flatlander937's Mazda2 build - SCCA STF / NASA NXF

AC delete not allowed, but the oil cooler is fine.

Problem with the B-spec kit is rear springs are mounted to the shock, cannot change location legally. You'd need about 850# rear springs in stock location to match the B-spec kit valving. It will beat you shitless.

STF is way more fun. You can fix all the problems with these cars: wheel width, motor mount, soft suspension, etc and add a bit of power. Talk to Jeff(Jasyatz) about driving his car since you're by his region and he frequently runs Philly events.

Also 16in+ wheels are for looks. Nothing good available for auto-x. And anything that is there, will be better in 15in size due to far less weight and unneeded harshness over bumps by an undamped spring(the tire).

5 sec off is a lot. For reference I was 5 seconds off of fastest time of the day at last event. Set by a CSP Miata. You will get about 2-2.5 sec from tires and suspension, probably 1.5+ from just improving driving, and the rest will come from all the little things.

The 2 doesn't stand a chance in HS between the Mini and the Fiesta ST. At a previous event an HS Fiesta ST was about a second after than me in STF. Some was he's a great driver, some from different weather conditions, but they are damn fast.


Edit: results from 11/1:
http://www.odr-scca.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,247/Itemid,29/

9/40 in PAX and 23/40 in raw time. 1/2 in STF, the other car(a Focus) was nowhere near prepped.

Mazda 2 bspec kit has 250 rear springs and they are mounted in the stock location. You are thinking of the Fiesta kit.

Zach@DDMWorks said:

Mazda 2 bspec kit has 250 rear springs and they are mounted in the stock location. You are thinking of the Fiesta kit.

Click to expand...

Ahh so I am.

Regardless it's not ideal for auto-x at national level, but locally you'll have fun with it.

L

c7scayman said:

Have you tried HS class before doing all of these mods? I am auto-crossing my 2 in HS. I can't beat the powerful Fiesta ST's, which are oddly in the same HS class, however I do come close at about 5 seconds slower considering I had used up, mismatched all season tires on a completely stock car. 41 sec (FiST) vs 46 sec (M2).

I'm on the fence on deciding whether or not I want to go STF, or stay in HS. In HS, I am not allowed to modify anything except add one sway bar and change the rims and tires (matching stock wheel sizes and normal tire wear ratings). However, I would like to install wider and larger light weight 16" x 7.5" wheels for aesthetic and handling reasons and I would like to lower my car 1". This would knock me out of HS and force me to spend thousands more to be competitive in STF.

If that is the case, what do you think about Mazda's B-spec package? Does it meet STF guidelines?
It comes with the following:
Front & Rear Shocks (Bilstein w/ special valving)
Race, Helper springs and spacers
Front sway bar end link
Rear Sway Bar (adjustable)
Front crash/camber bolts
Front & Rear Brake Line Kits (Stop-Tech)
Cat-Back Exhaust System
Air Filter (Green Filter)
Oil Cooler Kit (sandwich style oil cooler)
A/C Delete Kit (idler pulley)
Kit Price: $2575 US

Click to expand...

Although the BSpec kit is appetizing, (as we Americans love package deals), you will get better performing parts and spending less in the process by buying individually (smartly) and purchasing cast off build parts and stuff for sale as others sell their cars moving on to something else.

I've had 6 different shock package combinations on my car ranging from mild ( CS struts and HR springs) to its current obscene setup of BC coilover said with 700/550 springs. If you want to be competitive in STF, pm me and I'll make you a list don't modify the car at all in HS. This car "barely" makes the CG cutoff for HS in its stock state and the first time we see a rollover in HS due to one of these high CG cars, I'm sure the umber will change thusly eliminating the 2 from HS altogether.

First off it's uncompetitive regardless. My car is in no way the "best" STF 2 in the country, but it's really close. I've had several national championship winning drivers in it and we can raw time The Fiesta STs and MINIs in HS, but not by seconds; it's more like multiple tenths. If you look at STF and HS pax times, they are close. Which means STF is only slightly faster that HS, but a ton more safe and fun.

