street car gone road race

[gotovato]

Your video didn’t come up on my phone so I wasn’t able to see the exact concern your dealing with.

There’s something about the Moog LCA’s. I’ve had nothing but problems with them. The bushings is way softer than the oems. It’s almost like they’re mazda3 LCA’s with different ball joints.

I was able to stand on the rear bushing bracket of nearly new moons and freely move the arm back and forth whereas OEM with 60k still had a lot of resistance.

I just put 2 pairs out by the curb for scrapers.

I think you might be right. i had OEM control arms before and they were on the car for YEARS without any issues until the ball joints went bad. one strange thing, the passenger side bushing LEAKED. some sort of white grease/oil type shit. soon as it was installed, few weeks went by and i noticed the drops on the road. looked like i was bleeding oil or something but it was on the passenger side. had it on a lift and it was shit leaking out of the front right rear bushing on the control arm. sooooo maybe these moog arms have been failing since install?

 

[macdiesel]

That is odd. I’d be surprised if the Moog bushings were filled with anything. They look to small for fluid filled. Never thought to poke a hole in them before I scraped them.

then again who knows. I had a Moog arm with a missing weld and the rear bushing bracket cracked off

 

[gotovato]

That is odd. I’d be surprised if the Moog bushings were filled with anything. They look to small for fluid filled. Never thought to poke a hole in them before I scraped them.

then again who knows. I had a Moog arm with a missing weld and the rear bushing bracket cracked off

I’m also not sure they’re fluid filled. I don’t think they are anyways but something was leaking out of that bushing and I’m pretty sure it’s bad now. Maybe I just got unlucky with a bad moog? Time for oem I guess. Ugh they are not cheap

 

[Easter Bunny]

Damond offered to put their stiffer bushings on a set of new Mazda arms for me in a different thread.

 

[Mr.Gregg]

Damond offered to put their stiffer bushings on a set of new Mazda arms for me in a different thread.

I saw in their thread that they'll install the anti-lift and powerflex bushings, and I'm considering it but just a lil worried it'll be way less comfortable than oem. Have you got them installed yet?

 

[Mr.Gregg]

And can you share what they would charge to install the bushings?

 

[gotovato]

Damond offered to put their stiffer bushings on a set of new Mazda arms for me in a different thread.

This is nothing special. Off the shelf power flex bushings from a focus RS. They do offer the anti lift kit from powerflex which for me in Canada is expensive as fuck. I’m sure I’ll bite the bullet eventually since it’s a great part.

 

[gotovato]

Also I did have new powerflex bushings pressed into these control arms, the front bushing though only(the smaller ones). Can’t say how much it helped but my initial impressions I was quite pleased with how everything felt upfront

 

[Easter Bunny]

I haven't done it yet, it was more about the convenience of having a ready to install part show up. I could have the bushings pressed on to my current as as they are in good condition but then the car would be down for a few days at a minimum

 

[gotovato]

I haven't done it yet, it was more about the convenience of having a ready to install part show up. I could have the bushings pressed on to my current as as they are in good condition but then the car would be down for a few days at a minimum

Yea totally understandable. Over the off season I guess I’ll have to do a full suspension inspection and after my motor is swapped I’ll maybe order the anti lift kit. See how much that does for me. It’s cool to make all these changes and actually notice it while driving

 

[gotovato]

welp there go my plans for a front lip/air damn/splitter


i am exactly one point away from jumping up a class and I am 1000% not driver modded enough for that. well shit

 

[Easter Bunny]

And certainly not a big enough performance boost to justify either

 

[gotovato]

And certainly not a big enough performance boost to justify either

Agreed. I’ll try and just seal it up underneath with corrugated plastic. Should be ok. Track day tomorrow also. Woohoo

 

[jsmith]

Wont you get potentially dinged by the letter of the rule ("below the front facia to reduce airflow under the car") if you put anything but OEM plastic below the front bumper plastic and the splash guard?

Means you definitely need to design/mount the gap filler to be mounted above both of those. No sheet metal screw easy fixing etc I guess.

 

[SharksInSpace]

Is the bigmouth grille fouling on the oil cooler/ic core and pushing it out to cause that gap? If so, could always grind that bitch down on the backside. Or probably just let it go until you relocate the oil cooler and see if that solves it. Or is something else the problem that I'm not seeing in the pics?

 

[Easter Bunny]

I read it as you can have an air dam that is 3/4 inch lower than stock as long as it does not stick out past the bumper. You could use a 5/8 piece of plywood.

If you wanted to cheat you could slot the mounting holes and slide it out a few inches with the ability to slide it back if questioned

 

[gotovato]

Wont you get potentially dinged by the letter of the rule ("below the front facia to reduce airflow under the car") if you put anything but OEM plastic below the front bumper plastic and the splash guard?

Means you definitely need to design/mount the gap filler to be mounted above both of those. No sheet metal screw easy fixing etc I guess.

My issue with the gap is under the car so by sealing it up I’m thinking/hoping it won’t even be visible at all. No lip or splitter or anything. Just some panels underneath to extend the front bump to the under tray. It should be ok I’m hoping?

