BlueEyes

nice, thanks

DreRX8

hmm...with those minimal improvements to 60--I would guess it made more of a difference in the 1/4mi.

flatso

the main gist of the article was if it "ain't broke don't fix it"...in other words the car is set up stock to be a high performance vehicle.

BlueEyes

hmmm, I don't like how the stock slalom speed went down that much.

Magic8

I don't know it's a case of if ain't broke don't fix it, but it does show that slapping on some bolt-on without good tuning will yield crappy results.

KC_Prelude

Pettit's s/c costs $5000 for 50 hp ($2800 w/o intercooler and only 4 lbs of boost) and does not yet have the right tuning available which results in a rough idle. Changes in performance were minimal except for the car running worse. For 5k I would expect a little more than that. You could buy a crate V8 or a decent turbo II for that price. I don't think the article said how much torque the s/c added or what kind of gas mileage they were getting. Doesn't really seem to be worth it to me.

flatso

I am suprised to see a car mag be so truthful. Guess Pettit won't be advertising in their mag.

Red Devil

How did the braking and slalom go down?

foxman

Does it say anything about if they got the car from Pettit or how they came about it?

Magic8

Probably the coil-overs. Suspensions plays a role in how well you brake and definitely affects the slalom.

Red Devil

Just read the article over the weekend. Very dissapointing, to say the least. And that they put on a suspension combination that did not improve the slalom, and brakes that also lessened performance is disconcerting. I understand the larger brakes for less fade at the track concept, but just the same. And 50hp out of 8psi and 30 out of 4psi just doesn't seem right, or cost effective.

I don't want to say I've written off their product yet, but this really doesn't help. And I won't be one of their guinea pigs, either.

shelleys_man_06

I believe Pettit's supercharged RX-8 is still in its early stages, and probably wanted to give Motor Trend a sneak peek at what may come. I'll admit the numbers are pretty low, considering 8 psi and 50 extra horsepower, but the potential is still there. I'm sure they're trying hard to figure out the electronics and the fuel system.

wakeech

c'mon shelleys, as nice as you're trying to be you do have to admit that they've so far done a horrible job on the car.

shelleys_man_06

Okay I confess. The digital ruler is not pleased.

Rob Tomlin

The thing that is most suprising is that Pettit was dumb enough to let Motor Trend test the car before they (Pettit) were done (presumably) tuning the car. The whole thing seems like it was a bit rushed to me.

Red Devil

Pettit most likely made that appointment with Motor Trends months in advance. They may have been well more than 6 months out, and anticipated they would be fully ready by then, at which point they were caught off guard by how difficult the job would be.

casual

when was the testing done? it could have been 3 or 4 months ago perhaps things have changed.

xxdevilzeroxx

i say keep the damn thing stock, and make it look nice since nothing in the market will make a huge deference

Riccio

That's pretty much been my approach...........

Having new interior installed next week - will post pics when it's done!

CCarlisi

I'm most surprised by the braking and handling results. Pettit has competed in road racing for years. With that background I expect better results from them.
Does anybody know if they tested the Pettit car at the same venu they used for the stock car? Track surface and temperature can both have a major impact on performance numbers.

Osiris

Before we all go jumping into conclusion, PLEASE GO TO PETTITRACING.COM
or just click on the following link:

http://www.pettitracing.com/rx8/index.htm

Then click on MEDIA for more information regarding Motor Trend's article about this pre-production test vehicle.

Information is power!

davefzr

Interesting stuff. Thankx for posting the link. I didnt even realize that they had responded.

Red Devil

I just don't know about the 30-50hp target. 30hp at the wheels just isn't worth 3-4K, and 50 I don't think is economical for the high hp model.