STF is where this car belongs (like the base Fiesta, Fiat 500 and Sonic) and not in HS. Save up $1000 and put a nice set of used wheels and tires in it (15x7 with 205/50/15 are everywhere on CL) and a set of CS struts, or Konis and HR springs. Sure it will put you in STF, but you'll be safe; not sorry. If you keep an eye on the FS page, coilovers pop up from time to time for $400-$600. Get them. Most of the good ones allow for stiffer springs as the car outgrows it's speed. If you see a set you like, post a thread up, and you'll get 10 different comments from 10 different people. You know what I like already. Or just show up to an event, any event that's local to you or com up to an NNJR event with some cash in your pocket and co drive mine. If the keys are in it, and only one number is on the side during tech, the other number is yours. This way you'll get to sample what a STF car is like at it's extreme and decide where in the middle you'd like to be. I've had several members on this very forum do this and we're glad they did. It also gives me another data point as to how easy it is to drive.

If you have some cash already, For $$2000-2500 you can get an STF kit with intake, exhaust, wheels, tires, rear bar , motor mount and coilover kit. Add another $200-$500 for tuning ( promo now going on) and you've got a 95% car. So it's not expensive at all as builds go.

Thanks for the advice guys. I thought 5 seconds off wasn't bad just because I was in 5th place in the last autocross event beating much more powerful cars. 1st was Fiesta ST at 41.3. 2nd was Fiesta ST also in 41 sec range. 3rd was Fiesta ST at 43 second range. 4th was Fiesta ST in 45 second range. And I was 5th at 46.xx seconds. The guys in the Fiesta's were much more experienced than I was so I thought with practice and good tires, I can take a few seconds off and beat at least some Fiesta ST drivers. I beat a Civic Si (49 sec range) and Saab 9-3 (>51 sec) that day which were in the same HS class, And I was faster than some Mustang GT and Camaro and WRX (non STI) drivers from other classes. So I felt good about it.

I didn't consider the PAX difference in STF.
@jasyatz I would like to accept that offer. I have not checked motorsportreg lately for the schedule. Are there any more events or is the season over? PM me so we don't take over this thread.

Pm sent, but Tony doesn't care about cluttering up his build thread with meaningless car talk. Hell, he was trying to work out a way to get to NJ for the last event Nov 21st at MetLife. I'm instructing at the autox school that morning, but the car and myself will be at the afternoon event.

Here's some pics from the final event last weekend. I was experimenting with 700lb rear springs... Just a bit too much. The rear was real skittish over big bumps. It MAY help to remove the rear sway bar and try it again.

I had my wife with me, she had some fun riding along, had a BIG stupid grin after a ride in Steve Fehr's Boxster. One day I'll get something not so pathetically slow :lol:









And video of my fastest run:
https://youtu.be/kx4TbMlwstE


Paxed 33/93 and raw time 55/93. There was a Civic is STF with me but wasn't hardly prepped whatsoever so no real benchmark to go against. I feel I'd have been better off with the 450lb rears its been using.


Next up this weekend I'm going to test out the 700lb springs up front to see how tolerable it is for my commute. Then swap the 450 for 550 rear springs to adjust balance. Word on the street says this may be the way to go.

My son helped swap tires/wheels a few weeks ago...






And got my used oil analysis back today. I was doing this to track silicon content from the DDMWorks filter install.





The good news is the DDMWorks intake/K&N filter works perfectly adequately at just a hair more silicone over Blackstone's universal average.

Most silicon(meaning sand/dirt/etc) is introduced while the filter is being replaced or inspected... So I expect it will trend downwards now since I won't be touching the filter for a long time. Also my previous reading of 7ppm(with OEM air filter setup) had been on an OE Mazda filter for nearly 25k miles, and filters get more efficient(at filtering) as they get dirtier... So this comparison was a best case(for OE) vs worst case(recently installed brand new K&N) scenario.

