Freaking Finally: 16vPete's Mazda2

Bought a Racing Beat exhaust from another forum member and received it earlier this week. Finally got around to installing it earlier... everyone's right about how easy it is! Though it's a tad tougher when you're using old, weathered hardware (since its used an all) and don't have a new gasket for it. I instead just cleaned up the ends, used the old gasket and spackled on some liquid gasket sealant stuff. Some PB Blaster and extra muscle goes a long way.

So far no leaks, though I haven't driven it around yet.
 
Did my 2nd autocross in the 2 on Sunday! This time with Tri-State Sports Car Club at Rt. 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.

Quest (other Chicago Mazda2 autocrosser) and I were the only ones in STF, and got put in Open Combined for the final results, which can be viewed...

Here for class: http://tsscc.org/2014/event_8_fin.htm

Here for PAX: http://tsscc.org/2014/event_8_pax.htm

I placed 69th out of 92 in PAX, I'm pretty stoked on doing better than a Mini Cooper S and some mk5/mk6 VWs.

Quest did really well at 44th in PAX, he's an excellent driver!


The course was way easier and faster than my first event with Windy City Miata Club. I was quite relieved to not have to down-shift to 1st like I did last time. The 2 did really well in the slaloms, boxes and a nice big turn-around halfway through the course. I swear we were hitting speeds in the turn-around that were a little higher than the Z06s and STIs. Didn't really have to brake too hard besides getting the rear end to come around for some tighter turn-ins.

My setup:

- Corksport shocks/struts set to full stiff both front and back
- Tire pressures at 38/38, might've been able to go a tad lower

It looks like a lot of guys like set the rear shocks to stiffer than the fronts, I figured setting all of them to full stiff with the DDMWorks bar (which seems to be the stiffest due to mounting wider than its competitors) would be best, and it definitely felt better. I'm still in love with the Dunlop DZ102s; they don't have quite as much grip as Extreme Performance tires, but for the price, behavior in the rain and daily-ability they're really proving to be a great deal.
 
Impressive result, great to see an M2 that high up the table! Would love to see events like that here in the UK, I can imagine it being a lot of fun showing up much more expensive machinery!
How do you find the ride comfort after fitting the Eibachs?
 
129_Dan said:
Impressive result, great to see an M2 that high up the table! Would love to see events like that here in the UK, I can imagine it being a lot of fun showing up much more expensive machinery!
How do you find the ride comfort after fitting the Eibachs?
Click to expand...

Thanks man!

I know some European countries have a similar kind of event by the name of autoslalom, with the same concept of racing through a course outlined in cones. Anything of the sort in the UK?

The Eibachs are great! I do want to go stiffer eventually, which will probably mean coilovers next Spring. But really, the Eibachs have a great ride and are plenty daily-able. They tighten up the suspension enough to where it's a more sporty/fun ride but not too stiff.
 
jd10ac said:
Sweet ride! I'm hoping to get to auto cross mine one of these days.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Whether your car is completely stock or modified, go do it! These cars are great in stock form, they just need more air in the tires to deal with the increased stress on the sidewalls.
 
16vPete said:
Thanks man!

I know some European countries have a similar kind of event by the name of autoslalom, with the same concept of racing through a course outlined in cones. Anything of the sort in the UK?

The Eibachs are great! I do want to go stiffer eventually, which will probably mean coilovers next Spring. But really, the Eibachs have a great ride and are plenty daily-able. They tighten up the suspension enough to where it's a more sporty/fun ride but not too stiff.
Click to expand...

I found an old airfield not too far from me that held two events this year, but it's closed for events until March. There's not the same enthusiasm here as there is in America :(
Daily-ability and fun is what I'm after, think I'll have to take the plunge next month...
 
That's common here too though, there aren't any events usually between mid-October and March where I live in the Midwest.

Awesome! They work just fine with stock shocks/struts too.
 
I put the all-seasons back on this evening =(

I figured I would put them back on while the weather is still decent enough to work on the 2, plus I'm debating selling the Konigs to help finance future mods in the Spring.
 
It's been a while since I posted! This is of course due to me not really doing anything to the car, autocrossing, etc. I've been a little bummed not having the Konigs on, but luckily I'll only have to drive on the steelies til early March. I've also decided against selling the Konigs in the Spring; I'm just going to keep running my setup (it did just fine this past season) and maayyybe stiffen up the suspension slightly with some H&Rs

Here's how she's sitting:

10391047_10102415976326100_2129839146242873859_n.jpg


Nothing special at all, and I even put the caps back on. Well as of this evening I took them back off =) The amount of silver started to annoy me. The tiny benefits of having the all seasons on is they're a tad comfier, the car doesn't tramline super hard and my gas mileage has gone up a little.

This evening I did some minor diagnostic work tracing an annoying clunk in the rear suspension. Sure enough it was the rear-sway bar, it just needed a little re-torqueing. I also pumped the tires up nicely - my TPMS finally yelled at me for having low pressures; I think the super cold weather we've had in Chicago helped with that.
 
After over 3 months of driving in the snow and ice, and not having a whole lot of fun with the deuce, the end of cold weather is finally near. Yesterday I gave the interior a through clean and did a brief check-over of things (tire pressures, fluids, fiddled with the suspension, etc.). I'm hoping I'll be able to throw on the Summer tires sometime near the end of this month or into April!

I did pretty good at getting a carwash once a week to once every-other week, yesterday I gave it thorough cleaning to get the salt and grime cleaned off:
1f9rg2.jpg


I also made this for the hell of it:

<iframe src="https://vine.co/v/OEDJYaO5TMb/embed/simple" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script>


I also might stiffen up the suspension in a couple of months. I'm thinking either H&R springs or biting the bullet and going with some nice coilovers... we'll see what the budget allows.

I really can't wait to throw the summer wheels back on!!!
 
Last edited:
I couldn't take it any longer! I threw the Summer wheels back on this evening after work.

s3n90y.jpg


I almost forgot how badass it looks with the wider wheels. (idhitit)
 
dRem said:
I heard Chicago recently got some more snow. How were the summer tires?
Click to expand...

They really weren't bad in mid-30s and damp streets, luckily streets were well plowed. However, pulling out of street parking where around 1/4 inch of snow had accumulated was a different story.
 
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