If you haven't seen this car before, then you're mad. No just kiding - however as one of the highest profile Rotary's in New Zealand if you don't know of Andy Duffin and 3 Rotor Racing then you need to.
Andy Duffin has always been a rotary nut. Without going back too far into the history books (Andy wouldn't like us dropping hints at his actual age) he has collected rotary's ever since he could afford to, and has gained a huge amount of experience racing these weapons over the years.
More recently, Andy entered into the GTRNZ championship in 2013/2014 (enduring a season of a loan-car drive) while his dream 20B FD-RX7 was under construction awaiting it's christening in the 2014/2015 season. Prior to stepping into GTRNZ, Andy campaigned a 12A PP engine in his FD for two seasons of the New Zealand SS2000 championship, taking with him the 2012/2013 overall title.
We got to know Andy last year with through the sponsorship of ENDLESS Brakes in support of the 2014/2015 GTRNZ season. We were quickly drawn to the unique features of this rotary, it's following and the plan for it's ongoing development as builders Green Brothers Racing continue to pull capacity out from under every wheel over the coming months.
(If you're after more information on Andy and this FD, you can check out the back-issue article from New Zealand Performance Car here, where you can read a full feature on every component of the build.)
Andy Duffin has always been a rotary nut. Without going back too far into the history books (Andy wouldn't like us dropping hints at his actual age) he has collected rotary's ever since he could afford to, and has gained a huge amount of experience racing these weapons over the years.
More recently, Andy entered into the GTRNZ championship in 2013/2014 (enduring a season of a loan-car drive) while his dream 20B FD-RX7 was under construction awaiting it's christening in the 2014/2015 season. Prior to stepping into GTRNZ, Andy campaigned a 12A PP engine in his FD for two seasons of the New Zealand SS2000 championship, taking with him the 2012/2013 overall title.
We got to know Andy last year with through the sponsorship of ENDLESS Brakes in support of the 2014/2015 GTRNZ season. We were quickly drawn to the unique features of this rotary, it's following and the plan for it's ongoing development as builders Green Brothers Racing continue to pull capacity out from under every wheel over the coming months.
(If you're after more information on Andy and this FD, you can check out the back-issue article from New Zealand Performance Car here, where you can read a full feature on every component of the build.)
The Brakes:
The FD's brake kit was stable while Andy was competing in SS2000 with the 12A PP engine however, since swapping to the Green Brothers 20B engine there has been a substantial power increase - leading to a greater demand on the braking system.
Since the start of the 2014/2015 GTRNZ season, the team had reported issues with disc temperatures and pad life. Towards the end of a race (generally 8-10 laps) Andy noticed his brakes would start to lose their efficiency, relaying a trend of the brake pedal becoming soft, 'spongy' and inconsistent.
At that point Mike from Prosport Auto recommended changing to an ENDLESS brake compound, with an instant difference noticed in the wear rates and initial stopping performance. Whilst overall braking performance had increased, it was obvious that current the brake kit was too small, and temperatures were still too high, restricting what the car is really capable of - especially under brakes.
At this point the team inquired about brake kit upgrade options, with the ENDLESS RacingMONO4 kit coming out a winning solution to Andy's all-to-common problem of overheating, high-wear and all-round under performance.
Since the start of the 2014/2015 GTRNZ season, the team had reported issues with disc temperatures and pad life. Towards the end of a race (generally 8-10 laps) Andy noticed his brakes would start to lose their efficiency, relaying a trend of the brake pedal becoming soft, 'spongy' and inconsistent.
At that point Mike from Prosport Auto recommended changing to an ENDLESS brake compound, with an instant difference noticed in the wear rates and initial stopping performance. Whilst overall braking performance had increased, it was obvious that current the brake kit was too small, and temperatures were still too high, restricting what the car is really capable of - especially under brakes.
At this point the team inquired about brake kit upgrade options, with the ENDLESS RacingMONO4 kit coming out a winning solution to Andy's all-to-common problem of overheating, high-wear and all-round under performance.
New Kit:
Prosport Auto has provided Andy with an ENDLESS Brakes RacingMONO4 caliper kit which has been built with weight in mind, as well as long-term temperature resistance. The new kit will be installed by Green Brothers Racing in Tauranga.
The RacingMONO4 kit comes with everything required to bolt the upgrade straight on - calipers, mounts, pads, discs and lines (ENDLESS fluid supplied additional).
The RacingMONO4 kit comes with everything required to bolt the upgrade straight on - calipers, mounts, pads, discs and lines (ENDLESS fluid supplied additional).
Each caliper is lightweight (2100 grams each) with ENDLESS's famous ultra-high level of rigid forged - not billet construction, made from a single piece of aluminium. Staggered pistons have been engineered for reduced taper-wear with a hard-annodised finish.
The FD will move to 345x32mm E-slit discs (the E-slit is pattern is ENDLESS's signature design). This allows for higher initial bite and pad shaving for optimum performance.
Andy will also move to using to ENDLESS RF-650 brake fluid (same as run by Petronas Formula 1) for the first time with his new kit.
Alongside Andy's preferred ENDLESS pad choice, this kit will provide exactly what the braking performance of this car required - extremely high temperature threshold and low compressibility for excellent pedal-feel and consistency.
With the kit due to arrive with Andy today, there will be a quick window available fit and test at Hampton Downs before the next (5th) round of GTRNZ held on 21/22 March 2015.
We'll be sure to provide you with some more coverage of the conversion and results from testing and racing under the capacity of the new ENDLESS RacingMONO4 Kit.
If you have any questions on increasing your braking performance, overcoming braking issues or would like to know more about any ENDLESS products please email mike@prosportauto.co.nz.
We'll leave you with a very popular video which has gone global since the last round of GTRNZ: Andy's last race of the weekend at Manfield where you can see, hear and feel the 20B in full force. Andy currently sits in 1st place of the GT2 class in GTRNZ, with two rounds to go before the championship is decided.
We'll be sure to provide you with some more coverage of the conversion and results from testing and racing under the capacity of the new ENDLESS RacingMONO4 Kit.
If you have any questions on increasing your braking performance, overcoming braking issues or would like to know more about any ENDLESS products please email mike@prosportauto.co.nz.
We'll leave you with a very popular video which has gone global since the last round of GTRNZ: Andy's last race of the weekend at Manfield where you can see, hear and feel the 20B in full force. Andy currently sits in 1st place of the GT2 class in GTRNZ, with two rounds to go before the championship is decided.