Hi all - I am an RX8 owner (as of yesterday) and new to the Pacific Northwest (I just relocated from the UK).

I'm keen to get this car onto track here. I live in Seattle - is PIR the only track in the area? Are there RX8-specific events or do I just roll up at organised trackdays? Are there any in the winter?

Any help appreciated (and hello),

Chris

 

Welcome to the Northwest!

Pacific Raceways is the closest track. Other tracks are Spokane Raceway Park and Portland International Raceway, but both are around 300 miles away. There aren't any RX-8 specific track days, but there are a number of clubs that do events. You can find the schedule for Pacific Raceways on their website (http://www.pacificraceways.com/), but currently they only have 2006 information. I don't know of any winter trackdays. I think they usually start sometime mid-spring. I did a track day with the Alfa club (http://www.nwalfaclub.com/) this last summer. If you haven't done events with them in the past you just need to tell them about prior track experience. If you don't have prior experience they require you to take one of their classes first.

It's great to have more people that will be doing track days. There weren't any other RX-8's at the last event I attended, and I only know of a few people that post here that do track days in their 8's. The more the merrier!

 

Great, many thanks - will keep an eye on the Pacific Raceway site. Is the track any good?

Chris

 

Skinless on the quick draw! I was just going to tell him to contact you when I got back from lunch!

Welcome to the RX-8 club!

 

Welcome Chris - I did a Track day with NWAlfa Club last month; nothing RX8-specific or sponsored happens

The track is fun - just don't go OFF. You'd have your choice of three landing zones: Down a cliff, into a hillside/cliff, or into concrete.

 

Pacific Raceways is pretty good. There is some elevation change which is always nice. As dmp said, there are definitely spots you don't want to go off. Search for Pacific Raceways on Youtube and you should find plenty of videos. I forgot to mention that there are also events at Bremerton. It's an old airport, not a real track, but they set up a course. It's a little cheaper to run ($100 vs $175). I've never run there (other than autocross) so I can't really comment on how good it is.

The RX-8 is a great track car. All you really need are some new brake pads. Some people (like dmp) have had problems with fuel starvation, so if that becomes an issue on your car you'd want to invest in an aftermarket fuel pump. Also, at the track there's a good chance your CEL (Check Engine Light) will come on due to occasional misfiring at high RPM. You can have it reset at most auto parts stores (such as Schucks).

Sorry I beat you to it Shaun.

 

$100 for bremerton? I've seen it for as cheap as $40. :D

 

To be honest $175 really isn't bad - most UK trackdays are nearer the $350-$400 mark.

I should be okay with no runoff as I'm more used to the Nürburgring. Glad to hear there's some elevation changes - elevation adds a fantastic element to any track and I've never understood why so many tracks are so flat.

Any particular brake pad recommendations or should I quit being lazy and search for them myself?

Chris

 

Brake pads: Axis Ultimates. I have 'em and LOVE 'em. At PR I could brake as deep as anybody; many cars w/ upgraded brakes, etc. www.adrenalineracing.com - ask for Eddie, and tell him darin said to get you a good deal on brake pads.

 

fwiw - my PR track day pics:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=track

 

I second that. I have Axxis Ultimates as well. This place ships out of Monroe, so they show up really quickly:

Front:
http://www.importrp.com/product.php?productid=11963

Rear:
http://www.importrp.com/product.php?productid=11966

This is where I bought them last time, but if I can get a deal from Eddie I'll have to do that next time.

 

Thing about Eddie - he's one of US...a racer at heart, and an all-around good guy. When my Teins were going to be late, he offered to drive my car down to his shop, install and align everything, then meet me at the track in time to run. He's Committed to customer service.

 

What did the Teins end up costing you?

 

As you've probably noticed, it's wet and cold out, so not many people run track days now. In the summer it's pretty active, and there's a good list of them here once people start scheduling stuff:

http://pnwms.akilla.net/

Trust me, it's full of stuff from March-October

I'm with the others on the Axxis Ultimates. They work great on and off track with no fade I have ever been able to detect.

Looks like there are getting to be more and more of us doing track days around Seattle. We should really try and hit one day all together once this year. I went twice this year and the only people I got to pass were in BMW's

 

Well if you want a track with alot of run off room you should come down to Portland. Fairly easy track with only a couple of places that My buddy Dave had a 8 (just sold it to someone here) and he went through pads like water until he found (can't remember name) something like comp 10 but he also is one of those guys that threw out the anchor at the very last moment before turn in. Most track days down here are 115-125 and no matter what you experience you need to run the 1st session as a novice if you haven't ran the track before.

 

I agree, I'd really like to attend an event that more 8's attend. If track days at Bremerton really get down around $40 then I'd definitely consider doing that early in the season, then Pacific Raceways when it's a little more likely the weather will be nice. My spare set of wheels showed up today. Now I just need to find some cheap race take-offs!

 

It would be great to get a bunch of 8's together for a track day. Count me in come spring time!

 

Proformance Racing School sponsors track days at PR on short notice all through the winter, when there's a window of clear weather. They are usually somewhat lightly attended, and good for working on skills. You have to either have done their basic school to do one of their days, or convince them that you're worthy, but they do a good job. The only real caveat is that the back side of the track gets slippery in the winter, with no light and lots of moisture combining to grow moss, or algae, or whatever.

BTW, akilla (of the PNW track/autocross/rally/rallycross schedule) is an RX-8 driver, both in autox and on the track.

And, finally, if you're going to track your car, and you are experienced, you'll need to replace the DOT3 brake fluid with DOT4 fluid, in addition to using better pads.

And, really finally <g>, you don't want to be driving Bremerton in the wet. I've done lots of autocrosses there, in both wet and dry, and there's stuff on the asphalt which gets really slippery in the wet. Even in the dry, Bremerton isn't even vaguely comparable to PR as a fun and challenging course. They should charge only $40 for a track day there.