Thanks guys. Ordering them this week 10.5 as I tow it to the track and rarely drive it on the road and when I do a quick plug swap is not very hard.

appear to be in stock here, qty discount if buying a set of 8 ($28.36 ea)

https://www.ngk.com/search/all?q=7420-10

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#GRIDLIFE Autobahn- Autobahn Country Club South Circuit - June 25-27, 2021

Headed out for my second round of Gridlife Track Battle time attack racing, this time out in Illinois at Autobahn CC. We were set to race on the south circuit this weekend, and it wouldn't have mattered if it were north or full as I'd never been to the venue before. First time racing on a track outside of Michigan. I was honestly pretty nervous to DRIVE the car there (and hopefully back) seeing as it was 250 miles one way... but hey, I don't have a tow rig (working on it, baby steps) and worst case I don't mind dropping money to ship the damn thing back if it explodes. Kind of counter productive, but such is life. I left the Detroit area with my Subaru buddies around 4pm in the pouring rain, which was sort of a precursor to the entire weekend. By the Indiana border we were at least out of the rain and I could enjoy the buzzing sounds of a loud exhaust, hear my bluetooth speaker playing music barely loud enough since the radio was useless (it's being pulled out soon), but at least I could feel the breeze on my skin.. because the copious amount of sweat was dissipating the heat from my body since it was 88 degrees and I had no AC.

Yeah. The stupid shit we do to do race car stuff.

Either way, rolled into the paddock around 9PM local time and we could see some crazy anvil clouds in the middle of nowhere Illinois along with a nice sunset. It was going to rain REAL bad all night and all day the next day. At least we got a hotel..

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...d56afe8931.jpg

Day 1 of the event left us time attackers with a freshly washed off, and mildy wet track. Conditions were ever changing, and half the track was fully dry, while the entire back straight was a lake and braking zones were completely off line. I ended up running a 1:49.4 after some laps of trying to figure out what to do with my hands at a new track, and battling some fun oversteer and weird braking. This put me in I think 5th place overall at the time. I was gaining some confidence that would soon be squandered when we all started to go faster, but a lot of people have told me I am a decent wet driver.. and I guess me being ahead of MORE of the pack than I am in the dry helps drive that home. Cool.

Track conditions:


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...91197ceb65.jpg


We had planned to have 2 more sessions this Saturday.. but due to "the worst flooding the south course has ever seen" they were both scrubbed. Kinda bummed, but it wouldn't have really mattered.. no one would have gone faster on a sopping wet track anyways. It was funny to watch a modern day Sisyphus in the form of two golf carts with water blowers lap the front straight for an hour without making any progress...

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...fe6a055bc6.jpg

Tomorrow looked better... and tomorrow was better! Bright skies and hot, steamy weather made for a nice course dry out, a muddy paddock, and times to start going down like crazy. Every on lap was a bit faster, and even my off laps left me thinking there was more on the table. Smashing curbs, and feeling that perfect slip angle when you get the speed right really made me enjoy the track. It flows PERFECTLY. No weird trips or confusing lines, just turn after turn of proper racing. I stopped thinking so much about the 250 mile trek home. What a time to be alive.

I managed a 1:41.856 in the last session, and I think there was a hell of a lot more on the table. This put me in 12th position in class (out of 15 :\) but I couldn't complain a bit about the Copart RX-8. I did have one weird cutout on the track.. but I am attributing it to fuel cut since I was running the tank low on purpose. Never happened after I filled it back up. Noted.


I still had a bit of understeer, so I was going to dial the rear bar a bit up... but when it came down to the wire my choice was between making the car potentially better, or getting some food in the driver so he could drive better. I chose the hamburger. Funny how you forget to take care of basic human needs during times of extreme mental stimulation.

I also am battling a bit of rear end wiggle under braking, but I am going to swap out all the crusty and seized arms in the rear and see if that helps. They are on order.

All in all, I was able to drive a new track in multiple conditions, and drive the car home. I'm happy with it.

There's a turn on the track called "Patience", and it's a corner you basically completely give up so that you've got the right line for the quick upcoming next. It's an extremely late apex turn, and in order to go fast you've got to have patience. I think it's a cheesy, but accurate metaphor for how this all works for me.

Anyways.

Results:


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...80cd2b6e15.png

Photos, I did not unfortunately have my own personal photographer with me this time.. so I guess you get some watermarks from the lovely other people doing a stunning job.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4141904670.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...bd41be03b9.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...65a5b8552d.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...8d69d3b6e4.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...1e94758752.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...14d5727633.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...631dbe5716.jpg

Oh and hey, some livestream time:

Been enjoying your thread since you started it.
Another great post conveying the experience.
Take care my friend and keep it up, you are doing great!
Sorry for the off topic, back to racing!

maybe add some rear toe for braking stability with more bar or spring in the rear to address the understeer assuming it’s steady-state, which may require going a bit further since they’re working against each other some. Or possibly less rear wing angle instead depending on speed during understeer conditions.

Toe bolt won't move, it's completely seized in the bushing collar. hence kind of why I am just replacing the whole rear end stuff..

Low speed understeer, so not aero fixed.. though I am working on a splitter that MAY (probably not) help a tad. Easiest thing I can do is set the bar to a higher setting.

I think the car in the neutral position was great for RE71Rs, but not as great for the RT660s.

Autocrossing the car and tag teaming with a friend, so I asked him if he wanted more bar or less bar. We shall see.

Awesome thread! I was considering getting out to the Club TR class events in my do-everything car once I finish up with some outstanding aesthetic & performance mods (4.77 S2 + OS Giken diff, rigid collars, poly mounts, MS wing, maybe full Leg Sport kit and wider wheels).

How competitive do you feel the RX-8 can be with some adjustment? Seems like trying to get these cars to the top of the class might be hard against G&G Ben's stripped aero civic given the relative power and weight penalty haha.

I think an RX-8 is a bit down on power compared to the rest of the field. Everyone has K swaps and a lot of development into their cars. I'm definitely not the fastest driver, but I think my "bone stock" RX-8 with rusted everything and not much development is doing awesome for what it is. I think the RX-8 can be pretty competitive with more tuning and a better driver, at least on the circuits were power matters less. That's the biggest downside for the chassis in that specific class.

Though, I guess you could K swap an RX-8...

Been keeping up on your build and progress, you're progressing nicely! I just had my 8 out at Gingerman Raceway this past weekend for GPS Track Time. Seems getting rid of the Riken Raptors for "THE TRUTH" Falken RT660s has helped me drop some time off the car. Now I haven't taken my RX8 serious, however I was happy to see my times dropping 4 seconds. Managed to click off a few 1:48s, which definitely made the car more fun to drive than when the Rikens could only scrounge up a 1:52. I may make some more changes to the car down the road and hopefully be able to play with you some out on track!

