Last Friday I went with a friend to Streets of Willow Springs in Rosamond, CA through SpeedVentures for my first track event. It was just plain awesome to finally test the potential of the 8 on the track!!! There were a good number of Evos, STi's, S2000s, Elises, and Corvettes there. Tough competition! I consider myself an above-average driver, and was able to pass some cars like a Boxster, G35, Elise, gutted roll-caged miatas, etc. but was usually passed by corvettes, S2000s, and STis. There was this guy in an NSX that was pissing off everyone because his driving sucked and he never pointed by anyone. He would also go off track at times and throw rocks at the people behind him. I was on his tail the entire time for my first run and a line of cars just formed behind me. Besides that, everyone got along well and we all had unforgettable fun at the track.

Here were the specs for my 05 RX-8 6-speed GT (fully loaded):

Racing Beat springs/sway bars
Tokico D-spec shocks 2 turns out front, 3 turns out back
-1 deg front camber, -1.5 rear camber, 0 toe, 5.8 deg caster
Racing Beat Revi intake
Racing Beat oil cooler and radiator screens
Enkei RPF1 18x9.5 wheels
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-3D 245/40/R18 tires
35 psi all around (cold), was around ~38 psi hot after 1 run
50/50 coolant
Goodridge stainless steel brake lines
Ate Super Blue brake fluid
Hawk HPS brake pads

There were 5 runs total, each being 25 minutes long. Me and my friend in his stock 06 Civic Si (with Axis Ultimate street pads and Kuhmo Ecsta MX) did 4 runs. The times aren't posted on the SpeedVentures site yet, but my best times were 1:40.xxx, 1:38.xxx, 1:37.6xx, and 1:37.11x. My friend did quite well with his times being 1:42.xxx, 1:40.xxx, 1:38.xxx, and 1:37.6xx. Ambient temps were 80 deg F at 12pm, 86 deg F at 3pm (peak temp). A very nice day for the track!

I would like to share some important experiences I had with any of you guys who are interested in tracking:
- The car started to overheat during my second run after the 5th lap. The temperature gauge climbed steadily to about 2/3 up the temp gauge, so I got scared and pitted my car for the rest of the run. Later I found that if I did a cool-off lap, the temperature goes back to normal pretty quickly and I could do another 4 laps before it would shoot up again. Keep in mind I had the Racing Beat screens installed, which impedes some airflow, as well as 50/50 coolant. Next time I will try 70/30 and water wetter to see if that helps.
- I experienced fuel starvation issues when the gas tank had around 2-3 gallons of fuel left. The fuel cuts would happen randomly and abruptly, not always during a turn, but on straights as well. This can be very dangerous if it happens at the wrong moment, causing throttle-lift like oversteer. The issue intensified as the fuel went down further, and it was getting really bad when the fuel reached around the bottom tick on the fuel gauge. I would recommend to have at least a quarter tank of fuel before each run to avoid these issues.
- The tires took some beating, with some of the rubber literally melting off and scattering little globs of rubber all around my rims, but they were still in pretty good shape after the 4 runs. My friend's Kuhmo MXs faired much worse in this regard. His front tires with only 5,000 miles were completely shot, you couldn't even recognize the tread pattern anymore. A big chunk (about 8 in long) of the tread on a rear tire actually fell off, exposing the steel wire! Very scary!
-The brakes were excellent!! With the stainless steel lines, Hawk HPS pads, and good brake fluid, the braking was very strong, pedal feel firm, and never faded during my runs. I felt very confident bringing the 8 down from high speeds for upcoming turns.
- The car felt very balanced with the -1 front -1.5 rear camber, 38 psi in the tires all around. I could throw it into corners, lifting the throttle slightly, and all 4 tires will slide at the same time! There is a slight hint of understeer sometimes, which is fine with me. The tires had tenacious grip, and I never felt like I was losing control. DSC helped me alot with understeer if I went into the skidpad turn too hot after the main straight.
-It would be nice to have some racing seats instead of the leather seats. I was constantly fighting to keep my butt planted in my seat as I threw the cars at maximum G's through the turns (especially the bowl turn). My lower back was bearing all the effort of holding me in place, so I got a good workout there. The slippery seats also made it hard to properly heel-toe downshift, so I found it easier to rev-match instead.
-Against my friend in his Si, I was definitely faster in the turns and better in braking, so I was on his tail throughout most of the track. However, the straight-line acceleration was about the same, so I never really gained or lost anything on the straights. Pretty quick car that Si!
-I used both 91 and 100 octane fuel ($6.00/gallon, ouch!) and found no discernable difference. 91 all the way next time.

Some pictures from the event. Shame that I couldn't get any pictures of me driving!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200766.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200755.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200763.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200783.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200787.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200775.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200770.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200757.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200758.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200760.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200805.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200816.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200820.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200822.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200829.jpg
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...3/P1200817.jpg

360 of the paddock area:
http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u...t=P1200834.flv

The track:

 

Those are good track times I was getting a consisant lap each time of 1:37 and best was 1:36.

This was counter clockwise.

Same here, car got real hot but she handled it well.

The cone was in the middle of the S curve so we had to go slow through there. It was like an Auto X course.

And the end of the straight had so many stones it pitted the windshield and car.

After that I couldn't tail gate and then sling shot past the cars out of the corner.

I wish they would clean that track
I also wish they would remove some of those boulders off track.

They are hell on the underside of the car.

 

Sounds like alot of fun.