Between the two of us, I think we had combined more DNF's then clean runs.

 

Is anyone doing the event on the 21st back at FedEx?

 

What's up guys, Im in central pa, about an hour from Cumberland .. I'd love to join you for some meets or shows not many other 8's around my way having meets.

 

Wow, someone actually knows where Cumberland is. I live there, and it's a bit too far up the road to go down and play with the rest of the guys in this thread. Though, I guess an hour from here isn't too much less than where I am from Frederick.

 

That's cool .. Would be cool to link up .. I don't mind driving

 

Well if anyone is interested I'm going to the Autocrossers Inc. Autox in Waldorf MD this Sunday (July 14th). Anyone else planning to go?

I'm the only RX-8 so far...
Entry List

 

Hello MD guys,

Not sure if I should ask this in another post. If so, I will do that.

I live in MD and my 8 just sadly had an accident. Passenger side doors and fender seriously damaged. I need to find a decent body shop for the repair (by paying my insurance deductible).

Can anyone please recommend a shop you trust in Gaithersburg, Rockville, Columbia or Frederick areas?

Thanks in advance.

I see Fitzgerald has Collision centers at Gaithersburg and Rockville. They are kind of close to me but I'm willing to go further for better quality job.

 

I recently took my RX-8 to Fitzgerald after hitting a curb, and I would not recommend them as it was a complete fiasco.
They have a collision center and a regular repair shop and they are separate locations so they have to transport the vehicle between them. After having the car at the collision center for 3 weeks and repairing things there (and by repairing things I mean the cross member was scratched so they had to hit it with a hammer and paint it or some crap like that) then they transported it to the repair center, backed it off the flat bed shut it off and flooded it. After de-flooding it my power steering no longer worked.

They are definitely an insurance milker... the first estimate to replace 2 wheels/tires that were bent, 2 brake lines that were scratched and refinish the cross member was something like $2500 and then during the course of the 8 weeks they had it there were about 3 more add on claims until finially it was totaled.
The thing that put it over the top was the power steering failure and it could be a coincidence that I never had a problem with my power steering, that it worked fine when I drove home after hitting the curb, that it worked fine while it was at the collision center for 3 weeks and then just by chance failed completely when it got to their repair shop and they worked on it for the first time. Oh and they quoted something like $5k to repair the power steering.

 

Sorry to hear your bad experience with Fitzgerald. Sounds like a place to avoid doing business with. thanks for sharing.

 

Does anyone have experience with Imperial Auto Body at Rockville? www.imperialab.com

 

I work at Russel Mazda and our body shop is pretty good, a few of my co-workers have had their cars done here and they came out very good in a week or 2 i'm having them re clear my hood and re paint my mx5

 

I'm sorry to hear about you accident, hopefully your 8 will be up and running soon.

My recommendation would be Givens Collision out on Tilco Drive in Frederick. I have heard nothing but good things about them from friends and family, and when I finally had a car repaired there I was very pleased with the work.

 

jay and brokenrecord, thank you both for your recommendations. I am checking out the shops and their schedules now.

 

Chris!! You coming Sunday or what!?!

 

Sorry, been off the forum for a while and just saw this. I've been in Florida since Saturday, and will be here for another week, so no local events for me for a little while. Trying to figure out when the heck I'm going to get back on the track, it's been too long! I hope Sunday went well!

 

I will be back at FedEx on the 21st. Same class etc. This time with better sunscreen and more snacks.

 

Where in Florida did you go? It went really well actually, I really like Autocrossers inc and the Waldorf setup. I will definitely be watching for another one of their events, and I actually feel like I may have gotten a little better.

I don't think I'm going to be able to make this one... Plus the 10am-7pm day last time around was just way to long, I think I may stick to the smaller events. At Waldorf we got there at 8:30 and where out by 1:30.

 

I'm down in the Orlando area. Just relaxing and taking some time off from work. I'll be back the end of next weekend, but I'm headed to Philly for a friend's wedding the weekend after next, so it looks like it'll be a while before I'm back on the track in the RX-8. I think my next free weekend is August 10-11, so I guess I'll see you guys at Winchester is you do more CDC events. I still need to try Autocrossers Inc. What was the biggest difference between them and the CDC?

 

In other news, GOOD GOD, Orlando seems to be the RX-8 capital of the world. I have been seeing more Series I RX-8s than I ever have anywhere else. They're currently outnumbering V6 Mustangs, and that's saying something. Strangely, I have yet to see a Series II RX-8.

 

I actually grew up not to far from there (Deland) and most of my family still lives in the Orlando area.

 

Hey guys, I've determined that with the insane amount of distance I need to cover every week, that I need to swap back in my stock rear diff ratio, so if anyone wants to trade with me, there's no better way to put more torque to the wheels. in the interest of full disclosure I will say that you'll probably lose 1-3 mpg depending on how you drive but for me that saves about a hundred bucks a month, but it makes the car pull much harder at any speed, if fuel was less of a concern for me I'd keep it or if the car was just for weekend use. But as it is I've had enough of the poor fuel economy. Let me know if your interested, if you come to my place we can do the swap in a day(I've done it once before obviously!) pm or post with interest

 

It's not really that different, CDC is a little more laid back and they stage things a little differently. I like them both. I work on Saturdays so it will be a while before I can do any of their events. The next one I do will probably be August 11 at fedex field.
The main difference between CDC and SCCA groups like Autocrossers Inc and Washington SCCA is the classes.
And speaking of which... just installed a oil catch can with a breather on it... does anyone know if that will throw me out of STX class? I guess I could re-attach the tube to the intake for the day if it does.

 

What differential are you running? Have you ever had any issues with overheating or anything?

 

Sure I'll trade with you, I have a shop with tools and lifts to make it fast and easier, What kinda diff is it. PM me

 

I think much of that was due to the numbers rain delays and the larger then normal turnout. I will surely like to try an event at a different location, Waldorf is kind of a haul though.

Looking at the AutoCrossers Inc., looks like I just missed one. They seem to only have two more events on the calendar for the year; 10/13 & 10/19. I think I am going to try to hit most of the WDCR races between now and when the Autocrossers Inc. events come back around.

My helmet should arrive today, no sweaty loaners for me again. And no, at the last second I opted not to order the Simpson Bandit, I'm no stig and I don't want to jinx myself pretending to be.