Roman

Also, whats wrong with hotwires on a mazda?

Actually, nothing I reckon.

It's just such a cliche with mazdas, like as soon as you hear someones got (for example) a 323 wagon you instantly know it's gonna have a monster tach, no muffler, modgies, eagers, a home port carbied 12A, and camo on every conceivable surface of the vehicle. And probably a black roof nowadays too. >_< And 99% of the time you're right. I suppose they're the cefiro of yester year. (Drift teks, stretched tires, white paint with black roof, no spoiler, drift stickers, big bore exhaust...... most likely auto RB20DE yyyaaawwwwnnnnn)

I know that there's common routes of modification for each sort of vehicle, and some styles which suit, but with some cars it seems like there's only one way in which people modify them, and it gets a bit boring.

P.S. 'oldrx7' That wagon looks awesome on those wheels, is that your car? I like it.

yea helps sort the geometry and get the steering arms back down after lowering to reduce bump steer

They're not there to reduce bump steer... They're there to return the 'centre of roll' of the front of the car back to the height that it should be at. Where the roll centre is in relation to your centre of gravity affects how the car handles, RCAs change the roll centre to suit the lower centre of gravity.

I'm pretty sure that it's the length of the lower arm vs the length of the rack ends that determines whether you'll get bump steer or not... and offset of your wheels vs. what the suspension was designed for I think.

I've got some fairly beefy RCAs in the front of mine, with 35mm offset each side, spaces out my front track quite a bit....

Gives a few degrees of neg camber, enough so that the outer 15-20mm of my tire doesnt even touch the ground.

I'll probably reduce the camber though for road use, when I get adjustable tops for the struts.

(And flare my gaurds out a lil, so the wheels actually fit under them)

Whoa cheers guys....

Good shit Mutiny! I salute you and your impressive hoarding abilities!

Alright so a mate of mine is looking at buying what is pretty much a mint, completely original old mazda.

He's got the idea of "Yeah bro, gonna bone it on 17s and its gonna be sick!"

As it seems that the only possible options for a rotary are modgies, simmons, hotwires or 17s. Ugh.

I'm trying to show him the light, that they would actually suit some more.... 1970s/80s style wheels.

But I cant actually find any pics of any sweet lookin old mazdas without the above mentioned wheel choices. Damnit!

I know there's a lot of picture hoarders here, can anyone help a brother out?

I just wanna get my car up and running this year, and hopefully get it out on the track at some stage.

Although I dont particularly like it much, I dont have a problem with the content of performance car magazine... It's obviously targeted towards the most lucrative demographic, AKA young people who cant afford to do up a car, but can afford $6 or whatever for a magazine.

I dont think I'll ever look towards a magazine for anything especially tech articles... Given that there's so many pictures, write ups, project builds, tech articles, etc etc all available for free on the internet, more than I'll ever be able to look through.

What I think is massively underrated here in NZ as an 'oldschool' car?

RX2s, RX3s, etc etc... Old rotaries.

I know that might sound like a stupid comment, but it's not.

They're such iconic japanese sports cars, defintely worthy of 'oldschool' styling... and yet they're butchered in the most horrible ways.

I dont think I've ever seen an RX car locally, which I thought was modified in a way which suited the car.

Which is why I think they're massively underrated as 'oldschool' cars, because it seems like no ones interested in keeping the time period sort of look, everyone wants to drag them into.... 1999.

I think that something like an RX3 coupe would look fucken mean with the usual swag of 70s/80s bits, just a few subtle touches to compliment the original shape/colour/etc of the car. But no one ever seems to mod them that way, its all about the urban camo/modgies/eagers/monster tachos.

EDIT: Aaah, after a quick browse on trademe, perhaps I'm wrong?

This one looks pretty sweet.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 700985.htm

Although there are many more which I can think of which are either horribly modified, and horribly overpriced. (well they're all stupidly overpriced I guess)

I'd love to check out that Z at some time, let me know when/if he's selling it!

Or I'd be keen just to come check it out anyway if that's cool?

Theres still quite a few 240Zs around but finding a non rusty one will be a challenge. The very tidy ones go for very good money.

If its just the shape you like the 240z, 260z, 280z (not 280zx, we dont have many 280z in nz) and fairlady Z (JDM L20E model) all share the S30 shell*. Though there are minor difference between them theyre very similar looking cars. Any of these will be cheaper than a 240z and you wont upset so many people if you modify one abit.

What are you looking for? As they are a very different car to an FD.

*Yes I know Ive skipped a few other models such as 240zg and Z432 but I doubt hes gonna get one of them.

Thanks mate, this is more or less what I was after.

If they're the same shell, then I'm not fussed about having a 260 or 280z.

What do I want with the car?

Well, completely opposite reasons for wanting the FD and the 240z.

The FD is just an all round awesome car. looks, handling, reasonable power, etc etc. I'd love to own one, they're a great package from the factory. Would be a daily driver, more or less. Kept fairly standard.

I want a 240z, because... They're just awesome.

I know that they're live axle, not much HP, poor fuel economy etc etc in comparison to modern cars, but I dont care. It would be a weekends car, or if I found one looking a little rough but still with a good body/parts/etc, perhaps a restoration/bastardisation with a more modern engine.

Ideally I'd have both in my garage, perhaps in a few more years I just might.

I'll be looking at getting one in a year or two's time though, not straight away...

What's the actual difference between the 240 and 260z? Is it just the engine, and I'd assume some trim etc? Same body shape right?

I dont much care for the later Z cars, they dont quite look the same.

