It's just frustrating... urgh lol... there are 3 of us in STX and 5 of them in STR. In the end of the day our fastest was 1.8 seconds slower than their best....
Now discuss. Why?
end rant/

Curbweight? 2850lbs vs. 3000lbs?


btw

Soccer mom goes auto-x :D

 

Your comparison is invalid no matter which way you look at it.

 

S2000 is a 2-seater and lighter, that's why.

 

time to gut the 8,,,

weight has a big deal, unless your pushing ponys, but then to much can get you into slower times...

 

Auto-x speed is greatly determined by tires.

I'm wagering they had DOT slicks and you had "sporty" tires

 

Nah, both classes are street touring which mandates street tires, no r comps allowed

 

you can use DOT slicks in even stock classes FYI

http://www.google.com/search?q=kumho...w=1024&bih=582

This is a legal "street" (DOT) tire

 

Hmm looked up the rules and your right, the 140 treadwear is going to be a huge limiting factor in your class for tires.

Sorry I usually ran B stock or SM, didn't realized ST had that limitation

What kind of tires and wheels are you running right now?

Rubber on the road is a HUGE factor in Autox, having a good set of tires and light wheels can give a huge advantage

More importantly what are they running?

 

Hey I was only .5 seconds behind the first place STR S2000 CR this past weekend on day 1...At a National event...

I wouldnt say they are 2 seconds faster...more in the 1 second range...

And if you want to see why...Drive one, I have and they are faster.

 

I'm running on Ultra High Per All-Season, and my times are about 10 seconds than the fastest running RX-8.

and they all laugh at me >_<

I can't help it, I am not going to throw my set of All season away thats not even 2 years old.

 

Then again, a huge part of auto-x comes from the driver. Maybe they were just better drivers lol.

Actually, when I come to think about it. I think it's the course.
The event today was done on a Kart track, so it was more like a mini road course rather than a normal auto-x track. The S2000 might indeed be faster.
Map

Anyhow... Just wonderin' lol Must be a reason why the STR class is slotted above STX

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkIMemNkC34

Here's my run, granted it's my only my 3rd event :P

 

Not surprising at all, the 8 has always been a slower car compared to the S2000 in stock form as evident in the 2+ years episodes of Best Motoring videos. The Honda has been a contender in every race it appears in against the likes of 350Z HR, BMW Z4, Cayman, etc and indeed score a better lap time than these cars.

The RX-8 on the other hand always end up last or second last in every race in stock form and in A-Spec form (R3 equivalent) only manages to beat European Hot hatches such as Megane Sport, etc. In brief it suck ***** HARD...

Can't comment much on modded RX-8 but the major factor of most race in BMI I've seen is the crappy second and third gear ratio that doesn't do crap for corner exit acceleration (losing to a Integra Type R in corner exit).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKjCU...03B9EBE4493A19

 

Is your car auto or manual?

 

in Stock class autox trim they are down near 2600 lbs

 

It clearly looks manual. There are no silver buttons on his steering wheel.

 

Its the car on your dash slowing you down.

Actually that looks like a fun little course, I bet you had a blast.

 

It's 'cause you drive like my nan

 

You could have shaved a little time off by driving a better line.

 

Wow, what a fun course. I wish we had that.

 

Mazda had wrong gearing. In Mazdaspeed version they have 4.777, it was suggested by Motoharu Kurosawa , he said the car has no torque and you're using 4.3 as final gear ??? use at least 4.7.

with 4.777 at least it can pick up a little bit faster, make it looks "better" against other cars like S2K.

Weight is another problem with our 8, even just 2-300 lbs that's a BIG difference.

 

Doesn't the late R3 have 4.777 final gear from the factory?
I think the first gear is shorter too.

 

Don't feel bad, dezau. It's all good when you're having fun and learning at the same time. After all, that's what it's about.

 

Forgot to add, if we have the "sport" package with cloth seat and no moonroof, it automatically take about 200 lbs off the car ... that's a big difference.

Now it makes me wanna treat my car in ...

 

Right, leather power seat is probably about 50 lbs each and manual cloth seat would probably be less than 20 lbs each.

Glass moonroof and motor is probably about 50 lbs also of TOP weighting. I'm not sure if moonroof somewhat compromises rigidity in the RX-8 - not sure.