birdman

Just a little background on myself so I don't get flamed to bad. I am 46 years old and have been a car nut since I got my first car at the age of 13, yes 13, I didn't get to drive it tell I was 15 though. It was 1967 Pontiac Tempest. I have no less than 30 cars, anywhere from GTO's, Chevelles, Corvettes, Toyotas, Dodges, Fords, need I go on. I have always has a "toy" to mess with. I do almost all my work on cars and learned from the school of hard knocks. You break it you fix it. I sold a 98 WS6 Trans Am to buy my RX8. This was a 10 second street car and I do have the time slips to prove it. This was all done with a stock motor and 100 shot of dry nitrous. Now lets talk about the RX8. A beautiful car, at least I think so. Perfectly balanced, handles like a dream. Good high rpm horsepower and a blast to row through the gears. Was it developed for drag racing? No, the drive train is not set up for drag racing. Can it be drag raced? Sure, why not, just be careful with those 8000 rpm clutch dumps! Was it developed to road race or autocross, not exactly, but it will do a fantastic job of doing that. The low center of gravity and the 50/50 weight distribution, all between the axles, provides it with excellent stability, as track times have proven. Is it a practical car? You bet, here was a big selling point for me. Four seater, that's right 4 seats, enough to haul you wife and 2 kids, something the firebird could not do comfortably, and set an adult in the back of a firebird, not for long!! So when you start bashing the car beacuse it won't turn a low 14 second quarter mile time, take a look at what the car was made to do and what it does so very good. It makes driving an enjoyable experience. Take it from someone who has been on the other side. Quicker ET's bring one thing, a less comfortable car to drive. If you wanted something quick in the 1/4 miles then buy a car made for that. This thread is for all those people out there who enjoy their RX8 for what is, "a real driving machine". Thanks

Clay

RX8-TX

Excellent, sensitive post Clay. Now to my question:
Please clarify...do you currently own 30 cars??...even if you don't..would you mind posting pics of them??...

Genom

Today the local Auto-x event happened at a new track. VERy slippery surface. The car is so well behaved though, that everytime I started to slide the rear end, it was CAKE to correct and get back on track. From someone pretty inexpereicned with that sorta thing as myself, I was amazed at how easy it was.

I mean, it could be I'm a natural talent, but I tend to think the car is probably the most likely reason :D

Broker73

nice post ! No doubt the car is not built for the 1/4mile times, but it will still out pace most on the road. I think with CZ's stage 1 mod, it will run 14secs in the 1/4. That is plenty fast for me.

Ned M

iTrader: (2)

Welcome to the dark side....turning left, turning right, and hitting apexes is definitely what the RX-8's is engineered to do. My last V-8, a 1993 Trans Am, was 4 sports cars ago.

I can see from your location you're less than 20 miles from Putnam Park roadcourse. So what kind of lap times are you getting in the RX-8?

I've had my 3rd gen there several times for DE's, but not the RX-8 until late this year, maybe.

birdman

No I don't have 30 cars now, although I wish I had some of them back. I will post some pictures of them when I get them scanned in as most of them are 35mm pictures. I haven't had this car out to the track, 1/4 mile or Road race yet. But i have seen times posted that were very impressive on the race course. I hope to see how close I can get to those times on my own. I do have a picture of my WS6 T/A, the car I sold to buy the RX8. This is a of a 10.78@123.45 with a 60ft time of 1.48, just thought you might like to see a car that is set up to run the quarter mile and why you lose some of that comfort. Thanks.

Clay

zerobanger

Clay,

I'm sure you are forgetting to list a few things, it is absolutely impossible to run 10.Anything in a WS6 with just a shot of 100.

I know this is not the point of your thread, but you have to be leaving alot of stuff out.

birdman

Stock internals, stock cam, stock intake, stock maf, long tube headers, and a 4400 stall in the transmision. Tens can be run with a stock motor. The car weight was approximately 3150 on these runs which is a little over 3300 with me in it. The 4400 torque converter with a lightened car is what does the trick. I ran 11.40s off the bottle all day long. I am not the only one to do this, just one of the fastest. The suspension is beefed up to take the abuse but belive it or not the motor is stock except for the headers. Thanks.

