ryank771

Hey everyone,

Well, I had my first event for 2010 which was a lapping day held at Putnam Park here in Indiana. This was an event to test out my new exhaust setup and test the different settings for the dspec shocks. This was my first wet event ever and I have to say, it was a damn blast. My hankook's were crap, but learning the wet lines v.s. the dry lines made for one interesting day. I turned off stability control for one session and lets say I got a little muddy.

Anyways -- on to the vids/pics. First, vid is of me taking my wife around for a couple laps just so she could see why I enjoyed it so much. At the very beginning she says "1 lap!" I think the sliding around scared her -- you can kind of hear her yelling at me when I kept saying "one more lap!".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB2D8zlmFa8

Now -- the attached pics of the aftermath of my new ghetto exhaust setup. I have a friend on the site that did a straight pipe setup with a supertrapp as their "muffler".

link: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-25/exhaust-autox-question-118869/

I did this setup, with 22 discs on for the most flow while on the track. After the first few sessions, I thought all was well. Well, I came out after lunch to see my damn bumper had melted off. I'm not sure if it was the exhaust gases, flames, or what -- but yep, melted the muffler. I then had people coming up to me saying they noticed it the entire time, but thought I knew. Bastards. It was my own fault for not installing a heat shield -- lesson learned. It's just the bumper corner, so whatever....it's a track car, not a show car. BATTLE DAMAGE!

Either way, I had a ton of fun having an open track all day long. Learned a lot about car setup, wet/dry lines, car setup and of course the importance of heat shields. New ghetto mod -- ugly heat shields. Pics to come.

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

Is this a single-exit exhaust set-up? How many exhaust hangers are you using on your supertrapp set-up?

I'm wondering if the pipe moved around during cornering and melted the bumper all around it...

ryank771

Yup -- single exit. And I can't remember how many hangers, but there is no way it was moving around enough to touch the bumper or come close. We tested that theory at the track. The only thing we can think of is that it just really got THAT hot, or that it was throwing flames that were somehow being sucked backwards into the bumper. There weren't enough cars on the track to tell me if I was throwing any though. With the supertrapp, I'm wondering if flames would even be possible?

dieselsdad

Welcome to the world of uncorked rotaries. The exhaust DOES get that hot. Heat shields will help. Using a turndown will help as well.

Razz1

Sweet marshmellows wat da ***!!!!!!!!!!!1

ryank771

You gotta look on the bright side:

1. I learned just how hot these cars REALLY are
2. It's a cool battle wound to spark interesting conversations at track events
3. Weight savings. That's like what, 20hp by losing that plastic exhaust vent thingy?

I'll be tweaking it -- she'll look pretty ugly when I'm done, but I won't be catching on fire anytime soon. She should be ready by the time I have my first NASA event in May. Maybe I'll bring supplies for some s'mores just in case.

Chad D.

iTrader: (19)

I had supertrapps s/c elite on my ranger and it had sleeves on it, yours doesnt/ maybe it is getting a "backdraft" effect towards the car without.
I am pretty sure that these mufflers are "spark proof", meaning that they resist the flame throwing. They were recommended when we used to do rally in the woods b/c of their fire safety. That being said, your shroud melting isn't very fire safe.

dieselsdad

Supertrapps WILL throw flames on a rotary. In fact, they're even larger due to the baffle disks. The full supertrapps don't work any better. Don't get me wrong, I like the mufflers, it's just not enough for the rotary. Those pipes are HOT. My street car (with HKS) has melted the bumper as well during long trips on the freeway.

Chad D.

iTrader: (19)

Do the pricey chrome exhaust sheilds for the 8 work?

ryank771

I'll be damned if I pay the price for those stupid things. I can buy heat wrap or shield and mold it for cheap. It may not look fancy, but I could care less. The damn thing is melted already and it's only used on the track. I'm not going to be driving down to the local mall to pick up chicks in it anytime soon

I may call Summit racing and see what ideas they may have. May also give Meyer a call or even the guys at Parts Group. I'm going for the super extra ghetto exhaust look now boys!

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I ran a pair of the shorty Supertrapp mufflers with the factory exhaust shrouds in place without issue. This was the same setup that turned the 220 rwhp Dyno back in 2007. Based on your replies you have great enthusiasm, but maybe not so great experience/knowledge.

Were the exhaust shrouds installed at all? Kind of looks like they weren't.

FWIW, with 22 discs you may as well have just run an open pipe because that many isn't going to accomplish much if anything .....

Summit Racing sells parts. They have no clue what an RX-8 is, let alone a rotary engine. It's great to have one local and I'll definitely miss that after I move soon, but you better know what you want or need because otherwise they can't help you on this.



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ryank771

Team - you are correct, I am really new at the racing scene and have limited knowledge with exhaust/suspension setups. I've learned most of my information from this board, folks like Eric Meyer, and going out there and running HDPE's. Trial by fire....learn the hard way.

I actually did have the stock shrouds in place, they just melted off and in order for the track guys to let me back out, I had to remove them so they wouldn't fly off and take out someone's radiator or worse.

Did you track the car with the shorty mufflers on? I'm assuming you just did a y-pipe off the stock pipe? Do you remember the part numbers by chance? I hate jocking someone's setup, but if it's proven then I'll let the flame happen.

The butt dyno saw an increase in power. I was hoping to see how much (if any) it would help at the track, but like you've seen above, it was a wet day so obviously a beginners time will be a lot slower as the learning curve begins.

Thanks for the input/suggestions. I'm trying to learn as much as I can.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I'm not suggesting it's the course of action you should take, just putting up some facts from my own experience

ryank771

Understood and appreciated. The shop I use has some ideas about possibly using a scrap STi heat shield, using some heatwrap on the tubing and buying some carbon fiber wrap to place on the bumper (also a coverup for the crap that was left behind). We will do some testing and I'll report how it turns out.

altiain

iTrader: (3)

Yeesh... I've got over 3000 hard track miles on my RX-8 with an "Isley special" exhaust, and I haven't had any issues with melting the bumper or the plastic inserts. I've knocked the inserts out once or twice from off track excursions, but never melted them.

ryank771

We think we found out what the problem was....the muffler shop that installed the supertrapp installed the discs backwards. If you look closely enough to the discs, they have a "lip" on them that points in a certain direction. I've attached some pics that may help point out what I'm describing. I didn't see this until a shop pointed it out. And sadly enough, I didn't even notice this when I was adding discs as well. I'm not worried about it though -- lesson learned......never trust a muffler shop I've reversed it and will still be adding a heat shield and heat wrap the tubing. It wont hurt anything to do it. Plus I'll find some heat wrap type molding to cover up the nasty part of the bumper.

p.s. -- the bolts/nuts that come with the supertrapp are junk. I've snapped off 4 or 5 now.

Razz1

Yes, you pretty much have to do everything your self or know exactly how to do it.

Then after the install by someone else you have to inspect throughly or be their during the install to inspect.

This goes for everything done to your car.

30 years ago................

I had a muffler installed incorrectly by a shop that did engine work.

Didn't notice it was incorrect.

After 2 or more Cart wheels at 90 mph at the motorcycle race track, I was lucky only the bike had to be repaired. The exhaust hit the ground as it was too low and locked up the rear tire.

Why do you think Race car drivers have to trust their mechanics?