Bought not Built

That's uhhh brave..........

 

Been a bit since I posted; have done 5 events (4 Autocross, 1 Trackcross), and the car is performing absolutely wonderful. It isn't set up to dominate Autocross fully, and the Trackcross ended up being a soaking wet disappointment due to weather, but I'm pulling out respectable times for what it's worth. Car likes to break the rear loose which can be pretty useful depending on the course, so I'm getting a lot of experience with recovery in that regard. The BNR S3 is leagues better as an autocross turbo, could not be happier with how the car is behaving and the motor seems happier and healthier than it ever has.

I'm signed up for my first full Track Day in July which should be a lot of fun.

Few pics and a video attached.

 

Did my first autox ever a few weeks ago.
McDonald’s trays under both rear tires. That’s how I can best describe the winning setup for autox. Slightly less aggressive for track setup but for autox, infinite rotation is definitely the key.

It takes practice to control that though. Seat time is everything in this regard!

 

Picked up a Corksport Aluminum Undertray while it was on sale (15%?); still right at $300 shipped which is a lot considering it's a couple pieces of bent aluminum. Overall I'm rating it a 6/10 in terms of value, would be a great buy at $200 shipped, or little more.



Thoughts on it:

• It's a nice set, looks good, clean edges.
• The hardware provided is pretty worthless (small thread screws with allen key heads); it should be a bolt you can put a socket on, especially since it's going onto an application that might get used aggressively. Also relies on a lot of "re-use your OEM hardware" kind of stuff, which anyone who has worked on a used Speed3 knows that is all gone with the wind 5 years ago, requiring a trip to Harbor Freight.
• The adjustability leaves a lot to be desired, and the instructions are pretty worthless. The instructions say you should do the side pieces first, re-using your OEM stuff, and then the rear bolts (provided with the kit). Don't do that, do your rear bolts, leaving room for slack, and then do the sides, leaving room for slack there as well. Then put the front piece on, with your front-most 5 bumper screws in that piece, then mate it up to the rear piece. Good luck attaching it to the radiator support in the middle, pic for reference of how off it will probably be on your car.
• 
• The radiator bolts that have a spacer are that thin thread crap, that will strip its way to victory pretty fast if you don't have it perfectly aligned (which it won't be, see above). I ended up not doing that part at all, the side reinforcements combined with front and rear make that pretty worthless structurally. The Harbor Freight kit for $5 is awesome, used that in most spots I didn't have OEM for, which is cool because it has really beefy screws which have a wider head and are more confidence inspiring.

Final verdict: Meh. I wish it had a spot to drain my catch can from; hope I don't need to tweak anything underneath at an event because that's going to suck.

 

Just drill a hole for the catch can drain

 

Yeah pretty much where I landed on the product, wish we didn't have to reuse OEM hardware with the age of these cars and the price of the product

I ended up doing just this with mine, works well.

 

Probably will, though it should have been a modular section of its own like the oil filter side.

 

With all the different catch can setups that people use I can't blame them for just leaving it blank

 

That's true - I don't even know how long it's been since I drained that thing; if I have to drain it often enough that it's an issue I probably have bigger concerns.

 

Oem undertray was always enough. I remember looking at the CS setup and thinking “why? If your cars this low you need protection, it’s not a track build so just take the undertray off and fuck it”

as for cooling performance it will be no better then stock.

sure looks nice though!!

 

I had that under tray and it was alright. I think it's good for off road scenario if you live in the country. Going over gravel, dirt, etc it keeps things clean and protected. Installing it sucks and it adds weight.

 

It does look nice! Hindsight I probably should have just found an OEM one and slapped it on, but impulse buys will do that and the money doesn't really bother me. It actually isn't really heavy, I had no problem moving around the whole setup with one arm under the car, largely negligible.

 

Continue to be surprised, had a really fantastic time at my first track day on the 14th, the little Mazda that could! You learn so much about your car and its limits at a track day with a good sustained beating.

I also did another Autocross yesterday where I got 5th overall out of a field of about 40 which was a great accomplishment.

Oil temp peaked at 230 with no cooldown laps and just sat there with very little fluctuation until it was time to bring it in at the checkered flag, and coolant temps stayed right at 217 - 219 for. For 25 minutes of solidly beating on the car 3 separate times in 86F ambient temps, I'm very pleased. Next up is an oil change this week to give it a break.

