This has been an expensive year for the Mazdaspeed, and marks the most amount of money I've ever spent on her in the
almost 4 years that I've owned her.
First up on the modifications list, is the BEGi ECU Re-flash upgrade.
Basically they take the stock ECU apart, order a chip from Chip Torque with a pre-set fuel and timing map based on your
modifications, install the new chip, and put the ECU back together and send it back to you.
They also take the opportunity to remove the conflicting map in the ECU which causes the infamous "Bog" situation, and
the infamous throttle hesitation issue.
Long story behind the ECU re-flash, you can read up more on it in my "Reviews" section on this site.
The second modification is breaking a cardinal rule I said I wouldn't break... That's right... I finally upgraded a suspension
component on my car!
After some thorough research, I decided that the 1.25" RacingBeat hollow front anti-swaybar would be too big and would
introduce way too much under-steer for my needs.
So, instead I installed the 1.125" hollow bar that RacingBeat sells for the 99-00 cars, and set it to full-stiff once it was
installed.
The results were a tad different than what you normally see on paper regarding FRC changes and a bigger front swaybar.
Instead of losing grip on the front, I gained grip.
The car would turn-in pretty much instantly, and would transition into power over-steer should you get greedy with the
throttle.
This was with the stock tire pressure settings of 29F and 32R. I raised the front to 32 psi to match the rears and this helped
balance the car into a 4-wheel-drift balance, with a hint of under-steer on turn-in as the front tires struggle to grip due to
too much secondary spring-rate caused by too much air pressure.
After playing around a bit more, I finally settled on 30.5 psi front and rear.
I retained the 4-wheel-drift handling, but have more ultimate grip and less secondary spring-rate from the sidewalls of the
tires.
Balance aside, the biggest difference with the larger front sway-bar can be felt when you have a passenger and a boot full
of luggage.
Where the car would start to feel like a regular NB on it's stock sway-bars, the car now feels properly flat by comparison in
the corners, and responds beautifully to your inputs.
I can't detect any noticeable increase in NVH like I could upgrading the front sway-bar on my 91, and I can thank the stiffer
MSM chassis and all that extra bracing for that.
Strictly by the numbers, my FRC went from 58.2% to 69.6%. Roll Stiffness increased from 1614 lb-ft/deg to 2211.4 lb-ft/deg.
The swaybar should keep me happy until the end of the year, and then Kiryu is receiving her custom-built and tailored
suspension from Fat Cat Motorsports.
almost 4 years that I've owned her.
First up on the modifications list, is the BEGi ECU Re-flash upgrade.
Basically they take the stock ECU apart, order a chip from Chip Torque with a pre-set fuel and timing map based on your
modifications, install the new chip, and put the ECU back together and send it back to you.
They also take the opportunity to remove the conflicting map in the ECU which causes the infamous "Bog" situation, and
the infamous throttle hesitation issue.
Long story behind the ECU re-flash, you can read up more on it in my "Reviews" section on this site.
The second modification is breaking a cardinal rule I said I wouldn't break... That's right... I finally upgraded a suspension
component on my car!
After some thorough research, I decided that the 1.25" RacingBeat hollow front anti-swaybar would be too big and would
introduce way too much under-steer for my needs.
So, instead I installed the 1.125" hollow bar that RacingBeat sells for the 99-00 cars, and set it to full-stiff once it was
installed.
The results were a tad different than what you normally see on paper regarding FRC changes and a bigger front swaybar.
Instead of losing grip on the front, I gained grip.
The car would turn-in pretty much instantly, and would transition into power over-steer should you get greedy with the
throttle.
This was with the stock tire pressure settings of 29F and 32R. I raised the front to 32 psi to match the rears and this helped
balance the car into a 4-wheel-drift balance, with a hint of under-steer on turn-in as the front tires struggle to grip due to
too much secondary spring-rate caused by too much air pressure.
After playing around a bit more, I finally settled on 30.5 psi front and rear.
I retained the 4-wheel-drift handling, but have more ultimate grip and less secondary spring-rate from the sidewalls of the
tires.
Balance aside, the biggest difference with the larger front sway-bar can be felt when you have a passenger and a boot full
of luggage.
Where the car would start to feel like a regular NB on it's stock sway-bars, the car now feels properly flat by comparison in
the corners, and responds beautifully to your inputs.
I can't detect any noticeable increase in NVH like I could upgrading the front sway-bar on my 91, and I can thank the stiffer
MSM chassis and all that extra bracing for that.
Strictly by the numbers, my FRC went from 58.2% to 69.6%. Roll Stiffness increased from 1614 lb-ft/deg to 2211.4 lb-ft/deg.
The swaybar should keep me happy until the end of the year, and then Kiryu is receiving her custom-built and tailored
suspension from Fat Cat Motorsports.
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