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John V 12-10-2018 08:28 PM

Haven't felt like posting anything in a while. But I wrapped up the fuel system, so figured I'd put up some pictures.

Flow-through fuel rail with 6AN fittings on each end.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3C...=w1002-h751-no

Feed line is 6AN through a 10 micron filter mounted in the trans tunnel, and 6AN all the way back to the pump.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/GZ...=w1002-h751-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yi...=w1002-h751-no

Simple plug to defeat the pressure relief valve in the S2 pump assembly.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XM...=w1002-h751-no

Bulkhead fitting with a 3/8 barb inside the pump assembly and 6AN on the outlet. The barb connects right to the barb fitting on the pressure side of the pump. The stock siphon mechanism is preserved.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/m_...=w1002-h751-no

John V 01-02-2019 08:35 AM

I made some progress over the holidays. Because I can't seem to be bothered to take pictures of incremental progress, some of this isn't really well documented.

Engine is back in for the (hopefully) last time before I turn the key for the first time. I made a battery mount, finished all the battery wiring, and powered up the car. Everything works, the fuel pump primes and builds pressure, no leaks that I can see or smell. I finished up the oil plumbing, though I may shorten one hose. Sensors are in place for fuel pressure, oil pressure and oil temp to connect to the (eventual) aftermarket EFI. The DBW throttle even works without the engine running, which may be of use if I go with a Megasquirt ... could use the stock ECU to do the throttle and the Megasquirt for everything else. Not sure.

Mostly I spent a bunch of time cutting and fitting intercooler pipes until I was happy. I wanted to minimize the number of silicone couplers in the intake tract so I had a buddy TIG weld it all together for me.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mp...=w1036-h777-no

The piping is a lot easier to manage without all the couplers everywhere.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/16...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YR...=w1036-h777-no

I got the clutch fitted, reinstalled the transmission and finally got to install the driveshaft that arrived months ago. Everything fit together as expected. I bled the clutch and tested its travel... it seems to fully release but it's definitely close to the floor. I may need to modify the factory clutch pedal, or at least just adjust the plunger to get a little more release, but I won't know until I can start it and test the driveline with the engine running. It's already been reinforced as I guess it's pretty common for them to break.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Pk...=w1036-h777-no

I didn't like the way the Fab9 kit had the oil drain at the block set up. They call for you to drill and tap the block in an area between two internal strengthening ribs. The problem with this is the block casting is angled there, so it's very hard to thread in the (3/8 NPT) fitting they want you to use. And the hose to the turbo is so short it's a pain to install. And everyone seems to have issues with it leaking. I saw this stripping out pretty quickly, so I turned an AN fitting to TIG weld into the block, now installing and removing the turbo oil drain is easy.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Vg...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kJ...=w1036-h777-no

Not much to do before I can turn the key. I managed to booger up the one O-ring I had for the (Ranger) dipstick tube at the (custom) oil pan, and nothing I have in my stock will work. I need to make a plug for the stock dipstick tube (in the valve cover) since I'm not using that with this pan. I need to figure out the hot side radiator hose connection, now that the intercooler piping is done I can work that out, plus one more hose for the overflow and another one for the heater core return. Oh, and there's no exhaust, just a dump pipe off of the turbo. So, that's gonna be loud.

Hi Flying 8 01-10-2019 06:49 PM

Hey John, looking really good. On our XP RX-7, we just added a 17" two stage Burns Muffler and dumped it under the car straight down and have almost no problems with sound.

Is that the tranny you bought from us at Nats?

Mark

John V 01-11-2019 07:18 AM


Originally Posted by Hi Flying 8 (Post 4878693)
Hey John, looking really good. On our XP RX-7, we just added a 17' two stage Burns Muffler and dumped it under the car straight down and have almost no problems with sound.

Is that the tranny you bought from us at Nats?

Mark

Mark,

It most certainly is! Thanks again.

Your XP car has an REW, right? With the four cylinder I'm hoping it will be a little easier to manage sound and EGTs, so I bought a 3" in/out, 6.25" diameter round Borla that is about 17" long and I'm hoping it will be enough. I only have everything tacked into place right now but the muffler lives right next to the gearbox and dumps under the tailshaft area.

John V 01-11-2019 07:32 AM

Not much interest in this thread here, but here's a small update. I have a bunch of small stuff now that needs to get wrapped up. And a couple big things - engine management (I'm thinking Haltech at this point), tuning and aero. And the inevitable long arduous debugging period that will probably consume me for the rest of the year. But it's complete enough that I put it on the scales to see where things stand.

2526lbs is not bad and 25lbs lighter than I had projected when I started this whole mess. Interior is complete less the driver's seat, which is 8lbs (Sparco QRT-R). There's no muffler or piping other than the downpipe off of the turbo, but if the exhaust is more than 10lbs I'm doing something very wrong. It's probably two gallons down on fuel from where I'd normally run it, so 12lbs.

