Hi there,
well i ran my second autocross even this past weekend and won B-stock. I just bought my rx-8 (it has 1500 miles on it lol), and autocrossing it made me love it even more. I was kicking the crap out of people in modified classes. Anyway...

I was wonderign what race tires people are running in B-stock. I know there was a 16" wheel offered in some years on the rx-8, but im not sure if they offered it in 2008. Can i run a 16" wheel in B-stock on the rx-8?

I know theres a lot of threads on suspension setup so i'll read those, but Im thinking caster all the way forward in front, slight toe in in the front, cambered in slightly in the front. Not quite sure what to do with the rear. Opinions?

How competitive have u guys been in b-stock? From what i've read, this is a great car to have in this class, with the only real rival being the 350Z.

thanks for the help,
Jordan

 

Get ready for the flames...

But, I'll try and help:

16" wheels were only offered on the automatic so you have to run an auto to run 16" wheels.

There area wide variety of tires to use, but most say it is between the Hoosier A6 and the Kumho V710. People running the Hoosier run different sizes from 245-295. The Kumho people (including the current national champ) run 245-35-18s.

You may want to do some more research on your alignment settings. Most people will sacrifice caster in order to get maximum front camber, slight toe out and slightly more camber in the rear.

As for shocks, no one has proved that anything more than Koni SAs are required.

As far as competitive--for right now, it appears to be the car to have in BS (although there is a certain MR2 Turbo owner that disagrees).

 

As well as a certain 968 owner that I know of...

Pretty much agree with everything Glen said, however, actual size of the V710 is 245/35/18. Definitely run a tad more -ve camber in the rear to keep the car balanced and try to get as much as possible upfront. No real need to change the stock FSB.

 

Ninja Edit

 

16 inch rims won't fit anyway. XD

 

Sneaky...

 

I think it's course dependent which car is faster in BS. However I doubt the OP will be seeing very many MR2Ts in Stock class, if any. I'd still say the RX-8 defines BS. It's a great car.

 

thanks for the replies,
ya i'm between hoosiers and v710's right now. really just a question of money. Hopefulyl ill get the alignment done next week and order the wheels, as there is a big two day event next weekend

 

I was under the impression that rolling the caster forward gave you more camber into turns? Am i way off on this?

 

nope, that's correct. but on the 8 you want as much static camber as you can get
which means minimum caster.

 

I'm not sure I'm buying the "course dependent" comment, Bryan. Your last two victories in BS have been on two very different surfaces and courses.

Now, GGF may have favored the tractive ability of the mid engine layout and the courses (particularly day one) also favored the transient capability. But, El Toro, based on the video I've seen (unfortunately I wasn't there...bummer), looks like it was a good RX8 course, particularly day two...which is the day you put the hammer down. It also is a very grippy surface, negating some of the benefit of the mid engine.

Personally, I think it is more a matter of your being a very gifted driver who is completely in sync with the MR2 and the fact that the MR2 T has the chops to run in BS...with the right driver. I also think the 968 can do it...again, with the right driver. And when I say "right" driver, I really mean right for the car. Of course, I've also seen you go fast in just about every car you've ever jumped in to (almost every ), so in no way am I saying that you'd only win BS in a MR2!!!

 

I think I was a lot closer to him in his car than I was to him driving my car. Scary to think what he would do in an 8. :o

 

Bryan drove my RX8 once...very strange day, his first run was his quickest...strange...I missed 2nd gear off the start on my third run.. but somehow was still able to get by him...by .024...strange

I let a bunch of fast people drive the RX8, as I feel putting better drivers in the car is a good way to improve my own skills. Not so much with the Mustang, though, simply because I haven't figured out the tire wear situation, yet...wonder how hard it is to get a 285 Kumho on an 8.5" rim...

...which brings us back to the OP and the topic. If I was going to buy tires for the RX8, based on all the experimenting we did last year, the idea that the car was going to be run in local events primarily, the fact that the OP is new to autocrossing the '8...KUMHO. No doubt, no question, no debate. The Kumho will last longer, be easier to drive and will require less maintenence (flipping on rims, pressure sensitivity etc.).

