Yeah, Carmax seems to give the fairest deal on trade-in. I bought a car from them years ago and it was my most pleasant car buying experience...ever!

I'm really looking forward to getting the car - as the car doesn't need to be broken in, my co-driver and I will be able to use it at a few Winter autocross events. My next 3 years in autocross should be a blast!

What does Foley always say: "Rwd?! WTF do I do now!!!!"

 

One more questions folks...

How durable are the clutches on these cars to autocross abuse? Mine will have 2 drivers doing at least 20 events together each year.

 

40K miles on ours, first event was about 10 days after we got it, Prosolo... Have had two drivers in it for the last three years. Still on the OE clutch.

 

I had mine replaced after Nationals at 35K miles.

I blame my co-driver...

edj
"probably why i lost..."

ps. if you only launch at 2k rpm it will last longer...

 

Thanks Jason.
Gotcha. Honestly, from talking to KC, you need at least a 5K-6K launch to get these things going off the line. My co-driver and I autocross to win. If we have to replace a clutch along the way, then so be it.

 

So why were you driving a Subi then.

 

LOL! Well I was driving the Subi... My co-driver has formerly driven an STS2 miata and a DS MSP.
I've learned from my mistakes...which is why I'm getting the RX-8.

 

32k miles on mine, it's been an autocross/ProSolo car since it was bought new, and it did 20+ events with a co-driver this past season. The only problem we've had with the clutch was the same issue Mike and Matt experienced: occasionally it would grind going into 2nd, usually only happened by the 3rd runs on a very warm day. We've alleviated the problem for the most part by going to Motul RBF600 in the clutch and dilligently opening/spraying engine compartment between runs.

There is another local car (the car that Yom and Wagner drove at Nationals) here with 64k miles on the original clutch that sees plenty of clutch abuse, including an owner who has never learned how to rev-match downshifts.

 

Good info. Thanks Iain!

 

Sounds like you need to get the right trans fluid..... www.gopurepower.com ask for Kelly. The T3 RX-8 guys were considering the trans a wear item before this guy made them some special juice.

 

http://www.gopurepower.com/

 

Thanks for the link Jason. I'd been meaning to PM you about that stuff since we talked about it at Nationals.

 

Picked her up today from Carmax - 2006 Galaxy Gray 6MT RX-8 with the performance package and rear spoiler. Took these on Skyline Drive earlier this afternoon:

 

YES! You got the best color of any 8's out there
Now, get rid of the front license plate and add some clear corners then you're set.
You'll notice that the car will turn blue/purple at certain angles, that's what I love about this color

 

^
Thanks - what you mentioned will be low down on my list. I'm going to start prepping her immediately for B-stock. Konis will be ordered this week.

 

Question Jason - how much does this 'special juice' cost per quart? Also, as both the trans and rear diff use similar gear oil, could this product be used in the rear diff as well?

As good insurance, I'm thinking about changing out the trans and rear diff fluids before autocrossing as she already came with 12,600 miles on her.

Lastly, just to verify, from the owner's manual I'm showing the capacities as folows:

Manual trans - 1.85 qts
Rear diff - 1.4 qts

Thanks!

 

Not sure on the cost per qt, I think around $10. For some reason the city of Huntington Beach does not let them bottle qts at that location, they come from some other place when you order, so the smallest I could get when I went there was the 5 gal pail. Changing the trans twice a year, and the diff once, this should last me as long as I own the car.

Yes, the same stuff works for both the trans and diff.

I think the trans is like 2.1 qt and the diff is just under 1.5, so 4 qts will do both.

 

i read in the owners manual that the tranny had 1.8qts or something like that.

 

Thanks Jason. I'll look into that stuff - even though $200 for a 5 gal container of gear oil isn't cheap. Before getting this stuff did you ever try any other 75W90 gear oil such as the stuff made by Redline or even Mobil 1?
Mine also says 1.85qts. I asked the question as I wanted to get an idea if during real world maintenance, the owner's manual values were accurate or not.

 

I thought I read that the tranny uses a GL-4 fluid and the Diff uses GL-5 so you can't use the same stuff?

 

1.85 qt in the trans is about right. I just changed mine this past weekend to Mobil1 75w-90 for the winter season. I was running the Redline "Shock Proof" gear oil, which worked fine when the transmission was warm, but colder weather did not agree with it.

Chris

 

For my 2006 model, the owner's manual lists three different types of gear oil that can be used in the trans (one of which is 75W-90) and it only lists one type of fluid for the rear diff (75W-90).
Thanks Chris. I think I'll give the Mobil 1 75W-90 a try for the winter season as well (trans and rear diff). In the Spring, I'll look into the Pure Power 'Special Juice'.

 

I used Redline before, have always used it in my other cars. The RX-8 does not have a strong trans. I had heard that the T3 guys were using up a trans every few races until they got some fancy fluid. So I called the guys and asked what they used, this was the stuff, that was all I needed to know.

You might be right on the 1.8, I might have been thinking of another car... Does not matter, you still need 4 qts to do them both.

 

i'm going to be switching to amsoil 75w-90 as soon as i get a chance. that stuff worked wonders in the tansmission of my Impreza.

 

Before you do that PM " speeddemon32 " or search for his post about amsoil in his trans.

Oh yeah, Kwescott had the problem also...

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=318