Is the bigmouth grille fouling on the oil cooler/ic core and pushing it out to cause that gap? If so, could always grind that bitch down on the backside. Or probably just let it go until you relocate the oil cooler and see if that solves it. Or is something else the problem that I'm not seeing in the pics?

Yea the grill is resting on the oil cooler. Is insulated it so the metal mesh from the grill wouldn’t eat through the oil cooler. I noticed it hitting after I finished installing it. What a pain. When the motor comes out and the oil cooler is moved it should be perfect after

I read it as you can have an air dam that is 3/4 inch lower than stock as long as it does not stick out past the bumper. You could use a 5/8 piece of plywood.

If you wanted to cheat you could slot the mounting holes and slide it out a few inches with the ability to slide it back if questioned

This is definitely a good idea for some minor cheating lol. At this point I don’t think I want to risk that extra point and jumping up a class. If I’m confident in the car and my driver mod next season after an event or two then maybe I’ll send it

 

[gotovato]

Went to the track Saturday. I was an instructor but I got some laps in. Car was on fucking crack though. On the way to the track is was 0c in the morning and car was breaking up top of 4th. Running out of injector whoops lol.
Got to the track and once it finally warmed up to a peak of 12c I could get heat in the tires and the car was running STRONG. MAX power. I had a few people mention to me how fast the car was flying around the track. It was on fucking rails and I was making MAX power. Here’s me hassling a gen V viper. 645hp of fuckkkk youuuu, pro tip though Incase you didn’t know, 645hp ain’t shit if you’re on the brakes more to come later. Car was fucking fast though. Ran down a built motor gtx2871 freektuned gen 1 ms3 on the big end. 4th gear reels in pretty hard for ~320whp.

 

[gotovato]

So heres my update from that track day last weekend.

i was tasked with instructing(got paid too which i wasn't expecting so that was nice) but thats ok, i actually like instructing for the most part. NOW, this was a new to me track and i had limited experience. My first time out was about 3 weeks ago with the event organizer(my buddy) and he showed me the layout we would be running, the basics of the line, and thats about it LOL.

the morning of the event, got there nice and early, i was the first person there so i let myself in and i awaited the organizer. once he arrived we headed on track to setup the pylon chicane(which was honestly a TON of fun to run through) and just make sure it was all clear, even did a few more sighting laps so i knew wtf to teach people LOL.

shortly after people started rolling in, the fun of signing people in and making sure everyone is in the correct run group began...lots of work!

i was out there with my buddy in his white gen1 with built motor, gtx2871r, and all the other goods. his build is more or less similar to mine, ive just gone a little further in some areas. also had our buddy and his new STOCK golf R with us(this thing is so fucking capable out of the box its ridiculous)



sitting pretty


heres one of me looking ROUGH, i was on like 4.5 hours of sleep, jumping in and out of cars all day...oof...that helmet hair though...LOL


back to my car...it was a peak of 12c(53f) that day so temps werent even on my mind. nothing got hot so that was great. near the end of the day i was able to finally push my oil temp to 190f LOL. yea it was coooool. after the sun came out and i could get heat into my tires it was all over. i was FLYING. i only got about 3 sessions since i was busy most of the day but the car was making extra power or something cause it felt like a weapon. i had people asking me "how much boost" "how much power" and all i could say is "not really much" but damn id be lying if i said the car wasnt hooked up that day. it was faster then ever, gripped up and flying.

i was pulling on that white built ms3 top of 3rd and top of 4th reeling him in HARD. we're unsure why...he makes 2psi more then me. im thinking it has to do with exhaust flow and my ewg is helping me out up top. his vdyno is almost the same as mine, a little higher WHP actually so yea weird right?

the brakes were fucking ridiculous. i could brake deeper then anyone expected lol....its how i caught that viper. braking late as fuckkkkk..and im still on street pads! gloc R12 coming soon from Damond. cant wait. Tires will be my next limitation and im already running like the best shit. whats next? hoosiers? lol...no

also too whoever asked about brake bias front vs rear...i have had NO noticeable issues yet. ill report again next season when i have my race pads back on


anyways here are some glamour shots




thats pretty much it. im beyond thrilled with how the car performed. i really need to keep BATs at or below 60c to maximize power. above that the car is like big time down on power...which is how ive been driving it this season.


Also this will be soon,


my buddy is going to give me a key to his shop. ill bring my car there and send it myself. hopefully i can do this. damn lol

 

[gotovato]

Minor update. Went to my buddies shop and swapped in 4 new oil squirters into my motor. 2 were clearly hitting on the pistons(not clearanced enough) but it’s actually fine. Where they hit on the piston literally doesn’t matter. It’ll just break the squirters off over time.

two damaged squirters below,




Can see some rubbing action there. Real real close to taking the whole squirter out.

newly installed and clearanced. TONS of room for activities now. You don’t even need to bend the squirter down, but just to the side maybe 3-4mm and you’re good to go.

Cleaned up the oil pan in my buddies mega old mega ghetto parts washer but it worked pretty good!


I believe this is a jbr baffle? I’ll probably run my massive speed one and sell this or something



That’s pretty much all for now. Next time I’m over there we’ll be swapping valve springs. That’ll be a real pain in my ass I can already foresee it. Still waiting on a key to buddies shop so I can come and go as a please. Then we can start swapping motors and shit. Woohoo