monte

Racing in this mazda rx8 is inevitable, and everyone knows that.

I took place in a lil race (fun) in my school's parking lot.

My friend had his (gran prix or grand am) can't remember.. and my other friend had a beamer.

Off the line my auto black rx8 lost ofcourse, but i caught up to beat the beamer a few times.. however i lost quite bad to the pontiac a few times.

Yes i know most people say "the best advice is don't race in the 8", but its INEVITABLE!!

I'm young and these are my first races (not crzy or anything :p just small, not goin to kill myself)

However what are some suggestions on how to race it better? What rmps should i shift to get the most jump/power in the automatic transmission (tiptronic)?

All posts will be quite helpful. thanks.

vosko

i'm not sure what to say.......auto is gonna lose unless the others cars are really slow or bad drivers.....

monte

i was just o utside on my street and i dropped it from 3.5rmps in neutral to drive, had a better start then from flat 0 rmps in drive.. is it horribly bad to do that every once in a while in the auto 8?

Ike

You've asked this at least 3 times now in various sections of the board... Get a clue, your car is NOT fast, and this is not a forum for street racing! Lastly do not rev in neutral and then put it in drive, if you really are determined to live out your 2f2f racing fantasies in your slowmatic, hold the brake to the floor and rev it and the let off the brake to go.

flyboyindy

Ease up Ike... He's excited... Id rather have a "slowmatic" 8 than any of the cars he was racing... (which i do have) Even a "quicker-manual" isnt going to win alot more races... but we sure look like we could! Most people have no idea that the RX-8 isnt faster than it looks... so if I were you Monte, I would just turn your nose up at your friends and say... You cant be serious... the RX-8 is much more dignifed of a machine to street race your POS Pontiac... Just have fun knowing that you get more looks in your car than any Pontiac or most Beemers will ever get...

Oh yeah... lay off the "Slowmatic" crap... we are all on the same team here guys! =P

WTF no turbo

Losing to a Pontiac is unexcusable unless we are talking new gto or beefed up TAs.Take the auto back to the dealer and buy a mans car.

RussellP

Ike is just in a bad mood because judge ito got a 14.32 1/4 mile time

monte

well then give me some damn tips!!

This is absolutely the best looking car on the road, hands down. Everyone stares.

Racing is inevitable.. how many times do i have to say that.. all i want are some tips.

I havn't yet tried the put foot on break then release at a few rmps.. i will try that tomorrow.. however any and all tips for racing it would help.

RussellP

slash their tires

S3/P3/E2

Not to sound like a responsible adult, but didn't you JUST get this car days ago? Why would you EVEN be trolling for race tips? You're gonna destroy this thing before it's even broken in. Here's some racing advice. Don't. Grow up. Be smarter than your friends who are going to learn the lesson of burning up their parents' money. If you kill something under the hood and there is any sign of abuse, the warranty is worthless and the dealer will be expecting cash, check or major credit card. Be satisfied that you have a fast but refined sports car at your age when so many others are driving beaters (and will be for many years to come). There's nothing wrong with wringing it out every now and then, but the old "meet you in the parking lot at 3:00 after school" is a bit dated. There's a time and a place for everything. Yours, unfortunately, is after the motor has had a chance to be broken in properly. Unlike the majority of your posts all throughout the forum wanting answers for everything ASAP again and again, with time you'll learn that patience pays off and keeps smart people from doing dumb things.

That's my .02 on the way I see it, Monte. Advice is free, but it's of little use if you don't take it until after the fact.

I've spoken my peace now - you won't hear it again; but here's to hoping you'll take some of it onboard.

brothervoodoo

Famous last words?

S3/P3/E2

Or something like that anyway. It's amazing how people will baby and take care of something when it's their money that's been spent vs. those who haven't and won't...

For crying out loud, we've got people on the board talking about 3 oil changes w/ less than 1500 miles, self-imposed RPM limits for each mileage stage, etc. Then again, these are people who'll easily have a car in perfect zooming order well into 6 digits on the odometer.

