How far from track ready is the R3?
 

In the brochure , it says the R3 is "Near track ready", but in reality how close is the R3 to being track ready. I know it depends on the series and all that, but as far as setup and specs, how close is it to "track ready"? After seeing this forum, I would say it's along way off. Keep in mind it is a 2011 and warranties and all that. I'm afraid to mod and void my warranty. I plan to get it through it's warranties and start modding, or buy a used 2009 and go at it. Whatch ya'll think?

What kind of track are you planning to go to? Auto-X, road course, drag strip (God forbid)?

you can get a pos and call it track ready.

R3 saids "track ready" simply because its marketing gimmick.

if you really want a track only car, you will want the most basic trim. and as your skill gets better, you will start stripping stuff off the car to save weight.

Its track ready as it is, you just gotta take it to the track. Drive first, mod later, wish i learned this earlier

As ready as you are, lol

you can take any car to a track so theres no track ready.

brakes, fluids, and decent tires and you're good to get on the track.

like someone else said, learn to drive first and mod later.

The work may come after you come back from the track. You'll want to inspect your tires, brakes and maybe bleed your brake fluid if your peddle feels any different.
Before you go, and this is optional, you may want to change out your trans and diff fluid to Redline synthetic. This will run cooler and can handle the heat better than what is supplied by Mazda.

If you've never been to the track before, then you'll be too overwhelmed with the experience and the last thing you'll be thinking is how to improve the car you have... In my opinion & from my own personal experience.

I know my first day at the track was shockingly upsetting for me because for all these years I was thinking that I was a 'HERO' at driving, but instead, I found out that I was made of shit, lol. :p:

Now I'm finally starting to gain more ground after a year of attending HPDE events off & on. And now I'm finally starting to understand how I need to maintain my car in preparation for each track event I attend.

If you're a novice or intermediate driver, like myself, the RX-8/R3 is an excellent car to start taking out to the track. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to find a better car for the individual who is ready to learn, and for one who wants to smoothly progress as a fundamentally sound driver.

There is a HPDE event at Sebring International Speedway on June 25 & 26 that I am going to attend.

It is more track ready ready than a lot of other sports cars. For example the 350Z and 370Z should not be tracked without installing an oil cooler. The R3 comes with 2 of them stock. Contrary to what others would have you believe, the OEM brakes ARE track ready, unlike many other sports cars (the Z's again!). It is very unlikely you will cook your brakes in an HPDE. This is assuming you're a novice and you have around 5-10k miles on the car. Listen to alnielsen, its after the track where you'll want to do the work like changing brake fluid etc.

This is coming from personal experience. I pretty much didn't do anything with my R3 before my first track day. I had around 7k miles on the car. I just showed up and started driving. I was pushing harder than all the other newbies and I didn't have a single problem. Just make sure you bring a couple quarts of oil and check/fill after every session. And check your lug nuts.

I'm at 15k miles and 5 track days and I am just now switching to Hawk brake pads and higher temp brake fluid. This car is far more track ready than most of us drivers are.

^ Agreed! :yesnod:

Right on! :ylsuper:

I tracked my 07 for about 5 times before I could tell how I wanted to align it.

Then, after 2 alignments where I could help the guy and sit in the car, I got it exactly where I want it (-1.7 camber front and -1.65 camber rear).

So all the 8's are pretty much track ready as soon as you get the tires and alignment you want.

Track ready is driver specific. Each person has an idea of what they want. While some people will set an alignment to pull a certain way, others just enjoy a little over or under steer. Some people like to brake late so they need brakes with more bite, others brake a little early, and hit the gas in the turn a little early. Some people find they like lighter cars they can slide a little bit, while other people love heavy cars that just stick to the track.

Its not the car you need to worry about being track ready. It will take years before you perfect a car or even know what to adjust to fix a nagging problem. Its yourself that you need to make track ready. Go in to this thinking that your a complete idiot and know nothing about cars and you will do just fine.

I would recommend you attend a driving class with an instructor and not just try to jump in to an AUTO X solo event.

The 350 is okay without an oil cooler. 370 yes if you want to push it to redline, but they have other minor bugs beyond oil cooler.

The brakes on the RX8 is adequate because the car doesn't generate a lot of straightline speed. Still if the OP becomes good at braking, he should really replace the pads to a dedicated track pad. It's just not worth it screwing around with brakes (I learned it the hard way).

The HPDE events have instructors available to ride around with you... according to the website. Also I have taken Skip Barber 2 day driving school.

Bleed the brake fluid at least, not worth losing your car or a track day over $10 bucks in fluid