by Mike Kojima
In our last articles about Project V8 RX-7, we left you last with photos of our new SSR Professor SP4 wheels and Toyo R888 tires looking flush, but we weren’t ready to explain how we accomplished that task yet. With our Rocket Bunny aero kit giving us a huge space in the wheel wells to fill, we were going to take advantage of all of that.
Our car had to use all of the space for wide wall-to-wall rubber. More rubber means more grip, and with our LS3 providing the torque and power to use it all, we were obligated to do so. However, just putting wide rubber on a car not designed for it creates a few technical issues that, since we are MotoIQ guys, have to be engineered out of the equation. This means the typical spacer to fit and beat to match approach was not going to be a solution.
From custom fabricated control arms to revalved KW V3 coilovers with HLS, Mike Kojima goes under Project V8 RX7 to explain everything we did to address the new suspension geometry challenges we faced when adding 50mm to each corner with a Rocket Bunny wide body kit.
by Jeff Naeyaert
In Part 1 of our improvements to the Project V8 RX-7's oiling system last week we got an oil cooler, Ano-Tuff fittings and Pro-Lite 350 hose from Earl's and an oil thermostat from Improved Racing. In Part 2 we'll finish it off by walking you through how we put it all together.
It’s no secret the LS family of engines can have oil starvation issues particularly on the racetrack. In high-g turns oil is forced to once side of the pan leaving the oil pickup dry and thus starving the oil pump and the engine's components of oil. Catastrophic damage can result in as little as a few seconds depending on engine speed. We already installed an Improved Racing oil pan baffle, today we'll go one step further to protect our E-Rod LS3!
by Dave Coleman
It has been so long since our last update that you could be forgiven for dismissing Project Miatabusa as dead and forgotten. It is not.
It has, in fact, moved forward in such complex bursts of productivity that there was little time to document it as it happened. And then, frankly, I forgot some of it. What follows is my best recollection of what the hell just happened.
In Part 1 of our Wheel, Brake and Tire miniseries, we ordered a set of SSR Professor SP4 wheels for our RX-7 from Tanabe and were patiently enduring the two month wait for them to be built in Japan. During that time we fitted our car with a Stoptech Trophy big brake kit (in Part 2) hoping they would clear the wheels. Right on schedule our wheels arrived and we were able to pick them up from Tanabe's facility in Torrance! In Part 3 we’ll finally see how close all our guesses were to being “good enough”!
Ever since our projects, Project FR-S and Project STI got the Stoptech Trophy kit on them and we felt how amazing and confidence inspiring those brakes were, we HAD to have them on the FD. After all, it IS our flagship project and that nickel finish is just way too bad ass and EXPENSIVE looking! Stoptech makes a Trophy Big Brake kit for the FD RX-7 and those are the brakes we alluded to in the last article that our wheels needed to clear!
Two installments ago we put the Rocket Bunny wide body kit on our Project V8 RX-7 and if you remember it was looking pretty damn stupid on the stock wheels and tires inboard at least 6 inches on each side. In Part 1 of this 3-part update we'll be feeding you over the next 3 weeks we get some ridiculously large tires for our FD and try to find some wheels to match!
If you’re one of the 6 people in the world who isn’t familiar with this car, step back, go HERE, and read every word of the drama (or comedy, or tragedy, we won’t really know until the end) that is Project Miatabusa. For the rest of you who have been waiting to hear what we did about the sackfull of hammers trying to beat their way through the bottom of our car, wait no more:
Step 1: Redesign everything...
A couple of annoying sharp eyes on our last update a few weeks ago revealed that we had some KW suspension bits on our RX-7, so we've been forced to get off our lazy butts and write about them, some SuperPro bushings and a bunch of Improved Racing suspension goodies we put on as well in our attempt to make Project V8 RX-7 not only corner as well as it goes straight, but also remain tolerable and civil for daily driving.
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