I guess there's something to be said for being younger (or in this case, older).

rabinabo

monte, you should check out legal drag strips, auto-x events. You can sometimes receive instruction from experienced racers, and it's not very expensive at all, at least auto-x (no experience at drag strips).

s1mike22

dude, why are you racing at school...:shakehea:

flyboyindy

This thread is non productive.... lol... But I tend to agree with you S3.. I cant imagine having a car like an RX-8 given to me as my first car... Mine was a 73 Firebird 3-Speed Manual...with 4 different exterior colors and i STILL had to pay for it...

monte

This is my 2nd car,
97 forest green maxima (auto) was my first.

However i've brought this car so far to the 400 mile mark and its running fine (cept a few minor problems, but thats cuz its cold here)

Anyways, yea i'm young, yea i'm lucky to have the car, and i absolutely love the looks i get cuz of it.

However this post is very unsuccessfull : )

I"m not looking to own a crzy moded car that will deliver blazing speeds, but just a car that will give me some fun.

Its great after 4.5 rmps, yes i know its a slow start, however i suppose i'll have to figure this one out.

I'm not one of those crazy kids, i'm very responsible; a buisness man (www.surreal-media.com).

Thanks again for your posts and safety concerns, however i'm not looking to go blazing fast at 160+mph, just a smooth fun ride around town.

S3/P3/E2

I got a hand-me-down '78 Buick Regal (G-body) w/ a 2-bbl 3.8L V6 (predecessor to the GM 3800 Series II in the current V6 Firebirds and Camaros). Every car since then was paid for out of my pocket. Your perspective on things changes dramatically if you're the one footing the bill.

Redshift

iTrader: (2)

I'm not going to pile on, but I do want to make two points.

1. Racing is NOT inevitable, and stop hiding behind that. I've never gotten into a street race in my life, but I DO race my cars (Solo) and have way more fun doing that. Look into it.

2. For the love of God, a BMW car is a BIMMER! Not a Beemer or Beamer.... A BMW Bike is a Beemer, a car is a Bimmer...

I'm done. :D

bunglega

For take-off's you need to hold your foot on the brake, rev the engine up a bit (3.5 - 4k RPM maybe). When the light turns green smash the gas and let off the brake.

Be careful...I know you don't intend on smashing your car up or worse, hurting yourself but **** does happen. The fater you are going the faster it happens so just keep that in mind.

If you are dead set on racing I suggest you start by racing the clock instead of another human or car. Setup some cones and run a time trial. See if your buddies can keep up with you that way.

Being that you have an auto you are really limited...the automatic uses a different engine than a manual and makes less power.

Bungle

PS - Nice work on the surreal-media site. I used to run a AOWC type company called pwnz.net . Wish I would have met you back then

WTF no turbo

Yea the ole power brake is best way to get a auto tranny up off the start.Keeping the tranny intact that is.

monte

I tried that, give a bit more UMPF to the start, but not to much.
Although i can only rev it to like 2.5-3.5 at max, won't go any higher o_O and then i just let go of the break and SLAM THE GAS, gives a boost, not much though, is that correct?

Btw, bunglega, never to late to meet : )
Hi i'm monte : )

Go ahead and message me some time/email/pm etc etc we'll get to talking

red_rx8_red_int

Try braking less. You should be able to get the back tires spinning while the front brakes hold you in place. At least I could in my 70's Grand Prix. Make sure the DSC is totally off, and practice this in a completely safe environment. There's a balance between overbraking and not braking enough where you go forward when you don't want to.

monte

AH! good, thanks i'll definitly try that, i had DSC on and was on break hard..

Question.. does this mess anything up with the car?

red_rx8_red_int

Only premature wear to the brakes (pads and rotor) and tires.

Edit: Also please make sure you post the results. I'm sure there are other automatic owners that would like to know the benefits of power braking to get a good launch.

red_rx8_red_int

As a follow up, and realizing it's been many many years since I power braked a car, and realizing it only works with a rear wheel drive car with front brakes having more stoping power than the rear brakes. What I did was:

Apply brakes slightly, then apply gas until I felt the car move slightly forward, then brake slightly more to stop all forward motion and then increase the gas until the brakes started to give, and repeated the brake more-gas more until I achieved wheel spin. Then once I had spin, I would floor it and let loose of the brakes, and get awesome launches. Please note though that I only did this in empty parking lots to have fun and test the car. If you really want to race your AT, the amount of time needed to perfect this procedure enough to allow you to dart once the green light comes is probably more than it would take you to learn to drive a stick, so I really recommend the MT.