i know all of you are going to be behind the macys @ columbia mall at 11am tomorrow morning!

see you all there. :D

 

Thanks Greg for the write up. Im not gona take the credit for all of what you said but I was deffinatly involved in alot. Ive had a nack for this stuff since I was a kid and I always get it rite the first time. I dont dick people around and I dont beat around the bush and cut corners either when it comes to a vehical that someone puts there trust into when even pushin the limit just a little or a traffic law abiding citizen. I got my start working on crotch rockets and jetskies and I have never had a comeback, period. Likeyou said Ive work at Pettits R&D department for the last 5 years. If I work on your baby I only offer the best or not at all. If you come to me, tell me what you want to do and give me a general direction you want to go and ill point you were your not gona have any problems with what you want. Have fun at the Lakefront, I miss those days.

 

anybody know whats happened to Dave(Taylortrans) hes been MIA ever since the Sushi Night...

 

Could have used your expertise Sunday - Monday in the Winchester VA area. Short story: three coils dead, apparently I was running 2 good coils out of four and didn't know it. Between possible food poisoning and definite heat exhaustion from a weekend at Summit Point Raceway, I was ill-equipped Sunday night to deal with a roadside failure when the third coil died. "Lizard King Insurance" roadside assistance covered only getting the vehicle to the nearest brand dealership, which turned out to be a 2-week old Mazda franchise in Winchester. The temporary canvas signs still looked fresh.

$650 later, I'm back home. Five hours labor @ $95 to replace three coils / 2 plugs, they had to send a runner to Hagerstown MD to get the parts, mechanic was only familiar with Mazda piston cars and looked lost under the Zonk. Hell, he only started making progress when I told him to use a timing light and see which coils were firing! The service manager said they'd just finished training a week ago.

Yes, I hate having to spend that much to get three $39 parts replaced (we will not speak of $50 spark plugs). At the same time, it would have been another three to five days before I could have rounded up the parts, procured a rental car, spent a lot of time on the road between Easton MD and somewhere near Summit Point WV to do the repairs myself. My -8 is safely home, I need to verify what actually was done to the ignition (the plug they gave me was not the part number I expected to see), and I'm at work where I belong.

Despite all the flaming drama, I think CRH is going to get a PM to reserve a coil kit. It is time to get proactive with the irritating **** that happens to this car.

 

that sucks. im sorry.

are you the LY i see occasionally on 95, near baltimore?

 

It'd have to be VERY occasionally, since the 'Zonk' usually leaves the Delmarva only to visit tracks.

Speaking of tracks: last night, I finally got to sit down and watch the DVR'ed Grand-Am race at VIR. I haven't felt like a kid with a new toy at Christmas in a long time, and that's pretty much how I felt at seeing a race on a track I've driven on. The wife got fed up with me talking to the TV after awhile and shut the door.

It's one thing to hear the announcer talk about a "gutsy move in Hogpen" (Turn 17 on VIR Full Course) when you see a race on TV, and to have driven the track you know WHY it's a ballsy thing to do to take 'that line' through there. I caught myself leaning in the recliner several times, reacting to what I was seeing on the HD.

I gotta go through the 'Zonk' with a fine tooth comb and REALLY get prepped for track events. Are there ANY dealerships in this area that you can TRUST implicitly with the RX-8, when you can't afford whatever you're trying to do under the proverbial "shadetree"? That episode in Winchester left a really bad taste (and a gap in my wallet). It didn't help that coming back through DC on Monday afternoon, I happened to look right while approaching I-495 on US-7 and saw Rosenthal Mazda behind all that road construction.

 

LOL, you shoulda charged the guy for a lesson. In that case I woulda raised hell because you had to show him how to do his job but its over and done with, keep a spare set of coils handy just so if it ever happens again.

 

Moon, forgive me if this has already been stated, but where in MD will you be?

 

Yes, buy the 8th. Ill be living in Ellicott city for the time being.

 

"Lee" (the "piston mech") was apologetic and trying hard, the service manager had no reason at all in taking my car ahead of the queue, it was hotter than Hell itself for a late April day, no parts in reasonable range, and yet by 4pm I was on my way home in my own car. Of all the ***** I went through since 3pm Sunday, the only thing I begrudge Winchester Saturn - Mazda - Subaru is about 90 minutes of that labor rate.

Coils, plugs and a 1/4" drive socket extension w/ flexhead in the track pack. Check.

 

Ellicott City is nice... I lived there for a few years and now I'm just south in Columbia. We will definitely have to meet up when you get into town.

 

For large values of "area": Gaithersburg Mazda, and only because Phil Ruhl works there. He's won a national Mazda Master Technician competition. And he drives his GSL-SE on the track.

Non-dealerships I would trust: PBC Automotive, PFS (now that PF has nothing to do with it), KD Rotary, Bret at RP Performance. I only have personal experience with Bret.

Mostly I do my own work. Have to swap out two transmissions this weekend in my Spec RX-7s. Air tools FTW. No lift, though.

 

any1 on here with a WB 8 that pulled into Calico Corner on York Road today...I was a few cars back in a silver. Cop nearby kept me from catching up to u

 

Just wanted to say hi guys, I just bought a 04 VR Rx-8. I live in Ellicott City and work in Columbia so you'll probably see me around.

 

Hi kanundra, welcome to the club.... if you come to some of our meets you can turn that maybe into a definately...
Heres us at Columbia mall this past Sunday....

 

Welcome to the club! There is a lot of great information here, and a lot of cool people especially in our little neck of the woods. Hope to see you at some of the meets.

 

I'm definately gonna be at the meets. I'm a former DSMer and WRX owner so I may bring some of those guys along.

Any plans on the next one yet?

 

The next meet is our monthly Sushi Night... there is a thread about it, this one is in DE though, so its about an hour away from our normal meeting spot at the White Marsh park 'n ride on 95.

 

Anyone trying to meet up and go to Capital, 75/80, or any track this weekend? I went last friday to capital and saw 2 Grey 8s, a FD and my buddies FC... need to get more rotarys there..

Tyler

 

i'd be up to going to capital this sunday.

 

I mentioned it in the Sushi thread, but I just bought a Velocity Red '05 RX-8 for my wife today. She won't actually have it until this Saturday, but I'll be sure to take some pics and have her post them. She is really excited to have the car, so she will probably bring it up to the Sushi night to show it off. As soon as she gets it I'm putting my old clear corners on.

 

Nice Aaron,,, Tell Brandi congrats ,,,, Let her post the pics its more fun for her that way

 

Gratz! Can't wait to see it.

 

"For large values of 'area'" indeed!

To be honest, I've never considered a non-dealer mechanic for rotaries. It's bad enough the dealers themselves are (for the most part) incapable of working on their own product, how deep could the knowledge base be on the outside?

Spec RX-7? I'm expanding my worldview, I met RX8Convert22 at Summit Point with his fairly sharp Spec-7, we ran in the same DE class and tried as much as possible not to die in the heat. I find it an odd commentary on our sport that he owns two items valued more than gold to a first-gen -7 owner, and you'll have to ask him what they are.

 

Congratulations to the proud new parents owners! I think VR is the best color.