So a guy at my job... used to do alot of racing at Hallett raceway in his old corvette...

This is my first manual car and road race is my goal and the problem is.. . I'm not 100% sure HOW to properly maintain rpms... avoid oversteer etc...

So i asked him if he would help me learn...

heres the irony...

In my first post ever on here I was told numerous times to learn from stock...

and he saaaaays... I need to buy and add stuff to my suspension before he'll even waste his time...



As this is obviously a waste of time...

Can any of you kinda... give me an idea how you use your stock or near stock 8 s at the track?
as far as when you brake... when to shift etc...

any help is appreciated...

(I guess the real issue is I dont want to spend the money on an instructor)

 

tell him your stock suspension is far better than anything he had in his old corvette. anyway..

brake BEFORE the corners, shift at the end of your braking. give as much gas as you can without oversteering throughout the turn, once you are exiting the turn, then give full gas.

 

If RR is the goal, guess you need to learn how to drive as you say. Well, if you have to ask how to drive on track, and don't want instruction, my first thought is you aren't in the correct state of mind to do what you say you want.

Nevertheless, here's how to drive your stock 8... brake when you want to slow down, ideally as little as possible, shift at ~8K or so as you are trying to go fast yes? ... but 1st and foremost get the in car instruction (that you don't want to pay for) about driving the correct line vs. whatever you might naturally do. Then spend some more money on books or video about driving on track, then spend more money on instruction, rinse; repeat. Elsewise you don't stand much of a chance to get where you want.

It's not as bad as you think as any DE you go to won't let you drive without someone who already knows how to drive on track there in car with you to keep you from injuring/killing others or possibly yourself.

Don't worry the car will take care of itself and I'd recommned in your case you leave the DSC (assuming you have it) on as it'll fix your driving at anything under 7/10s until you can learn something from your instructors.

 

Thanks guys... really... lol the issue is I dont HAVE the money for an instructor lol.. but what you guys have said is very helpful.

 

hey, is this guys name Buck Morris by any chance? because if it is, listen to whatever he says, he is FAST!

 

Bill Gould.

 

Saphus, sorry to say that money is required for learning and doing this sport, being DE or racing. Don't try to fool yourself that it just takes a car and the desire. It takes money and not just a little. If you go to track regularly so you can get skilled, plan on thousands a year spread over the following: track fees, gas, travel cost, hotels, safety equipment, etc. And that if you don't mod your car lol.

That's only taking DE, if you want to learn true racing, well, the anti is up by several factors of magnitude.

If you persist, then as you search for more and better performance, prepare for the possibility of many more times the above in suspension, brakes, tires, engine, intake, exhaust, etc. You name it, it costs money. The RX is not a cheap nor easy car to mod to much advantage, but on the bright side, thats because the stock car is fairly competent and can serve you well just as it is, tires and brakes perhaps being the only things that as a matter of course should be upgraded for track.

Good luck and save your $$$!

 

stay stock i would think, get tires, get good brakes, get good brake fluid, maybe some sways and shocks.

seat time and instruction would be my best guess.. and a working fuel pump -.-

 

I instruct for Apex Driving Academy at Motorsport Ranch south of Fort Worth. If you want to learn how to drive an RX-8 on the track, sign up for their next event and ask for me (Iain) as your instructor.

My RX-8 is pretty close to stock (RB springs, Koni shocks, Toyo RA-1s, and that's about it), and I have no trouble keeping holding my own on the track. It ain't what you drive, it's how you drive it.

 

The more you modify your car for "track use", the more trouble you'll have with it. I speak from long, painful experience here. There are race cars, and there are street cars. Blurring that line is nothing but heartache.

Money spent on a real professional instructor is money well-spent. Nothing against amateur/volunteer instructors - I'm one myself - but one day with a Ross Bentley or Pierre Savoy is worth fifty trackdays with some free-ride jerkoff in the suicide seat next to you.

 

^ Perhaps for many, but not in all cases, so aspiring drivers should not lose all hope of success. The quality of the parts and the quality of the installation have more than a lot a lot to do with the end result. People try to cheap out, use ebay parts and friend mechanics and what do they expect, F! race team results? But beyond that, and foremost, whole car design & planning, research, and of course enough money play a big part in ultimate success. Bunches of one-off mods thrown together in a car don't often gel well together.

I've found bluring the line somewhat in the 8 correctly provides excellent track benefit, and yea a few lessons as well, mostly when trying to cut corners. But the end result done right is why drivers show up after a session and want to know more about my lil red car lol.. compared to their big huffing and puffing monster ../..of course it's not all the car I like to think

I also wouldn't be so quick to dis all trackday instructors - yea it's a crap shoot - but I've had a few pro racers be my instructor for a day, and yea they know tons more and how to communicate than the j-*** ones that want the free event ... but sometimes you can luck out ... and it doesn't cost $2500 a day - although that's highly recommended... again... if you can foot the bill.

Still good instructors have happened to me often enough, so it can happen for anyone... just pay attention to the events you attend - pick those with club races or instructor training events or "the" events for big name car clubs. They offer the best hope of getting someone useful to your learning curve.

 

I've been there and done that (see sig). Attending a professional driving school provides good training, but costs a lot of money that you can use in the future of performance upgrades. A better route would be to join NASA and get involved in their HPDE program. You will get both classroom and behind the wheel training from their licensed racing drivers. If you continue running in HPDE's, you can add racing mods until you are ready to race wheel-to-wheel.