Tomfree- Yep, I'm Howard. Will look for you in the paddock.

Paul- the good thing about Group D is you get to pass a lot!!

If y'all park together in the paddock save me a spot- I'll be driving up Saturday morning from Chapel Hill.

 

shouldn't be a problem, there'll be a nice RX-8 contingent for sure

though most likely i'll be parked next to a bunch of white STi's... don't ask, lol

 

I'll be pitted w/ a variety of cars - a white Miata w/ red & blue stripes, a white Cavilier, and a red/silver/blue Porsche 944 race car. If there is a spot(s) open, Howard, Paul, or any of the other RX-8 contingent is more than welcome to pit with us. We will set up pit on Friday evening and head out to the VIR tavern for steak and a cold adult BEvERage.

 

You guys know if anyone will bring some OLD school Mazda's. I should dust off my old RX3.

DCNSX, being from The Hill I hope you aren't a Tarheel fan.

GO DUKE!!!!

 

Terrific. Heck, even if we aren't right next to you, maybe we'll be just a couple doors down. As far as steak and beer -- I'm SO there.

 

We will be bringing at least one of our Grand-am Cup cars to VIR for testing prior to the Mid-Ohio race which is scheduled for the following weekend. Addtionally we will have two of our street RX-8's there. Should be a great time.

 

sweet! can't wait to see the Grand Am RX-8s!!!

 

Woo hoo! MAN those look good. Of course, you realize that you'll have to answer a thousand questions from the other 8 owners. The Web site explained that, didn't it?


j/k

 

It will be great to see a good number of 8's at this event and see a few of them driven by people who know how to drive them -- that isn't me - I just drive with a big grin on my face and as fast as I need to keep it.

I can't wait to ask a few of the questions...

 

tomorrow's gonna be a good day; my Azenis RT615's AND my Axxis Ultimates are getting delivered tomorrow, w00t!

 

^^ Cool. Will you have them on at the MSCW meet? Are the Azenis okay for daily driving, or are they race-only? I'll be interested in what you think about the Axxis Ultimates too. I recently got the Hawk Ceramics and am very pleased with them.

 

I don't daily drive my RX-8, but as long as your aware of their relatively short life (15k miles would be a generous estimate), they should be fine to daily drive. They are decent in the rain, not too terribly loud, and they stiffen up the ride a bit because of the sidewalls.

 

no, i won't have them on by tomorrow, and yes I'm planning to drive them as daily tires until October/November, then I'll get a set of all-seasons to drive rest of the year, so tread life won't be of major concern for me on these tires

but i CAN bring a tire to the meeting just so you can take a whiff at the fresh rubber smell, lol

 

Only 15k miles on Azenis ?!?! That'll be GREAT - I've never had more than 10k out of any rear tire on the NSX. The car EATS rear tires.

PS- Hogcar- don't let the Chapel Hill address fool ya- I'm a Virginia Tech fan

GO HOKIES !!!

 

I am running the Azenis everyday and love them. They are far and away more comfortable than the OEM Bridgestones - feel fine from a ride quality standpoint and although I have 2000 miles and 150 minutes of track time on them, they are very quiet. Too early to tell about life but I expect to do 5 to 6 more days of track time and drive them until the Winter and play it by ear from there.

 

I just found a site that compared your new Falken Azenis to my new Goodyear F1 GS-D3. Bottom line - the Azenis have better dry grip (5 vs 4.7) but won't last as long as the Goodyears (UTQG 200 vs 280). Plus the Azenis are a little cheaper. Good choice.

http://www.1010tires.com

 

so yea, the tires are sitting in my garage now, holy cow 245 wide tires are WIDE!!

 

whoa, 1010tires changed their logo to a rotor!!

 

FYI- I copied this review of Azenis from 1010 tire site:

"Mazda RX-8 - 235/40-18

- Bought as a track tire to use on the street. Coming from Bridgestone RE040s, these tires are much softer and comfortable riding on the street. On the track the handling is precise and I haven't found the limits of grip yet, but where the old OEMs just howled and scrubbed off speed, the Falkens stick like bubblegum. Very, very good mixed use track tires!"

Dry Wet Snow Handling Comfort Noise Treadwear
5 3 N/A 5 5 3 N/A

 

ZoomZoomH
Paul in DC
TomFree
DCNSX
HogCar
Roar Racing boys
Willhave8 (me)



Very cool so far - Last year there was only one other 8 at this event in June. I am staying at the Comfort Suites - my daughter works for them and got a great rate and I can walk to the Mexican restaurant...

 

I didn't write that but could have. Agree with every word. Except I went with the 245s. Someday I would like to try R compounds just to see the diffference. I can only compare the 615s to the OEM Bridgestones but on the track I could brake latter, carry more speed and accelerate out of the corners faster. The cool thing is for me as still a newbie (4 events) I can tell the difference.

 

4.2 miles, 32 turns... the longest road course in the Western Hemisphere.

 

heck, i haven't even tracked these tires yet and i can tell you they are going to ROCK on the track, just driving around streets and taking onramp/offramps and you can tell these are special tires

 

I'm lazy...

Any early weather reports?

 

from weather.com:

Fri Jun 16 Sunny 82°/59° 20 %
Sat Jun 17 Mostly Sunny 85°/63° 20 %
Sun Jun 18 Mostly Sunny 86°/65° 20 %

oh, and HUMID