Hi all.....I'm attaching some pictures of my weekend at Putnam Park this past weekend. It was a great weekend, and I put the new Hankook RS2's to test. My best lap time was 1:29:34, which is by far a lot faster than my summer runs. Best part was, on Sunday Eric Meyer showed up with his race ready RX8's and ran them. Not only that, but he was my instructor for the first 2 sessions and I learned a ton from him. Great guy!

The best picture is the one that makes it look like my car is "farting"....love it! That does show just how cold it was outside.....that, and having a midpipe helped too.

**EDIT -- Here's the link to the video. It's of me chasing down an older M3 which I finally got around the 8:10 mark. Sorry for the combo of ac/dc and prodigy music, but it is what it is.**

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEW89ItufIM

 

A couple more...

 

if you had the turbo xs exhaust that "fart" would be a giant 3-4 foot flame.

 

Crap...yeah, I have stock exhaust with a customer resonated midpipe. No flames for me. In the summer, I saw my buddy throw some flames with the Greddy SP2 exhaust on the main straight.

 

Man seeing all these track pictures makes me really want to get out to some events. I've been AutoX'ing all this year but still havn't made it to the track.

 

I'm working on the video now...I have the entire last run on Saturday on my PC. Trying to edit it down to 10mins so I can upload to youtube.

topgear -- if you like autox, you'll LOVE track days.

 

does look like soo much fun. i wish there was a track nearby. You stock wheels look so awesome, make mine look like that

 

Thanks.....but if I told you what I had to go through to get them powder coated correctly, PLUS the red trim....you'd shy away from it. I have another set of stock wheels I'm just going to have powder coated solid black, unless I can find a good pin stripe guy to do the red strip at a cheap cost!

 

looks good Ryan, maybe one of these days i'll get out there with you.....just not sure if i can afford that habit too....lol

 

I know that Eric Meyer guy. He's a tool. Nice driving Ryan. We just missed running a 28. We will get'em next time.

 

Well sorry I couldn't make it out to this one... The RX-8 spent a good deal of time in pieces.
Looks like a good time though- Putnam gets pretty picturesque around this time of year, no?

Oh and about that Eric Meyer guy, total jerk - he was so rude that he even invited my friend and I back to his shop so we could corner balance my friend's car. Then he has the nerve to tell me that if I ever need any help he'll be more than willing. Seriously, what an a-hole! haha
....can I borrow your fuel pump tool Eric?

 

Oh ya, how did Alex do? That was his first time out, right?

 

eric meyer was your instructor? wow. lucky guy.

 

[QUOTE=ryank771;2702963]Trying to edit it down to 10mins so I can upload to youtube. QUOTE]

YouTube extended their time limits

Track looks like a ton of fun!

 

Here's a 40 minute race video edited to 6 minutes from Putnam the week prior to the event we're talking about. Keen listeners will notice that the rpm's increase at a higher rate because Grand-Am rules require us to run the shorter 5.12 gear----less top speed, more acceleration down low. This is evident in the throttle on oversteer exiting the slow T5 right hander and the bigger V8 cars pulling the little rotary down the long front straight. But then we mow em' down in the corners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo6G_7oZEnQ

 

You hijacking my thread jerk?? Great video. Alex and I had a lot of people telling us the same thing this weekend. We'd get them in the corners, they'd get us in the straights. It's a blast!

 

It was his second time out as well. The first day we were even. Matter of fact, the video I posted is the one that me and Alex battled it out for the final 10 minutes or so. Was a blast. The second day he smoked me the first run, then we evened out again. I need to get heal/toe shifting down. I was hitting fuel cutoff between turns 4 and 5, so Eric had me running 4th all the way to turn 7 and that was perfect, but I sucked trying to rev match going into 7 since I was coming in pretty hot out of 6.

We both learned a lot and are already planning out different things to do to help with the suspension in preparation for next spring. I think we may even sign up for NASA to get in more experience in time trials and such. With my wedding coming up, not sure what I can afford to participate in.

 

I love putnam, its an awesome track. Lots of run off room, thats track lets you keep pushing. nice pics

 

Definitely sign up with NASA, they put on some of the best run events I've ever been to. Plus, I'll be at pretty much all of the events next season, pwning noobs and such, of course.

What tires were you running? Hankooks still?

 

Yup -- Hankook RS2's. They held up very well this weekend. I chopped up the driver's front pretty good. I'm starting to love turn 7

 

Since we are on the subject, it is important to note that sometime in the future as you add more grip and carry more lateral load through the corners, you will unveil a new problem with the RX8---fuel starvation.

This is well known and documented. In a nutshell: fuel slosh and the stock fuel pump can't provide even, constant fuel delivery. It can happen in both sharp right or left hand turns but generally is noticed in Lefty's. One quick solution: run your car with a lot of gas. IF you run lower fuel levels, you will ultimately experience this.

Here is the risk: If your engine is really hot and your rpm's high and you starve the motor of fuel----your engine is likely to get too much heat in and around the side seals. This CAN lead to side seal failure. This is best described as a "lower power" feeling down a straight.

Solution: run with as much fuel as you can or get a different fuel delivery solution (which is a much more complex discussion).

Something to watch out for. I think the Auto-X guys get this alot.

 

Had the midpipe at Putnam..., but I wasn't exactly shooting 3-4 foot flames. More like a bigger fart...

Ask Altitanium about it. :p

BTW, Al, where's all the video Lewin took??

 

Friend of mine apparently hit this issue when he drove my car at Gingerman. I've never gotten to that point myself (shows that I have lots to learn!). Evo Dan. You remember him, since you aligned his Evo-VII. :p

How much "grip" are we talking about? Also, what is the minimum fuel level before this issue arises?

 

We definately had a great time at Putnam and it was nice to see ourselves improving as the weekend went on. It was great to meet Eric, he was definately very approachable and helpful. Hopefully next time we go I can get him to do a ride along. My instructor was very good as well and he helped me get a good consistent line going. Next year I hope to do Gingerman and maybe Mid Ohio as well as Putnam but we will see how money goes.

 

Can I see still pictures of your car? I'm looking at similar back on black rims for my 8 and I want to see how they look before I spend the money.

Thanks