I'm estimating now that I'll probably need 20lbs of ballast, which is not a bad thing. It's annoyingly front-heavy, but that was expected as a lot of the weight came off the rear (diff, power plant frame, exhaust, trunk junk, rear seats) and the middle (gearbox, PPF) and the front weight that was added (intercooler) is way out in the nose. Crossweights are obviously way off, it's sitting on wood blocks for springs and the right rear tire is flat. At some point I'd like to convert to the smaller NC brakes and put together a setup with lighter calipers and rotors but it's not in the cards for this year. Engine management and aero are going to eat up the last of the budget for this year.

Just waiting on my factory computer to get back from having the immobilizer removed and I can fire it up... or try at least.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sv...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cx...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8w...=w1036-h777-no

Hi Flying 8 01-11-2019 11:47 AM

Yea we're REW. The build is looking really solid and I'm really interested in seeing it-probably in Lincoln.

Hey, I haven't seen your brother for a while. Did he move out of Co.?

John V 01-11-2019 05:17 PM


Originally Posted by Hi Flying 8 (Post 4878760)
Yea we're REW. The build is looking really solid and I'm really interested in seeing it-probably in Lincoln.

Hey, I haven't seen your brother for a while. Did he move out of Co.?

Nope he's still in the Springs... he just sold the Elise a couple years ago because he wasn't autocrossing anymore and is looking to retire soon. He spends most of his free time playing hockey and traveling. He's doing well.

John V 01-20-2019 12:34 PM

Deep annoyance overtook me when I got my ECU back ... and the immobilizer was still active. Long story short, there was a new release of the tuning software that the shop uses and the update flipped the polarity of the immobilizer. So basically the guy got my ECU, coded it for an active immobilizer, and sent it back. He is sending me one of his test ECUs that he verified works, so I should be able to try to start it soon. Still... annoying.

Still lots to get done anyway. I got started on making the rear upper shock mounts. I got this idea from Tamra and Drew, and used the same spherical bearings they did. This eliminates the factory rubber donut mounts for the rear shock shafts. I shortened the housings by a couple inches as well to get the desired bump / droop numbers relative to static ride height.

Factory rear shock hat:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lb...A=w583-h777-no

Top cut off:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oO...=w1036-h777-no

New top plate mocked up, with the hole for the bearing cup cut out:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/XA...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yk...=w1036-h777-no

Not my prettiest welding, but whatever.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/K0...=w1036-h777-no

I turned some simple pieces to adapt the 0.550" Penske shafts to the spherical bearing. I know people say the Grizzly mini-lathes are useless but if I can whip stuff like this up in an hour, it's totally worth having.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/DT...=w1036-h777-no

Next job I've been putting off is re-making the lower front crossmember. This piece braces the back of the subframe to the unibody and spans the width of the unibody rails. The stock one ran into the 2.5L engine's oil pan. I cut the center out of it and replaced it with a section of 3/4" x 1.5" x 0.063" rectangular steel tubing, then braced it with another couple of pieces of tubing. It's way stiffer than the stock piece and only weighs a half a pound more.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TV...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kj...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rw...g=w583-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lr...=w1036-h777-no

Needs a prime and a coat of paint and it'll be good to go back on the car.

John V 01-26-2019 06:20 AM

The RX-8 lives, for the first time in at least two and a half years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNg43DdwjYA

MilesJ 01-26-2019 09:57 AM

Awesome work John! Hope I'll get to see it at an event this year

John V 02-19-2019 06:08 PM

Alive, with Haltech :)

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...60b4ec7ef4.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...7907866027.jpg

Hi Flying 8 02-19-2019 06:34 PM

It would probably have more power if you run all four coils! JK

John V 02-19-2019 08:06 PM


Originally Posted by Hi Flying 8 (Post 4881434)
It would probably have more power if you run all four coils! JK

Probably!

The coils are disconnected during the ECU configuration process.

John V 03-02-2019 04:12 PM

Got some work done today. I made a couple bosses to mount my splitter support rods to the splitter.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hN...=w1036-h777-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Fe...=w1036-h777-no

I took an idea from Robert Thorne's SSM car to use gas struts to support the splitter, so it can deflect upwards when it hits the ground. The bosses above mate to a pair of clevises which screw to the struts.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tA...=w1036-h777-no

I made a tab out of some box section steel and welded it to the crash bar. The cylinders are extended using chromoly rods that I tapped and threaded to a rod end.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/au...=w1036-h777-no

With the cylinders extended the splitter is level with the ground and easily supports my weight.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SE...p=w583-h777-no

Each side can compress individually without binding up. The rear of the splitter is mounted to the subframe in a way that it can pivot.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/4c...B=w583-h777-no

