GA RX-8 Club - PANOZ Track Days - Road Atl - Sep 16-17
#101
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Originally Posted by Glyphon
i've been skydiving...there's nothing like it. and when the chute opens, you go from ~130mph to ~20mph in a few seconds.
back on topic, you got any more of L8's pictures to put up? :D
back on topic, you got any more of L8's pictures to put up? :D
#104
Smooth Criminal
ok, I have some images prepped and ready for public consumption. I saw that, because I still suck at taking pictures, and I have to alter them in Photoshop to make them palatable.
So here they are, as few silver 911's as I could stand. I will spare you all the 911 fetish I have.
SilverEIGHT in Turn 12
SilverEIGHT approaching turn 5
Marietta8 on the back straight
Marietta8 chasing down some little engines...
Must have been Paparazzi Appreciation day at Road Atlanta...
Managed to get an 8...and 2 911's
This one is for TA, he likes these little Bimmers...
And my favorite car of the weekend, and one of my favorite shots. Sorry, I had to post it.
The Whole Gallery
So here they are, as few silver 911's as I could stand. I will spare you all the 911 fetish I have.
SilverEIGHT in Turn 12
SilverEIGHT approaching turn 5
Marietta8 on the back straight
Marietta8 chasing down some little engines...
Must have been Paparazzi Appreciation day at Road Atlanta...
Managed to get an 8...and 2 911's
This one is for TA, he likes these little Bimmers...
And my favorite car of the weekend, and one of my favorite shots. Sorry, I had to post it.
The Whole Gallery
#106
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Location: Marietta,Ga
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Originally Posted by TorqueAholic
About the shifting thing and gear ratio's. I learned some interesting stuff by following guys at Barber that had basically the same car but with different final ratio's (And were leaving me in the straights)
Being the TorqueAholic, I did some research on Corner-Carvers and downloaded a Shifting Points / hp/ mph / rear wheel torque calculation spreadsheet.
Once fed with the proper data points, the spreadsheet will spit-out available rear wheel torque at all speeds in any gear.
I plugged in my cars hp / torque curve, transmission ratios, final drive ratio, and tire size than did some analysis on the results and confirmed what I experienced @ the track: When trying to maximize rear wheel torque (Acceleration) The whole minimizing the number of shifts is to be taken with a grain of salt as having your engine in a higher gear can cost you up to 55 lb/ft of torque at the wheels ( Im my case) when you need it most.
I would not be surprised that the penalties are a good bit stiffer for you guys as the RX-8 derives a high % of it's rear wheel torque out of the gears torque multiplication effect. (That's why the rotary has such a high redline).
For my setup this spreadsheet suggests that I gain by red-lining 2nd gear and also gain by short-shifting 3rd at about 5400 rpms which would support wailing out of 7 in 2nd but going to 4th in the front straight (which I don't normally do)
That was a mouthful to say keep your mind open and try stuff you might just learn something (And get faster )
All in all that was interesting / good tech out of Corner-Carvers I can show you a link if interested.
Being the TorqueAholic, I did some research on Corner-Carvers and downloaded a Shifting Points / hp/ mph / rear wheel torque calculation spreadsheet.
Once fed with the proper data points, the spreadsheet will spit-out available rear wheel torque at all speeds in any gear.
I plugged in my cars hp / torque curve, transmission ratios, final drive ratio, and tire size than did some analysis on the results and confirmed what I experienced @ the track: When trying to maximize rear wheel torque (Acceleration) The whole minimizing the number of shifts is to be taken with a grain of salt as having your engine in a higher gear can cost you up to 55 lb/ft of torque at the wheels ( Im my case) when you need it most.
I would not be surprised that the penalties are a good bit stiffer for you guys as the RX-8 derives a high % of it's rear wheel torque out of the gears torque multiplication effect. (That's why the rotary has such a high redline).
For my setup this spreadsheet suggests that I gain by red-lining 2nd gear and also gain by short-shifting 3rd at about 5400 rpms which would support wailing out of 7 in 2nd but going to 4th in the front straight (which I don't normally do)
That was a mouthful to say keep your mind open and try stuff you might just learn something (And get faster )
All in all that was interesting / good tech out of Corner-Carvers I can show you a link if interested.
Wow! i can see the propeller on your beanie spinning from here! Great info proffesor. I am pretty well stuck with the gearing I got so optimizing is the key.
