Redshift

iTrader: (2)

I've looked at the GOODBox and think it's an awesome little device, but I just can't get over not being able to see more than 2 gauges at once.
I'm used to my race car which is instrumented like an airplane (Tach, voltage, oil temp, oil pressure, water temp, A/F for each rotor and EGT for each rotor) so I feel a bit under-informed just adding 3 gauges to the RX8, but I want to keep as clean and stock looking of an interior as possible.
The GOODBox checks that box huge, but is just a touch too limited in what it can display. I'm hoping this ARK MFD might be an acceptable middle ground.

Modified Dave

Hey Redshift. The ARK MFD is about the size of a credit card, maybe slightly larger but not by much. It's approx a half inch thick, so all in all a very compact display that you can easily mount in a variety of places.

I chose to mount mine on the front of the cigarette tray, since I don't smoke. This allowed me to easily run the wiring in from behind, and I just drilled one small hole through the tray face to fish the wire thru to the display. The display is held on with adhesive backed velcro, so it's super easy to remove if I was ever worried about being parked somewhere where it might attract thieves, but it's such a small display I don't think too many people would even notice it.

It'll display up to three gauges (in either digital or dial style readout) on a single screen, but you can easily scroll to the next screen for addition data readouts. I haven't figured out how to switch the readouts from C to F yet, but presumably that can be done. Not really an issue for me since I live in Canada where we use the metric system, but being able to read temps in F would be nice too so I'll have to see if I can figure out if the unit can switch back and forth between these units of measure.

I haven't tested the sending units for accuracy. I think they're Bosch, so I have no reason to doubt their reliability. Being able to see an actual temp and pressure readout for oil and water is a huge step up from the OEM gauges not to mention they're much more responsive (OEM water and oil gauges always lag way behind realtime temps/pressures), and given how simple a device these sending units are I'm sure they must be quite accurate.

Redshift

iTrader: (2)

Excellent response. Thanks Dave! I'm in Canada as well so I'm cool with Metric. My race car is all in F, but I'm familiar enough with metric that it's not a huge problem.
I'm assuming it's clear/bright enough that you can read it down on the ashtray door? (I actually pulled my ashtray out the day I got the car.. made it just the right size for my parking pass to squeeze in)

Seems like a very interesting option. My inner gadget geek loves it. If I decide to go that way, I'll just need to figure out a decent way to source it in Canada without getting "brokeraged" too badly...

Modified Dave

The display is plenty bright. It's easy to read it day or night, direct light or not.

I find if parts are shipped from the States using USPS Ground the brokerage fees are considerably lower than if one of the big courier companies are used. Both UPS and FedEx are really inconsistent with their brokerage...sometimes they charge a pretty reasonable rate and other times it's just completely out of line expensive. The other option I use is to ship just across the border to Niagara Falls, NY and then I go pick up the package myself, but the commute from Halifax to Niagara Falls may make that a bit impractical for you and I hear the swim across the Bay of Fundy isn't all that much fun...dee

I guess you must do most of your racing at AMP? I've been racing here in Ontario for a lot of years but have always wanted to make the trip out to your neck of the woods to check out AMP and do Targa NF (not that NF is really your neck of the woods, but you're a lot closer to The Rock than I am).

Redshift

iTrader: (2)

Yeah the commute to the boarder is a bit far for me. FedEx hasn't been too bad, but UPS kill me. I've shipped enough stuff USPS that when I was building my RX7 the people who worked the counter at the post office knew me on sight and I didn't even need to show them my paperwork. The would see me come in the front door and just go out back and get my package before I even got to the counter.
Unfortunately MazdaSpeed Motorsports has started shipping UPS only to Canada. I used to buy a ton of stuff from them.

And yes, you've got it. AMP is my home track. I only live about 30 minutes away. If you ever plan to come down, drop me a line. We can usually find a bed for a racer from away. We just had our season-ending steal-of-a-deal fundraiser non-points race. 3 hour enduro, morning practice and pot-luck lunch for a $100 per car entry fee. As many drives as you want. We had a team come down from Toronto for it this year. Had two spec-Miata's from the US come up last year. They planned to come this year as well, but apparently one wrecked and was still healing.
It really is a little jewel of a track. So technical. Everybody who runs it that isn't just straight-line obsessed (it doesn't have any straight) loves the track. I didn't get out at all this year as life got in the way, and I'm kind of craving a few laps right now. Kitchen renovations + better half between jobs + catastrophic engine failure on the FC at the Canadian Solosprint Nationals last year does not equal budget or time to run this year.

