Railgun

We're working on that. Keep in mind, we're trying to rebuild from the ground up, so unfortunately things are going to take a little while to get organized.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I am also planning to trying to autocross the 8 after a 15 yr. layoff.

I haven't driven Gingerman and would like to try. Road America turn 9/10 should be fun with with this car, followed by the pucker facter of turn 11.

oi812

I've raced motorcycles on both Gingerman and Road America. I like Gingerman much more, it's way more technical in my opinion and allot more fun. Road America has way too much straight connecting it's corners if you ask me, but it would be kind of fun to stretch the RX-8 legs a bit.

I've driven the RX8 at Gingerman, it was an absolute blast. The price can't be beat, it was like $60 from 5:30 till dark (about 8:30) on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays. The track manager (Bob) was supper accommodating and one of the nicest track managers I've ever encountered. Keep us posted if there are going to be any Mazda events at either track.

I'm going to be doing a few auto-crosses at Miller Park in Milwaukee, quite a few cars from Chicago at those events. First I have to do is decide on BS or Street Tire and then get some tires ordered

Matt RX8

I'm ordering magmetic numbers for autocross. For SCCA events, if I run in Street Tire, would I use the letters "ST", I assume the class letters for B Stock would be "BS"?

Matt RX8

I signed up for the learning curve. There was one at least one other RX8 (a red one) signed up, looked like a husband and wife..

Anyone from RX8 club? Also anyone else signed up?

hillman

They re-configured that section of Road America, and added "The Bend" before the Kink. Not many club events use the old course anymore ( too many cars balled-up in the Kink ).

For Street Tire class, the only letter on your car should be an "S" ( or "L", if you are running Ladies ). Please don't get creative and put more than that, it only confuses matters. B Stock is "BS". Also, please make sure your numbers are *at least* 8 inches tall, and *at least* 1.25 inches in stroke, and in a consistent, contrasting color to your car ( 4" by .75" for class letters ). Keep in mind that people need to read your number and class from 100 feet away as you fly by at 60mph.

Thanks.

-- Chief of Timing and Scoring

Matt RX8

I went with 10 inch numbers and 5 inch letters.

Is the 4 inch letter a minimum?

Matt RX8

Hey Hillman,
Are you the guy from planet torque?

Good schedule of events that you have there:

http://planet-torque.com/sche.php

hillman

Yes, but don't make the class letters larger than ~half of your numbers.

Yes, thanks. Lots of autocross in-car video, too, in case anyone out there is wondering what autocross is like. Still many spots open in the Learning Curve school mentioned above.

StewC625

Here's my photos of the Labor Day weekend autocross at Joliet - it's a great place to run. I"ll be running most of the events this spring and summer - street tire class this year, then perhaps invest in some racing tires for next year.

Also, note my numbers ...

http://www.cowspot.net/autox

Stew

Matt RX8

Which clubs are you running with?

Matt RX8

Hillman: Good job at the autcross. You beat me by 2.682 seconds. I was the guy in the black RX8. We met briefly. How did your students do? Did you drive their RX8s? What were your impressions of the 8 as an autox car?

Stew: Are you going to the Chicago SCCA event in Joliet next Sunday? If so, try to find me. I'm in a black RX8.

hillman

Only one of my students had an RX-8, the other had an MR2. They were both mid-pack among the students. One coned away some time, the other was consistently improving all weekend.

I drove the RX-8 once each on the short courses Saturday. To be honest, I really did not like the RX-8 at all. Conventional wisdom says a properly setup '8 will be faster than my car, or anything else in B Stock, but that's hard for me to believe. Granted, the one I drove was bone-stock on OEM tires, but it understeered resolutely, felt ponderous and huge, had surprisingly slow steering and lacked helmet-room to boot. Seats and brakes are nice, though, and it does have a ton of power.

For now, it's off my list of "cars I might one day buy".

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I'm surprised that you found the car to not have enough head room. I'm 6'2" and I don't have a problem. Did it have the sunroof?. I will be out Sunday after a long layoff from autocross.

Matt RX8

That's how I felt after I tried to get into and out of a new Elise.

Sorry you didn't like the RX8, I had a blast with mine out there. I guess it all depends on what you are used to. I'm coming from BMWs that were much heavier and sloppier than the RX8. The RX8 is much much more fun to autox than my bimmer.

We were running much higher tire pressure than your students though, not sure if that made a difference in the handling.

hillman

I'm okay with not liking the RX-8... my 15 year-old MR2 is a /lot/
cheaper. The one I drove did have a sunroof, and I may not have had
the seat all the way down, but still, I'm under 6'.

I'm sure if I jumped in an RX-8 from, say, my old Legacy wagon
that I ran for two years, I'd love it.

See you guys Sunday.

I'm bad with names, and only slightly better with faces...
Machan, you're Matthew Reid, right? The same one bringing an
XKE on Sunday?

Matt RX8

That's me, except the XKE will look a lot like a RX-8 . I've heard Mazda likes to snoop the SCCA results to void warranties so I list my car igcognito.

I was told I could list my car as anything as long as it was in the same class, B stock in this case. In retrospect, I probably should have just listed it as bstock or left it blank or something.

Although, my father said he would leave his silver 69 XKE to me in his will and I could turn it into an autox car .

MichRX7

Man, I'd love to get some more RX8s down to the event from Chicago. I promise Mazda won't snoop results for warranties on our two autocross tracks.

Matt RX8

I'd love to join you because it sounds like fun but I have a slight issue. If I went to something like that, my wife would kill me...

I'm doing an autocross this weekend and then a DE on April 30th-May 1st. I'm also doing a local autcross here on April 23rd and a friend is visiting me. Maybe next year???

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Where did you hear about Mazda snooping. I have hear that it was ether Mitsubshi or Subaru that was doing that. I hadn't hear it about Mazda.

As far as the XKE. That car is worth too much to modify for autocross. I wouldn't even risk it in any competition. Does it have the 6 or 12 engine?

Matt RX8

I just heard that from my instructor and fellow student at the autocross school.

As for the XKE, I disagree. Cars are made to be driven. The 69 jaguar that I'm referring to is a 6 cylinder fixed head coupe.

My father also has a 62 ( I think), one of the first 200 made and also a 73 V12 roadster. Now those are worth too much to modify or risk in competition. :D

Matt RX8

Allan,

I see you are signed up for the SCCA event at Joliet. I'll try to stop by and say hello. Good luck on Sunday.

Matt RX8

Hi Alan,
It was nice to meet you and congrats on your finish. You placed one spot in front of me.

Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Since I had already worked, I bolted early since I was beat and had a long drive home.

I probably won't do many SCCA events this season but I'll participate more next year. Good luck with your season.

hillman

Bumping for '06, since there's a lot of good information in this thread,
especially the first two pages.

The Learning Curve school is in two weeks ( April 1-2 ) and is about 75%
full right now. No RX-8 drivers are registered yet.

http://www.scca-chicago.com/solo
http://register.scca-chicago.com

See you there.