It'd probably take a miracle to get the cars down to the 1:41 range to be honest. Bill Marcial only managed to get his street ported 8 down to the 43s or 44s I believe if I remember correctly. Like he stated, maybe on the right day with the right momentum track such as Autobahn CC South could you possibly compete for the top spot. However even then, corners like "Patience" which kill the momentum you build up absolutely murder your times. In my Honda Challenge H2 car with crappy Toyo RRs and 190hp I managed to clock a 1:37.1, I doubt I could get my 8 with just some basic Fortune 500s, an exhaust, and 255 RT550s into the sub 40s at Autobahn. We'll have to see when GPS Track Time hits ABCC South in Sept if I don't race at Daytona for Honda Challenge.

Keep up the builds guys and keep getting faster. Maybe I'll get my other 8 running soon to play with you all!

As far as gingerman goes, I think a 1:41, probably even better, on 255 yokos/shocks/stock motor level build is doable with good conditions and someone like Tom driving. I have myself ran 1:42s in an STX/T4 car -- 255 yoks, bc shocks, stock motor.

The conditions at the kickoff were about the worst I've experienced at gingerman ever, fwiw. I was at the kickoff in the RX8 with the turbo out the hood. I'll be at mid-ohio and the festival.

I definitely think an RX8 could be competitive in GLTC if driven by the right driver and built to the limit of the rules. As it usually is, how much skill you have and how much you are willing to spend are the big factors. The platform is very capable.

I haven't read through your build but if you are looking for somewhere to spend money to go faster on track with this car I saw you mentioned and for sure a 4.77 rear end, or even better 5.12. Running and tuning for E85, and an OS giken are all worth substantial time.

I think I saw a youtube video which I believe is yours operating the rx8 power steering without the PCM. If you put together a kit for this I think myself and many people with swapped cars would be all over it.

Def agree with all of this. I definitely had more time in just driving at ABCC. It was my first time there and basically had 2 session of a clean track. Excuses right? Was stoked on my 1:41.8. Also the greasiest Gingerman I had ever raced on at kickoff this year. I've run faster in my Impreza than in my RX-8 at Gingerman, albeit 100hp up... but I think know the RX-8 can be much quicker. The Falken tire limitation in Club TR is definitely a bit of a holdback too from raw FAST times. IMO they are sooo much slower than RE71Rs, and just basic deduction of how little they wear comparatively to the REs sort of makes me assume the compound isn't as sticky. Obviously all Club TR people are on an even playing field here, so I just suck, but I really haven't done much to really bring the car to the limits of the class.

I'll be at Mid O and Midwest as well.

Gearing and an LSD is definitely required to be more competitive. I was upset with the OEM LSD curb hopping at ABCC, and do have plans for some sort of upgrade. Same with gearing, the S2 rear end seems like the goto cheap way to get a bit more acceleration. Right now recovering from buying a new winter daily (hurray 08 STi!) and saving up for a truck, but I want to spend the money on the chassis as I keep improving myself as a driver. At the end of the day I don't have as much experience driving as a lot of these other guys.

That youtube video was me! I can't really figure out a way to create a kit that is cost effective and broad/useful. A lot of people doing swaps have standalones that have configurable CAN broadcasts, which is basically all that's needed to get the PS rack up and running, so the market for a specific unit sort of isn't there. At least from what I can tell. Maybe you've got more insight into the swap world and can tell me I am wrong.

I was referring solely to gingerman times in my post if that wasn't clear. :)

Seat time is by far the best thing to prioritize of course, but yes the OEM LSD is not good. I have ran it at NCM at an event where it would one wheel peel so bad through 7/8 that corner workers thought the tire smoke was something wrong with the car. The issue I have is if you get one of the rears mostly unloaded, which happens often in tighter elements on the exit it basically stops working and spins the unloaded tire. Also happens coming off curbs if you hang a rear wheel as it sounds like you have found out.

A fresh motor was worth a couple seconds at Putnam also.

I am not terribly familiar with the rule book either way as I pretty much assume I am in unlimited or maybe passable for whatever the "unlimited with 200tw class" is at this point with either of the RX8's I usually run on track lol

I am under the impression most people using standalones as far as LS swaps in the RX8 are using Holley pcms which do not do can broadcasts. Most that aren't using Holley are holding onto the stock RX8 PCM for power steering and to run the stock gauges and using GM pcm's to run the engine. The stock PCM/harness etc is substantial weight and engine bay real estate. A lot of LS swaps ditch the stock PCM and typically run BMW steering racks and I am pretty sure that the price of whatever solution to run the electric power steering on its own could cost less than it does to do the BMW swap, for sure if you are buying the off the shelf stuff and not fabricating everything yourself. I am using a e36 rack in my car and everything that entails and it has been fairly problematic and not cheap to execute in an appropriate way for what I am doing with the car and I would swap back to the RX8 steering rack if it would work on its own. I have looked cursory into swapping something like the saturn vue power steering that goes on the column as I have seen that working in a MIata and it works well but haven't got quite that desperate yet. I probably could DIY the RX8 stuff to work also as you have but I would just as soon not.

Something where you would just tap into power and ground, and minimal wiring to whatever the minimum amount of power steering components that need kept in such a way the main harness and pcm can be thrown in a dumpster and be able to use the RX8 steering rack and control board only would be very nice and I think there are quite a few people that would pay good money for it. Power steering solutions are one of the most commonly discussed topics in the LS swapped RX8 fb group.

Looks like a huge event with a large turnout. But I personally don't think I'd ever attend one of theirs' as my impression is that the whole thing is geared towards tube / ig / immature racer boys who're very concerned with building their online 'cred' or 'following' for ??? unknown reasons to me (please don't say it's for the 'scene' either, heard it a million times now, it's not true).

Everything I've seen places an unusually heavy importance on media coverage and again, 'being seen' imo. It's almost comical, all it takes to send the world into a downward spiral of self absorbed chaos was to give humanity a supercomputer with a camera. I also find it funny the term 'to follow' or 'followers' is used, the only person anyone should be following is someone who exudes admirable qualities.

Imo, what we need are more visible role models who produce positive works and provide inspiration to society. Anyone who uses the internet for validation or looks into a camera either to record or take pictures of themselves or their 'experience' is lost, point blank. We need less talk about meaningless things like they matters, especially online. The world has become so complacent to the things which actually matter that we now celebrate our demise. These types of accepted group behaviors (which are tech addictions, let's get real) is what has separated society so much in recent years. There's more than a few journals who've published material about the negative psychological effects that social media has on society and the individual and our expectations we hold in regard to that representation of us. I've found that the unfortunate truth is that time is constant and we are not, regardless of our efforts to extend our 'youth' into the later stages of life and that we as a species are very insecure with our mortality and is still a very taboo subject.

Anyways, since everyone who owns an Rx8 is now a 'track car' we should define what that is. I'll start, track cars are not street legal (and their owners actually abide by the law), get towed to their respective events and are not operated on a shoe string budget.

Who's next?

Great insight.

What I can say is that I can easily create (I already have hardware design that can do the task) a solution that is power, ground, CAN that will allow an OEM RX-8 power steering rack to operate as OEM. This is actually cheap and easy, and not something that takes up any space or weight. Software gets a little tricky, but it's not a technical challenge. Just time.