Clay

zerobanger

A WS6 from the factory weighs 3550 or more. My friends 02 T/A weighed 3550, so the WS6 is the same or probably more. So if it weighed 3150, it had 450 lbs weight reduction. Also there is a torque converter and I am assuming drag radials.

My point was you are not gonna slap on 100 shot of NOS and run 10's, otherwise everyone would.

Genom

Like ya said zero, thats not what the post was about.

birdman

You would be surprised how many bone stock LS1 F-bodies are running in the mid-11s with just a converter and nitrous. Granted the weight reduction is what gets you in the 10's but the motor is still stock. And anyone who goes drag racing without a serious tire is just fooling himself. Traction is everything! Now lets get back to what a great car the RX8 is. I find it still great thrill to drive even though it's not as fast as my last one. Who else loves their eight for what is was meant to be?

Clay

zerobanger

I consider a bone stock car as it comes from the factory. Once you give it a converter and nitrous and drag radials, its not "bone stock" anymore.

NAVILESRX8

iTrader: (1)

we're getting into semantics...splitting hairs...I see the 10 sec 1/4 mile time, and his list of mods....pretty damm good to me.

And I agree with everything you said about the RX8...nice post.

I'm sure you'll never catch me in my 8 at the dragstrip....well, I'll be at Englishtown, but not dragracing...I'll be drifting in the parking lot....hahaha

RodsterinFL

All of this is great. My question. If you wanted to beef up the RX8 to get a better 1/4 mile, what would you do within reason? In what order would you add or modify? I know very little of car mods. My jet ski was modified quite a bit (when I owned it) and in the process I learned that of all the changes I made, dollarwise and performance-wise the K&N filter actually made the biggest difference followed by impeller modifications. I was disappointed with the racing head mod and the exhaust since it cost so much and there was little change in performance. I hear a lot about cold air intake on these but then I read other threads about the specially designed air intake the stock car has and little can improve on that, etc. I really like the RX8 and it actually outperforms many cars per se that are faster in other ways considering they are pitting it against all out sportscars with their greater levels of compromise.

8_wannabe

Great post, Bird. I think you have captured the essense of what the '8 is all about. Not a dragster, but great handling car and practical at the same time. A balance that few or none have ever before achieved.

Gibbo

I absolutely agree with Birdman, I have owned SS Commodores (LS1 5.7 Litre engine same as the US corvette) that have been worked. My last car was a sedan that ran pacemaker headers, new cams, new throttle bodies etc...etc. However I wanted a sports car again. I have two young kids and it needed to be able to take atleast one baby seat. Before the RX-8 there was nothing that even came close to meeting these needs.

For me the RX-8 does lack a little bit of straight line speed, however the handling, the practicality, the look and the potential from the vehicle is awesome.

Birdman hit it right on the head, if you want a 10 second car then that is great, however the RX-8 was never built to be that. It in my opinion was created for the people out there that demand practicallity from a sports car not just a badge, a fast motor and a claim of exclusivity. I have never before owned a rotary, I never thought I would own one, however after the RX-8 has convinced me otherwise.
I have never driven or owned a car like it and everytime someone asks me about it, I can not speak highly enough of it.

rx8miami

nice post birdman. low 10's damn that's good you should hav ecalled vin diesal up in f&f when he asked for a 10 second car. more power to you if it ran those times with minimal mods.

TiTaniumRX8

Birdman, as much as i would agree... i would also like to point out that the 8 can be made into a good 1/4 car (as most cars can be). The 8 is a new car, and only recently has a company announced a almost ready turbo upgrade.

Just because it's not, duznt meen it CAN be created.

no dissrespect, just wanted to make a lil point. i just got a lil pissed since im not of age to go to any autoX (and to my knowledge there isnt a A-X track anywhere near Chi.). So i have had to stick to the 1/4.