xrider01

lol....no joke. it's just that jedi didn't know what i was talking about in the other thread, and i found it funny

speeddemon32

ohhhhh ok.
________________________________________________
results are up on the solo2 web site. I got 69th PAX.

For future referance.

1st event (Jan) was not there.
2nd event (Feb).....98th PAX out of 269.......2nd in class out of 8
3rd event (March)..116th PAX out of 250.....3rd in class out of 6
4th event (April).....69th PAX out of 198.......1st in class out of 4

lesper4

iTrader: (3)

way to go kc moving on up!

kwescott

...to that delux apartment, in the sky...high...high,

mp5

Nice trend going Casey, I seem to be going to other way:

1/15 CalClub - 131st (2 cones)
1/29 SD - 9th
2/12 CalClub - 230th (no swaybar + 2 cones)
2/19 SD - 18th
3/19 SD - 25th
4/1 SD - 30th
4/23 SD - 29th

I'm hoping the gradual trend down is due to tire wear. I'll ignore the Fontana events, as it looks like that place is just bad luck for me.

mp5

Some pics of me driving a blue 8 at the Q on Sunday:

scremn8

i had a great time guys, thanks for letting me ride along and hang out. let me know when the next one starts up. i'll have some pic's up tuesday after work. this one is for xrider...

kwescott

Ok, I have an idea. What if I pull my side skirts off, and install Snowfl8k's stock bumper for race days. I could then run in BSP with Casey. I would need to purchase race tires and have them mounted on my stock rims at this point to be competitive. I think this looks to be more promising then being 6-7 seconds behind the gang of STi's and M3's...I may purchase better rims and get that white bumper painted black.

What are your thoughts?

speeddemon32

KICK ***!!!!
you sur eyou want to go through all that for a race day though? do the side skirts go on and off that easy?

speeddemon32

asdf

kwescott

There are two things that have to happen first. I have to talk with Erica to see what she thinks. Second...I will play around with the side skirts when I have a chance. When I installed them, there were four (drilled) holes in the side of the car, as well as 4 (drilled) holes in the undercarriage. I believe that the four fasteners in the side have all broken and fallen out. I don't know the condition of the four on the undercarriage. If these are also broken/fallen out...all that is holding the side skirts on are the two bolts on the front fender well, and the two on the rear fender well. So, best case scenario...four bolts and they are off.

Bumper...takes a little more time...but can be done.

I want to be competitive...I also want to have fun. I'm thinking that racing on race tires in BSP would be fun. This would also make it more fun, as we would be able to race against/with each other at the events...and if I could get Erica to commit (driving my car)...we could have three 8's in the class at each event.

I hate the fact that STU is huge, and I have no chance with my current setup. The sways, springs and struts definately made a big improvement, but I would need to get some really nice wheels and tires...and put in alot of practice to even make my way closer to those who continually finish first, 2nd through 4th in STU. The 2 cars that finish in the top are also multi-driver...so this basically wraps up the top four positions. Not that I am going for points, but it is rather disapointing to see how poorly I do in comparison.

That RX-8 cup we had was fun.

Plus, if we raced in the same class, there would no longer be that, me show up early to watch you...and you staying late to watch me. This is a pain...makes for a long day.

speeddemon32

I tottally agree with you. In thery (spelling) it sounds great! I would LOVE for you and Erica to join me in BSP. Michelle has stated that she would like to do the next practice, so in time I would like to see her do a race day with me also. It's just a matter of how much time you are willing to put intop your car every weekend we have a race/practice day.
If you are willing to change the fron tbumper every time, and the side skirts, I say go for it. you would have more fun in BSP then STU any day. race tires are just so much more fun.
you should have heard me laughing like a school girl when I put the race tires back on after running on the streets for half the day. it was nice to have the car do what I wanted it to.
Even if your not compedative (which you would be) I think you would have more fun. but man that is a lot of work.
but then again, if you factor in the time you take to get to the track early for me, I guess it would be the same amount of time (long weekend).
anyways, I dont know, sounds like a good Idea. I guess it would be somehting like me having to pull my entire stereo out everytime, and then having to put it back in. (taking it out is easy, it's the putting it back in that sucks!)