Is there some sort of analog/CAN based way a GM PCM broadcasts out engine RPM or other desired cluster metrics? That hardware software would be a bit more complicated, but easy to do, and would also accomplish the same task as allowing OEM PS to work. There's definitely no reason for an OEM PCM to remain in the car during a swap.

If you want, let's chat and I can send you some prototype-ish type stuff if you want to play around?

The caliber of equipment and talent at the pointy end that runs gridlife events is certainly as good as anything I have seen and I am sure that their event coverage helps with that. Every gridlife event I have been to has been enjoyable and not terribly different than any other time attack event as far as the driver experience goes as any put on by any other club I have been to. Clearly they are doing something right if they are able to put on large events, and have been around for something like a decade. If they can bring more people into motorsports then more power to them.

supposedly the RX8 steering rack can be made reasonable to steer manually; as opposed to trying to operate it manually as-is, but I haven’t gotten my hands one yet to to try and implement that. Spoke to a few people about sending me one and they never came through.
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I have messed around with making an rx8 steering rack usable manually and I can tell you with 315s in the front on a road course it ain't happening unless your other hobby is being a bodybuilder.

I think you're thinking way too hard about this, but I'll respond since I do enjoy well documented discussion, even if the conclusion is that there is no right answer.

Sorry if I am taking this personally if I shouldn't be, but I'm assuming a lot of those statement are directed at me as well as the collective Gridlife community. I care very little about personal notoriety and have stated many times before that anything I post in this journal is exactly that: A journal. I like to document things in an honest and frank manner when I am doing them as a activity to reflect on what I have done, and be able to continue to be constantly improving the way I go about things. There have been things I've taken photos of, or bolts I've turned when I was 19 that I absolutely cringe at, and know that I don't want to continue to do things that way. It's a fantastic way to make forward progress. There are definitely some characters in the Gridlife community, and it's really up to you if you wish to follow their antics, or participate in whatever they are doing. I typically don't.

So yeah. Weird way to come in swinging, but that's 100% your choice and I can respect that.

Last words: I think it's a bit immature and unrealistic to create that kind of definition of a race car. But like I said, I really couldn't care less about personal notoriety, so rest assured I will be able to sleep at night knowing you don't think I have a race car.

All it needs is to be fed some proper CAN data to the controller to enable assist, and the rest of the assist control is based on the steering shaft torque sensor (read: internal to the rack controller).

You can also read a PID from the controller to get input shaft torque, though it doesn't seem to be super accurate as an absolute torque value.

What specifically did you do?
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Yeah, my car has been a mixed-use, do-everything car (given the GT base), so I haven't been too focused on stripping it too much for pure track work / speed. Glad to hear that the 4.77 rear end and OS giken diff are good additions, I'm also sourcing a Mazdaspeed rear wing to get some downforce while keeping a balanced aesthetic.

It's currently pretty comprehensive in terms of bolt-ons (RB intake, exhaust, midpipe, tune -- bilstein PSS coils + progress front sway -- Pettit BBK (more bling than anything) and braided lines -- Vios III seat), tires and wheels are probably the biggest limiting factor as its on 8.5s and 245 PS4S. Might switch over to more grippy rubber once my skill, track exp. and comfort level catches up a bit more to the car's capabilities. I placed second in my timed novice run group next to a stock-ish ND1 on RT660s so can definitely work on improving driver skill.

:dunno:

DSCCA Summer Heat Autocross - Schoolcraft College, Livonia MI - July 3rd, 2021

Decided on a bit of a whim to go have some fun with a bunch of friends and some of their family at a Detroit region SCCA AutoX. AutoX is always fun as a half day event, and with the long weekend and all my buddies wanting to race it made so much sense to go have fun on a Saturday. Plus I was giving the keys to a good friend of mine to rip the RX-8. He's got small amounts of RWD experience, at least compared to the AWD and rally experience he has. We've always been pretty back to back in karting as far as quickness goes too, so it's always good to see how you stack up against your friends with limited variables.

Queue Friday night: Doing a once over on the car and adjusting the swaybar to be a bit stiffer. As I am looking the car over, I noticed this:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4db709aa6f.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...1168145ee2.jpg

Driver's rear caliper seal looks like it blew out and was dripped fluid. Not too sure how long this has been happening, but it looked like a fairly recent bust. Master cylinder reservoir was definitely low, and even though it wasn't a big leak I wasn't going to hand over the car knowingly with brake issues, no was I going to knowingly run it in competition. I could have taken any one of my other cars, including a new to me STi I brought home literally hours before...but the point of me going racing was really to let my friend drive the RX-8, so I knew this was the car that needed to be ready.

Now I needed a new caliper by 7:30AM the next day, and it was already 9:30PM. I called up all the typical parts stores I could within a 30 minute drive, they all close at 10. OReilly's was the only one who said they could get one in, but not until tomorrow morning when they open. At 7:30AM. I told them it was for a race car and bleh blah bleh, which they took some interest too. I figured if you have a bit more interest in something, you're better off wanting to see the job done. Working in an auto parts store can suck, but working on car parts for a race car can suck just a bit less. It should only take about 10 minutes to swap and bleed the caliper, and I am no stranger to showing up 10 minutes late the places so it was a good a plan as any. Tossed in the order, and prepped the car to be an F1 pitstop of a brake change. Boy if there was ever a time to have quick release brake lines...

Woke up and waited outside the OReilly's door for them to open it, and once they did I was told they messed up the order since it went in late last night, and that the part wouldn't be there until 11:30am. Damn it. Gave my buddies a call and told them to see if we can just change classes and run in the afternoon sessions. Luckily, it was allowed.

So I sat and waited, and got a bunch of other stuff done calling the store every 30 minutes or so just to see if it was in. Ran down there at 11:30 and right as I pulled in they had the part ready. Zoomed on home, tried to get as much fluid in the new caliper as possible before hooking it into the system, popped it in, tried to bleed the brakes a bit myself for about 5 minutes and 15 minutes later I was on the road with the car to the event. Checked in, through tech, and even had some spare time to smash down some pizza my awesome friends had gotten.

Driving was the standard AutoX experience. Run for 50 seconds, then breathe for the first time since and wonder where the hell you're even supposed to go. The car being driven by two drivers actually helped get some heat in it faster, and we kept each other as passengers so we could learn from each run even if we weren't driving.

Last run was the fastest of the bunch (it usually is if you don't mess up) and I ran a 47.575, even though the timing says it was a 47.755... grrrrrrr SCCA...

My buddy ended up running a 47.406 which when I saw the time on his last run I just laughed my ass off. Typical of him to figure out what the fastest way around is by watching someone else...

We placed 27th and 31st (would have been 29th without my botched time) overall out of 168 cars, and 1st and 2nd in SM out of... well us. Stupid SCCA classing is stupid. The fastest time of the day was some awesome local guys in their DSP RX-8 with a 43.646. Not too upset with the performance given a bit of a squishy pedal, and a weight balance of of a friend. PAX is stupid, so I don't even care to dive into thinking about that.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f3a95ceb82.png

I did get some video of I think my second run??? Finally got it into a new position to be more viewer friendly. The camera did overheat and shutdown so I didn't get all the runs, but it's AutoX so it's not even that interesting.