I expect the silicon will trend downwards as the filter gets used more.

In a nut shell I highly recommend the DDMWorks filter setup. The extra breathing up high and light whooshy noises are totally worth it.



Also I've been on 700/550 for a couple months now, and also replaced the rear Koni Sports with some KYB AGX shocks meant for a Focus. Adjustability is waaay nicer and they ride better. Bonus is they're dirt cheap from Summit. Somewhere between settings 2-4 is perfect for the 550s... So they're definitely better for heavier rates. At some point I'll throw the 450s on again and see how that feels again for daily driving.

So it's been a while since I've updated anything here, but a bunch has been going on...

Some stuff I've done over the winter/right before the season started...

Added a DDMWorks short ram filter. I also bought a Corksport air intake duct used and it fits mostly OK. I could cut down the tube for the MAF housing a bit to center the filter in the duct but it really doesn't matter. Plus laziness.




Replaced the radio to get bluetooth(but it turns out the bluetooth on the radio I got sucks). It's a 1.5lb Clarion FZ105BT media player(no CDs). Saves a good 3-5lbs over stock radio based on my highly (questionably) accurate bathroom scale.



It gives it a very nice 90s car feel to it, which I love. Backlighting of the buttons at night matches the stock lighting about perfectly too.




For the brakes I got some DDMWorks stainless brake lines, Carbotech AX6 front brake pads, and a Motive Power bleeder to make things easier on myself.

I also picked up some ARP extended wheel studs to fiddle with wheel spacers this season/get rid of the "sunken in" look of the rear wheels in the fenders via 5mm rear spacers.



Most importantly I sold off last year's ZII Star Specs and got some RE71Rs mounted up:



Some 17mm open lug nuts as well. Scored a 100 box of them for like $70. It was that or buy 20 of them for $35 after shipping. Now I have tons of spares or could sell some off to recoup costs.



Stuff installed:







Also for those interested, Ford Fiesta brake calipers can be made to work, and they cost about $30 each less at a parts store. After I bled the brakes, I couldn't get the damn bleeders to keep sealed on the original Mazda calipers. Where they differ is a bit of a casting mark, and more importantly the raised section where the brake line attaches. It is shallower on the Ford caliper, so slight bending of the brake line fitting MAY be needed. We're talking like 1mm of movement at the most, just make sure it doesn't rub against the caliper body.



Where the purple plug is in the pic, is raised about 4mm more on a Mazda caliper:



...

The Carbotech AX6 pads I've had a very interesting experience with.

When I initially installed them, they are touchy as HELL. Like after 2-3 stops(warm up a tad), it gets to the point where you just tickle the pedal and it throws you forward into the windshield. Get into ABS at 25mph coming to a stop sign in my neighborhood. It's nuts.

I drove like this for about 400mi and started getting used to it, then in traffic one day I noticed the rear brake lights come on a bit lower in travel than I'd like. I suspect that the pads may have just started to bite before the lights were coming on, so I decided to adjust the brake switch one more "click" in, so they come on a tad earlier.

So take it on a drive afterwards... the pedal feels completely different! I can modulate it! It feels like stock, except under actual hard braking it's significantly stronger/faster at slowing down. Awesome!

In a nut shell I suspect there's some sorcery with EBD(electronic brake force distribution), and believe that the switch is used as a go/no go sort of trigger before it starts adjusting brake bias or something. Read the thread for my theory on what was going on. I duplicated it back and forth by adding a penny under the brake switch to make it touchy again. Very bizarre, but it now feels awesome, stops spectacularly, and my brake lights come on early enough to give someone behind me warning before they rear end me. :lol:

I think with the new pads + braided lines, the brakes were actually starting to engage sooner in travel, soon enough that the brake switch was not being triggered just yet. Continue pressing and as soon as the lights come on, the ABS controller starts doing it's brakeforce distribution thing, and I suspect throwing some bias forwards abruptly(since the pedal is already just slightly pressed) and it gets felt as being grabby or touchy.