We hosted the Nationals at AMP last year, and I was on the organizing team. I only ran the car on a whim since I was going to be at the track all day yesterday. Turned into an expensive whim.

I haven't made it over to Targa yet. No budget to run it, but I've wanted to volunteer. Unfortunately September is always a busy month for me. A lot of folks I know locally participate and have some great stories.


*Edit: BTW, to go back to your automotive race roots, there is a steal of a deal on a Targa spec Integra right now. Friend of mine from work co-drove it for a few years, then he bowed out and the other guy has been running it with his son. They've gone WRX now and are pretty much giving a class-competitive, and sorted, proven finisher, away.

Modified Dave

Sucks that MS is shipping via UPS now. That really hurts the savings that program offers.

I'll definitely let you know if I make it out to AMP. Happy to reciprocate the offer of finding you a place to stay if you ever make it to Ontario for some racing. Sorry to hear about you losing a motor at the SoloSprint Nationals. We seem to live parallel lives, because I actually helped organize the first SoloSprint Nationals back in '05 or '06 at Shannonville Motorsports Park here in Ontario, though I had better luck than you as a competitor (drove a friend's CRX and won my class and the overall championship).

If I do Targa, it'll be in a car I build for the magazine as a project specifically for that event. The last 2 years I've had deals with major automakers fall thru at the last second, both times due to corporate level drama (one VP approved it, another didn't, pissing contest ensured kind of thing). So frustrating. But one of these years I'll get a deal done and have a car and budget to build it for the event. Maybe I should try for a Mazda2 for 2011

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I agree. FedEx is faster and better all around. UPS Ground sucks teh big one.

Oops, there I go with the negative vibes again ....

Redshift

iTrader: (2)

I think a Mazda2 would be perfect! One of the charter members of AMP (it's still a volunteer run and club owned track) did Targa in a Toyota Echo a couple of years ago. His co-driver was the guy who runs SpeedSport, which is the biggest car show on the east coast.
They nicknamed it "Timmy the Turtle" and had turtle graphics on the side.
He rolled it the first day the first year. Took it home, took the cage out, and his son daily drove it for the next year, dents and all. Next year, put the cage back in, took the dents out, and ran it again and finished that year. We had his 70th birthday at the track for him last year, and he and his son co-drove (and won with) his Datsun 510.

Anyway, enough internet racing (stupid winter) and back to your project car.

Flashwing

Everyone here at Black Halo Racing just wanted to say thanks to Dave for this month's article and we're excited to see the project RX8 develop!

Be sure to check out my post regarding this article here: https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...64&postcount=9

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Dave , curious to know if you ever resolved the high rpm hp dropoff issue ?

Modified Dave

Not yet, Brettus. I'm going to have a proper compression test done, since my latest theory is carbon buildup on the apex seals. I actually picked up a spare engine and trans since my trans is in rough shape, so I'm now planning to blueprint and balance the engine over the winter and swap it in. If I want to be even remotely competitive in STX (or SM if I decide to go nuts on the modifications) I'll need a healthy engine, plus I think it'll make for a cool tech story to do a rebuild.

Flashwing, thanks man. I should add that although I reported in the story that the ENEOS trans oil didn't do much to help the 4th gear engagement problem, with this oil 4th gear is now only sticking before engaging, when it was grinding badly with the OEM fluid. So the ENOES oil has made a real difference, but I know the problem is still there so I'll be putting a freshly rebuilt trans in over the winter.

ganseg

iTrader: (5)

This good story line will keep me buying the magazine. This has been great fun. Have you read the book Street Rotary by Mark Warner that was brought up in the BHR tread? I am asking for it for Christmas.

NYC Drift King

iTrader: (5)

Updates??? Just read jan 2011 issue. Installed: RB headers and RB modified duel res test pipe.

ganseg

iTrader: (5)

He keeps us hanging every month! I am taking guesses of where the top end went. My guess is low compression.

If that is true, I would think it would be better to test the compression before tuning...

Jr mechanic out...

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

I have read Street Rotary, great book. I was a little disappointed to see the dyno results in the issue of Modified. 160HP? I am looking forward to reading the compression test results and the engine rebuild articles. I may just have to renew my Modified subscription now.

ganseg

iTrader: (5)

In the Jan issue, it pulls 170 hp with the header and high flow cat. So what is your guess on the issue?

