I'm one province over from Newfoundland, so, if you do decide to go to Targa some time, let me know and I worst case give you a place to stop-over en route, or, with enough notice, maybe get over to help out.
My wife flew over and covered it for a magazine last year, and we know a bunch of people who have participated/organized etc.

 

It will be a few years at least, and I will probably be in more need of a right seat co-pilot

 

Yeah, finding the person to give directions from the right seat is always the hard part.

 

Any suggestions on coil overs? There are so many threads on this particular topic that is not, to me, worth wading through all of them. I would rather have experienced members give me their inputs than sifting through a bunch 'Help me' threads.

 

pretty sure you would want a fully custom set up for that race or any real racing for that matter. spring rates, dampening, ride height etc. but im no suspension expert. i dont think off the shelf stuff would be the best way to go

 

Yeah, the entire suspension needs to be addressed as one complete package. Bushings, sway bar rates, spring rates, and shock data. Expect to set aside at least $2,500 for the coilovers alone, and they will almost certainly need to be custom ordered. Fat Cat Motorsports appears to offer RX-8 coilovers now, which every order is a custom one where you specify the spring rates and they build the shocks to match. They are extremely solid and have one of the best reputations for performance in the Miata world. They probably added the RX-8 because of their work in supporting the NC Miata, which shares suspensions. Ohlins is another option, but the 'off the shelf' ones probably won't be as ideal.

Once you have the shocks and springs picked, you will need to pick the sway bars to match what you are looking for out of the car. The stiffer the springs, the softer the sways will be, in general, but super stiff springs aren't very ideal for racing on what is essentially a public road. Targa Newfoundland suspensions have the same consideration, though perhaps to a greater extreme than Pike's Peak.

Your best bet will be to talk to some suspension experts to work out the whole plan/choices.

 

pearl didnt 9k have an issue with fat cat or was it with a previous set up he was running (power trix maybe)?

 

I think it was Powertrix, but I might be wrong.

 

that sounds right now that i think about it. i remember shelldude saying something about it too cause i think thats what he has

 

I seriously doubt he will post in this thread.

 

Go

to

the

track

first.


You will learn there about things like power, tires, suspension setup, coilovers, brakes etc.. Trust me.

You just have to walk up to anyone in the pits, say "oh man I love (whatever car they are driving). What kind of (ANY PART) do you use? If you could upgrade what would you get?"

People at the track love telling other people about what they've done and how it's worked at the track.

Forums are kind of a bad place to get information from people who may or may not have experience with what they are suggesting.

 

Can confirm. 350whp turbo cars are a pain in the *** to drive on the street. Roommate has a caged&prepped NASA TT3 STi. It was originally built for autocross, so, the turbo choice, tuning and suspension setup reflects that. It was built to pull the car from cone to cone. And it is a gigantic pain in the *** to drive on the street. The only time that car really sees any real "street use" is when he drives it to the track, a car meet, or a car show.

 

Listen to RIWWP. There is much wisdom in his words. All of them.

I have been a student of "race" driving for 2 years. My 3rd year starts in March. I have 18 HDPE and general track days under my belt, and every time I go out, I realize how much more I have to learn. It never occurs to me to think about how good I am, because there are always several people who absolutely school me on the track. (I have my comp license.)

In year 1, I drove my RX-8 stock on regular summer tires. The car out-drove me half the season. An upgrade to the brakes was all I needed to be put right back into my place. For the start of year 2, I upgraded the suspension to Bilstein PSS9 coilovers, which are regarded to be meh in the midrange of the available offerings. I am just now at the point where I am realizing their limitations and am looking toward something more refined like FCM customs. Going into year 3, I am running in 3rd place out of 18 in my run group (intermediate) at one track and 3rd out of 24 at another.

The short story is that the car can still out-drive me at this level. And, I have not even ventured into R compound tires, because I like the feedback I get from summer ties. The most important point I can make in this post is that you need to spend your money on the nut behind the wheel instead of on upgrades to your car. You need to understand what performance driving is about before you can make intelligent decisions about how to upgrade your car. I was completely wrong in my preconceived notions, and I am eternally grateful for the good advice I received in that regard, which convinced me to do absolutely nothing until I learned to drive. (And I have a lot of learning yet to accomplish.) Upgrades are also very personal and vary from driver to driver. Going back to the PSS9s, I know several people who swear they suck, yet I beat them every time while riding on them. You get the idea.

Pike's Peak is also one of my goals. I feel that I am another 3 years and a different car away. I will drive that car at least 1 year before I will attempt PP with it. PP is serious business, no matter what they showed on FnL.

 

I think the OP has checked out by now.

Definitely good advice all around. Maybe he's got unlimited disposable income - in that case, Bondurant, etc. If not, then humility and a willingness to learn and speaking with people that do this stuff and going to PP as a spectator will be the fast(er) track to his goals.

 

He's still around, he just doesn't get on much.

 

i know this is late to the party, but i've been road racing in some form or other since 2003, and this includes running a 20+ person team in the 25 hours of thunderhill, and building several cars etc etc.

if i wanted to do pikes peak, i'd do it in a stock car first. you won't win, but you won't win with an REW swap either.

if there is time before the race for some testing, then by all means pull the cat out, put a radiator in it, do the suspension. stuff like that.

a turbo will help power at altitude, and the REW does better turboed than the MSP, but doing the swap is going to take too long, and be too expensive to be really worth it, imo