
Performance Part Purveyor

iTrader: (8)
 
65Imp's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Tustin, CA, USA
Posts: 413
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Carbon would take about a month at the least - still having issues getting those made. Fiberglass usually only takes ~1-1.5 weeks to ship out. Transit time will vary. For local pickup things happen a lot quicker, since transport and packing take a bunch of time/logistics. Hoods have to ship freight, but once they are in the truck they usually arrive pretty quick.
I know we have a fiberglass FD hood in stock right now, so sometimes folks will get lucky and wait time is notably reduced.
65Imp is offline  
Old 08-13-15, 09:30 PM
  #35  
Lives on the Forum

iTrader: (6)
 
7_rocket's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Toronto
Posts: 7,139
Received 37 Likes on 30 Posts
Has anyone else purchased this hood?
7_rocket is offline  
Old 09-04-15, 04:14 PM
  #36  
Junior Member
 
Gle2n's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Bethel, CT
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I contacted Ronin and the hoods are apparently not available right now. Hopefully soon.
Gle2n is offline  
Old 09-04-15, 07:14 PM
  #37  
Senior Member
iTrader: (3)
 
Jason94R2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Delaware
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I got one and the quality was sub par and will need a decent amount of correction work to be to my standards... Hopefully the lack of availability currently is to correct their current manufacturing issues.

Fortunately despite the hood not even closing on initial install because it would hit the drivers headlight bucket. Had to open up my hinge holes to get the hood aligned properly. I was worried it was my car, so we dropped another stock hood on and it closed perfectly, so its not my car. Then the hinge wouldnt latch, had to grind out some material on the internals of the catch to get it to close. There are runs/blotches in the gel coat that will need to be sanded/polished out but the as delivered finish is worse than even the cheapest ebay hood. Fortunately mine will be painted and all issues can be corrected. But for 1200 dollars its absolutely unacceptable.

Oh back to the fortunately part, once we ruined my hinges on my car to get the hood rotated enough to even close. It does fit well enough and the gaps are consistent all around. The temps are completely stable now, even sitting in traffic with the a/c on. It works very well on a stock mount rad/intercooler setup for keeping water temps stable. IAT's still sky rocket in the stop/go traffic but id say they cool off 200% faster now.

Hopefully they are correcting these issues as its a properly functional hood that works as it should and looks suble enough for a street driven stock/body car.

Spent about 3 hrs polishing the hood, but it looks decent in this picture. Still glad I have it but was underwhelmed by the quality vs price.
Name:  FD_zps2cbpumcv.jpg
Views: 1275
Size:  59.3 KB

Jason

Last edited by Jason94R2; 09-04-15 at 07:18 PM.
Jason94R2 is offline  
Old 09-04-15, 10:20 PM
  #38  
Rx7 Wagon

iTrader: (16)
 
Narfle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: California
Posts: 6,988
Received 875 Likes on 548 Posts
That the bridge-tunnel? The trouble paid off, fitment looks great in that picture.
Narfle is offline  
Old 09-04-15, 10:28 PM
  #39  
Senior Member
iTrader: (3)
 
Jason94R2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Delaware
Posts: 265
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yeah...i think i knocked some tiles off the one tunnel

Drove the car 1900 miles in 100* heat, HPDE at NCM in Bowling Green KY, auto-x'd(2 drivers too, so 2x as many runs) it and got mid 20's for MPG...such a good car.

Could not have done that with the stock hood and my current setup. Stock hood gets so hot in that kind of heat i cant even open it w/o gloves..lol

Jason
Jason94R2 is offline  
Old 09-05-15, 02:49 AM
  #40  
Rx7 Wagon

iTrader: (16)
 
Narfle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: California
Posts: 6,988
Received 875 Likes on 548 Posts
I got people in cape charles. Used to love running my fd through those tunnels! Sounds like a great trip.
Narfle is offline  
Old 09-05-15, 06:59 AM
  #41  
Original Gangster/Rotary!


iTrader: (213)
 
GoodfellaFD3S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
Posts: 30,525
Received 538 Likes on 325 Posts
Thanks for the review Jason
GoodfellaFD3S is offline  
Old 06-16-16, 01:31 PM
  #42  
Senior Member

iTrader: (12)
 
squealy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Barrie
Posts: 324
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Jason94R2
I got one and the quality was sub par and will need a decent amount of correction work to be to my standards... Hopefully the lack of availability currently is to correct their current manufacturing issues.

Fortunately despite the hood not even closing on initial install because it would hit the drivers headlight bucket. Had to open up my hinge holes to get the hood aligned properly. I was worried it was my car, so we dropped another stock hood on and it closed perfectly, so its not my car. Then the hinge wouldnt latch, had to grind out some material on the internals of the catch to get it to close. There are runs/blotches in the gel coat that will need to be sanded/polished out but the as delivered finish is worse than even the cheapest ebay hood. Fortunately mine will be painted and all issues can be corrected. But for 1200 dollars its absolutely unacceptable.

Oh back to the fortunately part, once we ruined my hinges on my car to get the hood rotated enough to even close. It does fit well enough and the gaps are consistent all around. The temps are completely stable now, even sitting in traffic with the a/c on. It works very well on a stock mount rad/intercooler setup for keeping water temps stable. IAT's still sky rocket in the stop/go traffic but id say they cool off 200% faster now.

Hopefully they are correcting these issues as its a properly functional hood that works as it should and looks suble enough for a street driven stock/body car.

Spent about 3 hrs polishing the hood, but it looks decent in this picture. Still glad I have it but was underwhelmed by the quality vs price.


Jason
I bought one of these last summer and I encountered major fitment issues as well. I've had to hog out my hinges to make it fit. Additional modification to the latch area was needed to get it to close properly. Lots of runs and boogers in the gel-coat to sand and polish. Panel gaps are pretty large as well. One of the weirdest problems is that it seemed someone was rushed with the root-zip cleaning up the edges and messed up the contour where it meets the passenger a-pillar. For the money I 100% would not buy again as it will require significant correction. I would have returned the hood, however I'm a Canadian customer and the shipping cost and hassle is off the charts so I'm stuck making do with it.

Will post pics later.
squealy is offline  
 




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:47 AM.