Pic of the penny for testing purposes:




...

Now the BIGGEST change I've made overall has been the suspension.

I have been running 700lb front springs, and 550lb rears for autocross, and daily driving on 450lb rears. It's easy enough to swap out for events, they just fall out

I also went from the Koni Sport rear shocks to KYB AGX adjustables from a first gen Ford Focus. They are valved significantly stiffer, and are dirt cheap, it was like $130 for the PAIR at Summit. They are way the hell easier to adjust. I don't miss ******* around with the Koni rears. They have 8 different positions, and seem to affect both rebound and compression, possibly compression moreso. They were recommended as a budget solution by Jeff Yatsko, and while they're not ideal, they're damn close and a great cheap way to get the rear sorted. With the 450 or 550 rears, only settings 2-3 are usable, sometimes 4 on really smooth lots. Everything else is essentially useless.



To use them, you need to JAM the stock bump stops/mounts over the Focus shock shaft, it's a slightly larger shaft diameter(but same thread size so no drilling needed to the mounts). They also have more shaft exposed at ride height, so about 2-3in worth of suspension packers are needed. Or running retarded stiff springs you just leave the bump stops there for decoration, I don't use them. At some point I'll add some kind of spacers in there as a failsafe for spitting out a spring.

Prepped and ready before the first event of the year:



My son was super excited about his new Lego set I got him for helping me change out springs and wash wheels and stuff, haha.





...

This year I'm basically planning on doing all of the Tidewater Sports Car Club auto-x events, plus a few others here and there. I was HOPING to do one national event, but between my wife's school schedule and all the other stuff going on in life that probably won't happen.



(Me in passenger seat)

Our first event was an auto-x novice school. The way instructors were chosen was they basically asked all the board members and chiefs who've been doing it a bit. I'm the timing and scoring chief this year(also a first) so I volunteered.

In a nutshell it was a great experience for everyone.

We started off the drivers meeting with some basic info for safety and stuff to expect when driving and tips(look ahead, how you induce oversteer or understeer, etc).

Then broke off to our runs. My student had never auto-xed before, but had some gokart experience, and he did REALLY quite well. I had him run a few times, let him know where he can get closer to cones, how to properly weave through a slalom, where he can be more aggressive, etc. He was running like 31-32sec times or so, doing really better than I expected after 6-8 runs.

We had a pizza break in the early afternoon(the tasty tasty Pungo Pizza!), then driving resumed.

They all took a few more runs then all the instructors took 1-2 runs in their student's car.

So I hopped into his 02 GTI(which I've never driven) and ran a 29.0 maybe driving 8/10. After that I let him drive again, I think feeling the rear end come around a bit on corner entry and seeing how I used the brakes to induce rotation really helped things click for him.

After that within about 3 runs he was crushing 28.7, 28.6, 28.5, etc. He was solidly knocking down low low 29 sec to mid 28 sec runs, the 28.5 being his fastest. He was doing VERY well compared to some of the other novices(who many had much harder-to-drive-fast cars... S2000s, CTS-Vs, etc).

I COULD have taken another run in his car but opted to let him drive more as he didn't have much left to improve on other than get more seat time.

Afterwards the instructors took fun runs in their own cars with the novices. The look on my student's face was priceless after a 27.2 run in my Mazda2.

The day after our novice school, we had points event #1.

It rained all day and forgot the GoPro so have no pics... but it was very good. I ended up PAXing 3rd behind a very fast Boxster driver in AS and a very fast Fiesta ST driver in HS. I do know I have a lot more practice as a driver, I should have been able to go faster.

