Ike

Fixed

cas2themoe

I THINK your right................you love to prove people wrong! lol Anyways thats not the topic here. Clutches ARE dropped and thats the answer we were looking for. Hey even your car is dropped at 4000 RPMS to get its 0-60 Time

Ike

I don't think anyone really has a problem with the clutch dropping part, and most people will agree that it's the best way to get fast times (though there are other ways). The scary part is having to rev to 7500+ rpms and then hope there isn't nasty wheelhop, and I think the emphasis from what the person that brought it up was put on the RPMs not the fact that the clutch had to be dropped. The PDFs are actually kind of cool, but it's just more proof for me that R&T is horribly inconsistent with their data from cars. Though magazine racing will never be a perfect science :p

P.S. If you only THINK I'm right you need to think harder :D

MI_FamilyMan

What was interesting on the WRX pdf was that the testing was done at an elevation of 1000+ ft. Although being turbocharged, I'm not sure how that might have affected it's acceleration times. The other thing I picked up was that those braking numbers were pretty horrendous. Could be due to the crummy tires. Based on those braking and skidpad/slalom numbers, one would tink that the 8 would take the stock WRX on the track (although I'm not aware of what improvements have been made since the '02 model year).

Reaper Man

elevation will cause differences in a turbo and it's acceleration. As for braking- I think the 8 is a superstar compared to my old WRX. but then again, braking is a large part of what kind of tires you are on- the stock re92's on the subaru are a poor, very poor performance tire (and I'm not saying that they are a performance tire)

cas2themoe

IKE in your opinion what magazine or web site do you trust to have the most accurate information for us to look at?

MI_FamilyMan

Reaper, I think I had RE92's on my last-generation Prelude. At the time, I thought it was the sweetest handling car I had ever driven (it was a pretty cool car, despite the FWD). However, once I bought my 8, one of the first things I tell people about the car is how from a handling standpoint, it is on a totally different level. I don't think I will ever be able to explore it's uppermost limits.

Reaper Man

MI- I agree, I have friends that have thousands in suspension done to their car, another example, Imp on the boards here, went from a nationals winning wrx to a 8, no money spent on suspension for a wrx will make it handle close to as well as this car, one of the key reasons I bought it

Hell the decision was huge for me- loved my wrx to death- had plenty of power with 300hp and a smoother powerband than stock. The AWD was great for the NE winters and ice racing. My beater car was a supra. Now I had to buy another beater car to take care of the winters and all that:D

paulg

Well,I'm in the new break in period now. The used one I test drove did feel pretty quick with 4400 miles on it. No it wont beat an M3 but look at the price difference. For that money I splurg for the new Boxter S. Both are 20 to 25 grand more than an RX8. The RX8 reminds me a lot of my old Alfa GTV6. It was not a drag car either but get the revs up and it was a lot more satisfying. The difference of course is the RX8 is a lot quicker. I'm sure break in miles will help. What about the racing beat light weight flywheel? Will that not help acceleration?

Imp

Yep. I'm running pretty much the same times in a totally stock RX-8 that I was in my old modified wagon.

Wait 'till I start playing and posting results.

I value handling and braking more than power, becuase that's what puts a smile on my face when I'm in the car. Power is secondary for me.... but then again, a nice Z-06 would be lovely.

--kC

Ike

Like others have mentioned the tires for the stock WRX are horrible. In addition the ABS is a little odd and oversensitive. On an autox course an RX-8 has a pretty big advantage over a WRX, but the only real racetrack I've ever seen that resembles an autox track are those that I used to race my kart on. I don't think it would take many mods to a WRX for it to eclipse a stock RX-8 on a larger track, autox is a different story.

KC, when you say totally stock RX-8 does that include the totally stock Hoosiers or are you still on the OEM tires?

Cas, I like C&D, they almost always get the most out of their cars and run consistently fast times. However their online resources aren't nearly as nice as R&Ts.

BasenjiGuy

You say: "This car is for touring at high speeds.."

You ought re-edit your post. Sure, the RX-8 is a great high speed tourer. But it's also a fantastic backroads and mountain car. The concentration of weight in the center of the car, allows the car to change direction very quickly. The rear suspension tuning and the long wheelbase of the car make it easy to get the rear end out and keep it out. The engine, when kept above 6k, is extremely enjoyable when connecting curves with each other.

If you haven't driven your car on these types of roads, you should. You should also not make blanket statements about the car that contain dis-information. I definitely agree with you that the RX-8 is not street racer. The Z, G, and Mustang will destroy it off the line, along with a lot of other cars. I didn't buy the car to go street racing. But the car really shines on tight backroads. And you don't even mention that in your post.

Reaper Man

Why do you think I'm waiting for you to figure it all out before I really get into that stuff? I"m only a decent driver- nothing of a setup man

also- hope you don't mind- I'm "borrowing" your avatar:D

Reaper Man

OEM tires. Hell, even I'm getting about the same times with my all stock 8 as opposed to an EVO that I've driven on a auto-x course, or KC's wagon