s2000ellier

Why not use offset bushings in the upper A arm?

B serious

Because this way widens the track...and plastic bushings are a bad idea....and this way is cooler.

s2000ellier

What? Derlrin bushings are used a lot without issue by many. This is way cooler though.

roel03

Did you machine these yourself? 3-axis?

For curiousity, what was your final ID compared to stock. Usually press fit features are controlled to 4-decimal places. I've never done anything that accurate on mine and am curious how hard it was to achieve.

freetors

Yes I did machine, program, and model these myself. They were made in a 3 axis machine in two ops, both in a vise. They were programmed and modeled in CATIA. If I had to make them again I would definitely build a fixture for OP2. The press fit ID is a very good point. I can't remember what the actual dimensions were but the finished ID ended up being a half thou larger than the oem piece as measured by tri-mics. They are still a press fit with IIRC 0.001 interference but I do plan on assembling with loctite 603 just to be sure. The loading direction actually forces the ball joint into the mount so even a light press fit would probably be ok. If I remade them /i would obviously machine them to the proper size

I made these on an Okuma Genos M560. I don't know what kind of machine you're working with but this will pretty reliably profile contour IDs to one or two tenths.

freetors

Thanks! Yes the added track width is definitely a nice benefit. There are of course offset upper ball joints as well but they have a bad reputation of slipping.

freetors

I finally got around to installing these last week. On my lowered car the camber range was from about 2-5 degrees. Dang they look nice though!

DavidNJ

Impressive work. Isn't an Okuma Genos M560 a $120+k machine?

As a sidebar, is the S2k still competitive in STR? At Lincoln, there were 2 in the top 15, the best being in 8th. The rest: MX5 Miatas. Locally, there are many more factors. But are they at the level that a few mm in track matter that much?

freetors

Thanks. As for the cost, I'm not sure, I don't get involved too much in the money side of things and all the machine sales. The company I work for is probably going to get another one though, so I'll probably know at some point. It's a nice little workhorse though!

Everything I've read points to the s2000 being a thing of the past in STR. I wouldn't even bother taking mine to Nationals. My car is a good 80-90% build but the last bits are things I don't want to screw around with, since it's the wrong car for the job anyway. It's still really fun locally though.

DavidNJ

In STR, the Mazda is 300-400lb lighter on the same rubber and wheels with only a small difference in acceleration. They didn't fare much better in B/Street where BMW M2s seemed to dominate.

Still, a very nice sports car!