Thread: SE-R Race Car Questions

Weakness as in head gaskets, hubs, anything that frequently breaks on these cars. Some cars are more susceptible to issues than others, I was just curious if I should know some typical issues off the bat.

I wasn't asking for hours of peoples time or anything, although if you aren't here to talk cars I don't understand why you would even be on a forum, but I have searched, it takes two seconds to reply to a simple question. lol

Two second reply to your question about weaknesses:

Yes there are a handful.

Would you like me to spend some serious time instead?
Narrow it down.

Engine + chassis + suspension + brakes + P/S + fuel system + whatever = a long list of things to go through. We can hit them all, but give us somewhere to start.

I was mainly looking at engine related engines.

You all ask like I'm some ricer kid that pops up and just says how can I make my SE-R fast. I'm just asking about reliability and what not, what fails? Headgaskets? Stock cooling system?

Jeez. I'm not interested anymore really, I'll learn quickly what fails.

We had to add a power steering cooler due to overheating but others just remove the power steering completely


the water pump pulley is an item to change


never had a head gasket issue in an NA (not since we've been tracking an sr20 anyway)


that is the engine only related stuff I can think of

THANK YOU! That's what I was looking for.

What sanctioning body/class?

The suspensions geometry sucks, and aftermarket support is weak at best for the racing community.

If you're serious, you'll want something 8611 based at the minimum.

Yeah I read a lot on suspension for these cars in recent days, nothing serious, but SCCA ITA. I'd be doing enduros mainly and not looking to spend a fortune to be competitive, just to have some fun. I've re-considered recently as I've had some other ride opportunities so may just do track days with this for now, but we'll see as the season goes along.

The answer is usually "more spring"!

Chris hit on some good issues. The water pump causes cavitation at high rpm so you slow it down with a larger pulley.

One thing I would also stress is the importance of keeping oil by the pickup. That means a perfectly un-dented oil pan and possibly slightly overfilling the oil and/or some type of baffle solution. Like any engine, oil is important, but ours will ruin the 3rd rod bearing if you look at it funny.



Ask specific questions, get specific answers.