Kewl

I'm kinda hoping to hear from Barry about what time he thinks is best for the restaurant - my guess is we do lunch there and get there via North 14 in the Canyon. The question will be is early lunch or late lunch best. Barry said it is a busy place.

Ron have you installed the springs yet? I also haven't heard anything from MadDog on the flywheel.

I'm also hoping Tony will check in this week too...although he has been real busy of late.

Keep checking in to see what the latest is.

Fred

MadDog

Hey guys! Sorry I've been absent lately. The flywheel is here and scheduled to be installed on Monday over at Made in Japan. I wanted to do my G-Tech runs prior to the install but the dang piece of crap broke on the way to do my baseline runs! I decided that I didn't want to wait for them to fix the G-Tech to do my install, so I just won't do baseline runs. I also got my new Mazdaspeed gunmetal wheels in yesterday! Those are going on today! I'll post pics, but I guess you guys will see them on Sunday. Speaking of which, any idea what time we'll be leaving? Where should we meet-up beforehand?

Barry Abel

The restaurant will be crowded - but turns over fairly quickly. There are about three parking lots. 'Most any time would do - depends on your pleasure. I am told the constuction is done on NM 14 so that road is open - or you can cruise up I-25 from Albuquerque. Either way you hop on 25 (in ABQ or at Corrales Rd off 14) N and exit at Old Pecos Trail. Go W (left if you're coming up from the south) across the highway to the signal that's right there. Turn right - you're on the Old Las Vegas Hwy - up about a mile or so on your left - Harry's Roadhouse.

Okay, what time is good for everyone?

Kewl

OK Barry that sounds easy to get to. I suggest the NM 14 route from ABQ. If the ABQ group meets around 11am - say at Lowes at I25 and Paseo we can drive on up to NM14 and meet Barry at the grill on 14 (the one we had breakfast at - can't remember the name) say around noon (?) Barry and then head on up to SF via 14 from there. That should get us into SF around 1 or 1:30. Since the place is always busy the time we get there doesn't seem important.

How does that sound for everyone?

MadDog

fine with me.

BTW...my new rims ROCK! I think the gunmetal looks perfect against my titanium! Gives it a real racing look! Can't wait to show you guys!

MD

Barry Abel

Kewl, all - your timing's a bit off - it's not THAT far! Should take you no more than 40 minutes to reach the Cedar Point Grill from I-25 and Paseo (I-25 S to I-40 W to NM 14 N about three miles or so on the right). From there, shouldn't take any more than an hour to reach Harry's. So if you leave Lowe's just after 11 you ought to be at Cedar Point at 11:40. That puts us at Harry's at 12:40. You could adjust fifteen later if you wanted to, but I'll be at the Cedar Point parking lot ready to fall into line at 11:40 unless you tell me otherwise. Probably not a bad time for Harry's - we'll have missed some of the Sunday morning breakfast crowd. (And they do have a bar with a TV set if we have to wait a bit....) Let me know (and congrats on the rims, MD - can't wait to see your 8)

Barry Abel

BTW, one other note - Holly's coming along this time. Hope we bring spouses, significant others, or women who own RX8s along to add to the "family" atmosphere we had the first time we met.

Kewl

Yeah Barry I forget the 8 makes it everywhere faster. Actually I was thinking that we would allow about 10 minutes (after the 11am time) for anyone who might get caught up in traffic. There could even be someone who read the post but didn't respond so I wanted to give them a few minutes leyway to get to the meeting spot. I'll send you an email with my cell numbers so you can call if you think we are late or lost.

Jill might be coming too...she hasn't decide if she can take Sunday off yet.

Barry Abel

Makes sense - and tell Jill she added a LOT last time and I'm really hoping she can make it. I'm sure Holly would enjoy meeting her as well.

Hey, for future consideration, I heard an ad on radio today for a New Orleans style restaurant at Cottonwood Mall (which appears to cover an area the size of Rhode Island when you include the outbuildings) - Topo's or something like that - that is starting up a Sunday Jazz Brunch starting October 2nd I think it is. A place to consider for next month's gathering! (Finding it can be part of the activity, a kind of treasure hunt as it were with breakfast/brunch and jazz - and terrific company - as a reward!) Just a thought.

We'll perch ourselves at the parking lot for Cedar Point Grill by 11:40 and wait for the glow of MD's new rims and all the rest of you. BTW, have you seen the "Sage Green" or whatever they call that color on the RX8s out at Rich's? Sure are pretty! (But I'll tell you, the yellow shows dust the very least of any color they offer, a great relief out here!)

barry

MadDog

anyone else watching the weather? bummer...

Barry Abel

no problem, MD - out here nobody complains about rain. 14 will still be a ball to drive and a warm lunch at the other end will be even better! We'll see you tomorrow!

Kewl

Rain....who said that four letter word? Shame!

I think we'll be fine...think positive.

Jill will coming as well Barry.

Sunday at 11am meeting at the Lowes parking lot at I25 and Paseo. From there we will head out to NM14 and pickup Barry shortly before noon and then on to Santa Fe. Hope to see everyone there tomorrow. Can't wait to see MadDog's new wheels!

MadDog

haha! You don't have to wait! Check out my thread on the "wheels, tires and suspension" page.

Kewl

You're right, those look great! They compliment the car's color nicely.

