Rotary Noob

I have about 200-300 bucks for tires, and Ill probably be able to scrape about 1k-1.5k together for suspension after that. What should I go for first? Ive looked at coilovers, Ive looked at struts and springs, Ive looked at bushings, camber plates and the like.

To give you an idea of what I plan on doing, I am building my 7 (88 GTU) for canyon carving/traction/cornering. I plan on upgrading to some 17x9 wheels pretty soon, but gonna wait on that for a bit. Im planning on putting 245's all the way around when I upgrade the wheels. I have a turbo motor sitting in my bathroom that I am going to rebuild and street port, so it will be getting more power in the semi near future. I have gutted the interior, and I am stripping out parts of the harness that I do not have a use for. It is not a very comfortable ride, but it is fun to watch people stare when I open my door and they see my stainless steel "dashboard".

My question, like I said before, is what should I get first? And what are the things that I should look for? Im no stranger to driving and I do alright for the amount of experience that I have, but when it comes to tuning, this is my first project car.

NeoTuri

iTrader: (2)

Save your money for sticky tires.

The $5000 suspension is not going to keep you on the road with $50 tires.

jkstill

iTrader: (11)

No, but $100 tires will.

I put Falken Azenis RT-615 205/40/17 on my Miata, and
those are some very sticky tires.

Very progressive too, you can feel them starting to slide
gradually. Provided of course you know how to control
your right foot.

Rotary Noob

Sweet, unfortunately, still only got the stock 15" wheels. Do they make a 205, or 215 60 15?

I know how to control my right foot well enough to not spin around in circles, if thats what you mean.

aznpoopy

save up more
do it all at once

17x9 wheels that are averagely light + sticky tires
mounting and balancing for tires
coilovers or quality shock + spring
bare minimum alignment

that's already past your budget, unfortunately...

Rotary Noob

I can adjust the alignment myself, I can mount and balance them myself, I have a buddy that might be able to get me a break on the tires (works as a manager at americas tire) but I would still be looking at about 2k for what I want. I realize that, just looking for suggestions on where to start. So many things that I want to do, but yet cant do them because I have no money.

I go to an auto tech school, so I have access to a rack, a tire machine, a dynamic balancer, and the guy at Napa Auto Parts is on the verge of giving me the employee discount since I'm in there so much, buying other parts for the 7.

Okay, so what do you suggest then, if money were less of an issue. Give me the rundown on what types of things to look for, and what things to avoid. Assume that I know what im doing behind the wheel, and understand what different things are going on when I am driving. Like I said before, I know how to drive fairly well (for the amount of time that I have been driving), and I know what the car is doing. When it has traction, when its at the limits of traction, when im sliding, and when im spinning.

Thanks for the input so far.

aznpoopy

no problem man. exactly what kind of knowledge are you looking for?

tire:
RT615 would be my first choice.
i'm on T1R right now. got them for cheap, but i wouldn't pay full price for them. pretty damn good in the rain though, if that's a concern.

coilover:
tein flex is a good balance between street and track. hard to make a recommendation without knowing more about what you like and what you've done. it's a nice step up from stock, imo.

mount: coilover includes pillowball mounts (unless it's a really cheap crappy one *cough tein basics*). if you opt for spring/shock you may want to consider buying pillowball separately, or new oem mount instead of reusing your old one.

other stuff: loads of stuff that needs attention on a car this old. these are pretty universal to any car.
tie rods - inner and outer tie rods, tie rod boot, optional steering angle spacer (for more steering angle).
bushings - oem rubber, hard rubber, or polyurethane.
ball joints - they are probably shot. should replace them when you get a chance.
DTSS - either get rid of it or service it. cuz it's probably broken.

other specialized parts.
eg. - FC rear camber adjuster arm. allows camber adjustment in the rear.
i'm sure there are others. i'm just not aware of them.

take a browse on some rx7 specific parts websites, like mazdatrix. you should get an idea of what's available and what needs attention (everything). you can start pricing your stuff together. i suggest installing it all at once, aligning and corner weighing. as with anything else, the harder it is, the more repsonsive your car will be. it will also be more uncomfortable to drive. gotta find your own balance.

