Winter Journal

[melicha8]

Bump to da top for an update. I worked all day and a little of yesterday on the car. Brakes are all done. I did skip the rear rotor replacement since the stockers didn't look too bad. It was surprisingly easy to get all the bolts loose. It was not at all like one of those typical knuckle busting days so that was nice. I have to do a bit more bleeding then it's off to round four of the sf reigon series then a track day at laguna seca, hehehehehe .
A pic of the stock setup

Here is a close up during disassembly.

All new equipment hawk HPS's and Brembo Rotors

Old rotors with large ridges where the pads didn't wear about 1/16"

 

[melicha8]

Update 3/19 Nothing but a coolant flush and fill with 50/50 and water wetter. Car is going to daily driver status while the miata gets pressurized. Autocross this weekend for those in Northern Ca
http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/Sacramento/Cup20071.htm
The seven will be there and cooler than ever, literally.

 

[melicha8]

So I had a revelation about my car and pretty much anyone elses FC. I've been looking into some suspension and called ground control about their AD systems. I told him I was using RB springs and HKS 4 way dampers. He told me to turn the wheel and check to see how much compression I have at it's static height. I have one inch. Since I owned the car it's been driven raced and tracked on one inch of travel and bump stops. In conclusion, running lowering springs and stock struts(regardless of dampening) is just a little worse than stock springs and struts. Time to fast track this project...

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

5 way adjustable Koni AGX struts go for about 275 for the set on ebay thats what I think I'll be going for

 

[melicha8]

You're gonna be riding bump stops too?

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

I havent even looked that far into it yet to figure out the good and bad suspensions...

 

[melicha8]

None but the best coilovers address this issue. The design of the factory or oem equivalent shock body only gives enough travel for a stock spring. After about a two inch drop you no longer have the 3.5-4" of shaft travel and most of the work is done by the bump stop. I'm looking into awr and ground control right now.

 

[melicha8]

RX7>Miatas

 

[Kansei]

None but the best coilovers address this issue. The design of the factory or oem equivalent shock body only gives enough travel for a stock spring. After about a two inch drop you no longer have the 3.5-4" of shaft travel and most of the work is done by the bump stop. I'm looking into awr and ground control right now.

sounds like my Protege5.. P5 bumpstops are huge, I really should get the MSP ones so I have them when I replace my springs again.

this thread needs more FC pics

 

[melicha8]

Correction this thread needs more FC VIDEOS! I'll get right on it

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

well thats disconserting...would you like to explain further how bad this is? damnit...

None but the best coilovers address this issue. The design of the factory or oem equivalent shock body only gives enough travel for a stock spring. After about a two inch drop you no longer have the 3.5-4" of shaft travel and most of the work is done by the bump stop. I'm looking into awr and ground control right now.

 

[aMaff]

hooray riding on bumpstops! Miatas and RX's unite!

One solution for you guys may be the same as with the Miatas. Koni's race shocks are not only valved more agressively, but have a shorter shock body while retaining the same overall shock length giving you more overall travel. It's not the cheapest solution, but cheaper than 'the best coilovers'. Also, running a heavier spring will keep you off the bumpstops a little longer, but if you run those without enough shock to control them you're going to be in for a rough ride.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

lol no suspension travel ftw?

 

[aMaff]

lol yep. See my edit below. I'll probably be seinding my rear shocks to Koni after the winter to get them converted to race spec.

 

[melicha8]

well thats disconserting...would you like to explain further how bad this is? damnit...

Here is a video from this weekend.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiq5cQdsWt0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lin-mAeJBUM


This is bad because you're suspension isn't working when it get's compressed like on a turn. You may be able to notice in the vid that my car bounces under compression and you might be able to hear a rhythmic squeeling of the tires. The problem is like I said before that the sealed oem struts have a very long body relative to the shaft. In most cars you can lower the car and run a higher spring rate that compensates for the reduced shaft travel.

Example:Say a stock protege has a static shaft length of 5", that is the height from the lower bumpstop to the top of the strut body, and has +/-3" travel from that static position. When lowered that changes to say a 3" static height but with a stiffer spring rate or harder valving you can reduce the travel to +/-1.5" you're still no surpassing the maximum compression of the strut.

My/our problem is that the long strut body and lower height reduce the static shaft length to 2 inches or less. So the way I see it with the FC is get coilovers that take this into account or don't modify your suspension

 

[melicha8]

Ground control AD coilovers for the Rx7. All specs and adjustment parameters are bespoke at 399.00 per corner. I'm doin' it!

 

[melicha8]

Tremble before the KEY...Of Destiny!

I got a factory code key from the dealership. Yeah it works in case you were wondering

 

[Kansei]

lol @ that key.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

anything new going on w/ the FC?

What suspension are you running? Im too lazy te read.

and what all did you order/replace when doing your suspension?