Ran our first event in the car. Setup is the same as when marka had it. Hankook 245/40-17, 34/32 F/R pressures. Course was medium in terms of tight / fast. A few fast sections and a few tight corners. Surface was unsealed, old asphalt, bumpy in spots.

Coming from a highly prepped STC Civic, the car was pretty much the opposite of what we were used to. The throttle is NOT an on / off switch. Smooth movements when changing gears is important. Fastest times were setting up and getting car to rotate on turn entry, so you can get on the power out. Another key is trusting the car and not being a wimp when the rear starts to feel light. I was really amazed how fast I could go through the slalom.

Started the event at 1/4 tank but was surprised how much gas was used (two drivers) and had to add gas before the end. FWIW - course was 43 sec to 45 sec for CStreet cars.

Big fun. Next week is on concrete at Grissom.

 

First time driving a CS RX-8 in a long time last weekend. Forgot just how pleasant these are to drive. Running "lite" prep on last year's Z2 in OE size (snagged them for $100/ea on TR,) OTS Konis, legalized urethane bumpstops, and was able to adjust camber on this car. 1/8" toe out up front (done by me), 1/8" in rear (didn't touch.) I swear my last rx8 was a bit more tail happy, but I was never able to unseize the adjusters. Does toe affect transition too, or just corner exit?

First guess at shocks was 1/4 turn from full stiff all around, those rears I'm never pulling out again. Think I'll try softening the fronts a bit this weekend, seems a little tight on turn in. I also may have been dialing in lock too fast.

I forgot how the car really shines with "textbook" style driving. I've picked up some bad habits with the STR car, hopefully I can unlearn them, and maybe it will help my STR driving too. I was disappointingly off the pace compared to the top CS FR-S at 2014 nats (and top PAX this weekend too,) but had both a decent dirty raw time and also just flat out blew two corners on every run. On the bright side, the rx8 leaves zero doubt as to where you got things wrong. It's an awesome car for really focusing on and improving driving technique.

Looks like I get to have my *** kicked by Pallotta in Kentucky in a couple of weeks. Yay.

Good to be back.

 

I want to run against Palotta also, but am sure I will see him enough during the season.

We are going to Blytheville that weekend. Want to see how the tires stack up on concrete. I have not heard from anyone who has run the new tires on concrete (we are on RS3v2's for now).

 

College Station last weekend was on concrete. The weather was on the cool side.

 

Yes. I saw the top 4 in CS were on BS with Hankook in 5th. The margins didn't seem unreasonable, but I don't know the drivers so it's tough to judge. Also, I understand that the concrete at College Station is a bit different than elsewhere.

Plus, I will be curious if the Kumho's come into play.

We are going to run on the Hankooks in Blytheville and then make a decision for the reset of the year.

 

Pretty similar to Lincoln

David Whitener was on BFG S ...


.

 

Has anyone heard or had results of the "hot" tire this year for street class? I have been told the tires to have will be either potenza re-71r's or bfg rival s's

 

I'm hearing an awful lot of praise for the grip on the re71, a few guys tested the Rival S and ended up going back to re71.

My rebuild went flawlessly, I got the rotor housings in on Tuesday night, all the other hard parts were good, I had the motor assembled and reinstalled by Friday, worked on it everyday after work. Before and after Virtual Dyno plots show I recovered 5-12 or so pounds feet throughout the entire range, and the car feels brand new, our course today featured a bunch of uphill stretches and the car really pulled hard on them.

Still wasn't enough though :-P placed 3rd in CS behind a pair of FRS. New tires are definately in order, mine are 2013, thousands of miles, dozens of tail of the dragon, and 2 full seasons of autocross old Rivals, they're due for retirement! I need fresh rubber to complement my fresh motor!

 

Yesterday I saw one of our better local drivers (top twin in CS at 2014 nats, consistent too) run on 2014 Rival first. He was 0.6 sec quicker than me, which is fair because I'm no gem of a driver. (Save face: I found almost all of that time in fun runs.) He then bolted on sticker RE-71r, and immediately went more than 1 second faster on a short 40 sec course. Got humiliated to the tune of 1.6 sec. I'm on 2014 Z2 (non-SS.) He said there was a night and day difference right from the launch.

