Hey all,

Just an information call out to all our canadian RX8ers that track their car. Just wanted to see what everyone's maintenance is like. I tracked my car 4 times this summer and:

-I put new T1R's on in April, they are already almost down onto the 1st set of wear bars
-Put new coils on in April also. Already all 4 of them have burn marks on the bottom
-The plugs are starting to get huge gaps (not helping the coils I bet), and the #1rotor leading plug looks like it was driven over by a truck while red hot. All plugs are a little burnt looking though.
-Put on new rear pads and rotors in May, put on a 2nd set in September. The 1st set was down to 3% pad, and the rotor was super-thin.

I have put on about 24,000km since April, about 1250km of total track mileage. Luckily these parts can be bought pretty cheap from the states. But wondering if others have similar maintenance.

Juergen

 

I auto-x'd 5 events, got 2 sets of pads for free, but I haven't put the other set on yet. Stock tires are at the wear limit, and didn't really have that much to start. other than that, just the regular 5ishK oil changes.

 

75K with about 800k track.
Dealer replaced leading plugs under recall - despite asking to see them - they didn't keep them.
I replaced the trailing plugs - look ok.
Coils? No issues - pulls well to beep.
Brakes - measured rotors recently - all within service limits for thickness, and runout was non-existant.
Front Pads - replaced under recall - pad material does deposit on rotors after repeated braking - they are street pads, not track pads after all.
Rear - still stock.

Tires - Shannonville is tough, Mosport is easy on tires and brakes.

Only issue is coolant occasionally weeps out - level is good.

Car is stock - running RE050A PP 245/40/18's on 18x8.5 wheels.
Admittedly too much tire for stock suspension - I'd say grip levels are 10-20% higher (*** meter) than the 225's of the RE040's.

Fluids all good - Brake fluid changed yearly, diff and trans using redline.
Coolant still factory - clean though.

No plans for any work except to inspect the suspension bits - tie rods, wheel bearings, ball joints etc, for play.

Zoom Zoom -

 

I went through a set of a032s, this year, went to shaved RA-1s.
I went through a record number of brake pads this year.
1 set of EBC reds (never ever get these, they lasted me two lapping days, wasn't even running a solo event and a total of gasp 1700kms)
1 set of Hawk HP+
now I"m on a set of OEM pads for the winter, seems to last longer hahahaha
2 sets of rears
2 rear rotors
ugh, numerous brake fluid bleeds
I must've gone to the track around 6 or 7 times this year since my engine went and I had some downtime. Last year I went almost 20 times and my brakes lasted way longer on my project mu front pads

 

I've been to 6 track days this summer and haven't done a thing besides check my lug nut torque. My brake pedal is a little softer than it used to be. When you guys bleed your brakes do you do it yourself or have it done somewhere?

 

I like to have a professional bleed my brakes. I am just personally not comfortable doing it. I run Motul 5.1 fluid which has lasted really well. No fading, even when the pads are smoking.

 

I bleed my own brakes.
I did have a bit of a Gotcha though the first time - when I took off all the brakes to paint the calipers - the fluid basically all flushed out, and turns out the only real way to bleed the brakes is by having the engine on for the booster to work.

I bled the brakes with the engine off - starting at the master cylinder (2004) and then RR, LR, RF, LF. When I turned on the car - the pedal was really soft. Bled with the engine running - and nice firm pedal.

I don't really understand this.

As for fluid change - I think I'll pay someone to do it with a proper vacuum system that flushes, cleans, and replaces the fluid. This is the only way to ensure all the old fluid is gone.

Running the ATE super blue stuff now - and I noticed that the new mixes with the amber really well - I think my flush replaced only 50-60% of the old fluid by doing that. So because of this - I'll pay for the proper flush system.

One thing you don't want to do is let the system run dry.