heading out for the Lincoln Mini-Nats Double-Event tonight, looks like some serious competition this weekend and I changed tire sizes so we'll see ....


pic from the Blytheville Pro Solo last month:

 

Good luck Mark! What sizes are you on now?

 

255/40-17 Toyo R1R for the fist time. Ran a set of 255/35-18 R1Rs at the end of last season and had pretty good success on them. The taller 17" sidewalls concerns me some and they are a bit wider than the 18" set. I'm not sure how the car will respond to them since I have only been on the 245/35-17 R1R so far this year with the new setup. Between the Test & Tune and a few Pro Solo heats I'll at least have several opportunities to make handling/balance adjustments if necessary.

 

Mark is gonna kick *** and take names. Because if he does...he gets free beer from me when I finally get to meet him. :D

 

Haven't seen any action shots of it yet

 

Mazdafest '07

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardrandall/6121251763/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardrandall/6121251763/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardrandall/6121790942/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardrandall/6121790942/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardrandall/6121245287/http://www.flickr.com/photos/leonardrandall/6121245287/

 

Looks great!!! I can not wait to get my Eight to a Auto-X.

 

Here is a picture from a NASA race last month. There are four RX-8s in the picture although one is hard to see. Mine is the second black and silver one. The other three RX-8s are part of the "Mother's Wax" team.

 

mangus what class do you run with in NASA? I'm trying to go through the HPDE ranks to get my TT license.

 

L337fpc, I'm going to bet that is a Lightning Race. At least it would be with NASA-SE... Small bore engines. For TT You would start out in TTD and that will take care of most of the basic mods like suspension, intake, exhaust, tires and brakes. If you get into body modifications then you can get get too many points and have to move up to TTC and You really don't want to do that to start with. My advice is to stay in TTD for a while.

 

I'd have to agree with what was said above. TTD or PTD is a nice class for the RX-8 with NASA. That's what I run in. The car can be competive with just basic mods. TTC can be fun but requires more extensive modifications and weight removal to be competitive.

I think the Mother's team has five RX-8s - two in PTD one in PTC, one turbo one (recently wrecked) that I think ran in PTB and then ST1 and finally an Enduro car.

For the most part the RX-8 is a pretty good track vehicle. I think you'll enjoy TTD.

 

With NASA-SE in 2009, TrackAddict in his 2004 RX-8 competed for the TTD Championship title and was beat out by a BMW E30 with a time less than .2 sec if I remember correctly. Last year, John Williams and I finished the season on the podium with John taking 3rd and me taking the championship. However that does not mean that we were that much faster than so many cars. We competed more and were consistently on the podium to acquired the points needed. There were 4 cars faster than me and that's nice to know for someone going into TTD. The S2K that took 2nd place was untouchable throughout the season. However he got bumped up to TTC and left me with 4 events to take over the points. There were 3 additional cars faster than me. One was a BMW Z4 that was the 2009 National Champion and he only ran with NASA-SE one time. Another was an Acura that is driven by a Racer that I think was running in TTD just for practice and to win tires. The other was a freaking Dodge Neon with a turbo. I'm pretty confident he should never have been competing in TTD. But sometimes that's just the way it goes.

I'm telling you all this because I want you to understand that a year in TTD with an RX-8 can be extremely rewarding. The car handles great. It just doesn't have that torque you will want when some of those other cars pull away from you on that long back stretch. That's one of two weaknesses of the 8. The other is that heat is your enemy! Make sure you have gauges and start your cool down lap early if your temps start heading upward. You will have an absolute blast in TTD, I guarantee it.

 

Yes, that kid has raced a lot of pro events in "real" race cars. He comes to a lot of NASA SoCal events. He can't easily be touched in TTD in his Dad's Z4.

Yes, the lack of torque is frustrating. Just wait until you start doing some rolling starts in races and watch your nice top qualifying spot slip away in the first 4 seconds. But hey! Life's not fun without a challenge!

 

I'd love to go into turn one at Road Atlanta in a rolling start to a race. I bet that would put a wrinkle in your shorts. :D

Wish I had the resources to dedicate a car to track. I just can't justify the $$$ for a tow truck, trailer, tires and such. It's a hobby not a living. That's why I had to back down. The driving skills reached the point I needed to dedicate the car and I just could not commit to that. TTD was the most fun I ever had on track. Just can't say enough good things about it. Where else can you get the feel of racing without having to finance a full blown race vehicle. Not just TTD but the whole Time Trials experience with NASA.

 

What is the rolling start speed? I am gussing somewhere near 20 MPH, which I think would be bad for the RX8, too fast for 1st and too slow for second.

The 5.125 gears should help that a little.

 

I hear you. NASA TT is a lot of fun and gives you a lot of valuable seat time. I still do it in addition to the racing at most NASA events if I can. Racing doesn't have to cost THAT much more than TT (other than the additional safety requirements such as a role Cage) if you're not worried about being super competitive. You can still drive your car to the track even if you race it - just make sure you have a plan if it breaks or crashes.

I was hoping to go to Nationals this year - I went the past two years a Miller. But a trip all the way to Mid Ohio just was not in the cards this year.

Maybe next year!

 

The starting speed just depends on who is setting the pace. Usually it ends up being a 2nd gear start. I have the 4.77 gears now and a set of the 5.125 gears that I need to install.

Who knows... maybe I just need to learn how to jump the start better!

 

When you change out those gears, I might want to take the 4.77's off your hands. I am supercharged so I dont need the 5.125 plus I still street drive the car (with 245/45/18's) so 5.125 would be a little overkill for me.

I have never swapped gears. I was thinking of doing the OS Gilken superlocker and 4.77 gears at the same time.

 

I instruct and the cost of a weekend is only $20 for me. TT is free. Racing in an enduro can cost $375 to $445. Running in the Lightning race can run about $340. Instructing + driving TT is the best money you can spend for track. Because you can go out in any of the HPDE run groups you want in addition to the TT sessions. So 4-5 TT sessions and what ever else you want to work in makes for an awesome weekend at thee track. As an instructor you can also take riders so that makes it even better. NASA Rocks!

So L337fpc, You may want to work your way to HPDE4, drive that for a while and take the Instructor training. You will continue to learn as you instruct and there's nothing more rewarding to me than seeing a student go from being scared to death, running in the back of the pack, to running at the front of the pack in HPDE 1.

 

Ok I'll shoot you a PM when I swap them out.

 

Bunch for new season.

 

A few shots I took of Spin9K this past weekend at NHMS in New Hampshire. It was great to get to meet him and from I understand see the 1st RX8 in New Hampshire!!

Stephen

PS: They are taken with my phone and definetly look better on my cell LOL!!!

 

Thanks Stephen!

 

My son Chris in our car at AMS earlier this month

Note the obligatory loose fender liner from a cone we hit earlier