NotAPreppie

So, last year I autocrossed in GSN in my '99 VW Passat 1.8T AT. I probably got about 15 events under my belt and had an absolute BLAST. I just got my '05 RX-8 MT last month and I'm looking forward to racing it this year.

I plan on running it bone-stock on the OE Potenzas for the first season (at least). No sense in improving the car until I improve myself some.

Does anybody have any tips for making the transition from a heavy, HP deficient, FWD, 4-door family sedan with an autotragic transmixer to my new '05 RX-8 MT?

I swear, I'm vibrating in anticipation of the first local event (4/22-4/23). I may just die of impatience before the next 11 days passes.

Imp

You'll find you'll be able to brake harder/later on the 8. This also means you'll be carrying more speed. The car handles OK in stock config, but shocks (Koni OTS) are only $600-$700 for all four and make a world of difference.

Smooth throttle modulation is a big key with the car, especially if you're in the higher rev ranges as jabbing the gas in a turn can make the car skittish. It may seem like missing TQ down low, but it holds its own against the same cars in the class and it definitely scoots! (Especially with just Konis and R compounds).

But improving the driver is definitely the best bet. You'll find that you can start powering out of corners, and having the car pointing in the right direction instead of powering out of a corner in a FWD car and saying... why am I not turning?

Continue to get set time with instructors in your car, and go for rides with instructors in their cars.

--kC

NotAPreppie

You aren't kidding about that. I kept trying to power out of tight corner and would smoke the inside front tire.

At least it made for a good show for the course workers

Thanks for the tips.

shinronin

you may or may not be surprised by the prodigious amounts of grip the rx8 produces bone stock. it may take some time for you to find the limits on an autox course in your 8 because you may expect much less grip as per your former car.

i also come from a heavy car albeit AWD (audi s4) and i've noticed that i don't need to brake as much in the rx8. imp speaks the truth. still brake hard, but realize you can brake later. in fact by braking too much as i've done lately you'll lose a lot of momentum the 8 needs to go fast.

here are some more invaluable tips from mr. hollis himself.

try to keep these things in mind as you dissect a given course. good luck!

NotAPreppie

Good information, thanks!

I fully expect to spin out at least once during each event of the first half of this season trying to find the limits.

Imp

Both feet in and don't try to save it. Just let it go.

Mrluky

what do you guys recomend for tire presure for auto x? i just got a set of some really nice all season tires, according to tire rack they should have better traction than the oe potenzas. I had to get some A/S cause I cant afford n extra set of wheels for sticky tires

im just not sure about the sidwall. having them mounted tmorrow, and I should be running on sunday at giant stadium if the damn dealer replaces my CAT.

shinronin

on my stock bridgestone re040s i was running 31f/30r with no/very little front tire deflection. what all-seasons did you get? what size?

if you run in street touring ultra (STU) you don't need an extra set of wheels. buy some better rubber and put them on the stock wheels. or just run in b stock (BS) and realize some guys will be running race compunds. of course you'd need a winter wheel/tire package later... the re040s were better than i expected for autox.

Tirminyl

notapreppie- I think you are going to have a good time. I recently cone chassed my 8 for the first time earlier this month. I don't know your history but this is my first rwd car but driving it out on the course I drove it as if it was fwd. I am still learning the car, what it can do and how it reacts. If I still had my MSP I know for certain I would have ran a much much quicker time but thats because I knew the car, and how it reacted.

Have fun in your 8 and take your time out on the track.

NotAPreppie

I've only ever autocrossed my Passat before. My first event in the RX-8 will be this weekend (I'm going to explode with anticipation!).

I'm planning on wearing out the OE Potenzas at the track and buying a set of all-seasons to go on some 17" wheels for general use after this summer. I would think that the Potenzas would have to be pretty craptastic summer tire to be beaten at a track by an M+S rated all-season. I've seen what happened to the Falken Ziex ZE-512's (205/60/15) that I raced on with the Passat and the treadsquirm was pretty severe.

Mrluky

i got the avon tech m550 a/s. they are rated to be way better than the OE potenzas in every category.

NotAPreppie

Yeah, but rated by whom? I didn't see either tire in any kind of objective, by-the-numbers comparo.

I don't really trust the "seat of the pants" owner reviews listed on TireRack. I have yet to see one owner review that listed any objective data and TireRack doesn't comparison test between tire categories very often (if at all).

Really, the owner reviews are only useful for deciding in broad strokes; "it sucks", "it's okay" or "it's good". It's not very useful to make comparisons between tires in a similar rating category.

Not only that, but there's no statistical analysis. A person that wants a good price with decent performance is going to rate the Kumho Ecsta HP4 716 very highly. Another person who wants all-out performance yet still buys it would rate it lower but there's no way to differentiate between those two results.

Thanks for you opinion, though!

NotAPreppie

First autocrosss: Got my *** handed to me on a nice silver platter with beautiful gold inlay. There may have even been doilies.

Day 1: Three cars in BS, one 350Z (driven by a 10+ year veteren with DOT-R tires) and two RX-8's. I was about 1 second off the other RX-8 and 4.5 seconds off of the 350Z (I'm going to be chasing that guy for a LONG time).

Day 2: 4 cars in BS with 6 drivers. All of them 350Z's except mine. Did better today, was only 3 seconds off the leader. Started to figure the car out. Two of the 350Z's had DOT-R tires. One pair was a father/son team. The son was coming off a MazdaSpeed Protege last year and took first place; His dad was mid-pack.

I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST!!! I love this car. It's going to take me a while to learn how to communicate with it and how best to use its strengths, but I'll get there.

Interesting story, there was a '04 ('05?) Z06 Covette lined up behind me in the grid. I would start my run and hear the smooth sounds of the twin-rotors. A little past half-way through each run, I would loose that and only be able to hear the astounding rumble of Mr. Vette. It's the funniest thing to think that you are "thundering" down a strait or rocketing out a turn when suddenly the only thing that you can hear is the real "thunder" of a high displacement V8.