RX8 Mini Project

[WE3RX7]

That's pretty damn awesome. I would've laid her down at least half a dozen times!


Update: Rear tires mounted/balanced. I got R-A-P-E-D on the mount/balance though. $85 for two wheels!! It used to be like $18/each but "prices have gone up". I could have taken it to the Ferrari dealership and paid less! Either way, they're on and look great. Its funny how much meat you don't notice has gone missing until you put new one on!

Rear brakes are bled too... tomorrow its the front tires, front calipers and oil change. Then pack and sleep to ready for DGRRXI at 6am Thursday morning!!

[2gslse]

Cool my alignment is done but roller will not be here on time so I'll be rolling on my BBS wheels and my old Falken 451's for the last time. See you tomorrow.

[WE3RX7]

Another small update, just because it burns me. So my wife called around to a few other tire shops to get a comparison price (just to make sure i'm not insane to think $40/tire is too high)...

So, yea... pretty much everybody was cheaper. The highest was $25. For shits and grins, she called the same chain in the next town over, they quoted $25. So she called the store I went to last night and asked them for a quote.. they quoted $50 a tire!!! When she told them that she just got off the phone with their other store for $25, they said they could "honor that price" but gave her a hard time and said they couldn't do it today because "their tire guy has gone home for the day..." ITS A TIRE SHOP!!!!

So long story short, they're fucked up. I called corporate, filed my complaint.. I'm sure they'll send me some kind of discount/coupon or something which I will gladly take back to the store with a big fuck you... now mount the tires for a NORMAL price and I promise I will never return


Down side is, I now only have two new tires on the car for DGRR.... oh well...

Rant over...

[WE3RX7]

Just giving a quick update since I was reading this and found my older post about mods I wanted before DGRR11. Considering the event was in April and its now May, lets see where I stand:

Tint (nope)
Clear corners (nope)
dyno (yup... dissappointed at 182whp, but picked up 4ft-lbs)
lower coilovers (nope... working on other adjustments at the moment)
roll fenders (nope, goes with the lower coilovers)
** mazdaspeed cai ** (still on the fence here)
CS 4pt front strut bar (nope)
install clutch (yup)
flywheel / counterweight (yup, mazdaspeed)
** recaro seat ** (nope, ended up w/ a Sparco)
** harnesses ** (not yet)
new tires (yup)
corner balance (nope, working on my own jig)
alignment (nope, working on my jig)
install rear strut adjusters (nope)
modify splash guards (nope)
spline drive lug nuts (nope)

Lol... that's a lot of "nope's". Its all good though, need to leave some things on the table so I have things to look forward to. Lets see 6 out of 17 completed! That would be a 35 "F". Good thing its not a class


On another note, got my alignment setup roughly done in my garage. Took some initial measurements and as I expected, the car is way out of balance.

I haven't done an alignment since all the suspension work so its not all that surprising.

Current specs are:
FL = 1/8" Toe in, 1.6~ negative camber
FR = 0" Toe, 2.3~ negative camber
RL = 1/8" Toe in, 2.3~ negative camber
RR = 1/8" Toe out, 1.5~ negative camber

As you can tell, the car is a bit out wack, lol. I could really tell with the new tires driving around the dragon!

I'm working on some new tools and polishing my measurements before making any adjustments. I want to read caster and corner weights as well, so I've got a few more things to do. Once its all done, its off to the professional laser machine to see how accurate my at-home setup is. Then its time to play with a few different setups...

[TitaniumTT]

Judging by your current trend.... I'll just go ahead and say I don't think your FC will be done by DGRR '12 either

On that note..... gimme a call when you get a chance about the brakes for the rear of said never to be finished FC.... and on that FC note.... maybe your FC can be done by the time your FC is ready to drive?

[WE3RX7]

Lol - I'm actually happy the RX8's list is so small. There really isn't much left I CAN do to the car minus FI or crazy body kits, etc. I'm going to finish up what I have on my list with maybe a few small items here and there and just enjoy beating it up on the track.

The FC project is definitely slow but I wouldn't say there isn't progress. I'll give you a call after this upcoming weekend. I may or may not have car funds left for this week, lol...

[TitaniumTT]

Oh jeez..... more toys I presume?

Speaking of beating it up at the track.... I think you nee to get yer ass, and anyone with a black RX8, or a quickspooling FD up to CT on Wednesday June 22nd for a little.... excuse me... ALOT of track fun @ Limerock on the 23rd

[WE3RX7]

Just dropped an axial short shifter in. Feels much tighter. 5th gear is far easier to find than before although I feel 6th and 4th are closer now in exchange, so we'll see how it goes. Whatever cuts .01 seconds off my lap times, lol...


Also should have a new ram air duct, reflect-a-gold wrapped modified airbox soon... trying to keep consistent air temps (or at least more consistent) during track days.

Some new suspension parts coming soon too...

[WE3RX7]

Soooo.... just a quickie update here. First off, wanted to thank Danny at Assaultech for the new parts.... a great guy to buy from!!

As many of you who know me are aware, I've been limping around on some fairly weak dampers lately. The driver's side front went limp about 6-8 months ago, but still seemed driveable for the time being, even had some race days on it... then, I lowered the car a bit more, increased damping and had a track day at VIR... well, the passenger side was apparently doing all the front end's heavy lifting and this is what I had to show for it:



Didn't have time prior to DGRR2012, so I took down the road anyways. On the trip, the rx8 achieved the loving nickname "cadillac". It was all I could do to maintain some driveability, although the oil was apparently hitting the tire on some left handed sweapers which made life a bit exciting...

