Bruce95fmla

ok, I just ordered my mazdaspeed socks from mazdacompetition , I am paying about 720 shipping and tax included . they only had 2 and had to get the other 2 from Japan , . I hope to have these by the time carlisle rolls around ,. I did not want to use my credit card but you know what , I am in desperate need of shocks and don't want to spend 300 or 400 for some mediocre shocks , why not just get the best and do it right the first time ,.. so some shock adjustment , tuning tips would be helpful from you guys , I also have to speak to my friend Andy in the phillippines(sp) about his settings as we have identical cars ,
I can't wait to have them in my room
Bruce

biknman

I love them makes my daily driver nice for getting groceries and on race day transforms it into corner eating machine.
Dave

Bruce95fmla

man I could imagine bro, do you have 2 12" woofers in the back of your car, I am not sure if I still want to add all that weight back there with the new shocks , don't want to give them extra duty .. what do you think
btw : I am working on your feature , along with a few other cars
Bruce

Eric F

Bruce, where did you order yours from, Corksport or Mazda Motorsports? I ordered mine through Mazda Motorsports and I think they were around $684 shipped if I remember correctly. I know Mazda Motorsports was a little cheaper in any case. You will like them, especially the rear. The fronts are 4 way adjustable, but have detents, so only four different settings are possible. They could use one more option IMO, as the step from softest to second softest does over damp my current springs and cause a small amount of the skating Jesse mentioned on these lousy Chicago roads. It would be fine back in California. The rear are supposedly 5 way adjustable, but they adjust with a **** that has no detents. They are variably adjustable from the softest setting to the firmest making it possible to fine tune them specifically for your car and road surface. Since your subs are in the back, no worries, just keep adjusting the rear until you find the sweet spot. All this presumes your shocks are the same as the 3rd gen MazdaSpeeds. BTW, mine say Tokico all over them, not KYB as advertised in several places. That's the only word I was able to make out too.

biknman

Bruce95fmla,
Thanks for posting the pics I'm sure everyone will find the Mazdaspeed/H&R/KVR rotors install pics helpful. I'll have some more pics of my new 7" TFT in dash screen, Rota/Toyo wheels, and Optima yellow top battery with custom clamp soon. Hopefully by the end of the month I’ll have the Mazdaspeed kit on.


I cruse around with a 12" woofer in a custom enclosure with an amp that weighs probably around 40 lbs, a laptop, various A/V cables and some custom cables, plus my ATA tool box full of tools and test equipment which together probably weigh another 50 lbs.. The cars rides fine with the Mazdaspeed struts. Matter of fact, it handles much better now. I can really throw the car around even with all the stuff in it. I does ride stiffer because of the H&Rs I'm running "BUT I LIKE IT RUFF" hehe!

PseudoRealityX,
I have to give him props, Thanks man! He gave me some setting for daily driving, AutoXing, and Road racing and he was dead on the what the setting should be for the Mazdaspeed. When I AutoX everything comes out of the car I mean everything i.e. radio, floor mats, spare tire, carpet in the rear, even my foam five pound rear seat.

biknman

PseudoRealityX,

The club that holds most of the local autox events is a Porsche club that allows others to compete at their events. So if you do not have a Porsche you are grouped together in the guest class. Which is cool I guess. Last year I think the series winner in guest class was a Firebird and second place was a Miata.
My first SCCA solo II is in a couple weeks. I sent in my registration for the ES class, I guess that is what class I'm in as far as category I have no idea. My Protégé is definitely not stock. I've redone the entire suspension system, light weight wheels with high performance street tires, brakes upgraded, racing seats with four point harnesses, high flow exhaust and intake system, strut bars, sway bars, shifter, steering stuff, and stiffened up the motor mounts. So what SCCA Solo II class/category do you think I should be group in?
I have another question for you, what tire pressure you running for Autoxing? I ran 42psi in the front and 36psi in the back, it was rally cold out and I had regular 195 street tires. Next weekend I'll be running 205 high performance tires if Rishie comes though. And hopefully it will be in the 70's instead of the 30's.
Thanks for all the help.

Bruce95fmla

hopefully I will get a chance to autocross somewhere this summer and be able to send the time sheets to mazda motorsports, so I can get factory parts cheaper .. and also keep on racing

eric:
I paid approx: 720 for them from mazda motosport . shipping is like 12 dollars he told me , the fronts and rears were 166.62 each
.
this was the total with tax and everything included, I just said hell with it and went for it , cause I wanted the best . I mean I work hard and I deserve it , so I bought it ...
Bruce

biknman

PseudoRealityX

Koni's would be really nice but I don't think they are ever going to happen for the gen3. JIC-magic has a really nice coil over set-up but it like $1700.00

My seats do recline and slide forward and back. My brakes I've upgraded from 9.5" rotors to 11", better pads, along with stainless steel lines and Motul fluid. For the suspension I'm waiting on the front control arms from AWR and adj. upper pillow ball strut mounts from JIC-Magic via Rishie so that I can adjust the from camber on the wheels for race day. For the motor mounts I got some polyurethane bushings cut them up stuffed them in the open spaces and then shot silicone to fill the gaps. At the same time I got some universal poly bushing for the sway bars and bottom-outs on the struts. I also made my own custom end links of 3/8 inch SS rod and SS pivot bolts.

