New FSP build

miata_racer said:
FYI 13s fit over the brakes on my wife's 2002 LX with no problems. well...they are 1 13x8 with a 5in backspacing and the rears could use a 1/8in spacer to clear the trailing arms there. I'd go that route.......can you update to the 2.0L motor? Are they on the same line? The 99 es had 15s like my wife's 02 LX so I assume 13s fit there too. Also its a 4x100.

Thats good to know about the wheels. There are a bunch of Miata guys here that probably have that wheel size, so I might be able to test it out. It will be interesteing to see what it does to the gearing. I'm a little afraid to go with 13's because going into third gear on an autocross pretty much sucks- the car falls flat on its face! However, with more power, that may become less of an issue.
The 2.0L is an option, but I would have to get the G-Type tranny as well- not a bad upgrade. My plan is to see how competitive I can be with the 1.8 for a year or so before I can source the 2.0L (unless Justin just wants to donate his!). Fortunatley, the heads are the same so all the bolt on stuff like headers and intake mainifolds should swap over directly.
 
Jas00x said:
Thats good to know about the wheels. There are a bunch of Miata guys here that probably have that wheel size, so I might be able to test it out. It will be interesteing to see what it does to the gearing. I'm a little afraid to go with 13's because going into third gear on an autocross pretty much sucks- the car falls flat on its face! However, with more power, that may become less of an issue.
The 2.0L is an option, but I would have to get the G-Type tranny as well- not a bad upgrade. My plan is to see how competitive I can be with the 1.8 for a year or so before I can source the 2.0L (unless Justin just wants to donate his!). Fortunatley, the heads are the same so all the bolt on stuff like headers and intake mainifolds should swap over directly.

We can do a test fit with my Rota RB (13x8) when we do your T-belt change, if you'd like.
 
Fixed engine code

Made a little progress today. I've had a CEL that I hadn't been able to figure out- p1136 and p1141. They are both 99-00 specfic codes, because they weren't in the P5 manual. At autozone, they regestered a sort of generic "Fuel Air Metering" definition. It turns out it was just the downstream 02 sensor. I got a new one on there and I am currently code free (for now). So, nothing fancy, just passing along some info to other 99-00 owners who may have the same CEL code.
 
Just an update. Last weekend at the ETR event went pretty well. Had a co-driver that usually drives an ASP Lotus Elan, made some adjustments, and got some good feedback on the car.
I stiffened up the rear bar a little more. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time in between runs to go back and get the tools to mess with alignment settings. Feedback from the codriver was that the car handled well, just needs better turn-in. That and he recommends the Hoosier A6's over the V710s- so I'll keep that in mind when prepping for some of the bigger events.
As for the turn-in, I think I can improve that with a little toe out and maybe even add some camber as well. Right now I have the stock front bar, so I may look into something bigger upfront, though I will probably have to change the rear springs to compensate. Any thoughts?
Also just ordered up some go fast parts! AWR header and a CAI. :) The car needs more power!!
 
I think V710 Vs Hoosier comes down to personal preference mostly I think they are close enough in the same sizes that it is a toss up.

Yes the Hoosier will turn in better but some people like the feel of the V710 better.

I like the treadlife of the V710 a lot better than the Hoosiers lately.
 
Jas00x said:
Right now I have the stock front bar, so I may look into something bigger upfront, though I will probably have to change the rear springs to compensate. Any thoughts?

I tried the MSP bar on the front for a few months and I just couldn't get it to feel right. Maybe if I spent more time with it I could have set it up OK, but I actually had better luck disconnecting the front swaybar all together. I ran a whole season like that with some pretty stiff front springrates and did OK. I finally dicided that the roll in the front end was too much and I spent a few months resetting up the car with the stock front bar. It was much better although not as forgiving.
 
Have you tried drilling a hole about a half inch inward on you MSP front bar to make it stiffer. I experienced the OEM setting and stiffer one and stayed with the stiffer one with an AWR MSP rear sway bar. The nose would point where I wanted and the car would pivot very well with this set-up. Everything else was stock on my 2003.5 MSP.
 
Jason, you could try a later ES/P5 front bar; a little bigger than your stock front bar, but not as big as the MSP bar.
 
Hey Jason, I stopped by and hung out with Scott Sawyer for a little while today. We are all looking forward to a fully prepped FSP sedan. Hopefully we can get some good HP out of that motor. You've got me well covered on weight especially after I mount the 275s. I can eek a little more out of the brake rotors and misc holes drilled, but nothing substantial that will get me within 100lbs of your car.

Is the 1.8L head the same as the 2.0L? If you can dig up a spare you should at least gasket match it. The AWR 4-2-1 should already be gasket matched pretty close on the exhaust side.

All of this makes me want to build the FSP 1st Gen Sedan even more.
 
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It'll be nice to see what your car will do compared to mine...

Looks like you beat me to those wheels!
I'll have to out-do you with some 13x8's!
 
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Hey guys,

Had a crazy week at work and then autocrossing all weekend. The test and tune was great- I got to mess with my suspension, alignment and tire pressures quite a bit, and by my last run Saturday, I was pretty happy with the setup going into Sunday.
Front camber plates- max negative camber
Front toe- out ~3/16"
Rear toe- out ~1/8"
Tire pressure F: 22#, R: 30#
I evened out some of the rake in the ride hight too..up in the front to reduce fender/tire rubbing, down in the back to help stabilize the back end.
Overall I was happy with my driving and the car setup. I felt like I left a little time out there on Sunday, but that's usually the case on a 4 run day. I finished 20th in PAX overall out of 184 drivers (fastest Street Prepared pax!).
Now, I've got some headers and a CAI in the mail...more horsepower will be nice. However, I am thinking I may need to start looking at my brakes soon. The pedal feel was a little unpredictable on the last 2 runs. I don't think I have touched the brakes in over a year, other than to replace the front rotors. They could probably use a good flush and some fresh fluids.
Oh, I tried to test fit a set of 13"s that a CSP crx guy had and they didn't fit over the front brakes. I'm not sure what brand they were (they looked like a steel wheel- but not Diamonds), but they definately were hitting the caliper. So I'll have to try some other brands or switch to the 1.6L front brakes if I want to test that out.
Has anyone tried using a brake bias adjuster? I'm just curious about them now that I am starting to think about brakes.
 
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CAI installed

Got my Cold Air intake installed today. Nothing fancy, just an Ebay special from Cosmo Racing. I figure it's worth it to tied me over untill I get the ECU and ITB stuff worked out. It seems to work as advertised- they say +7hp and better throttle response, and that feels about right.
Now i've just got to find a little time to get this header installed :)
 
Time to ressurrect this thing! I lost my job in ATL and have since landed in a pretty sweet job in Austin, TX. So you know what that means..time to get back to the car building! I've got new front springs to try out and Kevin keeps telling me he'll build be an ECU...we'll see about that one, and I'm going to be needing some new tires soon.
Other plans include weight loss, throttle body and exhaust.
 
ITB's could be a possibility down the road, but currently can't go that route without some help.
 

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