All in all 10/10 day with some unexpected struggles, and 10/10 would recommend driving race cars with your friends.

excellent thread, I've enjoyed you chronicling this journey and nice job getting the car up and running on short notice for that Auto-X event.
what did your buddy think of the 8?
what's he usually run?

He definitely enjoyed it quite a bit. Definitely didn't see any lack of fun being had.

He does all sorts of everything. Rally X and stage rally with Rally America (Subaru stuff), track driving with Gridlife (before his 911 started to not work), and just general everything involving engines (and batteries these days).

Gotta say I love your thread. gives me some great reading while I’m stuck on the road working for the summer months.
Hopefully we will run into each other again this fall.

Great thread!
After attending DGRR this year (and getting a taste of the car's potential) I'm looking to build my R3 into a sorta jack of all trades. Auto X is obviously the most accessible avenue, your results definitely motivate me to get out there sooner rather than later. From what I can tell the difference between a locally competitive STX rx-8 and a DSP rx-8 is just wheels/ tires lol. The tail of the dragon killed my brakes and the rear suspension needs some attention, but after those upgrades I'll be looking forward to hitting the course.

Perfect! I think being able to read information is the best way to take it in, as far as technical things go. Definitely hard to come by in the day and age of youtube and instagram, hence why I write.

Definitely a competitive chassis for AutoX! My only unsolicited advice is to just go for the class that allows you to reach your goals the fastest. Do you want to be the fastest driver at AutoX? Maybe a DSP car is better suited for you. Do you want to improve driver skill to move on to something like circuit racing? Maybe don't go so hard and build an STX car so you can focus more on driving and less on building until it matters more.

That's my approach at least :dunno:

I want to be the fastest driver in whatever venue I find myself, autox, DGRR, go karts, the grocery store parking lot.....:yelrotflmBut I see your point.
As the car sits it's STX legal (at least locally) But I have a BBK on the way and need a set of coilovers to replace the R3 Bilsteins which are on the way out. I know those are DSP legal, not sure about STX. Biggest thing keeping me out of DSP is wide sticky tires but I feel like the wiser course of action is to spend money on suspension first. I've never driven the car on track, but I have a feeling I will find that more enjoyable than autox once I get everything sorted. living vicariously through you until I do

Alumalite Front Splitter

Boy, I've been working on this for quite some time.. and the results really don't look like it hahaha... but I'll walk you through the process.

So Club TR Classing allows cars to use a splitter that is 3 inches out from the bumper, and doesn't go further rear of the car than the front hubs. Seems fair, and definitely seems like something I should have. I have messed around a bit with some chassis mounted stuff before, however never really had much success making something that was sturdy, but also easily removable. The factory undertray already did pretty decent, but minus some area in the front. So my goals for the splitter were for it to conform for the Club TR classing rules, and be easily removable with minimal tools just like the bumper for ease of accessibility.

I started to design something with some cardboard, like most people do, that mimicked the OEM unfertray attachment points. Pretty simple, remove OEM tray, trace it on to some cardboard, mark the upright holes, add 3 inches in front. bingo done.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...41ae04a45f.jpg

The biggest issue I was going to have was making this easily removable. The uprights were sort of the issue, and weren't strong enough to support anything. So my plan to sort of "go around them" and worry about the attaching later. My idea was to use the undertray upright mounting bolts as pickup points to attach the splitter to. The idea was kind of simple and potentially not good enough, but using M10 threaded rods and some weld nut washer welded to the frame would do. I was going to make use of 4 of those Aeroquip roof pin quick releases, and have those sit flush on the bottom of the splitter, which I knew would be alumalite.

This design had quite a few issues. Latches were expensive, pickup points were a bit "dynamic" we will say. and I didn't really have enough room to mount the latches. I still decided to press forward with it because I didn't really see any other option that allowed me to have a robust easily removeable design.

I got my alumalite panel in a few weeks after ordering it. $200 delivered for a 4x8ft sheet seemed about okay.

Started to draw out my design (which I do have dimensioned by the way, will make some edits to attachment points and share!)

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4100a890eb.jpg

I knew my attachment points and bumper curve points were still a bit in the air, but the main dimensioned I measured out worked great. I did have to modify the rear points a bit more to not hit the radiator mounts, but not too shabby. I made my initial cut with some room to add/move and fitted it up. I used some zipties to land the holes for the outer most and center holes just to get it aligned.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...7ce34796ca.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4c5bba38c4.jpg

When I got it on the car I realized it was definitely lighter and less bulky than I first anticipated, so M10 and Aeroship stuff REALLY was overkill... so I guess if anyone wants some M10 weld nuts I made... holler...

I decided to just use the same M6 size the OEM upright use, and just do the same concept with those chincy quick connects you can get on Amazon (which are also M6). This part took a lot of taking it off an on again to land the holes properly and also making sure my alignment was proper. I do like that these quick connects allow for a bit of play in them just by the nature of terrible tolerances, as well as flex in the M6 bolt.. makes lining it up a breeze... but at the cost of stiffness.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...166ac7e7a3.jpg

With everything tightened up, it wasn't SUPER wobbly.. but I guess driving will tell. The quick connect works SUPER well. Better than I could have imagined, so we will see how they hold up. I may need some cross bracing on the mounts to stiffen it a bit.. but.. yeah.

With everything in place I marked the upright holes, and am just using the old Dzus (ish) quarter turn fasteners with the insert clips on the plastic upright holes. We will see how long they last. They definitely hold the uprights super were and it does help with the wobble, while also being easy to pull off.

I made use of the factory undertray mounting screws with some tad longer/wider stainless screws in place.. not too sure if this is the right way forward, but time will tell. Also, zipties never hurt anything in a pinch. I think I will end up drilling a lot more holes in the bumper and using some M6 fasteners with nuts to affix it all.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...854deb82de.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3ac19313ae.jpg

I then made my final cuts, and this how it ended up turning out.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...d148e1382d.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3458e7a206.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...6773ad0f19.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...99513096c5.jpg



A lot of this work was done over the course of like a month.. just one little step at a time... hopefully it works... and hopefully it's easily repeatable to make in case I need to.

Here are my basic dimensions before modifications added, or quick connect hole dimensions added. The 45cm, 18cm and 162cm measurements are dead on. I made modifications to the rest which I'll post when I clean the aluminum and carboard shavings off my body and clean up.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ea2592be2d.jpg

Basic Weight Reduction

Boy howdy, this stuff was easier in Gran Turismo 2, and also way more effective.

A while back (before Autoban) I actually removed the most of airbag system from the car. Curtains + passenger bags. Along with that I also removed some fluff trim and sound deadening. I haven't weight all this all out yet, but I'm sure someone can calculate it out and figure what was dropped... but the answer is "not too much, but it doesn't make sense to have".