 

Yep that was an odd day when I co-drove your RX-8, Mike. You are in an elite group of drivers who have found more speed than I in the same car same day. 0.024s though -- darn my inability to improve on the first run. Couldn't get a handle on the understeer in those slow turns.

That same day I drove Howell's MR2 Turbo in fun runs. I think I was 3 or 4 tenths off my pace in your car. But I knew I had gotten the most out of it, which wasn't the case when I drove your RX-8. Earlier this year when I took Zach's 8 for a couple fun runs I felt more at home, for some reason.

Yeah but how much was Jason sandbagging it out there? He's just trying to tempt me into bringing the MR2T to Nationals so he can crush me!

 

^I don't think either of us exactly aced it, that day...my missed shift, crunch into second and subsequent sideways lurch was a big time waste and, as you said, the car was pushing pretty badly off the tighter stuff.

I think we may have been on the 245 Kumhos, stock bar combo, as well. All things considered, if I was running the car on numerous surfaces, in local events, that's the combo I'd stick with...but, drill the front bar to have that little bit of additional stiffness, when desired. Doing it that way, you can have a Nationally competitive RX8 set up for the cost of shocks and tires...amazing.

 

I see you are near Harrisburg. Are you going to the PA state championships on the 16th and 17th? I will most likely be there with my 968, it would be nice to have someone else in the class.

 

Don't run 16's, a lot of my friends run NT-01's are are very pleased but they mostly road race.

 

Dunno, but we got 285s onto the RX-8 rims. I was running them the first half of the season and will be running them at the Evo school this year. ;-) Our conclusion is that they don't heat up fast enough for 3-run national level events on our relatively light little car but they do well at local 4-5 run competition.

 

Did Karl do them for you? Is he still speaking to you, afterwards?

I don't think, on my 3400lbs. Mustang, getting heat in to them will be an issue. I do wonder if anyone has really, truly quantified in an "apples to apples", back to back test of similar sizes on a variety of cars...whether the A6 is truly any quicker than the V710...the Hoosier guys say "hell, yes" the Team K guys say "hell, no" and HPT is a world upon itself, as far as surfaces go....

 

Karl charged the special duck-butter-fee of 100$, but did them. It was even his idea to try it. ;-)

Yeah, you have this thing called "torque" that we don't understand, as well as the extra 500-600 lbs to sling around. I suspect warming them up wouldn't be an issue for you. Especially with the extra half inch of rim width, I suspect it wouldn't be an issue, and you'd get more rubber to the ground than I'm getting on the RX8. I'd give it a shot, were I you.

 

I'm currently on the 295 A6 and, after a grand total of 36 runs, they are about to cord in the middle of two of the tires. Frankly, much of that is due to my just cooking the fronts in a twelve run, minimal cool down, concrete surface abuse-a-thon at a Lotus club event...

In any case, say they're 50 runs for $1200/set, best case...for local events, with a car that isn't going to any National events until next year, I'd be much better off going to 80-90 run Kumho 285's, even if they are a little slower.

 

Interesting - so your tire costs are about $24 a run. I think mine are in the $8 a run range with the RX-8.

Your tire guy shouldn't have an issue mounting 285/30/18 V710's on a 18x8.5" wheel. Just have him place the tires in the sun for 1/2 a day and then take them in one-by-one and mount them up on the wheels. The new '08 STI's have that same wheel size, and I know quite a few people that run that tire.

-Chike

 

Real world, on Hoosiers, it's more like $15/run...but, sometimes if you want to (really) play, ya gotta pay...the Mustang is SO much fun...

Anyhow, I'll be on Kumhos and driving RX8's for the next month...how sad is this, I haven't run my RX8 all year, yet the two tours and one Pro I'm getting to this year are all going to be Mazda drives! JK, the Miata I won XP with at SD was a blast and the RX8 is also a great autocross car.