Project V8 RX-7: Part 15 – Major Suspension Overhaul with KW Suspension, SuperPro and Improved Racing Components

I’ll save you the trouble of waiting till the end–the new rear toe links cured that stupid rattle!  Though we haven’t done any spirited driving yet, having elminated a variable rear toe condition due to at least one bad toe link should give us better turn in response and straight line stability under acceleration.

Improved also makes rear trailing arms and a snazzy strut tower brace that clears the intake manifold of LS swapped RX-7s (the stock one does not with our mount kit) but more on that later.   The trailing arms above are solid aluminum stock and replace the stock bushing equipped trailing arms with solid rod-ends.

The rod-ends of the Improved Racing trailing arm have an offset center on the chassis mounting side.

The stock rear trailing arm (top) compared to Improved Racing arm (bottom).

The offset center of the Improved Racing trailing arm moves the entire arm inboard and yields a little bit more clearance inside the fender well for a wider tire or more wheel offset freedom.

As we mentioned before Improved Racing also makes a strut tower brace that just so happens to clear the intake manifold in LS swapped RX-7’s!  Our “R1” FD RX-7 came with a front strut tower bar from the factory but it did not clear the LS3 manifold so we were forced to run without one until now.  The brace mitigates chassis flex between the strut towers and helps our suspension work better.  Mazda engineers obviously agree!

Improved’s brace is made out of hefty aluminum pieces with beautiful welds.  Another smart feature is the adjustable master cylinder brace.  The brake master cylinder mounts only to the thin metal of the firewall so when you’re stomping on the brakes it can in theory deflect, reducing brake feel.