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I'm in talks with my shop (contracted internationally for the WTAC, work with/for JDM shops in Japan, etc) about starting the process of entering my personal car in a sanctioned Tsukuba time attack event. Obviously going to use my technician as pit crew/support and hopefully will be able to contract my longtime friend Jeff Westphal (some of you may be familiar) to drive. If not, I'll have to get my FIA as I've been told JP will not allow 'non-professional' drivers on track. I'm totally fine with taking a vacation and being a spectator.
This all sounds very reasonable me it (logistics, financial) and we're aiming for 2023. I just ordered a pair of the frp RMS' and type7.5, planning for the half-gut + full cage right now with installation sometime in 2022 and then hopefully all set to put into a container to ship out. Should be the scheme of a lifetime. Synchronicity in full effect imo and I've never been to Japan either.
I'll create some form of media to document the whole process once the ball starts rolling but this post will more than likely be one of the last personal things I share here. To each his own, I hope this finds you well. Thanks for reading
After some thought and in the interest of time, I've decided to move forward again and 'finish' this build. Picking up the LEG Motorsport 'club sport' FR/RR fender kit with CFRP front fender vents plus the Amemiya 'hood duct garnish' for my AD D1. Also intend to 'step-out' my Amemiya AD D1 side skirts to match the new overall width of FR/RR fenders. I ordered the Type-7.5 in 1800mm so we should be good. Ha. Fiberglass front and rear doors on their way and my plan so far is to leave them as bare as possible and to use window net kits instead.
I think it fits well within the 'style' of the build and should be very cool imo. From what I've been able to see, the fenders will be an awesome addition. One can always hope.
Not too concerned with power atm and primarily focused on weight reduction and aero fine tuning. Really interested in how the vehicle will compare in the 'street tire class' against the very well-sorted n/a Rx8's I've been seeing there in recent years. All things considered, they're still quite fast using the n/a renny and are about to eclipse the sub 1:00 mark. Super exciting imo.
I'm trying to keep the car n/a as long as possible. I'll commission an engine build in the near future which I will then have dyno tuned. We'll see what the addition of a proper CAI, turblown cast intake mani, BHR LTH, Tilton 5.5, etc is worth. Eventually I'll pick up a Turblown EFR kit or something of the like. Personally not looking for anything more than 300-350rwhp.
If you ever do look at a turbo kit .... PM me beforehand , I may have something that will interest you.
I absolutely will Brett! I've been following your 'Garrett turbo thread' with much content. Very nice and thoughtful set-up imo. Kudos on your success and hope you continue to move forward in your tinkerings.
I don't think they'll go sub 1 min at Tsukuba without more power, there's only so much you can do and if they add more aero they don't have enough power to make up for the added drag on the straights. S2000's and RX-8's are pretty much matched N/A at all circuits here, and at around the same weight, the big difference is that it's still cheaper to build an RX-8 than an S2000, they handle in a more benign predictable way and the rotary engine is less peaky in it's delivery. Circuit RX-8's are becoming more popular for that reason and their price is starting to creep up. Both cars have tried with up to 285 wide tires and the best grip is found with 265 section tires due to more load being placed on those tires than the 285's. Aero on that class is more about balance than actual downforce.
Thanks for the comment Federico, it's always fun to chat about what you see on the internet, etc.
If you're a JAF member or a prepped vehicle owner, I'd be very interested in real 'on the ground' practical advice you may have to offer. I have a couple contacts/resources over there and could always use another. There's many moving parts to getting this done, PM me if so.
No worries, just PM me. There's an RX-8 only time attack event held all over Japan every year, called Eightlien cup. I've joined them a few times. I'm in contact with all of them and the organizer. My RX-8 started street only, now it's mostly track or mountain road driving and heading more towards track really. Still has some interior stuff but i'm heading to the weight reduction route but not as extreme as the time attack guys, more like a Club Sport thing as I have the HP from the turbo build.
As far as the top spec RX-8's go here, they get the weight down to about 1100kg, bear in mind that is without a roll cage as that is not required here for time attack events, at least in the class they run. They do about 1min 02 at tsukuba with A052 Yokohamas and around 2min24 at Suzuka, same tires. Suzuka is a big power circuit so a lot of time is made up with brute force. I've seen them go to wider and wider tires and it doesn't really lead to better times, up to 295 section tires and it doesn't change much, the little they gain on the curves is lost on the straights. I'd say corner weight, good alignment and changed suspension bushings to ball joints seems the way to go, as with any track only car. The car's spring rates go from 14kg front and 10kg rear to 18kg front and 14kg rear. Most have settled at 14kg front and 10kg rear as the stiffer setup is too stiff. Also they use adjustable anti roll bars.