I've heard nothing bad about the RE-71r. Even the few more "regular" drivers that have them seem to bolt them on and go immediately faster. Which says to me they are also easy to drive. Thus I chose them for my STR car. I plan on running them this weekend.

I haven't seen Rival-S in action, but the reviews are more mixed. Some think they're just as fast as the stone, a few don't like them. On the other hand, the final design was picked at a rubbered-in Lincoln right after nats last year. Which means they're are pretty much specifically designed to go fast at the most important venue in the most important conditions. I'd be shocked if they weren't the tire to have there.

 

If the perfect storm Palotta / Grogan / Harvey / Fenter CS party happens at Toledo, I'll leave the beetle at home and bring the rx8 just to be a part of that. See you there?

 

the last page or two is discussing this.

Maybe read more, post less?

 

You know, you're making it very difficult not to spend money this year...

 

I am a well known bad influence. Note the Bridgestone rebate program ends April 30.

Also, I think the Koni sale is still going on. Talk to Sean, he hooked me up with a killer deal on OTS yellows.

Finally, blue > gray.

 

Yes, I will be there assuming I get in.

 

I picked up a used set from Isley a couple years ago off the forum. So I guess what you're saying is that my driving skills makes it appear that I'm on stock shocks. Yay me!

Just don't say that in Atlanta. Still touchy about the whole north vs south thing.

 

even worse, he's saying they make you look like a carpet-bagger on stock shocks ...

 

Are people running around the same pressures on the Bridgestones as the Hankooks, 34/32?

I can't find any info on recommended settings on this forum or on Tire Rack.

 

Word here was that if you ran Z2s, the pressures were pretty similar to what the Bridgestone likes.

 

Sorry, didn't run Z2's, so I don't know what those were. can you be more specific, if you know?

 

sigh ... https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-...thread-253531/

 

So the Kentucky Match was fun, the format revisions are really positive. Didn't drive so hot Saturday morning, felt I drove OK Saturday afternoon, and felt I drove to about my ability on Sunday. Pallotta put 2.8 seconds on me on a 46 second course on Sunday alone. Ouch.

I figure the RE71R are worth maybe a second over the old non-SS Z2 I ran tops. Aka, I really suck.

Anyhoo, car was great all weekend otherwise. A little pushy in the sweepers, but on the stable side of playful in the transition stuff. Probably should have taken the rear toe-in out.

28 runs between 2 drivers and the practice course with not a complaint. It was comfy and quiet, and got about 22mpg for the 7 hour drive each way. Burned a quart of oil almost exactly.

A well prepped and driven 350Z on 'stones seemed to be giving a decent fight on Saturday until Andrew laid down a flyer in the afternoon and just smoked the field. Also note he was in a borrowed rx-8, not his own.

Bumper cam of my fastest Saturday raw time.

 

Anyone in the NY/NJ/CT area have a set of RE-71Rs that they'd be willing to loan out for a couple of runs this weekend? I'm looking to see if they really are as fast as everyone is saying. I'm reluctant to give up my non-ss ZII's while they still have some meat on them (i.e. I have student loans to pay still) but If I'm really giving up one second on a 40 second course....

 

Not quite apples to apples, but:
http://sololive.scca.com/PS/STR.html

Ricky Crow ran Hankooks on day 1 at the Blytheville Pro in his STR S2000. Relatively consistent (45.3-45.7 on his raw times) for both sessions.

He bolted on RE71R for day 2, and went 1-1.3 seconds faster, PER SIDE. Caveats: you could argue the course was rubbered in more for day 2, and that he had a chance to analyze the course better. But still.

There's pretty strong evidence that the 2015 tires are a significant leap beyond the class of 2014.

 

Believe me,....they are worth it.


Simmons

 

Looks like even the locals are making the swap. One driver already jumped from Conti DWs and got faster (I chalked it up to the TW rating difference more so than just the tire). The other major CS player is currently selling his one month-old 20run 300mile ZIISS's.