Detrich

does the MS kit really add that much weight & hinderance to performance on the auto-x? wow. am not sure about the sideskirts on the 8. on my beamer there are like 6 plastic screws on each one that hold them in place. the screw tip breaks off once u insert them by design.

time to pick up another 8 for use as a dedicated auto-x car?

kwescott

How much were the tires?

kwescott

It doesn't do anything to performance, but it puts me in a class above/beyond what Speeddemon is in. BSP is still a difficult class...with Supras, 350Z, Vettes...but my 8 can't hang with the highly modified M3's, Sti's and Evo's in STU class. If I pull my MS kit off, and put a stock bumper on, I can race in BSP.

At the last event, one person suggested that I look into racing in STX. Some of the cars in that class include 240SX, Acura Integra, Lexus IS. In reveiwing this as an option...I found out that the RX8 is excluded from competing in STX...so no chance of switching. I guess they figure the RX8 will out perform cars like the 240 and IS.

One reason why I think I would be more competitive in BSP, is that my times during the practice event were similar to Speeddemon's, and given that he is fairing very well on race days, I figure I can't be too far off the mark.

I have similar performance mods done to my car, when compared to Speed's...so i shouldn't have to do much more than get race tires and some practice with them. The race tires respond differently than street tires. Better grip, faster response to braking, higher cornering speeds, faster acceleration....I think it helps make up for the loss of torque we have with the 8.

mp5

$240 each for the tires. You can probably get some used take-offs occasionally for free from a few people (Isley, Barbara B, me) if you want 'em.

If you really want to run BSP, I would check with the other regular BSP competitors and ask them if they mind if you run the mazdaspeed nose and skirts. It seems like a small class locally, and the body kit doesn't have much performance advantage so they should be ok with it. That way you don't have to change bumpers all the time. I'm sure they probably have a few illegal mods as well.

kwescott

Let me know when you consider getting a new set. I'm never above taking handouts. They would be good to practice on. I know Isley gave Casey an old set. Casey used them for one practice event and that gave him the urge to buy a new set.

Interesting point you make about asking the others in the class about keeping the bodykit installed. I'm wondering how to go about that, just ask them at the next meet? Post something on the forum board?

I talked to a lot of people at the event this weekend about STX. None really knew why the 8 was excluded from that class other than that the 8 would outperform those cars. One person thought it had something to do with rim width.

mp5

Right now I'm using a set that is pretty crappy, with about 70 runs on them. I have another at home I got from Barbara with 65ish, and she is about to dump another set that has 60ish. I ran on those in her car this weekend and they are still decent. I think I could spare a set if you're interested.

STU is specifically for the quicker street tire cars. It's not classed in STX, so no point in pursuing that further. It remains to be seen if the 8 can be competitive in STU, we'll see what TeamRX8 can do when he's done building his car.

kwescott

Yes, I would be VERY interested in a set...preferrably not the 70'ish ones .

As for STU, this is what most people were saying. They indicated that some changes to classes occur after seeing how well, or poorly in my case, a car does in a class. One of the guys I spoke to used the Evo as an example. I don't recall what class he said the Evo used to be in, but he said that it crushed the competition and was moved to a higher class. This is what he said, but it seemed to make sense to me when it comes to new model years of cars, and changes that can occur.

The Vette is another one that I have seen in several classes, I guess it is based on the model year and the horsepower/weight numbers of the car as it changes through the years.

scremn8

here are a few pic's from sat. practice runs

scremn8

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mikene.../ph//my_photos ok here is a link to all the pic's i tokk sat. plus the week before.

kwescott

Thank you Michael. You definately took a lot of pictures. I think I drank an entire Mountain Dew watching the entire slide show.

One of my favorites from your series.

lesper4

iTrader: (3)

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=88426

These look a lot like what jason isley is running on (rims) correct me if i am wrong. Any takers?

kwescott

that is a great deal. I don't know what I am doing at this point. Still have too many things up in the air. This is a great opportunity though, given that these wheels are no longer available.

mp5

The SSRs are nice, and hard to get these days. The 18x8.5 would probably fit the 245/35 Kumho even better than our 18x8s and will give you a little better contact patch size... and you would have the weight advantage over Casey's wheels.

Only problem is if you ever wanted to run B-stock they would be illegal. Also, a REALLY serious BSP competitor might think about going with 18x10s and 285 width tires, though this would probably require some fender modification. I plagarized that from Isley's post on sccaforums.com.