I have a question for ya. What sway bar are you running in the rear? I have the MP3 Racing Beat on now. Would the new AWR 21mm bar be an improvement? Or is the MP3 bar better in our opinion?

I ordered a rule book but have not got it yet. I personal think SCCA has to many rules and **** it can get really confusing. That's why my focus is the series hosted by the local Porsche club. Also there a few road races I'll be doing the summer non associated with SCCA.

Thanks

biknman

Yes, NASA road racing. From my other sports I've seen folks spend all kinds of money and still suck. I believe its 90% driver ability and 10% car.

Eric F

That's cool, you'll like them, especially the rears. It's interesting that the 3rd gen rear MazdaSpeeds are a bit cheaper than the front, and the 2nd gens aren't. Hmm? I'm going to autocross this year also, and join the team support program. I want that LSD bad. Have you checked on the member price for the MazdaSpeed stabilizer bars for the second gen yet? After you get your struts and springs done, you're gonna want the stabilizer bars to control the body roll, believe me. I think I like the Racing Beat/MP3 bars even better than the struts. It's kind of a pain to install the front bar though. I think all my cuts and bruises have healed by now...

Eric F

Truechoice is expensive, but awesome. They'll analyze your application and shorten the strut body length the correct amount to maintain the best ride and handling compromise.

I had the AWR 3/4" (~19mm) rear bar installed with the stock front bar. You could really feel the difference in the rear roll resistance with the bar set to the stiffer of the two settings. It wasn't very balanced though, as the front rolled far more than the rear. The new 21.5mm AWR rear bar would make this even more apparent with the stock front bar. If you currently have the Racing Beat/MP3 rear bar, I would say get the front bar to go with it. It will be a far better improvement with those two together than a single rear bar could be. I might play around with swapping the 3/4" AWR rear bar with the Racing Beat/MP3 bar to see what the best set up is. I'm pretty sure Racing Beat got it right though. Take a close look at what you have to do to install the front bar though. It's certainly not impossible if you've changed your own struts, springs, and rear sway bar, but it will be the most difficult of the bunch.

biknman

I do have a pretty cool collection of tools. What's also cool is if your in the Military almost all bases or post have a Auto Crafts Shop which has everything a guy would need to do anything with a motorized vehicle. You name it. My local Auto Crafts shops has a room just for rebuilding engines with all the cleaning tanks, stands, special tools and diagnostics equipment you would ever need. Also there is fabrications room with tig and arc welders, sandblasting booths etc. About the only thing they do not have is a heated paint booth. They even pay expert mechanics to be at your beacon call if you need help or advice. They even have an onsite disposal for battery, tires, oil, etc. So the install of the front sway bar shouldn't be a problem just finding the time to do it is the problem. I'll probably get the AWR like your getting a MP3 and experiment too. After this weekend I’ll be able to apply for a Mazda Motor sports membership so I can get stuff cheaper. Then I’ll get the AWR bar and MP3 front bar.
Thanks

If interested, there is pictures of the Mazdaspeed struts with H&R springs install on my web site. Just click the link in my signature.

Bruce95fmla

yeah the rears where the same as the front why i don't know , but I know that altogether they are cheaper than corksport , by about 10 dollars a strut. cors wants 179. as opposed to 166 ..

I do intend to upgrade the rear stabalizer bar, along with the rear strut bar, i currently have the BG springs on my car , wheather they are the extreme's or not is a matter to be solved, cause they don't look like it ..
anyhow I can't wait to get them on , and i am really planning to have them on before carlise , along with the jspec bumper and hopefully the clutch (ACT)...
I have taken a look at the front stabalizer bar and to be honest have no intension of taking that out lol ,,, it just looks like a real pain
Bruce

Eric F

Biknman, it's good to hear where our tax dollars are going. j/k I'm just jealous. That sounds awesome. I might have to quit my job if I had access to all of that...
Bruce, I can't lie. The front bar wasn't much fun to install, but the handling improvement was worth it, IMHO. What to do???

Bruce95fmla

I changed the oil in my protege yesterday , and was looking at the bar , and saying to myself , haha yeah right ,. I mean the bar goes straight in not underneath the car , so imagine trying to get that sucker out .. woohhhh ,, but I will ,, trust me lol
bruce