tpodowd

My first visit to a track in my 8 was last weekend at Tsukuba TC 2000. It was a RX7 and RX8 meet. Here are some of the pics of myself and a mate in our 8s.

http://uwillsee.com/pics2/?galerie=T...Circuit%202000

Gallery is backwards unfortunately - shoganai...

Tom.

shakRpahX8

what were you guys doing in the first picture?

djmano

i believe that is the part where you meet your fellow rotary enthusiasts and head butt them in jubulation.

all in the name of rotary power baby.

UFGator12

You don't look Japanese to me.

EAST MOON

That's cool, bro :D

roywhitep5

i see 2 gaijin in that 1st pic

XDEEDUBBX

that would be a dream to run my 8 at tsukuba. What lap times were you running?

IZoomZoomI

im jealous...


bryan he posted lap times at the bottom of the page.

tpodowd

Yep. Can't say that I'm that Japanese :-) Tsukuba is a pretty short but tough little circuit. Barriers seem awful close should you make a mistake. It being my first time to really drive at speed and brake hard while trying to manage gear changes at the same time with all the other cars and barriers around - I made lots of mistakes... Next time, I'm going to try one press on the DSC. This time it was fully on. Not sure if it saved my *** or slowed me down. Probably the former at least in the first 2 sessions. I was much smoother in the 3rd session.

On GT4 - LOL - my best time in the 8 around Tsukuba is 1'05.288. I wonder what an unmodified 8 can do in real life. I did a best of 1'15.888. and considering I was ***** out on the straights I'm wondering how to beat that GT4 time. I think I can beat my real time with some smoother driving which will come with more practice.

Actually, GT4 was a pretty good replica of what it was like in real life. Change ups and speed was around the same at the same points. In real life you drift sideways something amazing around the sweeping left after the Dunlop bend. In real life, the noise and g-force intoxicates you. I loved my racing beat exhaust and long revving rotary. Slapping her back into 2nd was amazing in the AFE short shifter. Just a few non-performance mods to put a smile on daily life.

My brakes have been better than before I went to the track though :D They feel more sluggish like it takes a harder press to slow you down now. What's the likely cause of that? Is it brake pads or other? Front tires have also been better... Definitely going to go again though!

Tom.

tpodowd

Oh and first photo is actually the last. That would be the prize giving bit for the fastest laptimes - where I got nothing :D

tpodowd

Hey East Moon! Long time no see. Maybe meet up again sometime.

XDEEDUBBX

thats a pretty good laptime. good job man

RotaryRider36

wow, kudos to you man. Wish I had the good fortune to drive on Tsukuba. Im very envious right now. I hope it was all its cracked up to be. Were there any turbo'd 8's running that day and if so lap times? Just curious.
P.S. 1:15 sounds pretty good to me for a first timer out at a track such as tsukuba. congrats

BigOLundh

iTrader: (1)

Lucky!!!
I'm So Jealous

dmc27

That looks like a sh*tload of fun. Thanks for posting - and adding to my 'to do' list.
Who put that 8 together? They put the steering wheel on the wrong side.

tpodowd

I liked the course because it was tight and you couldn't get enough speed up to really kill yourself especially in a standard 8. The fastest 8 out there on the day did a time of 1'06.860. Next was 1'08.920. Next a few around late 1'09 and 1'10. Slowest on the day was 1'20.774. There was an auto at 1'11.916 so I've a lot of work todo I haven't a clue if there were any turbos in the pack. Nobody really appeared to zoom past on the straights but I was often passed on corners while fighting my down shifts. I was pretty excited to get the time I did all things considered. Looking forward to the next day out and hitting more apex. I also plan to pay a lot more attention to what everyone else is running. Tires, suspension etc. I was just rather blown away by whole event on the day to pay much attention to others.

Tom.

takahashi

That is called brake fade Tom. That is when the pad hotted up during track times.

If it is after the track day, and still happening. Check your fluid - you may have boiled it. Or more simply - you have a bubble in your brake line - it happens when the water content of the brake fluid (gasp) evaporate and create a bubble it will stay in the line and when you compress the cylinder - it feels like a firm sponge.



