I was on vacation this past weekend, I drove from NJ to Florida (in 14hours) and then from FL to St. Louis Missouri. The car held up great, as for me my *** is sore like you wouldn't believe. I stayed with Ryan Scott (your webmaster) in St.Loui and we covered the NHRA Summit at Gateway for Rxtuner.

I'm a drag rookie, never done it before but figured what the hell i might as well, i put having to drive the car home 900miles and 13hours the next morning on the backburner. I lowered the tire pressure as per ITO's guidance over the phone to 19psi and went out for my first run HORRRRRRRIBLE wheel hop I had to shift into 2nd before it would stop. This was Launching at 7.5krpm WITH feathering. The track just had too much traction on top of that sticky **** they spray on for the Pro Guys. I ended up doing 2 more runs with the 19psi and launching lower and the best time i could squeak out was a 14.9. Felt really bad about this because a 350Z ran a 14.1/14.2 in the lane next to me twice and he wasn't around for my 2 runs on Sunday (here it comes) :D

So going against experience i decided to raise my tire pressure up to stock recommendation my thinking being that was what the stock suspension is set up for, hence less chance for wheel hop.

FYI i did short burnouts on water before the run. 93 Octane, Half a tank of gas and, 50lbs extra worth of traveling **** i had in the car.

BAM first run 14.703@93.90mph felt really good about that because a G35 ran a 14.8 right before me had the most pissed off look on his face

So im feeling lucky i know the car has more in it i can feel it. BAM second run 8000k feather then drop spin the tires a little bit more then the last run and go. Had a higher 60ft on this run by only .015 of a second but the extra time i took to keep the engine in the higher part of the powerband catapulted me to a 14.58@94.55mph.

Now if i didn't have to drive this car 900miles the next day i would have tried again, but after that run i got a nice whiff of clutch and decided to call it a day and be happy with 14.5 but not to talk smack or anything like the but i think i could have ran 14.3-14.4 based on ever single one of my passes going down in ET. On top that of my shift to 4th could have been better.
As well as the Track temp being approx 90deg F the extra crap in my car and the extra gas i had in the tank.

Hope this shuts most of you up about how only guy that can run this car to 14.5-3 is ITO because he runs "race gas" and "powershifts" and "is a pro drag racer."

The Timeslip and picture of it on my car:

Btw i also got 27mpg on the trip home :p

 

Nice!

So much for everyones theory that only pre-production cars can get those numbers. I guess lowering the psi is just not the way to go.

 

congrats you rookie.. now that you've gotten a taste for drag racing let me know when you want to meet up and test at englishtown..

 

WOW, I can't believe someone finally isn't just talking #s without hard evidence. Congratulations on a good run, and thanks for posting a timeslip to prove it.

 

I see you have it in for me.. I said 240rwhp and I had someone post the dyno sheet. I said byebye 14.3 and it did not happened. You want me to tell you it did when it did not happen? I was going to go the extra mile and scann my december 21 2003 time slip but with so much love in this forum I might just burn it..

 

Ito, this was not a shot at you...it was a shot at members in general here that say they do certain runs or say they dyno certain numbers, but then post nothing to prove it. This is essentially why street racing is not condoned here on this forum...since they are usually BS...which is why track racing is OK because it is a controlled environment with specific #s that can back your race.

That is why I applaud Polak's run and his posting of the timeslip.

But.....he did post this thread AFTER he did the run, not before. That way he doesn't get called out for it if he didn't do well that day.

 

look here dude..no one has to post anything...i know for one i most likely won't, I for one am not a Drag stripper...but the times i have run on the drag strip I've come up with some pretty good #'s and some pretty $hitty #'s also...but it's people like you skeptics that keep other members, that are just out to push the car to it's limit and see what they can come up with, from posting...i'm not out to prove anything to YOU and i'm sure most including Ito are just offering up information that they have encountered along the way during their own testing...people who "call out" others are just to damn chicken **** to do it themselves and have to have their hand held with everything...

perfect line from a movie...

"You could take a good look at a T-bone by sticking your head up a bull's ***, but wouldn't you rather take the butcher's word for it?"

 

nice run mark
im call you up this week, see ya sunday.

 

Good Job, Polak

Evil

 

Just backing up what he said ... I saw it all. Those are some pretty good numbers if you ask me, especially for his first time ever at a track.

 

excellent numbers

 

Good one Polak!

 

I have hit 14.38 on my first and only run about 3 months ago and my 8 is a stock base model with falken azenzi'z on 17" le37'z. I don't drag the 8 at all but I race in solo and I weigh like 150lbs. I had no Idea that my time is anything to be proud of cause my fwd mx-3 2.5 klze v6 get constent mid to high 13z all n/a!!!!!

 

i agree...good job. your time looks like a real timeslip unlike someone else. :p good job on the launch too keep up the good work.

 

not stock as you have changed tire/tire size which changed your grip/gearing. ITO and Polak did those numbers with factory tires. their cars are also heavier since neither is the base model.

 

If you had read the threads here about calling someone who runs low 14s on an RX8 a fluke, liar, or a freak, you would know what Polak is talking about. Good for you for running 14.38. Obviously, nobody knows you and so people have never heard of it. If there was more RX-8's like yours, Polak's, Hymee's, and Ito's running low 14s those skeptics would have STFU a long time ago.

 

Very nice Polak! First time out and you matched what Car and Driver, MotorTrend, and Road&Track all got for their 1/4 mi. (the latter 2 mags with full production cars). I had no doubts the car could do it, but most won't risk the 7.5K launches to get it. If you could get 14.5 as a first time rookie, your car is surely capable of better times.

Very interesting how the normal inflation tires gave you the best times. Maybe that's the secret!

 

wow an 8k drop... thats a ton on wheel spin. You have the cz unit don't you polak?

 

oh yeah hes not stock

 

No I'm Stock all the way my Canzoomer unit never produced any significant HP (see my article in the July Issue of RXtuner) its in my Garage awaiting my decision as to what to do with it.

As for the Wheel spin i think the stickiness of the track helped with that, at no time was i sitting still spinning the wheels i was always moving forward.

And it was a feather then drop a straight drop would have killed my clutch and probably resulted in a lot of wheel hop.

 

if he had aftermarket help I wouldn't have even bothered replying....

 

Nice runs Polak, especially for your first time out!

 

 

Haha. Didn't think you'd expect something like that from Ike?

Good job PoLaK. One day, I'll hit the drag strip with my 8, but school has started so I'm probably going to be busy (for real this time).

 

He didn't hem and haw, he didn't make unbacked BS claims, and he didn't make excuses. He gave a simple who what when where and posted a slip, just how posts like this should be. I don't root against the RX-8, I'm happy to see someone filnally getting a time close to the mags that actually has a slip.