The Fever

[My5ABaby]

Redhawk, buy some Optimum No Rinse Wash. Sponge it on, towel it off. No rinsing or using a hose (other than to fill your buckets).

[angelofragnarok]

I can sympathize with the feelings. I just read the Checklist and FYI thread and my adrenaline is pumping in my office chair! This'll be my first event with either of my rides, so my anticipation is out the ROOF! But I do want to ask and make sure of a couple things with my vehicle:

1) The brakes have never been messed with on my 04 RX-8, and it has 66k miles. Should I get them swapped out for this? And if so, recommendations and prices?

2) My suspension is getting soft due to horrible roads and nasty speed bumps. Can I solve this by letting the dealership handle it? Or would it be better to learn how to do it myself for this?

3) Any other advice for someone who's never done this before? I've been driving for about a year now in my RX-8, and I'm still learning all the ropes to mastering my vehicle. Any advice is good advice to me!

[Redhawkjrt]

Originally Posted by angelofragnarok

I can sympathize with the feelings. I just read the Checklist and FYI thread and my adrenaline is pumping in my office chair! This'll be my first event with either of my rides, so my anticipation is out the ROOF! But I do want to ask and make sure of a couple things with my vehicle:

1) The brakes have never been messed with on my 04 RX-8, and it has 66k miles. Should I get them swapped out for this? And if so, recommendations and prices?

2) My suspension is getting soft due to horrible roads and nasty speed bumps. Can I solve this by letting the dealership handle it? Or would it be better to learn how to do it myself for this?

3) Any other advice for someone who's never done this before? I've been driving for about a year now in my RX-8, and I'm still learning all the ropes to mastering my vehicle. Any advice is good advice to me!

I would DEFINITELY address both of these issues before tackling the Dragon. My car had only about 25K before the event last year, so nothing was worn out yet, but I went ahead and went through the brakes anyway - new slotted rotors, Hawk HPS pads, stainless steel brake lines. As I recall it all cost me a little over $600, and was worth every penny. All my stuff came from Pettit Racing. The HPS pads in particular are a vast improvement over stock type pads. They really bite down hard, are quiet, and don't produce much dust at all. And if your struts are worn, as it sounds like they are, your car is not safe anywhere, especially not on the Dragon. As Phil has said in another thread, your car really must be in top shape to take on this challenge.