#107
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Originally Posted by TrackAddict
Once again - awesome performance Silver.
A couple of points to add:
turn 7 in 2nd gear - I think turn 7 is easily taken in 2nd gear as the shift to 3rd doesn't occur until after track out. I have been taking it in 3rd forever but in March when STF instructed me, he suggested I use 2nd to power out when I was going to pass someone coming out of the corner. I have done that since that day to pass and it gives a great sense of acceleration. Other times I just stay in 3rd and it "feels" slower as the car isn't in its power band to leap out of the corner. maybe it is faster to keep it in 3rd but I am not certain either way. Another reason I have kept it in 3rd is to minimize the number of shifts. I also am prone to occasionally having a hard time sliding the shifter into 3rd when trying to execute a quick 2-3 shift at red-line with my adrenaline pumping.
turn 6 - I tried keeping it in 4th for turn 6 based on Charlies advice a long time ago and it didn't feel so good so I have been downshifting to 3rd for that turn. However, I was lucky to go on the van ride on Sunday morning and the instructor was explaining that to execute turn 6 properly you need to come in hard and trail brake into it not thinking about accelerating to turn 7. He said in his spec miata his data logger shows him entering turn 6 at 105 and exiting it at 80. So instead of accelerating thru the turn, you slow through it. it makes sense if you think about it. Following turn 6 is a braking zone for 7 which is the slowest corner on the track. You won't gain much by braking early for 6, then accelerating through it to turn 7.
Esses - I am torn here. If I keep it in 3rd, I have a much more relaxed time in 5. I feather the throttle to stay off the rev limiter though so I may could go a tiny bit faster but I don't think I want to go appreciably faster there. If I shift to 4th, the car is more planted and can go faster but 5 is busier. I guess for me I have chosen the "easy way" but will play with it my next time at RA.
The great thing about this hobby/activity/sport is that there is so much to learn and improve. just when you think you figured out a corner, you learn something new. Just when you learn something new, you go faster which changes how that corner feels...
A couple of points to add:
turn 7 in 2nd gear - I think turn 7 is easily taken in 2nd gear as the shift to 3rd doesn't occur until after track out. I have been taking it in 3rd forever but in March when STF instructed me, he suggested I use 2nd to power out when I was going to pass someone coming out of the corner. I have done that since that day to pass and it gives a great sense of acceleration. Other times I just stay in 3rd and it "feels" slower as the car isn't in its power band to leap out of the corner. maybe it is faster to keep it in 3rd but I am not certain either way. Another reason I have kept it in 3rd is to minimize the number of shifts. I also am prone to occasionally having a hard time sliding the shifter into 3rd when trying to execute a quick 2-3 shift at red-line with my adrenaline pumping.
turn 6 - I tried keeping it in 4th for turn 6 based on Charlies advice a long time ago and it didn't feel so good so I have been downshifting to 3rd for that turn. However, I was lucky to go on the van ride on Sunday morning and the instructor was explaining that to execute turn 6 properly you need to come in hard and trail brake into it not thinking about accelerating to turn 7. He said in his spec miata his data logger shows him entering turn 6 at 105 and exiting it at 80. So instead of accelerating thru the turn, you slow through it. it makes sense if you think about it. Following turn 6 is a braking zone for 7 which is the slowest corner on the track. You won't gain much by braking early for 6, then accelerating through it to turn 7.
Esses - I am torn here. If I keep it in 3rd, I have a much more relaxed time in 5. I feather the throttle to stay off the rev limiter though so I may could go a tiny bit faster but I don't think I want to go appreciably faster there. If I shift to 4th, the car is more planted and can go faster but 5 is busier. I guess for me I have chosen the "easy way" but will play with it my next time at RA.
The great thing about this hobby/activity/sport is that there is so much to learn and improve. just when you think you figured out a corner, you learn something new. Just when you learn something new, you go faster which changes how that corner feels...
I am real interested in trying how it will feel trailing into 6 instead of attacking it like I have done in the past. It really seems to prevent overcharging into 7. It all really make sense when I felt the difference. I also picked up a lot by following the outer edge on entry to 1 although never really mastered it to my liking. Same thing at 10a. I was completely blown away at what 1 foot more to the right can do for turn in and then the resulting exit speed.
I like the settled feeling of 4th through the esses in both cars. The 8 requires the downshift for 5 but the RX7 does not (gee, I wonder why?) but either way I like turn 5 a lot because it leads onto a short, fast passing zone. I miss being able to pass in the esses!
