PedalFaster

After Day 1, GH is doing you guys proud: http://www.scca.com/_Filelibrary/Fil...05peru-sat.pdf.

Kel Rx8

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VIVA PERU

PedalFaster

Day 2 results are up: http://scca.com/_Filelibrary/File/solo-05peru-sun.pdf. Congrats to GH for the win!

Anyone who was there have any thoughts on how CS was able to keep up with BS?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

We experienced a suspension malfaunction that was the equivalent of having no front swaybar going into Sunday's runs, though the problem had been progressing the entire weekend. How GH even ran those times on Sunday is beyond me and a testament to his driving skill as IMO the car was just about undrivable; snap oversteer and massive wheelspin in every RH turn on a clockwise course direction. We didn't figure out what was going on until pulling the front wheels off after the event.

We'll be back ...

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

What happened...end link failure??

John V

iTrader: (1)

Mark, sorry about your troubles. It was frustrating to watch you struggle with the car's obviously weird handling. I'm sure you guys will get it sorted out. See you in DC for the NEDiv? :eeps:

The Saturday course had a couple interesting elements that lended itself to narrow, nimble cars. It had a sharp, 90 degree left hand start that led into a 27-pace, effectively three cone slalom. That led into a slow LH sweeper, a faster RH sweeper into a faster 31 pace slalom. A very tight and bumpy (but fast with the right line) follow-through led into a RH hairpin to a fast left hander and a flat-out right hander. After the 180 degree turnaround was a fast offset and a couple hairpins leading to a tight finish.

The S2000s were absolutely killing going through the slaloms and the follow-through. The Miatas looked equally fast. Neither the RX-8 nor the 350Zs were transitioning nearly as well as the S2000s and Miatas.

Couple miscellaneous thoughts: I coned away my quickest runs both days. That's what you get for hack driving in a good car. :p The car felt great but I couldn't capitalize. Strano's final run was a thing of beauty - he came back and said he could count on one hand the runs in his life that he drove better than that one - but that the car would never get it done at Nationals. Andy and Carter were absolutely on fire in the 350 - it was not a course that should have suited their cars well save for a couple elements (drag race start and finish on Sunday and a couple very tight, low RPM in 2nd gear exits on Saturday). We started the weekend with a mechanical failure that could have been weekend-ending but worked through it just before tech closed Friday.

I feel like I'm very slowly starting to figure this car out. Given the caliber of the drivers in B Stock this year I feel as though I'm learning a lot. Thanks to GH, Mark and Andy Basham for all their help over the weekend.

PedalFaster

(Strano)

Did he say why? He was pretty confident before this weekend: http://sccaforums.com/forums/3/14110...st.aspx#142066. Most other people had written off the the MR2 Turbo except at Pros, but that was before Strano even got into his for this year, so I'm wondering what changed his mind.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

he's never driven an RX-8

clyde

I wish I could drive. Consistently.

At least we went home happy and having learned a whole lot about a number of things.

I should have on-car video of our runs available in a few days.

John V

iTrader: (1)

He drove it in Atlanta...

PedalFaster

In other words, most people had written off the MR2 Turbo years ago, before this season even began, and thus before Strano made the statement on SCCAForums.com that I linked to. Despite that, he thought the car could win as recently as last week, so I'm wondering what prompted this recent change of heart.

clyde

I think that's the part. Feeling like he got everything there was to get out of the car that day and still be sitting where he was relative to the other top B Stock cars that day.

Personally, if he feels that way about that run and knowing how much of my ability I didn't bring with me on my fast Sunday run tells me a lot about the MR2T because even at my best, my car would still have something left for someone of Sammy's caliber on one of their "average" days.

John V

iTrader: (1)

The courses seemed MR2T friendly to me, but I admit to knowing very little about what the car likes. I suspect it likes slaloms, fast offsets and tight corners / narrow follow-throughs like ES MR2 NA's do. Correct? If it can't do well on an MR2 friendly course then...

Bear in mind I'm not saying Sam tried to tilt the odds in his favor AT ALL. I think both days' courses were excellent, fair, fun courses that challenged everyone.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

yes, but the "write off" back then was when the S2000's were in the class, they said the same thing about the Porsche 968 :p

he's having the same issue as everyone else; tires overheating. Their MR2T weighs about the same as my RX-8. He possibly didn't see the disadvantage baggage that came with the things he considered to be an advantage over the Thompson MR2T, like carrying extra weight on a limited wheel/tire size. It's going to be more of an issue on a long Solo2 course than a short Pro course, at least on the initial runs.

I think a lot of people underestimated the RX-8, some still do ...

Ike

On paper it just seems the MR2T should be much better than it is... I get to watch Jeff Cashmore regularly and it just makes sense to me that the MR2T should be a little better in capable hands, but more and more it seems clear that turbo cars have a tough time on tight courses like autox. It also seems clear that Jeff is a step above most others in his class, not sure how he'd do elsewhere since he's been in ES for so long, but damn that guy can drive.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

turbo vs NA engine response; turbo lag and non-linear power delivery greatly affect the dynamic balance, as well as differences in transmission & diff gearing, etc. all add up to a vehicle that seems the same, but is actually quite different as a result

ask anyone who has competed in both ...

Imp

Agreed. This is why I can't wait to see an '06 WRX run and be competitive in DS - 2.5L engine and better spool characteristics.

--kC

rnoll98

Sam doesn't belong to this forum, but wanted to share his thoughts:

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My last run on Sunday was one of the better ones I can remember making, that's true and I said that. I also said I wondered about Nationals (which I think I said more out of frustration....). Now that some time has passed and I've had time to think about things I stand by thoughts the MR2T is still a good car. I never said it was going to be dominant, and we did buy it trying to kill two birds with the same stone.

I got beat on Saturday, BS is full of talented drivers and it shows. I had the car way too tight for the Saturday course and just flat got beat (my stupidity). Sunday I was a lot more in the mix, but we had big trouble with the car sucking oil into the intake and making it run like dog-crap. I didn't brake for the slalom on my 1st Sunday run, the car was so slow. The 3rd gen was MUCH better and the car ran stronger (though we've lost some boost from Atlanta which I have to find), and I essentially went the same time. The tires were just gone, which is what led to my frustration more than anything. Same thing happenes at the Pro's, runs 1 and 2 are fine, 3 and 4 aren't worth much. The car is as heavy as the RX8, but on much smaller tires. If it was a single driver car, I think I'd be happier.

All that said, I have some work to do still. We are going to be looking at Hoosier's instead of Kumho's again (I think the Kumho sucks speed out of the car in corners because of it's big slip angle). We've already changed the car's setup to better suit "hot" tires runs vs. "cold" tire runs. I need to get the catch can in the car, and get my missing 1.5 psi of boost back....

In the end, it's the tires that don't suit the car well. We have the smaller ones on a car that ain't so light....

Good job to all who were there. I'm sure the rest of the year will be interesting. And nice job to GH especially.
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clyde

on car videos from Peru from the Team WTF?! RX-8.

(I really drove bad on Saturday and it shows. )

John V

iTrader: (1)

Man, I'm very far off the cones everywhere. I've got some work to do!