The suspension setup (Fortune Auto 500) is really nice on track; I softened my rear dampers by two clicks in the back which had a much bigger effect that I thought, car is much less twitchy now over uneven pavement than it was before, and had no problem staying planted.

Power was really as much as I could have wanted on the Shenandoah Circuit (below), with enough to take advantage of my point-bys and to keep it under control in part throttle through corners.


Overall it was a really awesome day with essentially no issues as far as the car is concerned, with the exception of me ugging my last duggah on my lug nut key and cracking it, thankfully I was able to run out to a nearby Advance Auto and get a spare set, so I only missed one out of my 4 sessions (still got tons of track time). The other issue I had was one of my Downpipe -> Test Pipe bolts backed away and disappeared, leading to the exhaust melting the plastic hanger that holds on some lines running to the back of the car (fuel?), and creating a little smoke in the engine bay, also easily fixed.

 

Track days are awesome. So many people modify their cars only to never take it to the track out of fear.

It's great you placed that high as well. Are you bringing a sprayer with you to events? I got a cheap one from Harbor Freight that I fill with ice water to spray my IC/Radiator down in between runs. Definitely makes a difference in temps.

 

I used to do it at my autocross events, but honestly since the new setup my car doesn't encounter any knock, and I use the AC to keep my coolant and oil temps at 190 at the starting line during staging. The TR8 will typically drop 30 degrees right off the bat if I'm at 140 for example on start, and I've found the sprayer only really impacts the starting point of temps, not the lowest point during a run.

For the track my BATs were like 115 max, no knock there either, and that's at 3/4 - WOT for 25 minutes solid. Ducting ftw

 

Good stuff. I mainly use a sprayer to keep temps under control in the paddock when I'm idling or waiting to go. I use a triple pass radiator and a single 14" SPAL fan which works but I prefer to keep it cool as possible.

 

Awesome to see someone else taking one of these cars to the track. They can be a ton of fun!

your temps are OK as well! I used to run around with coolant at 230+ (240 being where I limited it) and oil temp hanging around 240. Totally acceptable if you’re using good oil and changing often

 

Saw something I never thought I would see; a nearby (1 hour away) Cosmic Blue Speed3 for part-out, and it was in really decent condition too. My heart skipped a beat, and of course I had to get the hood and a JCSpeedworks Hood Vent.

It's been a longtime dream of mine to have a spare vented hood for events since my car spends most of its time in my driveway while the CX-5 languishes in the garage. This way I don't have to worry much about water intrusion into the engine bay while it sits for weeks on end, and fingers crossed I can get some better heat evacuation at events. Next one is scheduled as a 2-day thing September 9 - 10, with camping overnight in the paddock and a group dinner - I really am hooked on these track events, it is such a great time with a great community and 100 minutes of track time each day (4x25 minute sessions) and no traffic jams to speak of.

The install wasn't very difficult, though I am a total novice at metalworking, and hence had some really raggedy-ass cuts with an angle grinder, which are thankfully covered by the vent. The vent is very hard to get perfectly centered on the hood given the curves, but I got it as close as I could and then just sent it since it's a "go" part, not a "show" part (even though I think it looks rad).

Overall the part gets a 10/10 for quality, which I can't say for much on this car but it really deserves it. It's a bit pricey, but the powdercoat was minty, stamping and angles were perfect, and it shipped very well protected. Instructions were pretty crap (Facebook post link), but workable. Can't wait to get it on for its debut at an autocross event on the 20th.

 

I fabbed my own dump tube. It was pretty easy. VS racing 44 gate. Comes with flanges. I have a mig welder I'm using with mild steel wire and 100% CO2 gas. Sure it will rust eventually but it will be many years until then. I couldn't be bothered to mess with high pressure argon or tri mix and stainless wire.
2" pipe from Advance auto like $10
A reducer and some pieces cut from a J bend bulk tube.
Later added a muffler cause it was too loud. 2" n1. Now I can't even hear it at all. Perfect.
Only thing I have to watch out for is that the large muffler body is touching the steering rack line. Engine rocking could cause some damage possibly. Keeping an eye on it.