More upgrades, notes,& reviews

melan47 · 02:09 PM

All I can say is doing any job by yourself is almost always not a good idea. Spare yourself the frustrations and 6-pack of beer for your buddy to give you a hand. I have two kids so not to many buddies are still around to give beer to. Let me start off saying that I have a 2008 ms3 with 11k miles. I figured I would wait a while before upgrading anything and I think I have waited too long on some. IE the tranny mount. The second phase was to tackle a few more week spots before doing an open track day this coming weekend. Ordered all the parts months in advance...koni yellow, hawk hps brake pads, castrol gtlma brake fluids, stop tech slotted rotors, goodridge steel lines, redline water wetter, etc.

After two days of steady work I finally dropped the car off the jack stands. Side notes on the koni install...drop the lower control arm, take the rotors off to give your self room to work in the fender wells, and have a jack available to help lift up on suspension components when needed. The rear damper install was pretty easy. I am still running on stock springs to try and maintain ride comfort for the Disney road trips. I did a compression test(pushing down on them in a vice) on both oem dampers after I took them out of the spring assembly. Noticeable different in resistance...one may have been blown or close to it. The left was much more worn out. These results are night and day and for the first time I am really excited about taking this car to the track. I know there is much more to gain in the suspension, but this has to be the biggest room for improvement.

The radiator flush was a piece of cake took two tap water flushes before getting most of the previous radiator fluid out. I mixed in 75 distilled water, 20 anti freeze, and 5% water wetter which totaled to be close to 8qts. Ran the car really hard and there was a very noticeable different in under hood temps...I was surprised. Usually I cannot touch the oil cap and\or the radiator fan will spin for a minute after I turn the car off.

The brake fluid flush took 1qt exactly after all the lines and bleeding was done. Had some problems with getting the front oem hose loosened, so I waiting to get a flare nut wrench before finishing the installs. One of the rear lines came busted from the goodridge factory. So right now I am running steel lines on the left and oem on the right. Brakes feel fine. needless to say my steel line upgrade may be the biggest waste of time and money.

The hawks hps are noisy until you get them warmed up...not sure I will be running these for my daily drivers. sounds like i am stopping a bus. But the stopping force they make is addictive...wow. do you guys have the same experience with the hps's?

So know with all synthetic fluids in everything except power steering, the tranny mount installed, brakes setup, and dampers I can feel comfortable pushing this car this coming weekend. Track experience post to come..............................................

corsa

WAY TO GO !! Can't wait to hear how the Koni's work in turn 8-9 and 12. I bet yer gonna be cryin for those swaybars!! REMEMBER......late apex, LATE APEX ON 14 and that wall is your friend!!! Hope you got some really sticky rubber!! HAVE A BLAST!

melan47

Originally Posted by corsa

WAY TO GO !! Can't wait to hear how the Koni's work in turn 8-9 and 12. I bet yer gonna be cryin for those swaybars!! REMEMBER......late apex, LATE APEX ON 14 and that wall is your friend!!! Hope you got some really sticky rubber!! HAVE A BLAST!

familiar with the track a? i will be on the stock potenza's, so we will see how they manage. they seem to grip decent the last time i ran two or three sessions at no problem raceway. turn 1 is going to be the true test then 2-3 and then 8-9. those are high speed corners. turn 1 you will take around 90-100+ mph with a good setup. pure stock ms3 i only felt comfortable at 85...anything beyond i was loosing touch with the track and the car started to become unresponsive.

I will also be sharing seat time in an scca prepared ITS nissan 240...got to get ready for raceday on sunday. the mazda will be there for a few fun laps.

corsa

Yeah I've dragged a knee & drifted a few 4wheelers around that sugarcane field a few times. Even ran a 125 shifter cart around the full track!! Now that was a blast!!! I was going thru turn one at at least 100 on the Ducati and that was back b4 they "improved it! Saw a guy roll his brand new M3 at a track school in turn one. The poor instr got his shoulder dislocated but I think his better half took his head off later! Ha!! My best on the bike was 1:18 on street tires!

MadOzodi

Can't wait to read your track experience post!

Ploppity Drown

Could you elaborate on the ride/handling with the Koni Yellows installed? especially how it feels over rough roads? Thanks

speed3

are you sure you got the hps and not the hp? My HPS pads are quiet like the stock pads. No noise at all!

Please let us know about the ride on the koni yellow on the street. Also, How is the rebound? Is it like the stock?

I see that you did not machined the rotors.

melan47

driving over rough road is much better now...i have the konis adjusted to full stiff rebound\compression in the front and full stiff rebound in the rear. the konis compliment the stock spring rates just fine. most roads and race tracks have off camber roads and dips. the car handles those abrupt changes to the overall balance much better. launching the car in a 0-60 sprint is much more stable...hard braking is more stable. like tackling the slalom on the autox course is much more under control. the car still leans and rolls, but it just happens much smoother. the feedback from the road and chassis is now alive so that you can better adjust your driving inputs. Even at really fast speeds i have more confidence pushing the car...hope this makes some sense to you guys. if you are a drag race guys, autox, open track days, or just want you car to feel like it supposed to get'em.

melan47

the mazda was a blast to track this past saturday. it still pushed through the corners when entering with to much speed, but trail braking allowed me to correct most of the corners that i over cooked or had to much momentum. i was pushing 120 at the end of the straight, which i have yet to hit on any prepped race car on rcomps. stock tires did very well, but after a few sessions i started to cook far outside edge on the front left tire. its a right turn track and i still have stock sways and springs, so there was still a significant amount of roll to deal with. braking was stellar...the new fluids, hawk pads, and stop tech rotors performed perfectly. I was able to brake deep and under control. the car would wiggle a little when done perfectly. no fade at all.

thanotosq

Originally Posted by melan47

The hawks hps are noisy until you get them warmed up...not sure I will be running these for my daily drivers. sounds like i am stopping a bus. But the stopping force they make is addictive...wow. do you guys have the same experience with the hps's?

I run HPS's on my DD and dont get anything really. The only time i get a peap out of them in the the morning while they are still cold. I think that after you brake them in a little they will be fine...

Besides, they could be worse!...they could stop like the stockers!!!!!

melan47

Originally Posted by thanotosq

I run HPS's on my DD and dont get anything really. The only time i get a peap out of them in the the morning while they are still cold. I think that after you brake them in a little they will be fine...

Besides, they could be worse!...they could stop like the stockers!!!!!

what rotors are you running? what are your average outside temps? we have been in the 50-60 in the a.m. and 70-75 during the evenings on the way home. they have gotten quieter since the track day. I think the stoptechs slotted rotors cool the pads down much quicker. that's the only thing i can come up with. there is no way i am going back to stockers.

thanotosq

Originally Posted by melan47

what rotors are you running? what are your average outside temps? we have been in the 50-60 in the a.m. and 70-75 during the evenings on the way home. they have gotten quieter since the track day. I think the stoptechs slotted rotors cool the pads down much quicker. that's the only thing i can come up with. there is no way i am going back to stockers.

I think that you may be right because i am seeing the same temps generally and colder in the past weeks, but i am running OEM rotors...with no sound. Maybe you should pick some OEM rotors up and see if that helps.