In the end they run pretty much the same times as the s2000's, S2000's being a bit twichy and with less grip but a bit more power while RX-8's with more corner grip and balance make up for the lost time on the straights.
In my last Suzuka video you can see that the Odula prepped RX-8 anhilates me on the curves and then on the back straight I basically out drag him on pure HP difference, and I was running about 280 or 290whp on that boost.
I don't know on what category a boosted setup would put you but i'm sure if all these N/A RX-8's here were running on light boost, same HP as I have, they would possibly be a sub 1min car at Tsukuba, maybe just.
The main thing I see here with turbo rotaries and turbo setups in general is that they are peaky, old turbo setups, the one I have has a very broad power band, and is very easy to drive, it's making full boost by 3800rpms and holds it to about 7600, 7700rpms. I'd go for that setup for time attack here but no one really has any experience with turbo'ed Renesis engine other than the Greddy setup, and they use emanage.
Mine still has heaps of things to be upgraded to, mainly suspension and swapping out the greddy intercooler to really control the intrake temps. Other than that it's been really good.
Small edit to add to the link of a 1min01.493 lap. Look at the grip levels, imagine with 100hp more. This is what I would be aiming for, the car looks super easy to drive fast.
Thanks for the response and making yourself available as a resource, I'll be in touch when the time comes.
I couldn't agree more that there's a very fine line for what wheel / tire size is optimal for maximum performance on an underpowered car. Always that compromise between the increased additional weight of a larger set-up and whether or not it will actually offer more mechanical grip or translate into faster lap times. I'm gathering metrics from my current 18x9.5 with 255/35's to compare with my new 18x11 with 295/30's when I get to the chance to use them.
Adding 100hp will be definitely be a sweet spot for the chassis. Great lap time for that Rx8 too.
Geeking out over the weekend and came across these. Not available as set with fenders but individually. Still waiting to hear what RHD has to say about it. Rough idea is to put r3 skirts back on and leave rear flares exposed. If / when they get scratched / damaged I'll go ahead and paint them. I think these will be a nice compliment to the front fenders and overall vehicle style.
Free thought, ideas and opinions are always welcome.
Update: parts on order. Almost $2k in shipping, crazy but there's no other way around it afaik.
Decided it was best to order their 'version 2 hv' side skirts as well per recommendation. This way I can simply remove my current Amemiya skirts for storage, leave the r3's intact to sell and move forward with the kit as intended. Plus I enjoy having a complete 'set' so-to-say and I think the appropriate thing to do is use the skirts. Bonus the lead time on the LEG parts is only a few weeks out, so carbon/FRP fenders/flares here we come. Pretty sure I will be one of only a small handful of Rx8's who've installed this kit worldwide.
Planning to go straight to the body shop for paint and installation when the parts arrive. Should be very cool imo.
Thanks for looking!
Last edited by Federighi; 03-27-2021 at 12:26 PM.
Reason: typo
Skirts arrived in a very damaged box, luckily the items were not (JP parts is not my 1st choice by any means). Although the carbon is laminate, I'd say the frp construction quality is comparable to my Amemiya AD D1 skirts. I'll weight the LEG + all my skirts soon. Sorry if the pictures are awful, I'm not a photographer.
Skirts arrived in a very damaged box, luckily the items were not (JP parts is not my 1st choice by any means). Although the carbon is laminate, I'd say the frp construction quality is comparable to my Amemiya AD D1 skirts. I'll weight the LEG + all my skirts soon. Sorry if the pictures are awful, I'm not a photographer.
Thank for looking!
Let me know how these skirts work out for you, I've got a set on order as well
Let me know how these skirts work out for you, I've got a set on order as well
You got it! Kit will be installed by body shop and to my knowledge, the rear flares partially overlap a section on the skirt. I'll try and have pictures taken by the tech's and share what we get.
I will say that the quality of laminate work is only passable. Bummer yes, but the cost of these skirts was low comparatively. I'm looking to add additional material to extend them further outboard 2-4." The carbon skirts 'cards' supplied by Amemiya were of much higher quality. Price reflected this as well.
ps- I strongly recommend against using JapanParts. I've had multiple issues with their service(s).
Last edited by Federighi; 05-04-2021 at 12:22 PM.
Reason: advice
You got it! Kit will be installed by body shop and to my knowledge, the rear flares partially overlap a section on the skirt. I'll try and have pictures taken by the tech's and share what we get.
I will say that the quality of laminate work is only passable. Bummer yes, but the cost of these skirts was low comparatively. I'm looking to add additional material to extend them further outboard 2-4." The carbon skirts 'cards' supplied by Amemiya were of much higher quality. Price reflected this as well.
ps- I strongly recommend against using JapanParts. I've had multiple issues with their service(s).
