We completed our RX-8 fiberglass body conversion on our tube frame 3 rotor GT-1 car. The end result looks awesome. We already won our first race (debut) on our national championship and took second place on our 2nd GT-1 race in El Salvador. Hope you like the pics. You can see more pictures and an interview (in Spanish) at
http://todosobreruedas.tv/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=10183
and can also see an onboard video of our first race in a tough battle against a Porsche at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq8LLAs6npY

Congratulations, it looks awesome.

are you using a Renesis engine? And the lady in the brown shirt, seemingly conducting the interview is HOT! :)

the engine is a 3 rotor (20B) done by Roger Mandeville, it is not a Renesis. The girl, yeah, she´s hot, nice also!, gets my wife jelaous everytime ...

the engine is a 3 rotor (20B) done by Roger Mandeville, it is not a Renesis. The girl, yeah, she´s hot, nice also!, gets my wife jelaous everytime ...


Thanks!


And yup - I feel my wife getting jealous and she hasn't even SEEN her yet! :D

Congrats and the car looks great. Keep us posted on your progress on the racing scene.

That is hot! Congrats on the wins.

How big are the rear tires?

Rear tires are 12.5 to 13 inches wide on 16 inch rims, about 25 or 25.5 diameter of the total wheel... Pretty wide to take the 475 HP of the engine!

wow..thats sick!! congrats and represent!!

Congratulations!!! and Best of luck to you all. Keep us posted on you alls progress through the series

lol, I watched the Porsche race vid a week or two ago without knowing the specifics

I've been considering a 3 rotor conversion for the XP class, would probably get everything together next year for a 2009 debut, would love to hear anything you'd care to share with me

if going all out with a 3 rotor why not use a FD instead like the current SM2 champ?

because I want today's technology, not last decade's ... :dunno:

and he wants to be cool while doing it:)

obviously anyone who seriously pursues an RX-8 in STU is a bit eccentric if not completely off their rocker

obviously anyone who seriously pursues an RX-8 in STU is a bit eccentric if not completely off their rocker

I'm glad you said it...saved me the energy :lol2:

Back on topic, Diego, the car looks fantastic...and quick. Very nice ride :ylsuper:

Rotary racing engines have not developed much in the last 10-15 years as far as I know. All road racing applications are N/A, turbos are usually used in street or drag configurations.

A 2 rotor racing engine will produce about 290-320HP, a 3 rotor about 475HP and a four rotor about 600 to 650. The 2 rotor is very easy to come around. the 3 rotor is harder to find, but you can get them from some specialists. The 4 rotor is almost imposible to find. The main differences between the 3 engines is basically the eccentric shaft, but the rest is very similar in all three, except for the wildest 4 rotors like the one used in Le Mans that had the variable lengh air intakes.

Redline is usually about 9,500, 9,000 and about 8,800 for 2, 3 and 4 rotors. Engine life is about 20-30 hours between rebuilds, and the 3 rotor is just as reliable as the 2 rotor, just a little less RPM is recommended. If you get a racing engine, I recommend Roger Mandeville, he did mine some years ago, and I doubt anyone knows more than he does. Carlos Lopez in Miami is also very good, I used to race a 2 rotor engine he built which was awesome.

Cooling is usually an issue when you go to 3 and I guess 4 rotors. Think about very good water cooling and extremely good oil cooling, you will need it if you want to upgrade to 3 rotors and you want your race engine to last.

Check your rules and regulations for the class you want to run, make sure it allows the engine, consider weight penalties if applicable and also consider the freedom you will have to make the required cooling improvements.
I guess a 2 rotor race engine is about $15,000 a 3 rotor maybe $25 to $30K. A four rotor, who knows!

So, you were shifting around 8K? Sounds awesome indeed.

Best of luck!

..

why you gotta be spinning out in your saleen?

So when can we download it for use in Forza? lol j/k


It looks phenomenal. For how radical that back end is designed, I have to say it fits the overall look of the car VERY nicely.

obviously anyone who seriously pursues an RX-8 in STU is a bit eccentric if not completely off their rocker

eccentric?? the shaft in your car has NOTHIN on you...heh

...phenominal looking and performing car! Loved watching the video off of YouTube...the sound of your car is absolutely phenominal! Also, your driver has some serious skill...I definately saw him catch that car more than a couple of times as he was laying the power down coming out of those turns! I agree that your car seemed to perform so well in the curved section, I read your team is still optimizing tuning to give you more top end in the straights?

At any rate, good luck with the rest of your season and please keep us updated with more posts, pics and videos! Great stuff!!

Arvin

WOW, great driving. Very creative throttle steering in many of those corners. Excellent car and driver.

Congrats Diego, your one hell of a driver, that car looks amazing, good luck on the rest of the season

holy crap this car is sick O_O

Diego; I'm curious what transmission and rear end are you using with your 3 rotor?

sweet! :)

That wail is soooo wonderful :lol: Beside what you do being the things dreams are made of - it looks like a blast but at the same time hard hard work! You're a great driver with an awesome car and you certainly ruined that Porsche's composure ;) Good luck!

That is impressive. I love it.

congratulations and good job.

Wow. Amazing looking car. Very creative with the rear Aero and wheel arches.

Love it!

Diego; I'm curious what transmission and rear end are you using with your 3 rotor?

We are using a Jericho 5 speed (internal rail) dog ring gearbox, which is probably a bit heavy / oversized for the 3 rotor. This gearbox and handle the grunt of a traditional racing V8 with 750HP and way much more torque than the 3 rotor. Nonetheless it works great, it´s pretty strong, shifts quickly & precisely.

The rear end is a Supermax Speedway engineering live axle, with a triangular four link setup. The supermax has a quick change in the rear which makes it great for adjusting your ratios to any racetrack. It´s pretty light and handles well. The diff has a detroit locker internally, I had initially thought to change that to a limited slip setup, but I´ve discovered the detroit locker provides extremely good traction out of slow corners, which we have a lot where we race.

Both the transmission and differential have oil coolers (separate), not very big, but useful. The oil temp in them is both like 180 degrees F.

Diego

Thanks for the detailed answers!
I ask because I currently run a tube frame GT-2 RX-7 FD - BP 12a with the original Mazda Comp transmission (yes, the one produced in the early 80's!!) I've run this transmission for 15 years with only 1 rebuild but I'm contemplating going to a 3 rotor and I've been wondering about transmission options.