#108
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Here is a clip of Charlie smoking me on the back stretch. L8 is my passenger. I knew Charlie was coming fast so I didn't want to let up too much, just a little. I wanted to see just how fast he was. He's DAMN fast!
Getting Smoked by Charlie
Getting Smoked by Charlie
#109
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trail braking in 6 is fun. On the last RA we did(i think TA has it on vid) i completed a pass on an inside line by trail braking, sure did make entry into 7 a lot better, I think that if you try this with the stock shocks on--be careful = the rear end can get a little squirrly. I had to release/modulate very gently. Car settles int0 the corner like glue.
olddragger
olddragger
#111
Originally Posted by Marietta 8
Wow! i can see the propeller on your beanie spinning from here! Great info proffesor. I am pretty well stuck with the gearing I got so optimizing is the key.
Since you can pretty much easily modify anything you please on the ol' Mustang the possibilities are endless.. So many things to try so little time and $$ to do it at least I can "simulate" and analyze possible mods...
#112
Originally Posted by Marietta 8
I have not been in the 8 on RA since last December but after this weekends class
I am real interested in trying how it will feel trailing into 6 instead of attacking it like I have done in the past. It really seems to prevent overcharging into 7. It all really make sense when I felt the difference. I also picked up a lot by following the outer edge on entry to 1 although never really mastered it to my liking. Same thing at 10a. I was completely blown away at what 1 foot more to the right can do for turn in and then the resulting exit speed.
I am real interested in trying how it will feel trailing into 6 instead of attacking it like I have done in the past. It really seems to prevent overcharging into 7. It all really make sense when I felt the difference. I also picked up a lot by following the outer edge on entry to 1 although never really mastered it to my liking. Same thing at 10a. I was completely blown away at what 1 foot more to the right can do for turn in and then the resulting exit speed.
Originally Posted by Marietta 8
I like the settled feeling of 4th through the esses in both cars. The 8 requires the downshift for 5 but the RX7 does not (gee, I wonder why?)
Originally Posted by Marietta 8
I miss being able to pass in the esses!
#113
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Originally Posted by TrackAddict
One mod I made Silver do is hold 3rd a bit longer going down the hill into 12. He tended to shift right after the bridge. He was able to accelerate better and still shift to 4th before turn in keeping the car perfectly balanced.
#114
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Originally Posted by olddragger
dang Charlie you hitting like 150 or so on the back straight? That is one of the fastest pass I have seen on an 8 coming out of 7 by anything we have been on the track with.
olddragger
looks good too!
olddragger
looks good too!
It's strong but I am actually backpeddling donw the straight right now due to a vibration that I think is driveshaft balance so doubtful on 150 at this point. I know the MTI vette sees over 160 before 10a! He's also turning 1:31 laps which puts me way outta his league.
#116
Smooth Criminal
Originally Posted by SilverEIGHT
Here is a clip of Charlie smoking me on the back stretch. L8 is my passenger. I knew Charlie was coming fast so I didn't want to let up too much, just a little. I wanted to see just how fast he was. He's DAMN fast!
Getting Smoked by Charlie
Getting Smoked by Charlie
and yes, Chas went by us like we were standing still, I could hear him coming up behind us, and the sound when he went by was great, the video does not really do it justice. Silver, you managed to keep him in sight for the better part of that lap, but once the straight came back, it was...
#118
Great video Don. Wish I could have came out and watched on Sunday but I was elbow deep into recovering my leather seats in both my 2nd gen RX-7's and the wife wanted them done and out of the house by the end of the weekend. Anyone going in Dec?
Tim
Tim
#119
Smooth Criminal
I would like to go in December, but it will be cold, really cold. TA described what it was like 2 years ago, and said it was hard to fell the pedals, since his feet were so cold. I might have to pass on December, and wait for better tracking weather.
#121
One of the benefits of it being a bit cooler, or down right cold, will be that it helps keep the FD running cooler as well. Granted I don't want to drive around with both windows down and it be 40 degree in the morning, but hopefully it won't be that cold.
Tim
Tim
#122
Smooth Criminal
yeah, the rotary likes the colder air. TA said that it was in the 30's the whole time during their trip there. that is cold. my busted joints don't like that cold temperature, no matter how much the car likes it.
Last edited by L8APEX; 09-21-2006 at 12:20 PM.