Appreciate it! Definitely will be quite interested on how you get these fitted. I'll put them on first with stock fenders as I really don't like how bulky my current Shine Auto side skirts are.
Planning to do more of the Leg parts in the future once I get some more spend for that and get the last of my performance mods finished up with (header, 4.77 diff, etc.). That should definitely complete the look but these look pretty good on more stock bodied cars from what I've seen.
I had Maxmime at Rev9 / Rotary Love order my tailights and the side skirts and he's been pretty great to work with. Give him a shout next time!
Footwork autosport also seemed to be a good bunch of folks out in Cali to deal with for Leg Motor Sport stff but their shipping model (first ship everything to CA and then to your address) turned me off. Would likely work out better for you though.
'shine' is an absolutely terrible company to support and imo a major contributor to all that is wrong with the usdm scene / industry. I've gone out of my way on many occasion to expose their poor business practices for what they are. My hopes are that one day more people will stand up for what's right and put an end to counterfeiting thieves.
Except taken from 2020 Super Street article: "Replica parts offer the look and sometimes feel of the higher priced parts they're emulating yet leave an enthusiast with enough cash to put toward something else. For the purist, the feeling is that if you can't afford something from the groups creating these parts, then you should be patient, save up, and work toward them. Put aside the moral aspect for a moment, and the business portion of this doesn't help out the replica argument since the time and dollars invested in often costly R&D mixed with trial and error put forth by the originators is almost entirely skipped by the replica producer who then reaps the rewards. Some will scoff and say "tough ish," but if they were in a position to create something they poured their heart into, only to have it copied by some guy they'd never met before who was rolling in profits on their behalf, they'd no doubt change their outlook."
The LEG skirts should look / fit fine with stock body / fenders. I'd say best 'bang for buck' for Rx8 is in the suspension and drivetrain. I'd focus on making improvements there.
'footwork' place seems like a fake business to me, I wouldn't use their services given my initial impression of the site. And I've used Rev9 / Rotary Love a few times, no complaints.
After much anticipation, an extremely large box was delivered.
Just about everything ordered for the next 'stage' has arrived. I figure my current tire set has about 1 or 2 days left in them and after that I'll bring it in. Most of the carbon is of good quality; the RE-A hood garnish is probably the cleanest piece aside from the Seibon trunk imo. The Seibon dry trunk is of much higher quality than their wet and weighs near nothing. LEG flares and frp fenders are nice too, I'm probably going to have them open up the impressions into vents for the rear flares. Hopefully a cool idea. Still waiting for the Voltex 7.5 and RMS pair to arrive. Decided on a roll bar instead of a roll cage. There were many compelling factors behind my decision but mainly it was so I could keep it registered and somewhat 'street-able.' That way I don't always have to drive exclusively on track and can enjoy it on the occasional fine day.
I got the V2 side skirts installed and while they're awesome, they definitely have me itching for the rest of the kit to totally finish off the look. Will be interested in seeing how these parts come together on your car. I'm debating between their normal rear fender or the wider WTAC set you have.
I got the V2 side skirts installed and while they're awesome, they definitely have me itching for the rest of the kit to totally finish off the look. Will be interested in seeing how these parts come together on your car. I'm debating between their normal rear fender or the wider WTAC set you have.
Glad to hear you're satisfied with the skirts, feel free to share some pictures!
To my knowledge, there is no difference in the depth of rear flares. Only difference for wtac edition is construction material and addition of fake 'gill' impressions (but I am having the shop open them into actual vents). Note that there was no rear bumper 'extension' piece(s) included with the 'kit' sent from LEG and you'll have to find a solution. Body shop also said I should expect the fenders and flares to break / crack at some point and best to order another set or two as a back ups if I plan to keep the vehicle long term. I'm told this is just the nature of using FRP on track.
Kit was dropped off last week for preperation and the car is set to be serviced in a few weeks before I head out on vacation. Once completed, it will take a short trip down to my tech for fabrication of the roll bar and chassis mount for the swan neck GT wing, to install new safety gear / half interior gut, new alignment / corner balance, etc. Plan is to run 295 Hoosiers' on the R6's per recommendation of my tech; which makes sense imo as I trailer the car 95% of the time these days.
I'll be returning from vacation in early Sept and I expect the vehicle will be nearing completion sometime around then. I will do my best to get pictures or try to get either shop document some of the processes.
Haha for sure! Looking forward to seeing how the parts install up. The side skirts worked better than I expected with the stock fenders, the additional width isn't too noticeable in person. I like how the rear 3/4 view turned out
03-02-2021, 10:58 AM
