Cito

Just saw the an article about a turbo kit for the RX8 in the new Car and Driver. About 400 horsepower (allegedly). I was thinking that this would make the RX8 an interesting SM car...not that I have the money to do it. Weight minimum for 1.5 rotary is 2500 pounds. This would be in SM I think and not SM2, unless I am missing an exclusion. Just was wondering what others thought about this. Might be a cool idea once there are more salvage, theft, light flood cars available to modify.

yiksing

Like a wild pig flipping in the mud

PUR NRG

Want to compare apples to oranges? Take national SM champion Vic Sias in an SM car that Bob Tunnel describes as the only real SM car out there, and compare to a 3-year newbie (myself) in a turbo RX-8 that does not have Penske shocks and runs street tires instead of slicks. I typically run 4-6 seconds slower than he does.

One big problem is turbo lag and the sudden surge when boost kicks in. Neither are good for smooth handling. Supercharges are better but Vic went from a supercharged M3 motor to a larger displacement NA. That should tell you something.
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Uggs

Imp

I drove a turboed RX8 for an instructor run... and I can say the tuning on it was done very well. It was stock everything else, including tires, suspension & exhaust.

I felt no descernable lag... and I used to competitively auto-x a WRX. It felt more like it was supercharged than turboed. It really impressed me. However, to make it nationally competitive, you'd need a boatload of suspension work and find every little thing you can do to lighten it up to get to minimum weight... at 2500 lbs, I bet it can get down to that. That's finding around 300 lbs.

Locally, it can probably do very well with the right driver.

Cito

I would think 2500 pounds would be possible though I forgot about the addition 100 pounds of crap that probably goes with a turbo kit.

4-6 seconds behind Vic Sias is not that bad given street tires and no other mods but a turbo with a relative newbie driving. That speaks more to its potential than to a lack of potential. Sias's car is the car in SM, so that is the perfect benchmark. Two seconds should come from just race tires alone.

BigOLundh

iTrader: (1)

My 8 is boosted and races in SM. The car handles amazingly, but its a lot to control. Great learning experience though.
Nothing about the car will prevent you from doing well in SM, it just depends on if the driver can fully extract its potential.

-hS

John V

iTrader: (1)

I've thought for some time that a forced-induction RX-8 could be a serious weapon in SM. TeamRX8 has already demonstrated the weight that can be taken out under STU rules and SM rules are a bit less stringent. Not sure how much additional weight will be lost with rear seat removal and other SM legal allowances, if there are any.

Of course then you have to set it up and drive it as well as Vic and that is gonna be tough.

Imp

If someone funds it, I'd be more than happy to drive it.

PUR NRG

The "no other mods" is incorrect. The car also has JIC coilovers, 18x9" wheels, 275/35 Azenis 615 tires, lightweight flywheel, stiffer swaybars front/back, an interceptor-x and a few other things.

I agree the driver is the most important component of any competition setup.
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TOYOTA TACOMA SPECIFICATIONS

Asher

RX8 with a 13B TT out of a 3rd gen RX7???? I forget the guy's name that drives the Red 3rd gen 7 in SM2, but he does very well at the National level.

Cito

Well, you are halfway to SM. Sounds like a very cool car. I only referred to you as a newbie because you had said that. I think you are doing pretty well even given the mods though race tires might not give you quite as much over the Azenis. Get some race tires on that bad boy and give Vic a run for his money.

Cito

Yea, I thought of this too, but I don't know enough about the rotary engines to know whether a modified older turbo would be better than a modified and turboed Renesis.

I also do not know whether the RX8 is considered a better chassis than the 3rd Gens. I would guess not as the 3rd Gens are close to God, but don't really know. What do others think?

PUR NRG

Check out my dyno post. You can see from 3-4k torque jumps from ~150 to ~210 ft/lbs. Compare that to the stock engine which stays pretty much flat at ~90 ft/lbs throughout that same range. I'm around that point apexing a turn which makes modulating the throttle hard. I have to wait until I'm almost straight before I can get on the gas. Boost isn't instantaneous so there may be up to a half-second delay which also complicates the footwork.
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WEED VAPORIZER

PUR NRG

I think you're referring to Andy McKee, also out of the San Francisco region. I haven't seen him at any events this year. Very nice guy.
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KINKYsubxxx

PUR NRG

I refer to myself as a newbie because despite some small amount of talent, I think there is a lot more I have to learn. One graphic I wanted to put on my car when autocrossing is "Caution--Student Driver".

I think in order to have a decent SM car I'd need the following: tuned Penske 3-way shocks, 275 Hoosiers, 3" no cat exhaust, better aero parts (front splitter, rear wing), tuned for 110 octane race gas. Unfortunately all but the first violates my "daily driver" principle. I'm reasonably happy with my setup and know dollar for dollar more seat time will net faster results than any car mod.
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Hemp Marijuana

Cito

PUR NRG,

I think you would find that the turbo coming on would be less of an issue with slicks, and it seems that the amount of lag really would depend on the kit and tuning. Your car sounds very cool. What kit do you have?

PUR NRG

Certianly more grip means less problems with the turbo breaking tires loose. But as I mentioned racing slicks are not in my future. I have a greddy turbo controlled by an interceptor-x tuned for california 91 octane gas. Except for a 3" exhaust I think I'm at the limits of (my arbitrarily limited) power gains.
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Paxil attorney

John V

iTrader: (1)

Probably because his turbocharged 20B isn't finished yet.

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

He blew up his second 13 this year at the Atwater tour, so he drove Vics SM car to the SM2 win at the pro.

Asher

Ah, competition for Strelnicks(sp?).

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

a wicked 20B NA is better IMO ... oh, and an unlimited bank account

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

Yeah on the race to rebuild.... As I hear Eric blew it as well.

John V

iTrader: (1)

I agree with you, but where are you going to get the high-compression rotors to make any kind of meaningful power?