(Insert results here... the TSCC link is down right now)


Back on the novice school day, I swapped cars for one fun-run with a quick STR S2000 driver/friend. He had a freaking BLAST and couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had driving my car...


So the next weekend there was an ODR-SCCA event, I'm not running all their events this year for points so can use them just for fun/practice. I had Charlie co-drive my car to help with some setup/driver tips.


Unfortunately the course was incredibly bad IMO... requiring THREE downshifts to first. I admit I suck at that, and it is super damn awkward in my car(and with my feet!). Otherwise it was fun, but if courses are like this regularly I won't even bother doing ODR events at Pungo.

But I confirmed what I suspected, I am leaving a lot of time out there as a driver... Charlie beat me by 1.339 seconds in my own car. He is much much better/smoother at the 2-1 downshift thing(because S2000, and seat time). I just wasn't able to put together a run that I didn't completely screw up all THREE downshifts, AND didn't forget some portion of the course.

Charlie PAXed 16/69, I did 27/69.

Results:

http://www.odr-scca.org/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=255&Itemid=29



My fastest(but still slow) run:

https://youtu.be/omGw2yDXNXs

Charlie's fastest run:

https://youtu.be/MfYz7Vc2aVk


I am finally going through the process of getting the tuning software going on my car with Dynotronics... hopefully unleashing some more power helps a lot. It made a massive difference on my 09 Mazda3, and from everything I've seen these cars gain a LOT with a good tune.

Front tires after about 22 runs or so:






Playing guess that noise...

I found the rear motor mount bolts loosened up a tad causing a horrendous clunk when accelerating. Probably not coincidental that it was the day after the downshift-happy autocross course...





For any oil nerds... this car is very easy on oil. Been monitoring silicon levels ever since right before the DDMWorks filter install(uses K&N). Silicon levels are higher than with an OEM filter, but no extra wear metals, and it seems to be trending downwards which is to be expected as the filter gets "packed."






Now we're caught up to today... where Levi helped me swap the rear springs to 700s(so 700/700) for street tuning/hooning purposes. And for science.

I REALLY like the 700/550 setup with no sway bars. It is very easy to drive fast, has lots of grip. It is incredibly controlled in the way the rear steps out when you lift, but it just doesn't do it quite enough/fast enough. It is so smooth when it does though and I want to retain that. With the rear bar it is considerably more abrupt, but it also induces a weird "oscillating" feeling over bumps, you can feel the inside rear wheel wagging up and down in the air. It is more noticeable with heavier rear rates.

Also as seen/heard in the videos above, corner exit wheel spin can still be a problem. Not as much in 2nd gear, but you really have to wait to get back on it if you've downshifted to first. Stiffer rears will help prop up the chassis and keep the inside front tire planted more.










The test drive went VERY well. It rides better than the old-old setup of Koni sport rear shocks and 450lb rear springs. The rear AGX shocks set to #5 is about right, maybe #6. The kid bounces around less with the shocks on 5 though :lol:

Corner exit wheel spin is essentially gone as checked in my *cough cough* calibrated test intersections. Body roll is less(like you'd expect).

To anyone interested in seeing what this thing rides like or feels like at an event, I always welcome ride-alongs.

Our next autocross event is at NCCAR on April 24th in North Carolina, it is basically an auto-x event on a road course. I will probably NOT run the 700s out back because it will be a higher speed event from my understanding.

The following weekend I'm going up to New Jersey to a MSNE auto-x event and Jeff Yatsko will be codriving my car... I'm interested to hear his impressions since he took his 2 to national events and has a hell of a lot more experience than me. The 700 rears will definitely be played with here.

Then we have an ACU-4 test and tune(May 21) and TSCC points event #3(May 22) back in VA Beach. Will certainly see some playing with spring rates between runs to see what the clock says on a course. Hopefully the tune process is also far enough along(or done) that I can have at least some response from the throttle pedal :lol:

That's some write up! Looking forward to the end of the month. MetLife had a ton of grip last weekend even at only 52F air temp. Can't wait to see how the car feels with the 700/700 and be able to finally compare the Koni/KYB to the BCs. We can also mess around with the corner balance and set the toe while you're up here.

