Good to know that I won't be able to align my car once I'm done with it...

How low is your car PeeJay?

 

It might affect it very slightly, as the shorter inner tie-rods will mean that the overall length of the outer rod will have to increase to keep alignment. Longer outers will make the rate that the wheel turns per steering input more progressive at high steer angles. Basically, the rack doesn't change, and the on-center ratio will be almost the same, but as the wheel turns more the steering becomes tighter due to smaller angles of the outer rods at the knuckles. In the end you have a the same slow on-center feel with a slightly better turning radius.

 

The sway bar mounts to the tension rod brackets so you're not gonna remove that much weight, just that of the bars themselves. Also, heres a dumb question, how do you adjust caster on a lower A arm setup like the FC has? One other thing I'm unlcear on is the width measurement between the fb and fc, it seems, just looking at both, that the FC is wider, if I wanted to do this on my fb and not use a widebody kit (which i certainly don't want) would it work? Whats everyone think?

 

I thought the FB swaybar mounted through the bracket but was ultimately held on by the bushing and frame, I'm gonna need a better look. I think the FC subframe looks wider partially because it uses lower offset rims, But I'll need to check it out in person. I'm not sure how the caster is adjusted in the FC, I think it might be strut-top only; which could get interesting.
Grant

 

the sway bar mounts directly to the tension rod bracket, which in turns attaches to the frame. Assuming enough body work is off to do so you can remove the tension rods/brackets/sway bar all as one unit. You could always cut what you don't need off the tension rod bracket though, as long as the mounting holes are there you'd be fine. I bet a few pounds could be trimmed off.

 

After look at the suspension diagram (oddly enough in the ever helpful Victoria Brittish catalog) I realise your totally right. I also realise I will need to use the 2nd gen swaybar which will probably require custom body mounts anyway, so I'll probably just remove the tension rod brakcets and make some mounts out of steel plate.
Grant

 

thats probably gonna be your best bet. The only up close pics I've seen of a FC suspension are in abeomids writeup, so I've never seen a FC sway bar. how does it mount on a FC?

 

I talked with CP about the the update for the old rack kit and the new kit and here's what I've learned.

First, to get your old kit updated you have to send them your inner tie rod ends first. So you're looking at being without your car for at least 3 weeks and needing an alignment when it's all done.

The new kit apparently re-uses the shaft and u-joints from the original kit, but uses an aluminum rack and a subframe that doesn't bolt through the control arms like the first one. Couldn't get any more details than that

 

When i first started talking to CP racing. They told me the R&P kit would be $500 CDN. And i am sure they were making a hefty profit on that. Now i see how much they have marked it up and it disgusts me. They should be banished from the tuner community with the amount of people they have ripped off.

-Carlton

 

It's not. (The rear suspension is squatting about an inch, I'm hard on the throttle to the finish. That's about where the front suspension sits normally) It's just that the exhaust hangs down a bit, and the exhaust clamps catch on the rack.

Anyway.

I got done with my radio installation ordeal (well not DONE, I still need to engineer a way to work the power antenna (have relays will travel!) and make a cover plate, but it's together and makes tunes) and my frontal swaybarectomy, and had enough light-time that I could take some measurements!

And here is what I found:

For an FB with the stock power steering box, there is...

Get ready...

SIX INCHES of travel at the center link (analogue to the rack in an R&P), stop to stop!

Furthermore, turning from steering wheel center one full turn to the side, the center link moves 1 7/8 (or if you prefer 1.875) inches!

"But Peejay", you say, "there's three turns lock to lock with the power steering box and 1.875 times three is not six!"

That is true! The steering mechanism therefore is variable ratio. This is why I measured from the center position instead of just taking total length and dividing by three.

However! Note that we know that the travel per turn of the Rabbit rack is 1.458" per turn. And that we know that the travel per turn of the P/S box is 1.875" per turn. So the CP setup therefore requires... get ready... 28% MORE steering wheel travel for a given amount of motion at the wheels. And in reality it feels like a lot more than that.

 

so dont they make variable ration rack that would suit our application?

 

How would you make a variable ratio rack?

Variable ratio sucks, for what it's worth. However, I'll take a variable ratio unit over a dog-slow straight rate unit *anyday*.

 

I don't think it's very fair to compare the CP kit to a power steering box, since those only came in, what, one in a hundred first gens?

Oh yeah and the boxes are NLA.

 

the subaru forester has a variable ratio rack, dunno how it works, but its variable. There was an article in Sport Compact Car about swapping in the rack from a WRX, since its quicker and non variable.

 

Right on Peejay. That totally confirms what I've thought about the RP kit from day one.

A serious waste of money with the current rack.

 

Sad to say, but I'm afraid you're right. I've followed this thing from the first announcements (back when it was only going to cosst $200) and darn, it has lots of promise, but the devil is in the details.

 

And what I've said, quite vocally I might add, about putting a rack rear steer style in a car with a rotary. The engine's just too damned big and you need to make concessions to accomodate that.

There is a very good reason why Mazda went to the trouble of relocating the motor mounts to the center housing on the FC... it's so they could use a front steer rack.