Ask ALEX PFEIFFER Something!

[Jaggorri]

See you at the SJGP dude. Check your PM's as well.

Byron

[wannafc]

Hey there alex i just picked up a 05 mazdaspeed miata and i have a question about oil im debating what kind to use i intend to race it ya know autocross drifting and things and was curiouse on synthetic oil vs regular what are the differances and what not im hoping you can recomend something i had this mechanic tell me that synthetic oil is bad for your car if your cars not ment to run on it but i have no clue one way or the other oh and any info on sugested mods from you would be helpfull

[backroadTOUGE]

heh this was just coverd in the most recent superstreet. might wanna check thast out about the oil.

[azhenman67]

Alex im from the island of oahu and i couldnt help but say sumthin about that grip video...the one where you got to take the signal auto s13 out for a run. so what happened man? having been on that track i undertsand it aint suzuka but is it really that crappy...crappy enough to be criticized by mainland folks? well...thats all i had to ask...oh yeah! really admire you man!

[balmo]

thanks alex!

i just tested out your steering spacers (kit #1) at buttonwillow and they were great! overall, i gained half-turn from lock to lock. still have to play with alignment. my local shop did a carppy job and did not align my suspension to my suggestion, damn them!

[djnarush]

alex.. what should i look for in picking out a fuel cell for drifting

[AlexPfeiffer]

madmax13, Jaggorri,
I dont check the PM's too often. Maybe once every couple months.

wannafc,
Oil is a wierd subject and it depends who you talk to about it. In the old days, synthetic would swell the seals in a motor, so if you switched back to non synthetic, then the motor would tend to leak. Then if you had a brand new motor, mineral oil is better suited to help break in the rings and other internal parts.

To me, oil is oil. I put the cheep stuff in my cars. But if your worried about it, then run mineral oil till the motor is broken in. Then if you want to, switch over to say mobil1 which is the bench mark of synthetics and is easy to get.

azhenman67,
I'm not sure what your talking about. The only time i remember that i got criticized was from Imamura and it was in the Apex 350Z. And yes, the 350 was a POS with the wrong tire sizes. I did a couple laps in it and it had so much understeer that I had a hard time just trying to get it sideways.

balmo,
I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, normal alignment shops have no idea what they are doing.

djnarush,
Most of the guys run a 5 gallon tank but if your still going to daily drive your truck then you need something bigger. Also, with bigger tanks, you need to do some kinda surge tank. Ether inside the main tank or you can make a canister outside the main tank.

[djnarush]

okaaaay?.?.?.
whats a surge tank

[ZoltecRules]

Hey Alex,

Sorry but I found out some bad news today:

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...,00.html?f=rss

Hope your sperm are alright.

Thanks in advance for a great showing a Formula D - Chicago!!!

[surukis14]

yoo alex. i met you a long time ago back in like 02 or 03 through tsutomu when he brought me up the mountains on highway 2, or i think another time at thunderhill. its cool seeing you all over the place nowdays. anyways. my question is: have you seen mr.maehara lately? i know that hes in LA, we talked when he came back like a month ago and he told me he's working for motorex and stuff.

[BlackTruenoAE86]

Hey Alex Finally got my car running right and just need to start getting used to it and setting up the suspension better here's a picture of it...

Told you it would look close to your car when it was flat black hahah I took off my supras since they have the crappy drifting tires on the I'm currently running some 280zx wheels pretty light and nice would be perfect if they were wider...Got them for free so I can't complain...

I'm not sure if you read up on the whole thing on Club4ag I know your a busy dude but it would be cool if you see how far this thing has come from a $300 dollar Junkyard car to it's current state as daily driver and spirited runs at the track and the street...

If you get a chance:
http://forums.club4ag.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=104312

Well Take Care and Good Luck at Formula D...

Peace,

[AlexPfeiffer]

djnarush,
Its a small tank before your fuel pump. If you run a big gas tank, then as it gets low, the gas will move around as your drifting. To the point that the fuel pump has a hard time picking it up. So you run a small tank and pump gas into it. That way the main fuel pump always has gas suplied to it.

ZoltecRules,
Yeah, that wall hit was pretty good.

surukis14,
I see Tstomu every once in a while at the car events.

BlackTruenoAE86,
Congads, you did a really good job on that.

[hillkill]

Hey Alex, A couple days ago I was in mid drift on a left hand turn and I heard a huge pop from the back of my car. I thought I snapped a halfshaft bolt or something so I drove home very slowly. The car doesn't feel broken except for a slight lean to the left which is due to alignment that I had before the pop. I couldn't find anything wrong underneath the car so I went back out yesterday and it did the same thing. the pop sounded like a bolt snapping or metal hitting metal. I have a 1986 200sx turbo with a ca18det, tokico illuminas all around, Scc lowering springs (2in) , and a welded diff. I don't think the diff broke because it is still locked up. I know it's not a motor mount because I broke that and fixed it last week. Any help is appreciated. Oh yeah this is the guy with the S12 who was going to see you about some rear suspension parts.

[AlexPfeiffer]

Its really hard to say what it could be without hearing that pop for myself. When you get down here, you can take me for a ride and point out that noise.

[borodori]

Hey alex, you goin to hawaii drift showoff sept. 3?