Picked up a new car... because race car

[civexspeedy]

Thanks guys!

ok im confused is mugen and moogen the same just spelled diferent or is moogen a brand that i dont know about....either way i feel dumb that i dont know the answer....thanks

Moogen is a play off of the Honda specific company Mugen. Notice the cartoonish cow decals that are on the car, that's kind of where it stemmed off of. Not my idea, my friend/previous owners idea. But the car is infamously known as the Moogen now lol.

Well today's event went well. Got to shake the winter rust off and get back into the grove. Had to learn how to drive the car all over again pretty much.

The good: the alignment/corner balance has made the car feel EXTREMELY stable and controllable. Matched with the fresh shaved Toyo R1r's, the car had TONS of grip. Felt amazing.

The bad: The new Hawk HP+ pads that I just put on have proven to be too strong of a pad for this little car. My first 3 runs I was having a tough time threshold braking and trail braking. Every time I hit the brakes, the slightest pressure on the pedal would result in an instant lock up of the brakes which was not good. By my 4th run I was able to predict and figure out the limit of the brakes and had a good clean run but this was still not the best. So it looks like I'll be putting back on the HPS pads. Ideally, something right inbetween the HPS and Hawk HP+ pads I think would be perfect, but I have not tested and don't really plan to spend the money on testing a bunch of pads... So HPS it'll be.

I also have been keeping an eye on my Skunk2 front upper control arms. I've put about 250 street miles and today 4 autox runs. I noticed today when I switched from my street tires to my autox tires that the arm that extends from the hub up to the upper ball joint is just slightly rubbing against the camber kit. Marked the camber arm just a tiny bit. This is interesting considering I'm only at -2.8* of camber in the front and technically could get even more negative camber out of this kit. However, it appears that if I go any more, the rubbing will continue to worsen. How it is right now is fine, not concerning. But it shows a fault in the design of the arms.... I knew the Skunk2 arms weren't amazing, but like I mentioned before, I basically had no other choice... Oh well.
Here's a picture of what I'm talking about. You can see some of the bare metal marked on the control arm.

And here's the video from my best run today
http://youtu.be/rLboxna6dC8

 

[96romaCX]

Like I posted earlier, my brother switched to hawk hps pads and new front rotors and his car could stop on a dime! I bet the hp pads are really stout if you were locking up like that.

Good job on the run man that looks awesome!

 

[young_]

Good run! I would love to be able to legally drive like that. Lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[00siboy]

What rotors do you run with the HPS? Stock bc of the class?

 

[civexspeedy]

Class rules are you have to keep stock size rotors and stock calipers. You can run slotted/drilled rotors but there's no point and no need. Rules for pads are open.

 

[ReedMann]

Looks like a lot a fun. Car looks good too!

 

[civexspeedy]

Little update. This past Saturday I took the Moogen to my exhaust guy. Same guy who did the muffler work on my '95 EX and made it sound awesome. We put the same exact muffler, Jones Full Boar Maxflow, on the Moogen. He did a little more pipe work before the rear LCA because the stupid eBay no name exhaust fit like sh*t and was against my rear swaybar and the muffler was hitting the spare wheel tray under the car. He did a killer job again with this car.

Here's the no name eBay exhaust. The piping around the LCA was hitting the swaybar. The "muffler" was touching the spare wheel well. The stupid big tip rubbed against the bumper. Oh and I say "muffler" because it was just a big tin can, there was no packing or muffling design/material inside which is why it sounded so loud and HORRIBLE!

New exhaust finished

Video only revving to 4k rpm due to 2 step.
http://youtu.be/fbcq64Ugfew

And for full throttle, the event I ran this past Sunday with it
http://youtu.be/WFZOb7_3_3I

Which BTW I placed 3rd overall in PAX! It was great to get some good feedback on the car at this event. Car is SUPER stable and LOADS of grip all thanks to the new alignment/corner balance.

 

[96romaCX]

Man that exhaust looks and sounds racecar as hell! Good job man, I'm debating on changing my muffler but I don't know to what, I may just keep it like it is.

Quick question, if I got my alignment done and had the toe corrected for street use, but ran -2.2 camber front and -2 rear would that show significant tire wear on the inside edge or would I be pretty even?
Just asking cause the guy that did my alignment for me has a honda and assured me it wouldn't eat my tires.

 

[civexspeedy]

Man that exhaust looks and sounds racecar as hell! Good job man, I'm debating on changing my muffler but I don't know to what, I may just keep it like it is.

Quick question, if I got my alignment done and had the toe corrected for street use, but ran -2.2 camber front and -2 rear would that show significant tire wear on the inside edge or would I be pretty even?
Just asking cause the guy that did my alignment for me has a honda and assured me it wouldn't eat my tires.

At around -2* you'll start to see some wear on the inside tire for street use. But if the toe is still within spec and you rotate your tires regularly(like every oil change), the wear shouldn't be very serious.

 

[96romaCX]

Okay thank you!

 

[civexspeedy]

Little update... Have done a few events since the last post. Car sounds amazing and I get compliments left and right for the exhaust, I freakin' love it.

