HOW I SPENT MY WEEKEND : ROTARY REVOLUTION 2004
by Ronald Kornmiller
RX-8 Tri-State Club Member
http://www.rx8tristateclub.com/

Having been goaded into attending the Rotary Revolution by an unkind post on the RX-8 Club forum chiding RX-8 owners that they didn't seem to want to be represented there, I registered to attend first and then worried about the logistics. Not wise but that is the way I went. I enlisted my 21-year-old son, Brian, to co-drive on the way out and back. He was less than ecstatic about the long haul (712 miles each way according to MapQuest) but went with hopes of salvaging some fun experiences. We spent two 7-hour days getting there and planned to take the reverse route back but a fluke in the GPS/Mapping Software caused the return route to extend an additional 120 miles out of the way. Oh, well.

We landed the last available room (we were told) at the Super 8 Motel, arriving Friday night just in time to run across the street to Lee's Inn to get our meal tickets, only to find that the ticket issuing person had come and gone. Half of the Inn's parking lot was full of rotary-engined cars - RX-7's of every generation and more than a couple of RX-8's. Many hoods were raised to show off the fine chrome work and customizing that the owners had done. One owner even shoehorned an 8 cylinder engine into the engine compartment of a "7". He did have to cut a hole in the hood for the air cleaner. Meanwhile, a dint of searching lead to the meal tickets at the Hog Heaven restaurant. The crowd waxed and waned there, chowing down on chicken and pork barbeque sandwiches and "adult beverages". The kickoff meeting was held that night at 9:30 PM, just after the rainy season settled in for the weekend. The Budweiser Girls were present to lend their beauty to the event. Mike announced the sponsors and introduced John Doonan of Mazda North America who presented Mike and Aaron with rotary watches and The Making Of The Rx-8 coffee table book, for organizing the event. The official guide with agenda, maps, sponsors, and other important details was handed out to registered participants.

Bright and early-errr, OK, murky and drizzly and early Saturday morning, we set out from the motels and converged on the Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) for an 8:00 AM tech inspection while the crew set up the cones and timers for the autocross event. It was a glorious sight amid the downpour, all those rotary vehicles. A veritable rainbow of colors and equipment options formed a feast for the eyes. Vendors set up tents from which to pitch their wares, and Mazda offered test rides in their newest Mazda 3, 6, and RX-8. The drivers' meeting was conducted under the grandstands that served to moderate the deluge. The first grins of the day were offered by Mike, who announced that his engine had blown the prior night and that he would not be able to directly participate in the fruits of his labor. Bummer! He stated that we were about to experience first hand what our treasured rotary's were really designed to do - handle corners and curves at a clip. The drivers walked the autocross course and learned the meanings of various cone groupings and the intended path through the maze. At last count, about 275 cars filled the lots, many waiting their turns to go though the timed autocross course. I drew car number 245. The wait extended almost an hour between runs at times. Each run takes less than a minute but the grin factor was huge. I found I could not concentrate on gages and just focused on spinning the steering wheel and navigating the cones, letting the automatic handle the RPM's. After the finish line, a worker relayed the elapsed time and I rejoined the line for another run. I tried the course with DSC turned on and off and couldn't be sure the results were affected either way. At the end of the official run-off of the top ten cars, cash prizes from a sponsor went to the top 3 finishing cars. Late in the day, the crew took a much-deserved break, and I went back to the motel to pick up my long-ignored son. We returned to the course just in time to make one last run. He got to videotape the final lap of the day and got a major thrill. Although all the runs after the break were fun runs, I managed to score a 53:454 seconds, which would have placed me in 13th position out of all the cars. Not bad for a stock RX-8 4AT. Fastest 1st gen RX-7 was #180 Brian 83 Blue time 51.778; Fastest 2nd gen RX-7 was #139 Jim 87 Black time 48.852; fastest 3rd gen RX-7 was #120 Jeff 93 Red time 48.686 and the fastest RX-8 was #170 Luke 04 Black 51.066. Positions 4-13 overall were clustered in the 53.xxx second range so I feel we were really competitive. I will try to convert the VHS-C recording to an MPEG file I can share on-line. Due to the downpour, drag racing was cancelled for the day although at one point, there was a dry spell and the track crew tried to dry it off long enough to get some runs in but I am not sure that ever happened. Dinner was catered and sponsored at the Photo Finish Grill and loads of burgers, brats and dogs were consumed with gusto. Then it was back to the motel for some rest.