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...93429baf88.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3d64be83ba.jpg

I did keep the OEM steering wheel, and thus the passenger bag as well if I ever make it to dealership to get them "swapped out" for the non Claymore-esque style bags... just so they stop mailing me those damn letters.

This evening I also went ahead and removed all of the sound system stuff. I think I may have forgotten a filter or MOSFET or two.. but.. meh. This came out to about 15lbs. My bluetooth speaker actually seems to sound better than the factory unit -_-. I did leave the head unit just so I would retain the function of the MFD. Having HVAC (read: hot air blower) to blow air in my face when it's hot, and the OAT as a data point for track temp outweighed (no pun intended) the 5lbs or so the unit was. Also removed some sound deadening and the child seat anchor mounts while I was in there.

I'll get the car on the scales again I'm sure before Mid O and get a number. I keep forgetting to track how much fuel I have in the tank when I weigh the car though.. man.. I should do better..

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...02af035e05.jpg

there’s a sticky thread on S1 parts weight at the top of this forum, feel free to add your info or confirm what already exists there

For the HVAC, my simplified approach was posted below, but also now with the service manual info. The control signal pass through the head unit, so removing it disconnects them. With your background it shouldn’t be too difficult.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-...4/#post4894912



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...37352a7c7.jpeg
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https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...77353635b.jpeg
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my not-so-smart phone can’t handle editing a post with a bunch of pics attached, but it’s easy to see which mode is defaulted to in the B+ position of that information. A DPDT switch will just swap battery power to the other position for the basic approach. Or I’d imagine someone like yourself can also come up with a more modern tech approach to it.
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the other possible option is to buy a Metra DIN Stereo conversion kit for the AXXESS device and harnesses, which will supposedly provide the HVAC pass-thru wiring signals. Apparently it’s not available separately.

Yeah, the effort to benefit ratio I think is what's holding me back from caring more.

...which I understand I say as a guy who spent time designing a slip ring for a horn button.. lol.

Life is odd.

again, all you have to do is swap two wires on the Air Mix device for it to stop blowing heated air or install a DPDT switch on the same two wires to be able to switch it back and forth between the two.

but went ahead and posted everything in entirety if you want the rest of it to be operable

regards :)
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THanks for posting this. I have been meaning to look up the HVAC control so I can hard wire the HVAC into the defrost mode.

that would be swapping the two wires on the Airflow Mode controller

** or installing same switch to be able to control it :)

I'm finding this is easier said than done. The airflow control motor is way up high on the side of the HVAC unit and I can't get my fat fingers on the plug to unclip it. I was able to get the AC amplifier unscrewed and disconnected and I may be able to cut and splice the wires but it's going to be a circus act. I might just buy the Metra kit to save myself the hassle.

#GRIDLIFE Mid Summer Meet - Mid Ohio Sport Car Course - August 6-8 , 2021

Woo, going out racing once again and at the last new track for me of the season. Last time I had been to Mid Ohio, I think I was about 10-11 years old and we blasted down south in my dad's friend's new (at the time) E36 M3 to watch a Grand Am race... or maybe an IMSA race... or maybe it was still called Grand Am.. I don't know. The point is, the last time I was at Mid Ohio I was very young, and very much so not in the mindset of being the guy out on the racing surface, but this time was definitely different and it was going to be way more exciting.

The track was actually a bit closer time wise than it is to Gingerman out on the west side of the state, so my buddy and I took off around 6PM for the just under 3 hour drive there. I listened to my soundtrack of buzzing doritos, and slightly loud music from my bluetooth speaker in the cupholder. When we got off the highway and into the middle of nowhere Ohio, the landscape was pretty rad. Big hills, and huge elevation changes. Definitely not something I would have expected in the middle of nowhere Ohio. Arriving at the gate was fun, because the ambient soundtrack was very quiet, and my ears were buzzing from... racecar. Either way, got all checked in and met up with our friends who saved us a killer paddock spot with flat asphalt, and some hills we could slap out tents down at the top of.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e2fa3b2e8d.jpg

Day one went pretty okay. Got acquainted with the track Friday morning. Definitely a track that pays you back with taking risks, but will bite back exactly as hard when you roll the dice incorrectly. Saw a lot of cars into tires on day one. The blind corners over hills weren't too intimidating to me, as it reminded me a lot of Grattan Raceway. What was different was the amount of speed that you'd need to hold in order to keep going fast in a car with low power.

Friday afternoon I started to have some weird power surging on the car as it heated up after about half a session. Definitely was foot to the floor in 4th gear going pretty much nowhere. I had popped a CEL (P0661) for an SSV solenoid. Pulled a few things apart and did some Googlin' on the valves. I knew SSVs were a thing, but never ran into issues so I never did much research. Checked the vacuum actuator, the switch and the actual valves and everything check out. The internet told me that the connectors were a bit suspect, so I reseated the connector in hopes that has the issue (it never is). I also knew that after I put stuff back together, I could swap connectors with the air pump solenoid and vacuum line if I needed to. Glad I got a bit lazy and never fully removed it.

Back out on track for the last Friday session and I appeared to have my SSVs back with just a connector wiggle, was able to put down a hotlap but then right in Thunder Alley on said hot lap I felt the solenoid get shitty again. Okay, definitely the solenoid. Pulled the car in real quick, swapped connectors and vacuum lines and then tried to get back out in the session only to meet a checkered flag. Bah. We will try again tomorrow.

Saturday was met with much more success with a properly working car, but then because everyone else already had put down some of their fastest times, I was stuck gridded behind slower cars. I had to battle my way through traffic most of the day. Another thing I learned, and I have no idea why I didn't learn this like.. 6 years ago... was the STRIKING difference tire pressures had with these RT660s. Friend of ours who was running his 350z out of Chicago with us had been playing with pressures and kept telling me to go lower and lower on the cold pressure. When I pulled the car in and saw like 45psi hot, I brought it down to about 35psi hot. HOLY HELL the grip level after that was strikingly better! I've never had such a stickiness difference in a tire by lowering the pressure like that. I really attribute that to me just being stupid. I was able to pull 2 seconds off my time just by having so much more rear grip.

Front grip was great and the car definitely felt quite a bit more stable under braking from higher speeds than it has, and there was basically no front understeer. Not sure if this is a circumstance of the track having mostly on camber corners, or the splitter helping out, or the swaybar being a notch stiffer.. but the car felt pretty dang okay. We learned a lot on Saturday. Unfortunately I didn't run the last session since I was annoyed by not being able to make up a ton of time, and it decided to downpour just in time for my TA run heat. Any other time I would have taken Mid O on in the rain, but like I said I was mentally not in the game and quite upset at the time. Hindsight, should have run her... but that's always the hindsight. Racing can definitely be a mental game at times.

Sunday it was time to go faster, and that I did. The track conditions were a bit worse, but I finally dialed in how to drive the course a bit more, had a car that wasn't objectively slower, and learned a bit more about how a car needs to be setup. I still had some more time in me, but we didn't have sessions. Managed a 1:44.88, which put me ahead of some of the people I wanted to be ahead of in CTR, as well as past my personal goal of a 1:45 set after the first session of being on track. I think if I had trailered the car there as well, I would have been happy to take more risks. Like I said, mental game.

