DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Steve not going ***** out? I gotta see this...

tony_673

Well, I'm going, so there will be at least one Italian on the track.

RK

iTrader: (1)

It's nothing to do with Ledges vs. non-ledges. Just the unsupervised fun day vs a HPDE or the Beaverun Flat Out days.

Unsupervised Newbies = Dangerous

My first HPDE was at Nelsons and it's a much better course to learn how to drive (longer, faster, and more technical) then Beaver Run but it's also a little more dangerous. HPDE reduces the risk a lot by having an instructor in the car with you. Fundays not so much.

Steve I'll throw those HPS pads in my car in case you come up. And I'll keep 'em there so you can pick them up next time we get a chance to exchange 'em. My rotor purchase went by the wayside so I may not have those rotors machined until either the purchase gets back on track or the car goes into storage.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Anything worth doing is worth doing right*



*right: being defined as the easiest way or most fun.

megz

Definitely agree with you there. I guess I looked back at it and thought I was supervised lol.. I had Brian with me the entire time, and watched Scott in his MS6 tank it into a tirewall because it was his first time out...

Second thought Steve, go with Beaverun as the first drive for you. I'd be willing to bet that one of the people on Saturday will give you a ride out on the track especially if you haven't been out there yet..

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

"... like a virgin - touched for the very first time...."

IlikeEsses

All:

I agree with you all. I recently attended an SCCA PDX at Nelson Ledges that was very well controlled and run. Little risk to the cars unless you did something stupid. Fun Days, i am not so sure about.

Doug

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Welcome to the club Doug. Are you from this area or did you come just for the SCCA event? Going to be there on Sat for the fun day? Do you drive and 8, if so what do you have?

rotareriot

iTrader: (1)

alright guys i'm finally putting the final things through on selling my nav and i'm wondering on what i should buy with the money besides the lotek pod and gauges. i was looking at either Tein stech springs or a GReddy rear strut bar and i was leaning more towards the springs but i talked to john already and i heard it takes a good majority of a day to install em. anyone have any thoughts on it? im gonna have like 200$ for whatever to put in it.

Danc

iTrader: (1)

Axial Flow Short Shifter if you don't have one. You must get this mod. NOW.

RK

iTrader: (1)

I'd go with the AFE Short Shifter. Also the Mazdaspeed front strut tower bar is around that price and some Progress sway bars would help out if you really want some suspension mods.

I'd skip the springs unless you're planning on upgrading your struts within the year. The rear strut tower bar is almost pointless.

What did you decide on with the gauges? Don't forget to get the adapters. Would still recommend the RacingBeat oil and water sender adapters. Come to think of it I have all those mods.

rotareriot

iTrader: (1)

okay well whats so good about the short shifter? thought rx8's came stock with a "short" shifter technically. and whats the install like on one of those?

i ended up getting the lotek pod with cyberdyne digital water temp, oil temp, and oil pressure gauges. hopefully ill like em, just dont know how hard it is going to be to install those either

Danc

iTrader: (1)

The throw gets shorter than stock. It's night and day and likely the first mod you should ever really do. Plus the thing is rifle bolt sure. I can't really put into words why it kicks ***, just have faith and know that it does and buy one.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

The short shifter would install in about 30 minutes. Very easy.

Ryan is right, rear strut bar would be a cosmetic mod, or useful down the road to keep your subwoofer box in place

I don't have a short shifter because I always spend my money on other crap, but its been on my list for awhile. I tend to wait for a deal and try to buy non wear items used. But that's just cause I'm cheap.

IlikeEsses

Devil:

I am from Chagrin Falls and just found you guys. I am trying to read as much as possible to get advice if possible. Member of SCCA & NASA and will probably buy a car next year to go racing. Looking to get an RX7 2nd Gen built for ITS or E-Prod.

I took my stock RX8 out to Nelson and loved it. The car is wonderful. It really does not need tweaking to get a lot of performance out of it. The guys in the factory did one heck of a job. It understeers a bit, but I am sure they did it to keep the lawyers happy and folks out of trouble. The stock 8 gives you so much warning and lots of forgiveness, I almost hate to tweak it. But I am going to.

