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Winter tuning (23/02/2006)
- By:
- Julius Kolff
- Linked to:
- Serpent 710 Team car
Mounting a Protoform Mazda 6
On many forums I see the question: “which body works best?” being asked. And the answers are almost as diverse as the people answering. It seems everyone has a different opinion. Often you will see someone really liking one body, where someone else feels completely different. Some say one body understeers where someone else feels it to be loose. These differences are partly explained by the difference in chassis they are mounted on, and their setup. But the way the body is mounted on the chassis can have a big impact on how it performs too. For example how far to the front or rear the body sits on the car has a big impact on balance. Also the rake of the body (the angle from front to rear) makes a big difference. Because when the body is very low in front you will get more front downforce, but also because the wing cannot be higher than the roof, you will need to cut off more when the body is at a larger angle, which gives less rear downforce too!
In this article I’ll show you how I mount the Protoform Mazda 6 on my 710. There are many other ways to do it but this suits me!
Rules
When planning to mount a new body the car, we need to make sure the final mounting position confirms to the racing rules. Fortunately the rules of ROAR, IFMAR and EFRA are quite similar. Only the rear cutout is different. You can cut 50mm on a 10mm plate in EFRA and only 55 on a 20mm plate in ROAR and IFMAR. Be careful with cutting the rear as the cut-line on some bodies will be higher than ROAR allows! The EFRA rule is normally not restrictive here but check before cutting!!!
Furthermore mounting in IFMAR is slightly different as you must cut the bottom of the body on the manufacturers cut lines. Where ROAR and EFRA leave this open as long as the total height of the body is not below 120mm with the chassis on a 10mm block (actually roar specifies 130 on 20mm but that is the same measurement).
Now to the Mazda. One thing to note on this body is that it is critical in roof height. You can easily put it on the car in a way it will not pass tech inspection. So I’ve made some pictures of my bodypost setup which gives a position that is quite close to the legal limit but should still pass tech!
Forward-aft positioning
On any body I will start with the front to rear position. Normally you’d put it on the car so the front wheels are in the middle of the wheel arches. That gives the most clearance to steer and move the suspension without the wheel touching the body. But front to rear position is also a way to fine tune the car. More forward for more steering, more to the rear for more stability. On the picture you can see the measurement from the moulded windshield line to the middle of the mid post is 36mm. For the Mazda that is a normal position. 37mm would be a wheels in the middle of the wheel well position and about as far rearward as I’d go. I usually run my Mazda at 35mm. I think 34 is about the limit. Any further and you get problems wit the front splitter needing to be cut too much and you get into trouble with roof height again.
Front post setup
In the front I use the lowest point on the posts and leave two holes above the pin. But as you can see in the pic I doubled the mounting plate to get the body high enough. You could also add a 3mm washer under the bodypost to get the same result. I copied this from Michaels car in Halifax. Just take a spare bodymount plate and cut off the protrusion in which the pin normally sits. Then superglue it to the other plate. On the middle post, I use the 3rd hole from the bottom. Here too, leave to holes above the pin.
Rear setup
In the rear I use the 2nd hole from the bottom. But instead of the pin and plate I use a body clip and a lexan plate on top of that. This is because the bodypost sticks through the rear wing mounts in the Mazda. And using the normal plate would give less support and more chance of the body splitting in a crash. Leave 3 holes above the clip so the post can stick through the wing mount. In the last pic you’ll see the thin lexan plate made from a piece left from cutting the body.
Cutting
As a last tip, mark and cut the body mount holes in the body before painting if possible. That give a better view of things and makes it a lot easier to align the body. And do look at the measurement from the windshield to the middle post. You can make all your bodies handle the same when keeping it constant. Or intentionally vary the measurement to test different handling bodies. Good luck
Mazda 6
Naked?
36mm from window line
Note the double plates
Clips and longer posts
lexan plate
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