ClubTR results:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...bd30297e0c.png

Fastest lap onboard:

Stroll through the Carousel:

Fun Moments:

Some Photos:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...592191ad9c.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...aef50669ee.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3eda25b6e7.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...13cf74bd10.jpg


Other remarkable findings/learnings/events:

• Head wasn't in the game really hard one morning, forgot to fuel up the car before gridding. Car fuel cut hard after a 4th gear shift, and eventually stalled out. Was able to get it back around the track to bring it in.. but... don't start a session with under a quarter tank -_-
• More data is needed and soon to be able to find speed. Looking at other racer's videos, there's definitely some "don't a be bitch" time left in me as a whole driver. Such is life.
• Temps seemed to be a bit down with the splitter. Oil never was over 120*C even with track temps in the 90s. Could also just be the speed of the course too getting more air through.
• 4th gear is depressing to shift into. Really looking hard to find a 4.77 rear end for the car now. This was sort of known, but now it feels like it's holding me back. Baby steps.
• ASM had a badass pit party after the GLTC race on Saturday night, free pulled pork and beers. Major props to those guys for being stand up human beings
• 4 Rotor RX-7s are hawt (see below)
• If a friend's Tinder date shows up the race track for the first meetup, she's a keeper. Not sure how he pulled that one off, but it was hilarious, wholesome and grimy all at the same time. Perfect.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...175dc6e8d3.jpg

ASM Pit Party with new friends and old

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...dbe94251a3.jpg



Now I've got the car up on all 4s with knuckles off for the complete suspension overhaul before Midwest. Going back to Gingerman in September for fun racing and a crazy festival. Hoping to go faster than I ever before at a track I I've put more laps down at than any other. Also wouldn't mind squeezing out some more power from the 'ol Renesis... but I'm just concerned I'll be making more heat without going much faster. We will see.

Should probably also get another SSV solenoid too, eh?

Will report back more soon. My hands are already cut up, and arms perpetually greasy.

Nice job! I remember you were looking for a 4.77 diff, sharigan_19 here might be able to help with that :)

If adding power you could help control heat by blending e85 in some ration.
Nice thread over on the focus rs forums that has guys collecting heat and other type things while running e30 blend. I can tell you e30 doesn’t seem like much but in the winter months here in MIch my edge blended with e30 runs very low temps almost cool enough to not heat the car at all when it’s 10 degrees or cooler out. 93 not an issue toms of heat. I assume with more power comes tuning and with that maybe blending?
I’m gonna try straight e85 in my series 2 this fall if I ever get caught back up after a crazy year at work and new house.

I also learned the same lesson on the 660’s after that day I met you. I now start my pressure way down at like 24 with my low tire light on. A few laps in it goes off and I have amazing amounts of grip. Gonna busy out my nitrogen tanks and start playing with what is the most ideal temp for that tire on my car. Should help the massive psi change in the tire when warm

Rear Suspension Makeover + SuperNow Toe Arms + FUCA Superpro Offset Bushings + more

Yeeehaww... this took just about as much effort as I thought it would, and the timeline to do it in was tight as expected.

tl;dr replaced every single rear end arm with a new component, pressed in some bushings, messed up some bushings, all while using multiple sawzaw blades and angle grinder discs.

So yeah. The explanation.

About 8 hours after I returned back from Mid Ohio, I popped the car up on jackstands and started what I knew was going to be an whole process. It had been known for some time that all of the suspension components that had bolts going through bushings were completely seized, the ball joints leaking and rusty, and in desperate general need of refreshment. I had put this off from the get go, mostly because it was expensive and I didn't know how much I was going to like the car, or even if this rusty chassis was the right thing to sink money into. Why bother with a rusty car when you can reshell it with something from the desert??

Either way, racing makes you throw logic out the window in the pursuit of more speed so I decided to spend some cash bringing this pile of trash back up to minimum viable usable with some upgrades along the way.

When I replaced the passenger side from lower arm I learned exactly how bad not having coated bolts was going to be for every bushing in the vehicle, and that's why the car went up in the air ASAP after Mid Ohio. Currently it's a Sunday and I need to have the car loaded on the trailer Thursday morning, and I am just now finishing up this job. I have had all the parts to do this since just after Autobahn, so I was also pretty excited to knock this job out too.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...634d7876dd.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...989c0d4fc6.jpg



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...71135f9dae.jpg

With the up I began the process of tearing apart everything I needed to pull off to replace. front uppers came out no problem with the exception being the driver's side ball joint committing sepuku. No worries, let's get another arm on the way while I dig into the rear. While I was in the front end I also decided to swap out the other engine mount with the fresher one I still had from the set I bought like a year and a half ago. I believe this mount was actually from an auto car... so hopefully that's not a big deal.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...55148dc82d.jpg

The rear was of course where the bulk of the time was going to be spent. Luckily, more things came loose easily than I thought! I did however had completely seized camber/toe arms on the vehicle side, and the toe arm pinch bolts were completely stuck in the hubs. I used a combination of angle grinder and sawzaw to cut the fasteners on either side of the bushing, and if I couldn't get completely through the bolt I'd take an impact and just twist it off to break it. Worked decently well, but was definitely a lot of shouting and swearing. I was also able to extract the toe arm pinch bolt from one of the knuckles with some drilled and hammering, however the other side was a lost cause. Not moving even a bit, so I got another knuckle on the way from the good ol' ebay.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...fbb6e2a26a.jpg

Fitting new parts up was simple, but I did have to wait a few days for my new bolts to get in from Mazda. I ended up having to place a few different orders for fasteners and nuts and other things I destroyed in the process.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ccd1974583.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...8282789263.jpg

While I waited for parts in the rear to arrive, I manged to get the front arms sorted. Burning the bushings out, taking a hack saw to the metal insert, and using some threaded rod to press the old stuff out. It was time consuming doing it without a proper press, but it all worked. To get the poly offset bushings in, I just used my vice.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...cde628c29d.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...bff35ca1ba.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5e27ade64a.jpg

(Don't worry I rotated the offset inserts to be correct :) )

Along with the poly bushings, I had some aluminum inserts and hiems to press in to the rear knuckles... this is where things start to go a bit sour. The one bushing pressed it no problem with the threaded rod method. The other... not to much. Got cockeyed and then it was toast.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...72666b1eb2.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...38a0ebb5f1.jpg

I decided to take this bad one into work and try to get it on our press... however the knuckle without a jig is really hard to work with. I tried using some larger grade 9 threaded rod and nuts to try to push it out and try again... but I actually broke the M10 bolt in tension -______-

Basically, it was fucked.

So I got another knuckle on the way, and chalked up the fact only one side would be a hiem. I'd just use the OEM bushing on the other side.

Waiting a week...