Good update... I think I have seen most of it on the facebook group already. Some of those pics look very familiar.

I'm about to put on some Enkei RPF1s. Want to sell me a set of lugnuts?

jasyatz said:

That's some write up! Looking forward to the end of the month. MetLife had a ton of grip last weekend even at only 52F air temp. Can't wait to see how the car feels with the 700/700 and be able to finally compare the Koni/KYB to the BCs. We can also mess around with the corner balance and set the toe while you're up here.

Click to expand...

Yeah me neither! I'm a bit disappointed we couldn't meet up BEFORE you sold your car for some good back-to-back testing, but nevertheless you'll probably be better able to evaluate what is different/needs changed(high spee compression, low speed rebound, etc.

I think the rear shocks could use more low speed rebound, and fronts a bit more compression low and high.

CMP said:

Good update... I think I have seen most of it on the facebook group already. Some of those pics look very familiar.

I'm about to put on some Enkei RPF1s. Want to sell me a set of lugnuts?

Click to expand...

PM sent.

Anyways... after the last auto-x event I put my shock settings back how I normally have(1.5 turns from full stiff up front/#2 setting in rear and the next day to work the ride was stupidly bouncy. On the 700/450 setup it's not a massive bouncing... But sharp oscillations you feel in your neck.

I wasn't sure if it was in my head or not, but it seemed to ride better on the way home.

After playing with shock settings all over the place, after about 3 days of no real improvements, I played with the tire pressure. All 31-32psi. Not abnormal. But previously I've run 35ish.

Holy cow! So much better! I ran 36psi (cold) and all the stupid double-bounce sharp harshness crap is gone. I continued to fiddle with shocks, with the front 8610 inserts on 1/2 turn from full soft, and rear Focus KYB AGX shocks on their softest #1 setting, it rides insanely well now. Especially considering the rates.

The only thing it really still is rough over is large bumps when hit with both wheels at the same time and constant whooping bumps over one of our craptastic bridges. Takes small harsh bumps/dips(like expansion joints) like a champ, and just kind of floats over the road now.

Just sharing this in case anyone finds it useful. I guess when the spring rates are excessive, it's compressing the tire much more and since the tire is just an undamped spring, it was adding bounce/harshness.

Apparently my wife signed up for Amazon Prime to buy a bunch of stuff for our new place... so of course I'll sneak in some goodies under her account for my car.

Nothing big, just some maintenance items because racecar. I think my motor mount bushings are starting to get a bit of slop under hard launches, so I'm buying another set of $15 Energy Suspension 9.9483 bushings for the homemade engine mount.

Also finally starting to get some pinging and popping from my front springs more often. For 23k miles I'm pretty happy overall. I had them apart I think twice to blow out with compressed air, wipe down and soak in lithium grease, then reinstall. I have another set of torringtons/races on the way to take care of this... I have a local friend/autocrosser with a 3D printer who I'm going to try and get to prototype an idea of mine to help extend the life of these bearings... basically it will be a plastic cover/housing that semi-seals or at least shields the bearing from getting crap directly thrown at it from the tires.

My OTHER idea if this doesn't extend the life adequately, is to get some 2.5in ID tapered roller bearings, and have my friend print a spring seat that adapts to the bearing race. A 3/4in thick conical roller bearing should last CONSIDERABLY longer than torringtons. Larger rollers means grit won't stop them from rolling as easily, and also because angled downward could potentially be ejected down and out of the rolling surfaces.

I have PLENTY of space on my coilover sleeve without any tire clearance problems so I can pull it off. Not sure if it's an item anyone else would be interested in, as depending on where your coilovers are set, could require buying springs that are 1in shorter(and potentially worry about spring bind depending on rates and application).