BTW I have the pics - I am so jealous that you can run in a famous circuit in Japan. I yet gone to Philip Island yet... *(no money to pay for it). I have just been around the Winton raceway and Sandown raceway most times.

Don't worry about the time - learn and see your time drops. When you are driving long enough you will see yourself going to a new circuit and do a very good time at your 1st visit.

Passing on corners??? :freak_ani: any accidents?

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

What's the guy in the RX7 doing a 360 for?

supergoat

VERY cool. That's one of my favorite tracks in GT4, I can only imagine how much fun it is in real life.

8 lover in Japan

Hey Tom. hajimemashite. looks like you had an absolute ball. i actually live in fukushima ken, nihonmatsu shi. ebisu circuit is real close..like 15 mins drive from my place. ichiyou, im a drifter...gets a bit boring though after a while...and constantly think im gonna lose it into its countless walls, pot holes and dirt banks...so i wanna try grip (probably same amount of risk deshou kedo). i wouldnt dare drift a sweet car like the 8. im in love with the 8... took one for a test drive the other day. how much did you get yours for? did you get it brand new? how did it keep up with the fd's and fc's on the track? how many gaijin rx8 owners do you know in Nihon? thanks, Stu

tpodowd

Hey Takahashi,

My mate boiled his fluid with DOT3, so we both put in DOT4 before the trip. Can't imagine boiling that but I guess its possible. Haven't actually spent too much time in the 8 since as I was away on biz. Looking forward to taking her out this weekend and checking her out again.

Regarding passing on corners... a few people went off but nothing serious. I was passed many times as I locked the car up on the outside, while trying to learn heel'n'toe downshifts. I usually just let them by if they were faster than me so as not to hold anyone up while I was learning and I think we were all safer with them ahead :-)

Tom.

takahashi

Normal DOT 4 goes up to around 180 degree only. I use Motul RBF 600 (I am sure you can get it in Japan). Otherwise I am sure something DOT 4 with a higher rating will be fine. DOT 5 is good but I prefer simplier DOT4.

Superautobarc can help you I think. But I think bleeding the line will help since I am 99% sure you have bubbles in your line.

Time to upgrade your pad too.

MazdaSpeed is good and easy to get.
Project Mu, Endless, Seido-Ya, Autoexe, IDI ... there are so many too choose from. I will give Seido-Ya a go - they go from 0 - 900 degree and friendly to rotor and recent RevSpeed (April) rated it very highly.

tpodowd

Hajimemashite! What you drifting in?

Got my 8 2 years ago for 3 million. It was 1 year old. Low build number (179 as I recall). Loved it the minute I saw it. Then I made the mistake of driving it and well, that was that. There used to be 3 gaijin 8 owners that I knew about in Tokyo. 2 remaining now. We go out now and again around the twisties with some other mates. (S2K, Cayman, 911)

As for the 7s, you couldn't match them around the track. Fastest time that day was 59 seconds! R-Magic of course. The 8s seemed slow in comparison. We were split into 3 groups, A,B and C. I was in C. The fast cars were in A and B :D There was 1 8 in group B. Thats the dude that did 1'06.

I'm going to try do more track days this year. If I make it up your way, will give you a PM. Let me know if you are ever around Tokyo. Can hook up for beer.

Tom.

tpodowd

Wow. Thanks for the advice. Will let you know how it goes... Yeah been thinking about pads also. I figure one more track day on them and then I'll upgrade. All depends on how the brakes feel this weekend though...

Tom.

8 lover in Japan

I drift in a A31 cefiro. it does the job well. all up it cost about 100000yen. its just for track use though. my in-laws live a stones throw away so i leave it there.
where abouts in tokyo do you live? they have a rotary and roadster day at ebisu one day a year! (R&R) maybe you know. i forget when it is exactly but if you go, give me a yell. last year it was in September. my Aussie mate that lives here too has an FC so he'll probably make an appearance.