The guy had sent me the wrong side knuckle. Fuuuu

Sent him a message and got the proper side on the way, though he told me it was missing one stud. No worries... sorta.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...fe4916e62e.jpg

Got the knuckle fitted up, and then tried to pull a stud from one of my many spares. Turns out, it seems like this is a common heartache for RX-8 people as the rear studs don't have any clearance to come out. Way to go. I was going to take the hub back off and bring it into work to press the hub out, but was worried I was going to trash the bearing. Didn't really feel like dealing with this, and we are less than a week away from needing the car on the trailer at this point. I decided to take the method I had seen other people take on the forum and just notched the stud.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...240e3f3b53.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...58a414b6a5.jpg

I guess we may find out what the safety factor on these studs are...

Either way, I am comfortable enough with just one stud being this way, and we could continue forward.

On this side of the car I also replaced the caliper as it also had the plague of a torn boot and leaking fluid. Probably happened at Mid O and I should maybe consider not buying Rock Auto calipers to avoid this issue in the future.. but.... they are cheap!

Got everything tightened up and back on the ground, and now it's just time for alignment.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...24c434b836.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3f08d4d882.jpg

Currently I have the rear camber maxed ~3 degrees. Fronts I was able to get the .5 degree more like the bushings said, so also around 3-3.3 degrees.

Front toe I set to 0, though I think I'll need to move everything over to the left as the wheel will not sit straight currently.

Rear toe... I need to setup some strings. Will work on that throughout the week before it goes into the trailer.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...0a07507b8e.jpg

Much less stress to be had with the car on the ground, and I can start tuning it a bit while on the street this week. Glad this is finally over with, I have adjustability back, and way less jank in general.

Now to see if I can get that new rear end into the car before Thursday... ;)

Got her back on the ground and aligned up today. 0 toe F/R

Front camber: ~3.3-3.5 degrees
Rear camber: 3.3 degrees maxed out (wish I could get more!)

We will see how the car feels and dial it up/down from there!

Looks like you might be able to lower some more from pictures.
Will get you more camber and in the rear especially will help with inside rear lift / diff unlocking
Just an idea

Ya know, had the same thought while I was just looking at the car in the garage. I may just do that.

#GRIDLIFE Midwest Festival - Gingerman Raceway - September 9-12, 2021


Coming home to Gringerman for a festival to end the season is something I had been looking forward to for the entire year. The festival at Gingerman is always something special, and having it been canceled in it's full form last year really made me excited for this event this year. I had the car at the peak of it's performance so far, and really did spend some time dialing it in.

I had a friend who was offering to tow the car in return for some hotlaps, which seemed like a square deal. Same friend who dual drove with me at the AutoX earlier in the summer. I couldn't even make an attempt to say no.

The fun started Wednesday evening when we needed to load the car up in the trailer. Easy process, except we had to unload the rally car project Bugeye Impreza (story for another time) that had been sitting in there for some time. It didn't have a steering rack.. or strut bolts. In case you were curious, screwdrivers make great Subaru lower strut bolts. We winched it off, threw it in the middle bay of my garage, and cleaned the trailer of the dust, gravel and other rally related loose surface materials. Popped the bumper off, tossed the car in, and started to load everything else up we needed for the long weekend (sans beer).

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b441d8bfcc.jpg

We were set to leave my place at 8:30 AM with an attempt to have a spot at the event secured by 1. It was about a 3 hour haul carrying the car, but we needed to stop for lunch and groceries.. plus getting there as soon as the gates opened as imperative as drivers would flock the paddock and then it would be impossible to get a trailer in or out. We also had 6 people to try to save some spots for at this event. If you've never been to a Midwest festival before... trying to save spots for 6 people is probably more complicated than wheeling your car around the track in the first place. Luckily we had some friends get there about 20 minutes before we did and secured the perimeter. Us blocking in the other spots was the perfect move. We had a nice uphill (very important for rain... which ALWAYS happens when you're a mile from the west side of Lake Michigan) spot right near the timing tower. Easy to work on your car, easy to get to grid, easy access for all your friends not in the paddock stealing your camping chair under the easy up throughout the course of the weekend. Perfection.

Unloaded the car, and made sure it was all full of oil, wheels were torqued, driver's brain was torqued to spec, and everything was ready to rock. First session out after the drivers meeting was only an hour or so away. No time to even setup tents.

First session out on Thursday and I could already feel the staggering amount of grip a proper alignment, ACTUALLY no ESC intervention, and learned tire pressures from Mid O gave the car. The cool air coming off the lake also gave the engine a bit more gettup. Right off the hop I ran a 1:45.9, fastest time in the car by about a second and a half and was holding constant 1:46.xs, which was also about a second faster. The car had SO much grip! Until I spun it off at T6 giving it a bit too much salsa mid corner. Not a hard off, but a 4 off nonetheless.

Next session out a few hours later and I ran a 1:45.6. Inching some time down as I became more accompanied to the new levels of grip in the car. This ended up being the fastest time of the weekend.. but more on that coming up.

Last session of the quick paced day was a twilight/night session. I knew I wasn't going to be faster here, but these sessions where I've got my headlights on are always just so fun. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL evening in South Haven. A nice cotton candy sunset had been given to us, and we were battling the light for our sessions. They called "any car that wants to go out right now" to grid, so I jumped in and sped off to get in the line.

I gridded up behind some DSG/sequential S2000 that loved to pop a huge flame out the back every time it shifted. It wasn't before long that it was miles ahead of me. The track was in absolute perfect form to run an amazing lap, but I kept getting distracted by faster run group traffic. I let two FC RX-7s fly by me who were having a close battle of their own. I kept with them both for a bit until we hit the straights and all I saw was backfire from one, backfire from the other, and as I am sure popped a photoperfect flame from my exhaust they were off into the literal sunset. I found my groove and tried to add some speed in. Going into 10b down the hill you had Jupiter and Saturn out, and right as you came over the crest of the turn exit a pink backlight crescent moon with the bright dot of Venus close to it came down from the Gridlife window banner into sight. Never before had I seen such absolutely SCENERY at a race track while on track. The rainbows at Midwest last year were pretty good... but the night sky is something else. One day when I am less lazy, I will upload the session video. As I am sure you can understand, low light GoPro footage has nothing on the real deal. Go race at night. It's a beautiful thing.

Came off track with a huge smile on my face, slow times, and requiring a beer. The drink of choice for the night was Bell's Oktoberfest. 10/10 would recommend to a friend, or even an enemy. If you find yourself without a bottle opener, a wing endplate and a good whack will do ya.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...c4ad32a589.png

Went to bed early enough, and woke up ready for the madness that was GA people to begin.

Friday during the day is all a blur. Combinations of lots of session, hotter weather, people REALLY trying to catch a splitter from a hot car off track on grid leave the mind spinning. Some sessions got essentially scrubbed because of cars getting all blowy uppy, and the track surface became a whole new beast with the combination of drift cars and some added dust/wind. The most notable thing on Friday was getting awesome de-lamination of a tire. Outside front, so on a clockwise track... it got hot. I checked the car over and noticed a swaybar endlink had some loose. Looks like a nut didn't get tightened and worked it's way off (DERP). Explained some unexpected understeer in T2 and T3 all of sudden after a large oversteer moment. Tire was trashed, driver error most likley.. I needed to get a new one.



