R(ace)X-8

Hi All,

Well, it’s been quite a long time since I joined/first posted here. My introduction to RX-8 ownership has been a bit challenging to say the least. I suspect this is mostly due to the previous owner, not the car’s inherent character.

When I first considered buying the car, I thought that coming from a “professional race team” would mean a professional-level build.



Not. Even. Close.



Moral of the story here: “pro race team” does not mean “professional [fill-in-the-blank].”

This car was slapped together and maintained poorly. There are so many things that were done to it that are just head-scratchers (like not using grommets on sheet metal holes where wires pass through…who the f*&% does that?), and others that are just fist-shakingly infuriating (like improperly wiring the onboard fire suppression system…um, you kind of need that to work when it’s really needed). Most of it shows signs of panic-stricken gorillas thrashing on it late at night to get it ready for the next event – and for that you can identify how at least a true pro-race-team level of urgency permeates the car. There are some very top-notch parts on the car (read: expensive), but most of them were subsequently installed by some guy they pulled in off the street who has never seen a car before (“Yes Bob, you need to plug the secondary fuel pump back in or it won’t work” – true story, I’m not even making this up, it’s just a ridiculous array of wtf?).

So I’ve been undoing a bunch of things, fixing others, and getting the car set up for NASA’s ST4/TT4 class. At the time of purchase, TechSport Racing had two RX-8s for sale, the #22 I got and the #23 car. I truly hope NOBODY got the #23, wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

Now on to the real drama! About 2 hours after I got the car (2 hours of track time), the engine blew on me. Died an oily death, but true to rotary-form kept running until it got me back to the paddock. This was supposed to be on an engine that allegedly only had 2 hours or so on it since the last rebuild. And you know what, that’s probably right – but when you throw stuff together in the most asinine way, engines don’t last long.

I don’t know rotary engines. And I’m not one of those guys who says, “oh, it’s such a simple engine, how hard could it be?” So I took it to a rotary specialist for a rebuild. Banzai Racing happens to be about 3 hours from me, and Chris Sanders spent about that much time during our first consultation just going over the car. That left a great impression, so I gave him the car to work on. Many months later, I finally got it back. I had a fantastic experience with Banzai, but others should know that Chris is a one-man shop with only Elaine there to help with the office and logistics. So plan on a long lead-time with them. Personally, I think it was worth the wait – especially if it lasts as long as Chris thinks it will.

Turns out, when I brought the car in, the engine had only half-an-engine’s worth of compression. So my little two-hours’ worth of time was with very little power. I’m looking forward to getting the car back on track to see what a full-engine can do.

I hope to start posting info on the upgrades and fabrication work I’m doing. ST4/TT4 allows only modest aero-work, but I’m doing what I can within the rule-set. I’ll probably be posting in the Competition forum. I lurk a lot throughout the forum getting a bunch of information from the community here, so I hope to give back a bit.





Rebuilt engine w/coated headers ready to go back in!


Best,
-j

CelestialGryphon

iTrader: (1)

Mm, because race car.

R(ace)X-8

Some things, yes. But other things (many things), no. Being a race car, even a used race car, does not excuse stupid decisions and shoddy craftsmanship.

Body damage from car-to-car contact: race car
Reusing damaged rotors in an engine rebuild: not race car
Using mismatched seals of differing thermal expansion (ceramic and steel): not race car
Using OEM oil pressure regulator: not race car

I can accept race car, but I don't excuse outright foolishness. At the very least you have to give the damn engine a fighting chance.

Best,
-j