I am looking to do some changes to the suspension and still debating what I will do. The challenges I have are real simple. Do I need to corner weight the car or is it close enough? That will tell me if the coilovers are even worth doing. I can stick to springs (different rate from stock), sways & Links, and nice adjustable dampers. I want to make the changes and maintain a neutral attitude (or close to it) so I can fine-tune through adjustments to the bars and shocks.

Can folks list what they did from stock to their suspension (all the changes) and the results they are seeing?? Would love to know the effects on things like corner transitions, ability to drive with the accelerator, etc. If folks have driven Nelson, it would really help to know how the tweaked car reacts to the different corners there also.

Thanks to all of you. Your comments are always helpful to others.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Well you came to the right place for getting answers on that.

rotareriot

iTrader: (1)

okay well if its easy to install and what not, anyone know where i could find a good one? or which brand? you guys said axial flow and AFE, should i just go with that?

RK

iTrader: (1)

Saturday is the first day I'm taking it out after installing springs/shocks and a MS strut tower bar so I'll have a lot more to report then. Although if it's raining I'll probably take it pretty easy.

I've taken the car out stock at midohio and stock at Nelsons and then taken it out with progress sways (f&r), an alignment, and different wheels/tires. I believe I've kept it so it'll maintain the stock understeer bias and my plan on Saturday is to adjust the shocks (dspec 2-way) until I can get it neutral. I want to realign the car with a more aggressive, oversteer bias and head back towards the end of the year to see how much better the car drives when I can power through corners.

I've got 245 Hoosier comps on my stock wheels along with cobalt friction XR2/XR5 pads and those are obviously the two best mods to do for track work. Have 275 coopers on RPF1s for wet work and street duty. Figure bigger wheels help keep me from sliding off the damn road and the RPF1s are lighter than stock so the unsprung weight should be close to what I have with the smaller hoohoos and stock wheels.

We've got another guy who doesn't hang out on this forum who just bought and modded his 8 basically just for track duty. He's out of Columbus but seems to hang out in Cleveland a lot. Anyway a few of us from here along with non-8 folks had a big discussion on suspension tweeks from stock over here:

http://www.cleveland6club.com/phpBB2...pic.php?t=1746

My goal this Summer is just to get it slowly transitioned from slight understeer to slight oversteer by tweeking one mod each time I'm at the track. Shouldn't be all that difficult.

RK

iTrader: (1)

Yes. There's only one person who you buy it from:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-aftermarket-performance-modifications-23/another-axialflow-shifter-deal-157293/

The only other option is the MS Short Shifter but the Richard Paul Axial Flow Engineering Short Shifter has a shorter shift, is less expensive, and has been tweeked a bunch to the point that the thing is ridiculously perfect.

It's not as short of a throw as to cause you to mis-shift but once you go to it you never go back. I'm pretty sure I could remove every mod I've gotten and still love my car except for my Borla exhaust and my AFE shifter.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

^ you wouldn't miss your racing beat midpipe?


TJ: very few short shifters come up for sale in the FS section, and normally they're gone in around 10 minutes (not kidding). Your best bet is to buy new. And Axial Flow Engineering = AFE = Same product.

RK

iTrader: (1)

It'd feel like it was never there.

And for making me think about that on an otherwise great day.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Also, you have swine flu.

And a real question: Ryan - when you put your new sways on did you upgrade the endlinks?

docgatorx8er

iTrader: (10)

I'm confused. What is the brace they are talking about??

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Doc, they ran the offer with a Brake master cylinder brace that bolted onto your OEM front strut tower bar and "braced" the back of the master cylinder to prevent soft feeling brakes.

Ryan has essentially the same thing because mazdaspeed bars come with a brace piece on them.


2nd item down on this page:
http://axialflow.com/products.htm

RK

iTrader: (1)

My sways aren't new. I put them on around a year ago.

I don't have upgraded endlinks on the car but I have some RB endlinks for the front sitting around. At some point this Summer I'm gonna replace my front links but there's drilling involved so I need to be sure I'm good and hammered before I try something like that.

You don't necessarily need to upgrade the endlinks unless you lower the car. Although Jon proved that endlinks can break regardless of what you do to your suspension.