This past Friday I wanted to get the underdrive pulleys on for the back to back races over the weekend. Ran into a little issue with the install. The UnorthodoxRacing crank pulley is significantly smaller in diameter than the stock pulley. When I got the crank and alternator pulleys on, put the belt on and went to tighten the belt, the adjustment on the alternator was maxed out and there was still a lot of slack. Ended up having to slot out the adjustment bracket A LOT in order to use the belt.

I weighed the stock pulley's. A whopping 7lbs for the factory crank(alternator & a/c accessories) and the alternator pulley. The Unorthodox Racing pulley's together weight only 12.8 OUNCES! That's a massive difference in weight, not to mention the smaller diameter of the UR crank pulley.

Finally some people got some action shots of the Moogen.

Car felt killer out there this weekend. So much fun.

 

[ReedMann]

 

[96romaCX]

I love your thread

 

[96romaCX]

Sup speedy, I came to pester you again with another question. I might get a corbeau drivers seat, and I was wondering if the corbeau seat brackets fit well and if they sit at stock height, or if they are lower/higher than stock?

Also if they aren't worth it, I was wondering if you are familiar with Planted seat bases and the height they place the seat to?

I've been researching for a couple days and will continue to for more info, but if the corbeau double locking slider seat bracket is fine, I will just purchase it with the seat. Thank you in advanced dood

 

[civexspeedy]

The Corbeau brackets work really well. I'd highly recommend using the same brand bracket as the seat brand, just to ensure proper fitment. The seat base with the sliders probably have a lower profile than the stock setup but not that significant. The seat however will place your butt a little lower than the stock seats, since they are a bucket seat with less padding. But even so, it's not like you will be peeping over the top of the steering wheel or anything. I sit very comfortably with my Corbeau seat/brackets. The slider is also very smooth and easy, MUCH better than a lot of other sliders that I've used. My Sparco slider for my passenger seat is a PITA sometimes.

I would suggest getting the sliders because not only will they keep the height of the seat up, but also obviously being able to move the seat around. Which may be more important than you think. Mounting the seat directly to a base will really have you sitting on the floor and probably have issues driving, unless you're really tall.

 

[96romaCX]

Great news man! I'm really excited about the stability one would offer over stock. Man I'm glad to hear that news that they are good, I was wanting stock height exactly since I am a little on he short side.

I'm looking into the FX1 pro seat and double locking slider. You mentioned earlier in your thread to be careful using a harness, and I was going to order a corbeau harness also, what did you mean exactly?

 

[civexspeedy]

Using a harness on a street car is a bit risky. You need to make sure the harness is installed properly. Strapping into a harness usually takes a little more time than a simple stock seat belt. May not seem like a big deal but it makes you wonder how many people really take the time to strap in properly with a harness when they jump in their car every time to drive around town. IMO I'd want to use a roll bar when using a harness. When strapped in properly with a harness, you really do not move very much. A collapsed roof during a roll over could turn your spine into an accordion. Stock seat belts are designed to prevent that by allowing some movement(and also why there's an air bag to help absorb that movement). Which is another thing, your airbag just won't work in its intended manor when using a harness, which it could cause more harm than good. That's if you still have an air bag and not an aftermarket wheel.

With all that being said, there still is also a risk running stock seat belts with a bucket seat. Generally speaking, the seat belt probably won't be lying snug against your body like it does when you have stock seats. This is just because of the design of the racing seat and how you sit in it. If the seat belt is not snug against your body and you get into an accident, the belt will not be able to "catch" you as soon as it should and then you're in for it.

You can try to route the lap belt through the hole in the seat like pictured below, which should help, but again the aftermarket seat and stock belts just weren't designed to work together...

I run the Corbeau and Sparco seats in my '91 with the use of the stock seat belts. The lap belt definitely does not sit snug on my lap and it is worrisome. But considering how little I drive the car(it's been sitting collecting pollen, really it has turned yellow, for the past 4 weeks) and it's only use is for autox, which has basically no roll over or crash possiblilties, I accept a well known but small risk. I'm not concerned about the passenger side since no body rides with me in this car.

 

[96romaCX]

Thank you man for a very informative response. That's a good bit of info, if I were to find a bolt in 4 point roll bar would that be sufficient?

Also a question on brakes.. I don't know wether to up grade my front brakes with hawk rotors and hps pads, or look for ex/integra fronts, and rebuild them with new bearings, rotors, and pads, and upgrade to an ex master cylinder.
The latter being more expensive, but I've ridden with my brother and he has 9.5" brakes with new rotors and hps pads and it stops on a dime. Wich is why I'm unsure what would be the best option. I will be eventually swapping a stock b16 in, and use he car 99% of he time for daily. I was I interested in trying out auto X next year when my car is done.(thanks to your thread)

 

[civexspeedy]

4- point roll bar would be better than nothing IMO.

For brakes, the HPS pads should be plenty for any street use. They have good bite, don't make any noise and minimal dust. The HP+ pads are even better but they need a little heat for maximum bite, they make noise and give off a ton of dust. Going along with the brakes, you want to have good tires. Having brakes with a lot of bite but not grip from your tires basically makes your brake upgrade useless..

 

[civexspeedy]

Actually, 96romaCX, PM sent.