Manny, It was good meeting you yesterday. Always good to be able to put a face to the name.

Update on car setup.
Well the suspenstion rebuild seems to have worked wonders on overall grip level. After setting new roll centers, camber curves via ball joint spacing, and bump steering all four corners, the car is really a whole different beast. I ran it at a motorsports ne event at the meadowlands, and found that the changes made the car much better on entry and exit, and a little better in the middle. I will be making a few more changes to try to get that just a bit better, but I am able to get to full throttle much earlier in a turn, which is good. I only ran my base map 320whp pump gas setup for this event to try to dial in the new suspension. Chris Travis was there with his sm honda, and I ended up 1.7 seconds quicker on a 34 second course. The course was actually closer to resembling a pro solo course, both in length and in the way it ran. Both Chris and I were on A6's, which I am quite impressed with already. Now I just have to remove the weight (120 lbs coming out over the next 2 weeks), and add some of that AMS power to complete the package. It should be a good year.

 

Hey Mark, I remember having a dicussion with you a while back and you convinced me of the negative effects of running just a rear bar (Rear lift and and reduction of rear grip), but in a later picure of your car in GRM I see an aftermarket rear bar in the car. So my question is: have you then upgraded to a stiffer rear bar or was that a picture of the car prior to our discussion; and also if you did upgraded the sway was it a whole kit (frt/rear) and what's the logic behind the change? The reason why I'm asking is because, to my understanding ,balancing the car with just a rear bar is not the right way as you unstick the rear to cover the lack of front grip wich we all know lead to understeer and the proper way would be to increase front grip(lower CG/ raise the roll center back up/widen frt track/wider rubber). Then again what do I know? Any answer woud be apreciated,thanks.

 

mark, i was in yesterdays event too. got 36.0.
you and your car are awesome.
i have blue rx7 FD with LS1.
great to see you in action.

 

Yes, I am running the Hotchkis hollow rear bar, with stock front bar. I have also raised front rc height a lot, widened the front track a little, and am running 700 lb/in front, 900 lb/in rear, along with altering the rear rc height, and camber gain curve. Also playing with some strange rear bump steer settings. The results will tell the tail, and I will give details later after I settle in on a final setup. I can also say that I am running different static alignment settings than before. The logic on the rear bar is to run as stiff a rear bar as necesary to keep the inside rear tire just on the ground at mid corner on a normal sweeper.

Mark

 

I heard your car running and thought it was a vette till I turned and looked. Very cool setup, and very fast. I am sure I will see you at more events in the future.
Mark

 

thanks mark. i'm going to this sundays event too. if you are there, and if you have time, you can take her for a spin. what coilovers do you run? My coilovers are KYB/mazdaspeed with 340 lbs front springs and 280 rear. way mild setup.

 

I run Ohlins single adjustable coilovers, that have been custom valved for higher spring rates and autocross. So far I am really happy with them. Maybe I will be there this weekend, but not sure yet. And yes, I would like to take it for a spin as I used to run a stock one back in 1993. I would be curious what the added weight to the front does for handling.
Mark

 

awesome! hope to see ya there.
you know sandro? red rx7 1993.
we corner weighted his FD and mine.
his is 2715 and mine is 2730. so my LS1 swap only added 15 more but since then i add PS and ABS, so maybe i put 15 more add'l on.

his weight distribution was 53% front/47 rear. mine was 50.5% front/49.5% rear. FYI he has battery in stock location but mine was behind passenger seat.

 

Wow, you are running a whole lot lighter than I am. I was at 2980 for yesterdays event, and hope to be running at 2820 when I am done with it. That is amazing.

 

Excellent performance yesterday Mark, it was fun watching you run. I was the guy who came up while you were talking with Don and introduced myself

 

matt when did u get there? i saw u working but i dont remember seeing u run or seeing ur car at all.

 

My car's at Turbotrix... I was rocking out a slow *** Miata yesterday

 

You mean your Evo isn't slow?

Getting some surgery at TT?

 

Unfortunately, not fun surgery... a clutch.... 17k on the odo... yeah, it's true...

 

So has anyone had luck finding the magical lightweight 18x10 wheel that DOESN'T require a widebody??

I thought I had the answer with the Braid Winrace TCT. It is a multi-spoke rally style wheel that is custom made in any width and offset you want. They are made in Spain. Unfortuantely when Braid replied to my inquiry I was told that although they could make them in my size for a reasonable cost, the weight would be 13+Kg. . .

So, back to the drawing board . . . may just stick with the 20.2# Wedssports I had last year . . . I'm sure if I take a grinder to them I can get them under 20# !!