Aspire Steering Rack Swap

[moz]

That would be great! Off topic, my down under wish list is a 3.63:1 ring and pinion
for our '04 MazdaSpeed, wonder what baggage fees are these days.......

OK. The mazdaspeed was the mx5 se over here.
I've already got a friend making calls to see if he can source it.
I may be able to ship it if you're dead set serious about getting it.

Could you send me a photo of the part you're after. Just want to make sure it matches what Im shown here.

[Safety Guy]

I just read through this thread. Definitely planning on using an Aspire rack in my ultimate build, and possibly any future builds. They'd be newer too!

Great job Moz! As you can tell, we all appreciate this enormously.

When I get a Rio to hack apart (some day!!) I wonder if that rack might fit? Ha!

Karl

[Dragonhealer]

OK. The mazdaspeed was the mx5 se over here.
I've already got a friend making calls to see if he can source it.
I may be able to ship it if you're dead set serious about getting it.

Could you send me a photo of the part you're after. Just want to make sure it matches what Im shown here.

I'll see what I can come up with, that ratio was never available in the states! tallest we got was the3.9:1

[moz]

Is that a special Mazdaspeed ratio or could most Australian models have the taller ratio?

And how big a difference will 0.3:1 make on the track?

Reason I'm saying this is because with the festiva/aspire swap we're going from approx 3.8:1 to 3:1

Lastly. The 3.8:1 is the ratio on my 1988 Mazda 121. I'd be keen to find out if the USA Festiva has the same ratio.

[sketchman]

I think you guys are talking about two different things.

[moz]

I just read through this thread. Definitely planning on using an Aspire rack in my ultimate build, and possibly any future builds. They'd be newer too!

Great job Moz! As you can tell, we all appreciate this enormously.

When I get a Rio to hack apart (some day!!) I wonder if that rack might fit? Ha!

Karl

Thanks Karl,
The Rio should be the same width as the aspire, seeing as the Rio driveshafts and gearbox combo are identical to the Capri xr2.
Hopefully its just the rack ends that are different and not the rack and pinion, and mounting locations.

It looks promising though. Kia is yet another car maker who uses the one size fits all cookie cutter template for their components, so chances are we'll have access to upgrades for a long time to come

I just wonder what ratio they used on the Rio. The longer wheelbase tells me that the ratio should be taller again.

[Dragonhealer]

Sorry this has taken so long, I'm getting cars ready for the track this weekend.
Also we are WAY off topic for this thread, perhaps a Mod can move this where
it belongs?
I'm told all turbo Miatas/MX5 (the NB chassis '04 - '05 )that went to
Australia have the 3.63 final drive. the unit looks like this
2014-03-06_11-59-58_990.jpg
2014-03-06_11-59-44_985.jpg

just the "pumpkin"
2014-03-06_12-01-40_760.jpg
It would probably cost too much to send the whole thing or even just the
"pumpkin". The cheapest would be to just get the ring gear (crown wheel)
and pinion, but the tear-down is a messy job.
The pictures are of a 4.1 VLS, when a student crashed into a wall, the housing broke

[moz]

I think you guys are talking about two different things.

Hahaha!!!! We sure were.
I only realise that when I saw the photos.

This will be easier to find. If you don't mind waiting dragon, I can throw it on a boat to the USA.

Sorry... I honestly thought we were still on steering racks all this time.
Ring and pinion isn't a commonly used term over here so I assumed.

MR MODERATOR- please move this to a new thread.

[Dragonhealer]

My bad moz, I wasn't clear. No rush at all and Thank You for your willingness to
help! Best to find out what it's likely to cost first, I suspect shipping might be
a little dear!

[moz]

Here you go dragon.
I don't know if $550 is too much or not.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=281280640028

[Dragonhealer]

Here you go dragon.
I don't know if $550 is too much or not.
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item...d=281280640028

moz, that's a good price, but I'm afraid the shipping would kill me! The add says they won't ship to US anyway
If it were disassembled, and they just shipped the pinion gear and crownwheel, I could probably afford it.
Thanks for checking on that! I have answered adds in the states (they want about $100 more) but I get
told they are out of them, makes you wonder!

[Dragonhealer]

Back to aspire rack swap....
One of my wish list suppliers turned up a remanufactured Festiva power rack. As rare
as these are in the states, I bit the bullet and bought it, to compare with moz's findings
on the Aspire power rack. The add said 3 turns lock to lock, I measured 2.95. I assumed
it was the same as the Aspire until I found the stroke is the same as the Festiva manual
rack, not the 10mm greater that moz found on the Aspire power rack!
I think on the street car the Aspire swap will be most effective.
Last note, true of both power racks, the passenger side mount and mount rubber of
the manual rack ( 40mm ) will not fit, as the power rack tubes are 43.2mm diameter!

[moz]

Been tinkering with my rack and hubs today.
Do you guys think that bump steer could become an issue if the racks are slightly different in length, or if the tie rod location is different on the aspire hub?

I'm noticing minor differences. Just not sure if they're minor enough to be tweaked out with alignments.

[zoom zoom]

Toe out and positive caster cause alot of bump steer, i have my opinion on aspire stuff but I won't get into it, just drive it

[moz]

My expectations aren't too high. I mean, they are parts of the cheapest cars on the market at the time.

As long as it improves over the standard stuff.

The rear swing arm I'm very iffy about. I'm pretty much convinced that I'll be going back to the stock one, as soon as I can find a drum that lends itself to re drilling the studs