Will you be bringing along the new flywheel for us to look at?

MadDog

I certainly will. Its in the trunk awaiting installation. I wish that it were already installed so you guys could give it a run tomorrow. Oh well, I guess that just means we'll have to get together AGAIN so you can check it out! Haha!

Barry Abel

this is going to happen quite regularly! See y'all later in the morning!

RonD-NM

Sorry I didn’t make it to SF this time. I had a bad weekend and had to deal with some family stuff. I have my springs installed, the ride is a little stiffer then OEM but not bad. It took about 6 days for my springs to settle and now the car is noticeably lower. I had asked Paul from Colorado to send me his “high altitude” maps for the CZ 1.1 and installed the maps last night. This morning I could feel the difference at the lower RPMs more power and did not hesitate or act sluggish. I will let this learn for awhile before I do any fine tuning with the CANScan. Plus I need to understand how to tune first. I saw MD’s new wheels on the forum, very nice I think they go perfect. Now you need to add springs!!
I hope the flywheel install goes smooth for you MD, let us know how the car feels after install.

That’s all for now,

Ron

Barry Abel

Sure missed you, Ron! You're right, MD's wheels look great, a perfect match for the titanium car, too. We had a great late breakfast and a good visit. We did discuss your idea about monthly meetings tied in with the dealer - help recruit more folks to RX8 ownership and all - and we all agreed it sounds terrific. Kewl and I both had suggestions for future locations to visit. Anyway, we missed you and hope you'll be there for sure next time! I'm okay for any Sunday in October EXCEPT the 24th - be driving back from Arizona and the football game we're attending there on the 23rd. Hope all turned out well with your family over the weekend and hope to see you soon!

Kewl

What a great time we had yesterday! The drive was a little slow...Barry was leading the pack. Of course it was the traffic in front of Barry that made it slow. Neither Barry nor I have seen NM14 with so many cars on it. Even with that bright yellow 8 behind them it didn't seen to help get them out of the way. I guess we are just going to have to try that road again some time soon.

Ron, sorry you couldn't make it yesterday, but we understand that happens sometime. I'm up for some food down NM 337 most any weekend. 337 is another fun road to take...if we can find a time when there aren't many other cars on it.

MadDog.....how is the new flywheel? You know we are holding our breath to hear the results. And they are.....

Jill and I enjoyed the drive and visit yesterday. And the food was great! It was a special treat meeting Holly. Thanks for coming along Holly, I sure hope you will continue to put up with us RX8 owners....

I hope everyone has a great week and that we will be able to get back together again soon.

MadDog

okay. here are the results of the flywheel install: AWESOME!

You really can feel a significant difference, especially in the high RPM (4k-9k). But, even in lower RPM there is more pull. In the low RPM I'd say it feels equivalent to loosing 300lbs or so from the vehicle weight. Very similar to driving with out 2 passengers after hauling them around for a few days. In the high RPM range it feels MUCH quicker! The opening of the secondary and tertiary ports gives a greal kick in the pants now. Redline comes much quicker and there is noticable improvment in acceleration. All in all, I'd reccomend it highly! I only wish I'd had the cahones to get a really light flywheel, like one of the aluminum ones. The MS one has reduced inertia, but is still made of moly steel, so its quite a bit heavier than some of those out there. But, I wanted to keep the warranty in tact and figured the MS part was probably of higher quality anyhow. But, once that warranty expires, I might have to get a Fidanza aluminum FW. I'd have to say that the really light ones would make a HUGE difference!

As far as drivability or re-learning the clutch, it does take more gas on take-off but it only took one start from a standstill to understand that. Drivability is not impared at all. Idle is still rock solid. I can't bark the tires going into second anymore, which makes sense. There's not as much energy stored in the FW to dump into the wheels. Thats perfectly fine with me though!! That means that all that energy that would have been stored in the FW in first gear and ready to dump into the wheels is now being stored by the vehicle in its kinetic energy - forward motion! So, I'm pretty pleased by that.

GO GET A REALLY LIGHT ONE!! YOU WON"T REGRET IT!! You can get a great ACT FW for ~$250.

BTW cost of install at Made in Japan: $365 and great service from a mechanic who is VERY knowlegible of rotaries. I'll only take my 8 there from now on!

Kewl

Not what I wanted to hear! Now I will have to think about doing this. Did you have them change the fluid in the tranny as well?

RonD-NM

MD,

We should install my CZ1.1 on your car I want to feel if there is a bigger performance boost with the combination. I have about 3 maps we can try.

Let me know what you think,

Ron

Did you ever get your G-Tech thingy to work??

MadDog

They did change the fluid for me.

Ron, I might be game for an install - - if you think your new maps are doing the trick. Sounds like a fun weekend!

Haven't gotten the g-tech repaired. I'm working it....

Kewl

Did you let them put in what they wanted or did you give them something to use? Any change you can notice in shifting - flywheel impacts aside. Any comments from them on the condition of the clutch itself? That last is not any attempt to reflect on ones driving, but rather the quality of the clutch Mazda installs....

All these questions!

MadDog

Well, i thought about giving them redline to put in. But I just let them put in the regular stuff. But there is a noticible IMPROVEMENT in shifting with the new fluid in. It really glides between gears. I don't feel nearly as much "crunchy stuff" going between gears now.

No comments on the condition of the clutch.