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I ran over to the big Falken tent they had setup. Falken was a huge sponsor of the series, and we were required to run Falken tires for our Time Attack class. I figured they would be the people to help me out. Behind the counter I saw a set stacked up of exactly what I needed, so I ran up to the counter and asked one of the (probably nice) people what it would take for me to buy a pair or set of tires. The only response I got was, the corporate way of saying "fuck off, we don't sell them". I was pretty damn miffed.

You're a sponsor of the series.

We have to run your shitty chunked up tires.

There was no availability at the start of the season.

There was availability in the middle of the season.

There was a program at the start of the season for Falken to "sponsor" all Club TR racers, Gold Pass holders especially (I was one), and then radio silence after I filled out the application.

Radio silence mid season when others also asked what was going on.

And you can't sell me tires at the event.

Like damn, I get I'm not the front runner or anything.. but I'd have paid a damn good penny to get my hands on some tires at this point. I'd love to make a point right now about how disappointing the experience was.

Luckily, the racers of Gridlife are absolute champions, and 2 minutes after I had them announce that I was looking for a tire on the PA system, I had multiple people come to the rescue. The guy who made it work was a GLTC racer named Dustin (BIG OLD SHOUT OUT) who literally just came by, dropped off a wheel and tire and said "have at it". The Falken guys at least mounted it up on my wheel. I went to go bring back the fellow racers wheel and ask if he wanted money or anything for saving my skin. Funny enough, there was a bit of confusion around the event. I saw the guy's car, but not the guy, so I asked someone else where Dustin was at. They said "oh he went off looking for his wheel". Well hey! Great news! I've got it right here for them. A couple of back and fourths of confusion later, and it turns out Dustin had lost a wheel. During the GLTC race that had just happened. On the race track. Along with the bearing.

Whoops.

He had some bigger things to worry about. I left the wheel at his camp site and told his friends where I'd be if they needed literally anything, and if their buddy needed some cash to feel free to swing by.

Car was back on the ground with the wheel all torqued up by my friends while I sorted that all out. So many thanks for the help, everyone. Seriously. It takes so much out of me to try to ask for help, and to have it without asking very hard is REALLY, REALLY appreciated. What I lack in racing skill, I also lack in conveying empathy.. so yeah. Seriously thanks.

Back on track for another twilight session. That damn moon.... I didn't go faster.

Drink of Friday night was a liquor called Malört. A friend we had made at Autobahn was able to squeeze out a ticket for Midwest and made sure to bring us some of Chicago's past times to experience. I had never had it before. Taste's awful at first, but rest assured that it also tastes awful well after that too. Get a bunch of races together drinking it though, and phrases like " put too much sauce on that sandwich into T1, and ended up loopin' 'er sidewards up and around" will make complete sense on a technical level, and even allow you to learn a few things. Damn shame the lessons are gone by morning.

Saturday arrives with a nice kick in the pants, and GA was in full swing. Not expecting to go faster due to the hotter weather and track conditions, I did find myself some time in T1 and T10. Wasn't ever able to link them all together to get a faster time though. Saturday was a bit of a special day because my dad and his girlfriend were coming to the track to experience a Midwest Festival. There were also what were being called "taxi sessions" which were essentially hot laps where drift, GLTC and TA cars were allowed to take people out with them, do a hot lap, and come in. Non timed of course. My dad's girlfriend had never been on a racetrack, so I tossed her in the passenger seat and out we went. I gridded up behind a drift car, and I will say... definitely showed you how SLOW they go. But I will say, acting as a drift car chase car with a passenger who had never been on a track before driving at 6/10th was still pretty fun. I think I messed up the flow of the ear fluid that gives you balance for her though, she was at a loss for words in a positive way all day after!

I then got to take my dad out for a spin. My father used to do track days when I was younger (before kid number 3) in his FB RX-7 GSL-SE. I grew up with him doing that, and this would be the first time he'd be able to hop in the car for a hotlap at speed. He knew what to do, hopped in, and we didn't get gridded behind a drift car this time around. Definitely gave it a more 8/10 driving experience. He was astounded by the brakes, the grip, and me as a driver. It was a really special moment that I really hope we get to do again for a bit more time. RX-8 brakes never cease to give anyone not accustomed a bit of a scare though!

Once the word got out that I could take people for a spin, two girls we had met the night before came running. Was able to squeeze one in for her first ride on track before the sessions were over. Always good to have friends in low places, no?

Back to racing, I had one more session for the day, and now I had spectators. Decided to really try to push the edge of grip, but unfortunately the track wasn't having it. Couldn't run any faster. I did have what I think was the biggest off I've ever had though. Gave it gas a bit too soon into T1, and left the racing surface at 70mph. Not too big of a deal, but a 360 at speed is always spectacular. I think I scared my dad's girlfriend who was watching within an inch of her life though... ah normies :D. Car definitely picked up some grass, so I brought it in to make sure I wasn't on fire. I did smell some burning after I got back on track. but I was able to keep speed up before getting to the hot pits to clear out the wheel well.

Yee. Haw.


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Damn shame I couldn't go faster, and competition was over. I ended up 13/19 cars. Not last, and going faster than I ever have before is something I am extremely happy about. I am .3 seconds off my fastest time (set in my 300+ hp Impreza) at Gingerman, and hit my goal of the weekend of doing a 1:45.xx. Perfect way to end the competition season. Plus a learned a TON about how to properly drive this car. I'm really, really enjoying it. There is one more event at Road America (I will not be attending), and we will see where I end up for season points. Definitely towards the back, definitely not last.


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Saturday nights drink of choice was whatever we could get our hands on. We tried the concert thing (it was trash), went for a scooter ride around the track (it was the opposite of trash), sang some karaoke in paddock, and also celebrated our friend's upset of a Street class win (TITS OUT FOR JOE, EVERYONE!). I think at some point there was a man with a full bar on the back of a some Kei truck handing us some drinks. It was a good ride. I don't think any good lessons about racing were learned this evening, but sometimes I think that's okay.

Sunday morning I ran the earliest session, but was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too foggy to make any lap times happen, and could feel it. Handed over the keys for a session, had our fun, packed the trailer up and off we were back into the confines of reality. The racing hangover was real. Perhaps that was also just the actual one too. I wanted nothing more than to dig in and prep for the next event, but that's all I had planned. My shower was equal parts brake dust and tire rubber, and I went to bed with another Midwest Festival in the books, wondering what it was going to be like on Monday having to explain to coworkers and customers what 4 days of racing is like, while actually getting the point across properly in 2 minutes of small talk instead of just getting the typical "oh yeah for sure, sounds fun!". I'm sure I did a trash job at that. I think whoever is reading this gets it though, so I think that's what matters.

As usual, fastest lap time video with (minimal) data:


And some photos:


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I don't think I am done with the season for track days, but that's a wrap on my first ever Time Attack season. Holy hell did I learn a lot. A second and a half encompasses so much more than it seems.