I figured we could break this thread out and continue it seperate.

Jason, I guess by the definition of wheel hop you gave, my problem is...
Not excessive unsprung weight- I use Hoosiers on 12lb wheels.
Not insufficient strut damping- my struts are quite stiff- unfortunately, they are not adjustable.
The lack of torsional stiffness is my guess- aka weak *** motor mounts.
I'm going to guess that it played a big part in my transmission damage two weaks ago. The car spun a "pinion spline" or something like that. Basically, stripped the differential, and with transmissions, when it rains it pours. $2000 later, I have a rebuilt tranny. Not that I want to keep replacing transmissions, by I did find out I can get a whole transmission from Mazda Motorsports for $2000.
However, It would be great if we could get the whole wheel hop thing solved. I'm going to try to disconnect the sway bar- maybe the struts are too stiff? If that doesn't work, maybe we should petition Mazda for stiffer motor mounts?... or a limited slip differential- hey while were asking
But seriously- if you get wheel hop on a stock P5, I think that's grounds for a recall.

Later,

 

AWR has got urethane engine mounts on their site. That might help that situation. Not bad pricing on them either.

 

isn't torsional stiffness related to the sway bar???? I don't know, so please explain.


Wheel hop, will absolutely kill a transmission. In my talon, I wheel hopped once (and only once the entire time I owned it) and it busted my center differential gears.


That's worth a shot, especially since it's free. But if torsional stiffness is related to that then isn't that going to complicate it? maybe try stiffening it


Hadn't considered that. I think nearly all cars wheel hop, (my old sonoma did too) but since Mazda is into motorsports maybe they'll actually care. Got any contact suggestions, I don't mind complaining!

Are you planning to stick around in stock class? If so, you're going to be limited with what you can do. Another simple approach would be to get an engine strap, and torque your engine so that it isn't allowed to rotate.

Jason

 

okay, so I just looked up torsional stiffness. Torsion bars are a seperate type of suspension, that doesn't use springs. So that comment may not apply in this case. However, if you relate torsional stiffness to spring stiffness, then maybe the springs aren't stiff enough.

 

He is not referring to torsion bars. Torsional stiffness is a generic engineering term that refers to any object's resistance to a twisting force. A 12" steel pipe has high torsional stiffness; a piece of string has low torsional stiffness 8-)

When you accelerate, the engine generates a twisting force that must be restrained by the engine mounts (otherwise, the entire engine would spin in the opposite direction of the crankshaft) The engine mounts on a 99+ Protege are soft and springy (low torsional stiffness) so they have a tendency to load up and bounce back when you acclerate hard, creating wheel hop

 

Just another point of interest for the wheel hop thing. I got some new tires (for the mirage) that are a little softer sidewall, and more tread of course.

Well, now I get a small amount of wheel hop, where I had none with my older tires.