I was there in July. It was my 5th event over the past few years. You're are right about there being a lot of cars and your time is spread out over the entire day, but hanging out at the track isn't so bad. I'm at level 2, but plan on being placed in level 3 by the end of this season. Group 3 will be completely different and better than 2 since 1 and 2 run together. It's $175 per day, which isn't too bad.

I ran with SCCA at Mid-Ohio this summer as well and was not happy with it. More cars than NASA, plus it was not very organized and they got behind on schedule and we missed our last session, plus it was $225. I'll check out the NORPCA (Porsche club I assume) and see what's going on there.

If you're not familiar, the Bluegrass Raceway in KY is a auto countryclub. Is Nelson Ledges still heading in that direction?

 

Optical - These were posted over at the c6c. Thought you might be interested...

http://scuderiaasinogrigio.blogspot....e-midwest.html
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showt...hp?t=123728821

 

It won't do you any good.
The car is going to handle differently based on your modifications COMBINED with the AP.
Like my car has an AP and mid-pipe will perform differently than your car with an AP and stock cat.
Then because every car is different, the tune for them will not be the same.

Most NA cars get this for engine longevity, not performance.
You need certain modifications to archive any performance with the AP, and even that is minimal.

 

Hey Jon...what's the OMP?

 

Oil Metering Pump

 

Jeff charges $700 for those right?

 

Yup!
http://www.mazdamaniac.com/cobb/accessport.htm

 

So expensive for such a little thing.

 

Steve - https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-parts-sale-wanted-44/parts-dealer-not-following-rules-166793/

 

When swapping clutch pedals it isn't out-of-the-ordinary to need to slightly bend the small arm with the green button pad so it will fully depress the "cut-off" switch and enable the starter.

 

The payoff is worth it.

 

Thanks for checking in Ray. I know everybody is over at Doc's working on it so I will shoot a TXT over to him and Jon to make sure they know.

 

I know Im being lazy at this point but...

1) Are there any documented performance gains with the AP?
2) Will the OMP upgrade increase oil even more over my stock '07? I have to clean my tips weekly as it is.
3) What does the increased idle speed do for me?

 

There are dynos posted with increases of around 10 WHP above 6k RPM.

My '07 tips get dirty fast too. I've recently been pre-mixing with MMO so give the seals extra lube. For the track, increase to 6 oz. per tank.

Not sure why we would need to increase idle speed since were stock. Mine's a little rough with about 13k miles. I probably will change plugs every 20k.

 

Spotted a Velocity Red RX8 in North Canton (Jackson) today over by Old Navy. No tint but it was SLAMMED in the back. I would have tagged it but we were in my husband's Evo and I carry my cards in my 3

 

From what though? If they bothered to tell us that the config will lean the fuel under cruising I would expect them to say that it increased under load for increased HP. Also 10 WHP is a lot for any change on the 8. I wonder what else was done to these cars to change the mapping for that increase. How do these cars differ from mine? FI? NO2?

I want to say I read somewhere that 1/2 oz is considered "regular" for premix under normal circumstances for premix. I could be way off as I don't have an 04 and don't suffer from the engine configs that pushed the 04's to need the premix.

Your plugs, wires, coils, etc shouldn't need work for another 15K miles. Did you get the TSB done for the new plugs? How about a compression check?

 

Regular premix for Marvel Mystery Oil is 4 oz. John


Just finished up with Jon and Ryan. Went very well, though the diff fluid was a little messy. And I have a new vent in my battery cover now.

 

I got the AP for about $500 through ebay a few months ago. I don't get the MM support for tuning but I've mostly figured out how to make the oil calibrations and deleting CELs and I can use the Cobb Stage 1 tune once I get my midpipe.

I think it's completely worth it especially if you don't have any other logging devices. At Sebring last month I recorded all of my data for two full sessions. gives you a real good idea when you were letting up off the gas and how your AFRs were throughout the session. Not to mention it records your top speed and gives you approx. lap times. The active monitoring of one system, like your water temp, also gives you that 'extra' gauge that tends to be useful.

