My videos from 2 weekends ago at Summit Point Shenandoah Circuit are up.

This is Dave (OdinGuru) in his Winning Blue RX-8

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...33475395&hl=en

and this me in my Titanium Gray RX-8

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...73415156&hl=en

notice the subtle driving line difference between us, shows how different instructors have different approaches to a really fun track.

enjoy

 

Google says the video is unavailable

 

what deuce, i'm watching it right now!

 

Nice, first one was a little boring. Glad to see the second one pick up speed.

Dave did a good job for his first time out.

 

oh Dave is far from a first-timer, he's done plenty of driving schools already, and skill-wise i think he's ahead of me right now

his car is slow in that video because he had a 200+ lb instructor riding with him, i was driving solo and had a significant weight advantage lol

 

looks like there were a few 8's out there with you, how many were there? it is always fun having a group on track at the same time. That looks like a pretty fun track, a lot of elevation, some blind corners and crests.

 

I believe someone counted 10 8's showed up that weekend, SEVEN of them were titanium grays lol

 

Yup, there was a whole passel of 'em. Great weekend! See the thread here: https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/grey-weekend-summit-point-98623/

The vids look great, Zoom! It helps to see how different people attack the track differently. I'll have to watch in detail later.

 

that is awesome, we have not had 10 yet, our best has been 8 at Road Atlanta. Good to see the car getting used for what it was meant to do. Keeps us from needing new engines...

 

we call it 'engine maintenance days'

 

I like that, I am going to have to remember it. We don't really have a good name for it, other than blowing the carbon out, and saying white tips is good tips. referring to the exhaust tips.

 

dang...a lot of freaking turns!! Main track is way faster, but the Shenandoah is pretty technical. gotta try it out next year.

 

I think Razz1 might have been confused about a comment my instructor made: "take it easy on your first lap". He ment the first lap of the session.

As for skills, don't sell yourself short Hank. You line was looking particualy nice, smooth, and consistent in the video. I'm more up and down / ragged particularly in this session (the first one after the suspension adjustment). I also still didn't get all your down to 2nd shifting points worked into my laps and it realy shows in several places (corkscrew & turn 8).

I ran a little "processing" on the videos to extract rough section/laptimes to get a little more insight (see below). Times should be accurate +-.5 sec, which is good enough to get an idea. As you can see you were running both overall faster laptimes than I was best 2:13 vs 2:20 and were way more consistent: you had steady improvement in all sections where I never realy recoverd after the red flag "restart" and was going downhill in one section. The only "section" where I was consistently doing better than you was the Karussel where I was typicaly running it in 6 sec where you typicaly running it in 7 (although you did hit 6 one lap). All the other sections you were running faster, and enough to probably be more than just the 200+ lbs extra weight .

You also passed me in the third session, but that's not saying much concidering that's when my major power loss issue manifested in full (although it may have started at end of second session based on a comment my instructor made). The Mazda dealership still hasn't figured out what's wrong yet. They did the "new engine" recall work last week but that didn't solve the problem (and I don't need a new cat or engine). I took it back in Monday morning and they've had it for two more days with no real progress. I think it's related to the SSV (Secondary Shutter Valve) not opening, but tommorow they are replacing my coilpacks on direction from the Mazda "Hotline".

 

Did I really hear the instructor at the end of the 1st video say "Where are you shifting? 9K rpm? Oh, well try shifting at 8k instead" Someone wanna tell me yeah or nay on this? Shift at 8 or 9, which is better?

Oh, and ZOOM, by the way, awesome vids...loved it.

 

goddamn dave thanks for the data analysis lol

yeah i need work on the karussel, i'm not used to the G force that banked turn put on my shoulders so i 'took it easy' through there, i'll try to go fastar through it next time

 

yes that's exactly what his instructor said.

like Dave said, he may have issues with his intake valves opening during the latter stage of the 2nd session, and it worsened during the 3rd session, thus the loss of power at upper RPM's and why i was able to pass him so easily.

mine pulls HARD all the way to 9 and then some, usually by the time i shift i'm right at 9500rpm with no 'loss of power' at all.

 

Did you guys check what your exit speed from the Karussel was? For me, earlier on I noted it was ~45, up to 50 in later sessions. Also I notice Zoom dropped into it from slightly right. Most of this weekend I was going straight in.

 

How long is the track? 1.8 miles? How many turns? I don't want to count.

Ja your right 200 lbs. makes a big difference.

If I was crew chief I'd be pissed at my Mazda drivers for doing that crap. Another time like that and I'd find another driver for the team.

 

here's a little blurb about the track via the local club mailing list:

yeah it's freaking lots of turns

 

I stoped watching the video when the session was over... didn't realize you got that part on tape too. ZoomZoomH is exactly correct usualy the 8 has more power out to fuel cut (~9.5k) than down at 5k-7k where you'd be after a shift. So without a doubt it is normaly best to hold the shift till red line.

My 8 is suffering from a MAJOR power loss in the top half of the rev range which I first noticed in the 3rd session, but in retrospect may have already started to a lesser extent in the 2nd session; enough for my instructor to notice and mistake for a "normal" engine characteristic. Currently my 8 is still ailing, and has a power peak of arround 5-6k (NOT torque peak) and actually conciderable LESS power at 9K then it does at 5K . See the thread https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=99252sfaj for details.

 

Folks joke about it and call it "The world's largest Autocross course." Yeah, it's a complicated track - I love it. Driving at Shenandoah was my first track experience, and it was a little intimidating at first. But I think if you can drive well there, you can drive well just about anywhere. (Hmm, sounds like a song...)

EDIT: Yeah OdinGuru, keep us informed. That's pretty scary having a power loss like that. Knowing how much experience you have, I was a little puzzled how I pulled away from you in that one session - now it makes sense.

 

Wow, that looks like a great track. I've never tracked the car, but those events look really worthwhile. Thanks for vids!

 

So, was it the cat?

Paul.