SOOOO... being that I hope to be piloting the RX3 in most of the races next year, I decided it was time to step the RX8 down from "hardcore" racing setup to something a bit more refined for street driving and occasional HPDEs and Hyperdrives.



Went with the traditional Koni Yellow and TEIN S-Tech. The springs rates are much more tolerable on broken roadways and expansion joints than the JIC and the Koni damper, IMHO is a better damper than most anything else... especially worn out old JICS!!


All done and ready for the car....


And done...


Overall I'm very happy. This setup will still let me finish out my NASA-X NXC run for this season and prove useful on future track days, but also give me the opportunity to enjoy the car more on my daily driving and potholes, lol...


Now, back to work on the RX3 and FC... hopefully some good headway on both in the next few months...

[WE3RX7]

Giving this thread a little update...

I finished the 2012 NASA-X Championships back in October. Received 1st in NXC and 3rd in Overall season points.


Then, I partook in a "end of year send-off" hyperdrive at VIR...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIC0yq87pTw


So after a pretty full year (full for me) of track events and performance driving, my now aging RX8 is at 94K miles and its fair share of rash. I wanted to go through and do some upgrades and maintenance over the winter time.

Here's the winter list:
- Install new KOYO radiator
- Install new Samco coolant hoses
- Replace drive belts
- Rebuild and relocate coils (LS2 bracket I used before is breaking apart...)
- New plug wires and spark plugs
- New oil cooler lines (had to replace one already towards the end of the season)
- Relocate oil filter
- New front bumper
- "LeMans" styled headlight covers
- Fuel pump (2009 upgrade)
- Fuel filter
- Any vac hoses I find will be replaced with silicon
- New OEM rad fan

I'm currently swapping in the radiator now and discovered my rad fan is in the process of quitting on me, so I'm on hold until I locate a suitable replacement.

In general I want to clean up the engine bay as much as possible. Its pretty filthy in there now and I figure after all the maintenance this winter, I'm not going back in until the engine gives up which may be within the next 12-24 months knowing my luck, lol...

[WE3RX7]

Looks like some more repairs are in order. Have to replace my reinforcement bar now as well. In this process, I plan to repaint some of the under hood areas and rust-proof brackets, etc.

As its looking now, it'll be Feb before this car is on the road again!

As it sits now...



I did find a good deal on new radiator fans (OEM) so those should be here soon so I can at least complete the radiator swap portion of this winter project.

Next up is to get the new tie rods in, install new oil lines and coolers (OEM parts, no rust and coolers are in far better shape). Then modify the liners for the oil coolers and build a new undertray since mine has seen better days:



Thinking of building a new one using ABS plastic for more strength (don't care for the aluminum versions out there). Might try and build a splitter into the mix as well, we'll see...

[TitaniumTT]

Originally Posted by WE3RX7

Looks like some more repairs are in order. Have to replace my reinforcement bar now as well. In this process, I plan to repaint some of the under hood areas and rust-proof brackets, etc.

As its looking now, it'll be Feb before this car is on the road again!

As it sits now...
I did find a good deal on new radiator fans (OEM) so those should be here soon so I can at least complete the radiator swap portion of this winter project.

Next up is to get the new tie rods in, install new oil lines and coolers (OEM parts, no rust and coolers are in far better shape). Then modify the liners for the oil coolers and build a new undertray since mine has seen better days:



Thinking of building a new one using ABS plastic for more strength (don't care for the aluminum versions out there). Might try and build a splitter into the mix as well, we'll see...

That is still in way better shape than mine....

excuse me.... AL ones.... please point me in that direction via a link of some sorts

[TitaniumTT]

hmmmmmmmmmmmm..... I'll have to do a pre and post dyno with the 3" exhasut I plan on building in the next few weeks... what are your thoughts on power gain? Last time I dyno'ed the 8 it was @ 185 with some weak ass plugs and aging wires.... the makeshift replacement ones we threw on in June are still on there..... I think I'll swap plugs, rebuild the wires, I want to rewire the coils anyway, then I'll hit the dyno.... then I'll do the exhaust, then I'll dyno again.... what do you expect to gain going from a 2.5 to a 3"?

[WE3RX7]

I think its funny you are willing to build plug wires again

With the "fixes" you will hopefully be back at 194whp (I think thats right) although that busted cat may explain another reason you were down on the power last pull...

Going to larger 3" exhuast I'd expect to see you right at 198-200. That engine is still fresh and with the better exhaust it should make a few more.. that last RX8 made 198 or so up there with similar mods and weaker exhaust.


Side note... if I can get all these repairs done to the 8 in time, I'll jump up there about the time you're done with the new exhaust. I'd like to redyno and see if my engine is still healthy like before, lol. If it is, you'll be duplicating that 3" exhaust.

You putting any resonators in?

[WE3RX7]

The AL undertray:

http://www.rx8performance.com/produc...inum-undertray

I plan on basically building this same part, but still just using ABS plastic because its a ton cheaper and lighter (yes, I know.. I'm a racer and weight matters, lol)... the ABS version will probably cost about $30, lol...