Alright well...

Basically, I think my next car is either going to be an FD RX7, or a 240Z.

I think the FD is an overall better package....

But the 240Z looks so freaken hot, I'm willing to compromise in some areas

But the thing is... Are there actually any left out there? What are they worth, 10,15,20k for a nice one?

P.S. If you dont have any answers or relevant comments, pictures of 240Zs are an acceptable substitute.

Ok guys thanks for your speeds...lol

I had my KP up to about an indicated 145kph....

God I miss that car.

Still selling yours snoozin? I've got cash, and you know it's going to a good home.

It's a pity that you're going to 5 stud, there's not nearly as many wheels which would suit your car that way.

Old Jap wheels are the only option, get some 8" wide hoshino G5s on that sucker.

Why would you possibly need to upgrade the PS cooler?

I reckon you should just get it up and running, and then sort out these other non essential items as you go. (and as required... surely a PS cooler is overkill?!)

Aaah well I've gotten a few more things sorted.

I've now got a toda flywheel, camcon, and have done a bit more work on the body.

Finally got the engine bay primered, took so fricken long to prep!

2 pack epoxy primer FTW, it came out SO good. This primer is non porous, so it'll be staying like that for a while yet. When I've got everything else ready too, I'll be taking it to a mates spraybooth to have it baked in the oven after being painted in a nice dust free environment.

I've started stripping the rest of the body too, which has taken surprisingly little time. Shouldnt be too much longer till it's ready for some primer as well, mean.

Bare metal paint jobs are FTW, hopefully the paint wont fall off as much as my last car.

P.S. I love it how paint stripper burns your skin, it's like KY warming gel for people who are hardcore.

A few of my mates pitched in a bunch of cash, and bought about 10 of the motors out of the RX8s that were used for crash testing purposes etc, in a crate from Japan, or the US, or somewhere. Cant remember, but they paid SFA for them anyway.

The one that ended up in my mates RX3 hadnt even been started before.

I thought about doing some more work on the car today, but decided that it would be more fun to go spend some money instead.

I've pretty much got my suspension sorted now, barring camber adjustable plates for the front struts.

Today I went and picked up:

T3 rose jointed adjustable panard rod

KYB hilux shocks for the rear

Polyurethane bushings for the 4 link

Adjustable front struts

ill complain about the porsche.... too low.

rear tyres would rub the guards.

whats the point in having a race car with super tyres and then have them rubbing like that...

Race cars generally have massively adjustable suspension...

Maybe they just lowered it temporarily, for the sake of putting it on display.

240z ftw

Those wheels are awesome!

Slicks are most definitely NOT a waste of time.

Road use = road tires.

Track use = track tires.

At the trackdays I've been to, there was an altezza there which did.... about as well as you'd think an altezza would go, in the bottom 1/3rd of the pack or so.

Then he came back next time with no other mods but coilovers and slicks, and came 3rd. Ahead of many 'superior' cars.

I've found that I tend to overheat road tires, after 4-5 laps, that was with 205/50/15. Wider rubber would have been advantageous, the extra surface area helps with cooling.

I have yet to try some semis/slicks, I dont know if I can justify buying a set that are probably going to go hard before I get to use them much, only go to trackdays once or twice a year.

240Z = best looking car to come from Japan IMO.

Is there any reason why the... err... wagony looking chevettes are more popular? Where by 'more popular' I mean 'chevette of choice for you and mikuni'.

What I mean is, is there any performance reason or whatever, or is it just personal preference?

I think that the BTCC is a more appropriate cross section of a 2 litre touring class, if that's your thing. And there's plenty of FWD cars on the list of winners. (In fact, when's the last time a RWD car won the event?)

Besides, I dont think that a race car scenario has much relevance to street cars, or casual track day events etc anyway.

Dont get me wrong;

I dont drive FWDs or autos unless I've got no other choice, and I dont think that they're nearly as much fun to drive as a well setup front engined RWD with 5 or 6 gears and a good LSD.

But there's no reason why they cant do damn well in racing, from the grass roots level all the way up to the top. With about 200hp or so on street tires, (2l touring race cars generally have about 300hp+) there's no reason why a FWD car cant whoop the pants off a RWD car with the same amount of power. As the power level increases though, the advantage does go to the RWD car for obvious reasons.

There's a million theoretical reasons you can give for why a RWD is better, but in real life, there are plenty of FWD cars that have proven themselves to be worth more than their scrap metal value.

And for those guys on the other page who said u cant get fwd sideways...you dont know how to drive fwd!!

Agreed, drove a mates AE111 around taupo A1GP track when it was greasy, it was hard to keep the bloody thing straight! 4 wheel powerslides all over the show. hahah.

hahaha.

Just to stir the pot some more.

If both cars are set up well and have a 200hp engine, my money is on the FWD car.

why? less drivetrain losses, so more power at the ground for starters.

200hp isnt enough for massive traction issues etc which would hinder the performance of a FWD, not enough to offset the 10+kw ATW difference anyway IMO.

A double wishbone allround FWD setup is going to PWN a live axle rear car in most cases, in terms of tractability and cornering speed etc.

And the whole 'FWD has shit handling, why bother'. Same could be said about cars with live axles and leave springs, but I dont see anyone around here complaining about that.

I've got a live rear axle with my car, but I'm not expecting it to handle like a ferrari, that's gonna be part of the fun.

Holy hell.

I cant believe that a 1JZ is near on 100kg heavier than a 3S!

Assuming that this page is anything to go by!