The Jan issue has a request for people to submit info about their cars. I think we should flood them with RX-8 letters!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Meh, with all of his mods he would be pushing 190HP+ easy on a properly balanced, clearance d, rebuild. Where do we send our letters? I have some new pics of my nitrous setup I have most of the BHR equipment as well

Modified Dave

Hey guys. Sorry to leave you hanging. Been super busy with a couple of other projects the last few weeks, but I just had a compression test done and here are the results.

With the engine fully warmed up, Rob the Master Tech at my local Mazda dealership (Mountain Mazda, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) hooked up his super duper compression tester that's linked to a customized computer station. I was expecting him to use the usual rotary three stage compression tester, but with this system the compression data goes right to his computer screen, which is pretty cool. Here's what it looks like.




As you can see, things weren't looking too good when testing Rotor 1. It showed zero compression on chamber 3, but that was a bit puzzling because the Tech felt the engine would be running a lot rougher if the engine truly had zero compression on that chamber. Plus you'll notice the engine speed was only 82 RPM when for testing purposes the standard is 250 RPM.

So we retested Rotor 1 and tested Rotor 2 and the results looked a fair bit better.



FYI, the standards for compression, as taken from the factory printout the Tech gave me, are 830 kPa (or 120 psi) with a minimum acceptable readout of 680 kPa (or 98.6 psi). As you can see, my engine falls well below the standard of 830 kPa but a bit above the minimum acceptable reading. It's also worth noting that variation between chambers is well within spec, since the standard/minimum acceptable difference is 150 kPa (21.8 psi)/100 kPa (14.5 psi).

The confusing part is how/why we got that zero compression reading on Chamber 3 of Rotor 1 the first time we tested it. The Tech felt perhaps there was some carbon in the chamber that's prevented the apex seal from sealing properly but then came free on the subsequent tests. He's recommended I give the engine a good cleaning to try to clear out as much carbon as possible, at which point we'll redo the test.

While looking at all the sensor data while it was hooked up to this uber computer station, we also noticed the MAF sensor was reading a little on the low side at any given RPM. So I'm going to give it a good cleaning too, though perhaps the low readings were a function of the Mazdaspeed CAI?

We also saw a fairly consistent jumping and falling of the secondary o2 sensor voltage, which the Tech felt was being caused by the exhaust mods but I'm thinking maybe the sensor needs to be replaced. Thoughts?

Anyway, since I have a spare engine and trans that I plan to rebuild this winter, and seeing that this engine is definitely on the low side with respect to compression, I'm definitely going to go ahead with a proper blueprint and balance of the spare engine and then swap it in and finally have Jeff from MM do his thing with the AccessPORT. I don't think there's much point in tuning the ECU until after I get a fresh engine in the car, though perhaps Jeff will want to see how much he can help the top end on the current engine before I swap in the new one, just as an experiment in tuning. Might be worth the effort, but that's something I'll have to discuss with him.

Oh, here's one of the printouts I got from the Tech, which shows things are more or less within spec with most of the sensor readouts, though the Purge Flow Monitor reading is getting very close to the max end of the acceptable range, so I should probably clean the Evap system while I'm at it. But at least we're not seeing a lot of misfires and the HJS cat doesn't seem to be freaking out the o2 sensors which is great to see.



Anyway, that's where things are at for the moment. I'm going to be working with Joe Furgeson from RPM on the engine rebuild, and if I decide to skip the STX plans and move up to a less limiting class then we'll also port the engine and may look at aftermarket seals in preparation for boooooost We'll see.

Chris

iTrader: (10)

I have been reading the articles... Love what you are doing

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Hmmm still in spec but down 20HP (give or take)? Thanks for sharing I look forward to following this.

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

Boooost......MMmmmmmm.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

probably lost tbe side seal(s) on that rotor/chamber

pull the crankcase vent tubes from the intake, plug
everything but one tube, and install a blowby flowmeter on that tube, should pretty much confirm it under a loaded WOT run

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

and have a lot of rags and degreaser on standby. lol.
OD

Modified Dave

Cool, thanks Team. Will definitely give that a try and report back on the results.

ganseg

iTrader: (5)

That would be cool to submit. Here is the info from page 10 of the mag:

Hi-res pics (at least 1mb/300 dpi in size)
"Include a spec sheet of all mods" in the following format:
Car year and model
Engine mods
Wheels, brakes and suspension mods
Exterior mods
Interior mods
Power Output (leave blank if you don't know)
Why you chose it. Add any details that didn't fit into the spec sheet.
Full name and contact info
Send to Peter@modified.com