A friend of mine is most likely going to be bringing his FD to the track with me for an HPDE in September or October, but he knows nothing about cars, and I know very little about RX7s as far as maintenance goes. I'm figuring on checking the usual stuff, oil, coolant, brakes, tire pressure, but is there anything else I should look for that's especially applicable to FDs? With the whole rotary thing I want to be careful. His engine is pretty stock, he might have a downpipe and exhaust, Ground Control coilovers with Tokico shocks I think. Other than that, the turbos have been rebuilt very recently and the vacuum lines have been replaced with silicon hoses. Any suggestions?

 

I may go up, what are the dates?

 

I will probably be there too...i actually was there for hyperfest this past month!

 

i went to hyperfest last year. I went on sunday. Big mistake, it was uber gay. I saw AVAN's fd (i think, i didnt know his car at the time and im going on what i remember)



oh yeah the yellow BMW from mischeif 3000 was there, and he sucked badly at drifting lol

 

The hyperfest in Cali was pretty damn cool. I saw an R33 on the road on the way there, as well as a supra powered FD, and many a other crazy hachis, silvias, and even 7s. Some 1st and 2nd gen guys were trying their hands at drifting. The 1st gen guy was pretty impressive, considering he was still runnin the stock engine.



And no offense, but I think that you're friend is making a mistake. He does a bunch of mods on his car without knowing anything about cars? Did he buy the car like this? If so I think he should take a time out and start learning about his FD if he plans on keeping it. Sorry if this sounds harsh but its kinda true.

 

The dates will hopefully be September 6 and 7, as long as the Shenandoah circuit is finished. If it's not, the next date there should be October 4 and 5, also depending on the completion of Shenandoah though. HPDEs are NOTHING like Hyperfest, and while I didn't go this year, last year was extremely gay. Expect no "hizzle mah shizzle nizzle" attitude, this is all about driving. Drifting is not allowed, so don't sign up if you expect that, otherwise, come on down, it's a blast. I've seen some FDs there, but not many. You can also see some race action, there will be probably ECHC, Big Bore, Small Bore, maybe Legends (which is just crazy). Anyone have any suggestions for prep?

 

Im not expecting drift lol, prep for his car?



change all the fluids he can



-oil

-coolant (flush and burp the system!)

-tranny fluid

-diff fluid



if hes going to track hard it wouldnt hurt to get some good brake pads, hes prob. on the original worn out stockones.

 

I agree, he does need to learn more about cars before getting too deep into this. It's not extensive right now, the suspension was on there when he bought it. The previous owner also had the turbos rebuilt and the silicon hoses installed. To my knowledge, he's not going any further than the intake, exhaust, and downpipe, at least not now. He's a smart guy, just not real experienced, so I'm not worried that he'll do something stupid with it. As far as fluids, yep, I'll take care of all that, and I think he has pretty fresh brakes on it, though with stock pads. Given his noobie-status on the track, I want him to feel and get to know brake fade, so stock pads will be ok. For you guys who are interested in going, go to www.nasaproracing.com, keep an eye on the Virginia chapter registration section. Price should be about $270-$280, two days of driving, 3 sessions of about 30 minutes each for each day. More than that is really pushing it, both for your body and definitely for the car (especially an FD).

 

Brakes brakes brakes! Bleed the brakes before and make sure he has some decent pads that can handle track duties. Stock pads can NOT handle track conditions.

 

Stock pads aren't good enough? I've only driven my '95 GTi and '00 Type R on the track; the GTi...just not a track car, at all. The R's pads hold up ok, they fade a bit by the end of the day, especially on the second day. I do have ATE Superblue, so I know that's not TOO bad of a problem. Can anyone compare the brakes of the R and the FD? I'm more worried about his engine than anything else.