Sunday dawned misty/drizzly again but it was off to the IRP for 7:00 AM tech inspection for the High Speed Driving Class and Road Course. Half of the registered 38 cars/drivers showed up for class. One can only guess that the no-shows were running those special sugar tires that melt in the rain. We were invited to "walk the track" which turned out to mean "ride in the back of a pickup truck bed at about 30 MPH in the freezing drizzle" to see our first road course up close and personal. The driver stopped here and there to point out specific "challenges" that the course had to offer. The classroom instructor proudly proclaimed this road course as THE most technically challenging road course in USA. Now this is the stuff of dreams! Classes by a professional driver on vehicle dynamics, braking and cornering, interspersed with driving with an instructor on the road course at speed! Helmets in place, helmet intercom systems connecting you with your instructor switched on, and windows down - and it was off to demonstrate our newly acquired knowledge from the classroom. The flagman at the entry gate to the course waved us onto the track. And we were off and running. The grin factor was so high, my cheeks hurt from pressing against the helmet liner so forcefully. Man, what a rush! The instructor's voice was constant during the first few runs but later quieted unless needed in the later runs. I completed the first 3 or 4 sets of laps using the automatic and focusing just on the "line", apexing, braking and turning points. The last set I did use the manual mode, leaving it in 3rd for all but two corners when 2nd gave an extra boost. I found I could just about redline the 3rd gear at the end of the first straightaway at about 99 mph, then take turn 1 at 78. The back straight posed some mental limitations - blasting into the turn cones at 90 and abrupt braking caused me some initial concerns but as I learned that the RX-8 was willing and able, I got over most of the concerns. After a mere 20 minutes or so of intense driving, we pitted and went back to class. Then back out on the course. My excellent instructor, Jeff, gave me a ride in his BMW and showed me how it should be done. Another WOW experience! More vendors set up in the pit area to show their wares. Lunch was a catered and sponsored (and appreciated) meal. Finally the sun made an appearance and the clouds broke up, the track dried out, and the slick in the drag strip starting line became less hazardous. Drivers were allowed to have some helmet-less 55 MPH limited laps so again I was out on the course. It was tough to mind the limit, just like on regular roads. I pitted after a few laps and picked up Brian who again got to videotape the course, and again, I hope to digitize the tape into MPEG to share.

Finally, late Sunday afternoon, amid the bright warm sunshine, we had to leave and begin our return trek. I had all I could do to resist driving as though I were still on the road course but we had been warned that the local gendarmes knew well enough that the track was in use and that they could swell their coffers at our expense if we wanted. So I resisted the need for speed. The only rotary I saw on the way home was "1 LITER" RX-7 who passed me while still in the Indy area. Returning to NJ in the rain that greeted us at the state line made me feel at home again. Fuel economy averaged 23.2 MPG out there, 21.7 coming back, and 9.8 on the autocross and 9.4 on the road course.

I heartily recommend all RX-8 owners to participate in such an event if it happens again (the jury is still out since the organizers are worn out and frazzled from the experience). Mike and Aaron did a fine job of putting the auto events together and their volunteers did a great job of making the event a reality. I know I will treasure this experience forever.

 

Good post. You can always rely on Ron for good detailed articles!

Just so everyone knows, we are signing up those interested in attending through the RX-8 Tri-State Club. For full information, check out :

http://www.rx8tristateclub.com/rx8me...ary_rev_05.asp

Best Regards

Wayne