Just curious as to what problems, if any, y'all who have been driving your cars hard have seen.

I know of one tranny that went @ Wendover
I know Barbara's had some problems with hers but many may be the "MY 2004" problems exacerbated, right? (Randy, do you know?)

Anyone else?

Just curious...

 

I'm not going to say much other than as with any car that sees frequent tire / wheel changes, make sure your lug nuts and studs are in good shape. A couple of us have had studs damaged. the factory lug nuts don't appear to be of great quality.

 

1 stripped stud for me...that's it.

 

Nothing here.... yet. *knocks on Oak*

 

I had two of the four bolts that hold one of the heat shields for the drive shaft fall out. I started to hear a clunk when I took off, thought a tranny mount was gone, but it was just missing bolts.

I know you are not thinking of buying another one. Come on Ron, be the man, put your foot down. :D

 

He's already told me "no" at least half a dozen times, but I keep trying... :p

My main motivation is to have a car I can autocross locally when our co-driver and Ron are out of town that I can fit wheels & tires into - dealing with the truck & trailer solo for a local event is a big pain in the rear. The other option is doing the whole trailer hitch/utility trailer for my S2K, but I philosophically don't like that option as it's more expensive to license a little utility trailer here than our big enclosed trailer!

 

I just dont license my trailer, no plates on it for the last 10 years and never a problem. Even once when I got hit go 65 towing in CA they did not say anything about no plate.

Does not matter, at this time I have no plans to put the hitch back on after the damage it caused. I just drive to the events on my race tires. If it is out of town I will trailer the car.

Just find some other local person to codrive with at your local events.

p.s. stay strong Ron, just say no!

 

Don't worry Jason, I am staying strong.....

Ron

 

strong enough to snap like a twig in the wind if Mother Nature decides to have her way :p

I'm confident the tranny was a fluke, it makes a great autox car not only because it performs so well, but also because you carry everything inside it that you will possibly need to an event including tires. A passenger would be tough for travelling fully loaded over any significant distance in terms of both space and riding on the bumpstops all the way, you really need a trailer then.

 

Luckily for me, my wife absolutely despises Autocross and refuses to come and spectate. So no passengers for me. That will be good when I make the jump to R Comps.

 

------- batting eyes --------

oh please sweetie..... :p

 

Not as lucky as having a wife that says "Honey, we need some new tires for the car."

Ray

 

I think I can top that.... My wife supplies the tires. :D

 

I can top that, too, I'm the wife that's asking the question, wanting a better autox car so I can race without the hubby.

 

Maybe you should look at getting a competitive street tire class car so that way when Ron isn't there to change the tires you can just relax and take it easy Too bad your white Miata isn't totally setup for CSP as Miatas are of course pretty reliable autocrossers. Of course if you can talk your husband into getting you an RX-8 I would go for that anyways. At least you can fit four R-compounds in the car without having to trailer the car or pull a trailer behind it. Thats the main reason for me considering getting an RX-8 to race next year instead of the Miata.

 

That's OK. I have a seperate track bank account and a certain percentage of money goes from paycheck directly to the track account .

Hmmm.... I wonder if I can get checks printed with little rotary symbols on them.

 

It's not too bad. :p

 

I could run my S2K on street tires, it's been top PAX so it's reasonably competitive. But simply put, I'm addicted to R-compounds, and I run in PAX when the 968's available. PAX renders a street-tired-AS-car completely uncompetitive. Once you play enough on R-compounds, street tires lose their appeal. I was autocrossing *before* I met Ron (doing everything, including tire changing, by myself). So that's not the problem. It's a space (and clutch) issue with the S2K...

 

The RX-8 is one of the few cars that I could see being able to stuff all the tires into without trailering the car or towing a trailer behind it, competitive in its class/PAX, and fast/fun to drive. Of course there is also the BMW 330 in DS but thats about it. Man I just keep convincing myself more and more to get an RX-8.

 

remember autox is only for a couple of minutes per event, there isnt usually any shifting, and its relatively low speeds. so no wear issue.

driving on the road race track for 80 minutes a day is a lot harder but these modern cars just shrug it off.

james

 

Same here. I can get the 4 racing tires in the back seats. The truck is great for the jack, air tank, and other accessories. The only bad thing is the tire smell in the car after the weekend.

 

When I had my RX8 (for the few months I had it) we took it to a practice and an event or two, and it required downshifting similar to my S2K - very similar power bands. I know many folks do downshift these cars - we downshifted at the Packwood tour even in the torque-heavy 968, and I know Joe & GH were shifting a lot, too. Plus there are the ProSolos.... those darn ProSolos....

So you're probably underestimating the wear that Ron & I (and Steve, who would likely drive it occasionally) would put on the car. After reading all the problem threads (and I'm glad we live in Seattle so we don't have to worry about the heat-related engine failures the Vegas guys are dealing with!!!) I just thought I'd check in on those who'd been using & abusing their cars as to whether they'd seen anything unexpected...

And Icemastr, I did the DS thing a few years both in an ITR and 330ci, so I've already got those initials on a jacket - looking for a second BSL title (although Jennifer is doing a good job at preventing that from happening, right Jason?!?)

I appreciate everyone's input! (Except that Ron guy's input, I didn't like that so much!!!)

 

Yeah she seems to be doing a good job. Twice this year she almost got me.

 

Almost? :p I recall her "skirting" you pretty good, with you then pulling one out of your rear to prevent it from staying that way!! Go Jennifer!

 

I agree with the previous posters that this car needs to get downshifted into first on a lot of courses. If you rev match, its not too bad, especially if you double-clutch. The major problems for me have been grinding on the 1->2 shift (usually because it occurs in a corner) and I had my end-links on the front sway damaged after about 6 events (I've got the racing beat front bar and r-compounds) and had to replace 'em.

I'd expect more wear than normal on the lugs, brake pads, end-links, and first-gear syncros. Everything else (including the motor) should wear similar to a street-only car.