MX-3.com

I went to the track earlier tonight and i noticed that when i take off after like 2-3 feet i statr to have massive wheel hop. Does anybody know why this happens and what can be done to help it? Thanx

Check your motor mounts and replace if needed. I don't know all the possible causes of really bad wheel hop but a bad motor mount(s) can be one cause. This happened on my 92 Celica & the wheelhop was really bad. Costs nothing to inspect these yourself so ya might as well rule it out at least by taking a look. Visually inspect each mount for cracks/damage in the rubber inserts or separation of the rubber insert from the metal part of the mount. If nothing is obvious, you can use a pry bar to shift the engine/tranny a bit while you observe each mount. Or have someone start the engine and see if you can spot where/whether it is shaking at a loose/damaged mounting point. The mount locations can be found in the online manual from MX-3.com home page. GS K8 V6 locations are diagrammed on (I think) pages B2-050 - B2-052? 4 Cyl is somewhere in the B1 section. There are 4 mounts and easy to spot.

Other things can probably contribute to nasty wheel hop too, like a blown strut, busted stabilizer bar end-link, etc. I've had those probs before, tho not while experiencing bad wheel hop but that may be because I don't race anymore... ? Maybe someone else can add from experience here.

I was getting massive wheel hop. When I did my ZE swap, i even put in MazdaSpeed motor mounts, and it still did it, but my suspention was still original. Last week I got my car back after my suspention upgrade, Now I haven't tried spinning the tires, but on a few occassions that I have, she did not hop at all. I want to go drag racing again, since I stopped since the wheel hop was bad, it was violent and I didn't like putting the car through it. Especially since the wheel hop was preventing me from getting good launches, and 3rd gear grinded, but that seems to be fixed since i replaced the old and almost falling apart bushings with new SRD ones, and instead of all-seasons, I have good Kumho Mx's, plus I got the headers installed for a few more hp, so I'm hoping for the best, I'm gonna see if i can go this friday, if I have the time and the cash.

Are you running street tires? If so let some air out of your tires when racing. I had this problem when I hit the track last friday. I let out enough air to where there was a slight bulge forming at the bottom & it took care of the problem. Just make sure to bring a pump with you to pump them back up when you are done.

Ways to prevent wheel hop are:
new motor mounts or fill the old ones if not ripped, or fill new ones is the vest idea
get new bushings for the controll arms, SRD
be careful, wheel hop is a very good way to break parts. The motor and trans can't take all that agressive shaking. If you have it then fix the problem or don't launch that hard. Lower tire pressure will help, but will is not the best solution b/c the above will help in other ways too.