With just the Cobb stage 1 map you may not get the full 10hp that's been documented but if you have your car tuned professionally and know how to use RaceTuner to create a new map based on that tune you'll be able to get even more. Plus the adjustments to oil drip and the fan speed are HUGE for track maint. I only premix at the track and I'm pretty sure I'll stop doing that once I have the OMP adjusted through the AP.

Were you at the NASA HPDE in July on Saturday and Sunday? I actually saw an RX8 on the road with decals leaving MidOhio right when I arrived on Friday night but I was the only 8 there Sat/Sun. I might do the structured NASA ladder next year to get to the point where I could race but I only have plans to continue HPDEs this year. I liked how structured there's was and they kept the track open LATE but the sheer number of cars meant it was very rare I got a good lap in without traffic until the last two sessions. Since they cost almost $100 more than a NORPCA or other club event I plan on just sticking with those if possible.

I haven't done any SCCA events but have heard they're not great. Basically I go where my friend with a full trailer goes. Tends to be a lot easier when you've got someone with spare tools/equipment.

 

It's a lot. It's 10hp at the wheel dyno'd which means about a 7.5% increase in HP. That's pretty significant and much more then any other single mod. With other N/A modifications the AP can get you even more. IE. Cobb Phase 1 map is meant to be used with a midpipe to take advantage of 'freeing' your car from the cat.

Oh and keep in mind that Jeff's charge of $700 includes a MM tune. If I ever go FI I'll end up paying him a couple hundred to have him tune it but I think I'll get enough out of the Cobb Stage 1 plus my own tuning through RaceTuner that it wouldn't be worth it.

It's got nothing to do with model year. The flash that had been used up until Nov 07 did not have the OMP settings quite right so not enough oil was getting to the seals and combined with excessive carbon buildup would eventually caused engine failures.

The flash in '07 addressed the OMP issues and started giving us a better flow of oil so premixing essentially became irrelevant for daily driving. On the track, however, it's too important to eff around with so premixing is likely still helpful.

It used to be 4oz per tank for daily driving and ~6oz for track duty.

 

Interesting. Weird that occasionally different cars need it. The only thing we could think of is that some cars lose some travel from the top nut above and in front (towards the driver) of the clutch. Jon tried moving that and resetting the nut but it didn't help so bent the small arm.

I'll try the same sequence and see if it fixes it but after the bend Doc's was able to engage again.

Thanks Ray.

 

Jon and Ryan. Thanks SO MUCH! I learned alot!!!!

 

Nice!

 

Strange...I really wonder what the change is to get the 10WHP. 10 isn't much but when it is more than an intake or catback can do alone it makes me wonder.

Hrmm...I'll have to see where that thread is. Maybe I misread it or something. *shrug*

 

I would have duct taped it but I think that makes it SCCA BS ineligible.

I may hit up Mazmart for a replacement clutch spring starter thingamabob, a starter, and a new inside cover for my passenger door (it's all kinds of scraped up) so I'll see if he can toss in a new used battery cover.

 

It's just tuning. The problem with an intake or a catback is that you are replacing a pretty damn well engineered item. Mazda's been working with the 13b engine since the 80s so they've got it pretty much down pat. They screwed around a little with the ports for reliability and additional power but the reality is that they had to perfect the intakes/exhaust to be able to get us to NA power we have.

The cat is an artificial restrictor so obviously getting around that helps a ton. The rest though is just tune so they could get the engine to the point where an idiot with no clue wouldn't cause detonation. The assumption with a MM tune (and to a lesser extent the Cobb tune) is that the person driving the car knows what they're doing and they won't run the car when it's in a risk mode and running richer would prevent detonation.

All the Cobb or any other tune does is take away the idiot factor that a large production car company has to account for. In effect you're adding additional risk and wear in order to gain more power.


Probably. There's such a mix of information that was good that is no longer, information that was never good, and information that never applied to our engines but was good for older rotaries that it's almost impossible to figure out what the right path is to take with mixing.