Road course anyone?
 

Has anyone else planned on taking their new RX-8 and testing its limit on a road course anytime soon? I'm so excited about this that I'm already signed up to drive my nonexistent red sport at Sebring in Sept. I would have signup sooner if I knew exactly when mine get here.

I had originally planned to change the tires for Kumho MX or Falken Azenis, better brakes, fluids and such. But I think I'll leave it stock and see how the OEM equipments hold up. Let see which one will reach its limit first, the car or me. :D

The wife and I will be taking our Miata and RX-8 to Texas Motor Speedway in November, and we may do a session at Motorsports Ranch between now and then.

It's a good idea to leave it stock for your 1st round of "testing". This will give you a baseline from which you can grade the effectiveness of each upgrade you make.

Just be sure that when you start out on that 1st round that everything is up to spec and working correctly.

I'd love to do this down in SoCal. Any locals here know how or where we could set this up? I can shift and drive, but I'd like to learn how to shift and drive well.

TMS? Who is running at TMS in November?

Fair warning: The roval at TMS is the hardest track on brakes in the region. Even Hallet isn't as hard on braking at TMS.

---jps

Oops, my bad - I meant Texas World Speedway in Bryan/College Station. I always get those darned names confused. The TWS Motorsports Club has a track weekend there at the end of November.

VIR Track Day
 

I will be taking mine to VIR (full course) in September with the Mazda Driving Associates. I've done VIr twice before in my 2nd Gen. It's a blast!

Full course?

Too bad about TMS. It's fun to run in the "big house" at least once.

---jps

Yep, the TWS club always uses the full (2.9mile, I think) road course, utilizing both the infield track and a loop outside the oval. Bags of fun, though methinks I won't be taking quite so many corners flat in the RX-8 as I did in the Miata!

So you're not going to be going into turn one flat out then, huh? ;) Or the two left-handers after the carousel? TWS is a great learning track, smooth, consistent, and wide open for the most part if you do go off (I'm still picking blue-bonnets out of the car after going off turn 11 at 80 mph). It would be my choice out of the tracks in the region to take a car to for the first time to get a feel for it on track.

---jps

Hey Kurt Bob, I'll be at VIR in September also. My son will be driving my track car (Mini Cooper S), but I wanted to see what the RX-8 will be like on track. See you there.

Hi Spindoc,

I got passed last year at VIR in my 2nd gen RX-7 by a Mini Cooper S. Maybe this year it will be different!

Kurt Bob,

Yeah, that was me - yellow with black roof, right?
Should be a good event. They might even have the "grand course" open by then (you know, with the new cut-throughs connecting the north and south courses) which will be a blast.