tuns0ffun65

did no one else catch that he has his motor in his bathroom lol. pretty much what everyone else says get good suspension , i have jic flta-2's i love them and was able to pick them up for 1200 brand new, and i personnally prefer falken tires i really like them, good luck but its going to cost you more then what you got now you might be better of wwaiting for a while

Rotary Noob

Well, last night after work (which is where I was when I posted last) I did some research, and found some 17x7.5 wheels, for 159 a piece. Yes, sounds cheap. They more than likely are, but they would give me a cheap and simple upgrade to the 17" world, and give me more brake options, tire options, and more clearance for suspension components. They are also just a simple 5 spoke painted black with a machined lip. They are made by ADR I think, the JH8 model.

My buddy that works at americas tire says that his boss is trying to get rid of all the used tires that are collecting in his shop, and is selling them cheap. If I find a set that I could use, score on that. Probably only 5 bucks a piece. It would at least let me keep driving it, and save some money before I picked up a good track/play set.

To give you an idea of what im used to, for handling (and no I dont expect it for a while out of this RX7...) is a 2001 Corvette Z06. I know how a tight suspension feels, and right now the 7, though no where near vette quality, rides freakin rails. Its a 6 port na, but it wont really break loose in the corners, I hear them tires squealing at me yeah, but they arent sliding.

To quote the "you know youre a 7 owner when..." thread, I want my passenger to recover from a mild concussion, whilst I exclaim, that dime was a 96! Comfort is not an issue. The stiffer the ride, the tighter the setup, the better.

I was leaning towards the Tein Flex, or some KYB AGX's, with some Eibach springs. I had considered pillowball mounts, and liked the built in camber adjustablity, so I was looking towards picking up a set of those too.

If possible, Id like to go with some Michelin PS2's since I love the way they grip (its whats on the vette, I like the way it holds, and then slides), but I'm open to anything I can get. The more things I try, the more I will know what I do and dont want. Ill look into getting some of those Falkens.

I planned on doing a full prothane bushing kit on the car, because I can see that all of my bushings are cracked to hell.

I havent yet tested the balljoints, but I have everything I need to actually do it, so next week at my school, I will probably take it in to do that.

Let me tell you a little about how it rides though, since its actually fairly nice, considering of course that it is as old as I am (its actually younger by 2 days...but hey, whateva) When I go over slight bumps in the road, I can feel the back end wander a little bit. Im assuming that this is the DTSS, and I planned on replacing it with the solid non moving rod.

The steering has no slop, when I turn the wheel, I see the hood rise with the rack moving, and then start to turn. The only thing that I have noticed, is that whenever im on the brakes hard, and turning (at low rpm) it seems to push. Possibly slipping a belt on the power steering pump?

Im sure that there are some hoses that need replacing, but that will come with the turbo engine swap. All new hoses, all new lines, all new bolts. Everything that can be changed, will be changed.

Like I said before though, if its stiff and handles, thats all I care about. Im not building this car for comfort. Ill try to take some more pictures tomorrow to give you an idea of what ive already done to this car. Youll see what I mean then for sure.

And yeah, glad someone caught that I said it was on my bathroom floor lol. Yeah, parts aint cheap unfortunately. I might put suspension off for a little bit, and upgrade wheels, tires, and buy a rebuild kit for the turbo motor. Still undecided. I wish fedex would pay more so I can do it all right now though...

aznpoopy

sounds like you know what you want, which is good.
the only thing i might suggest is not compromising on your wheel.

lighter makes a huge difference in driving feel
and wider is good, for obvious reasons.
17x7.5 is kind of meh; i'd stick with your original idea of 17x9. if not 17x9 then 16x8 (assuming it clears whatever you have planned). you can pick up a quality set of wheels for cheap if you keep an eye out on forums, e-bay, etc..

Rotary Noob

True. I just want something thats simple, thats a plain 5 spoke, with wide spokes. I really like the Falken Koblenz, but thats 349$ a wheel that I dont have right now. I need to win the lottery, anyone got a winning number that they would like to donate?