I also finally got around to making misalignment spacers for the rear sway bar end links.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/A1...=w1036-h777-no

I did a rough cut-out of the air dam but haven't started riveting it to the splitter. I ended up using some conveyor belt material I got from McMaster. It's a little more rigid than I hoped it would be, but it's also super cold out today so maybe it'll get a little more pliable.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E2...=w1036-h777-no

I still have some engine bay clean-up to do and the final wrapping of the harness, but it really runs sweet with the Haltech, after just a bit of closed-loop O2 learning. The cooling system also bled itself while I sat here and let it idle. Fans kicked on as expected. Oil pressure and temperature are good and no odd noises yet :). I need to make a clutch stop so I don't over-travel the twin-disc clutch, so the only driving I've done is in and out of the driveway. But by the end of tomorrow it'll be ready to go for a shakedown drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSzxMieiBuk

AkursedX 03-02-2019 08:05 PM

This is an awesome build. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to one of the Pro's or Championship Tours to see it in action. The power to weight along with that massive contact patch should certainly make it a competitor in SM once you get it sorted out.

SportRotary 03-04-2019 05:47 PM

I'm curious if the coolant expansion tank is working like it should with this engine. With the Renesis, the full and low lines of the expansion tank are above the highest point anywhere else in the cooling system. This ensures that there is no air in the system. With your engine, you have a coolant line that seems to be over the top of the expansion tank - so I think that line is likely full of air. You might have to relocate the expansion tank to a higher point unless there's something I'm missing.

Awesome build though! I've been following along here and on the sandbox. I'm building an REW-swapped RX-8 for a similar purpose (mostly TT/time attack, but some local SM), and I'm taking some inspiration from what you're doing.

John V 03-04-2019 07:06 PM

The coolant expansion tank, as well as the rest of the cooling system (except a few custom pieces) are from the NC Miata. The cooling system of the NC is much different than the system from the Renesis, and so far it seems to work great.

RE-Vision 03-12-2019 11:49 AM

Which rear bar is that?

John V 03-13-2019 06:38 AM


Originally Posted by RE-Vision (Post 4882900)
Which rear bar is that?

Rear bar is a stock yellow dot with extra holes drilled (and flattening of the bar over those holes) to enable more roll stiffness if needed.

John V 03-17-2019 07:21 AM

Wrapped up a few things yesterday. I finished up the alignment and re-scaled the car. I cut the hood and riveted on the hood vent. I washed the car and installed most of the graphics, though I've still got a few yet to go and I don't have any of the official SCCA decals (except the Tire Rack banner). The red numbers are the same color as my old BMW which was intentional :)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ds...=w1036-h777-no

I shouldn't have worried about the cooling system, it bled itself after a few hot/cold cycles and now seems to be working properly. I am using a stock NC radiator right now, I kind of hope it is sufficient but if not, Goodwin racing sells a nice upgraded radiator that is bolt-in for an NC.

I drove it up and down my driveway a bit, accelerating to 40MPH and standing on the brakes to bleed the air from the ABS unit. The Haltech gets better and better as I let it self-tune, but it already runs really well after a little cold-start tweaking. I got into maybe 2psi of boost without really trying and the car feels sprightly. No rubbing or anything but I do think I'm going to have to do a little more fender clearancing work (where the rear bumper attaches to the quarter panel forms a sharp tab that I'm worried about), which will mean finding a way to attach the leading edge of the bumper.

Oh, and I'm still waiting on wing parts from Ciro.

Stuff left to do... I think I am going to work on the rear spring perches a bit. I don't like the way the spring seats on the stock steel spring perches, using a delrin adapter for 2.5" race springs. I may just fab up a plate to weld on there with a ring to center the spring. I've run the fuel tank just about dry, so I'm going to go pick up 10 gallons of E85 today and see how well the ethanol content modification table works all on its own, then continue the low-load tuning with E85. I need to build a bump steer rig, because Brett set up the rear toe arms to be adjustable for bump steer and I haven't even checked that so it's probably way off. And I've got a small exhaust leak, I think at one of the V-band clamps but I'll need to check it out. A buddy was over and recorded one of my laps up and down the driveway.


Tuning trip is set up for March 30th, Peter Florance at PFTuning will work his magic on the car and I'm sure we'll find all sorts of problems, but that's how these things go. In between now and then the only thing I really need to get done is a thorough nut and bolt of the car. Pretty excited!

Kennetht638 03-18-2019 03:02 PM

Awesome progress, John! I've been pretty low on motivation for a long time now, but this is helping.

I was pretty unhappy with the 2.5" spring solution too, even with my own adapter that didn't go smaller than the spring ID, and the best fix was switching to inverted 2812s (obviously not ideal).

John V 03-19-2019 11:13 AM

Thanks Kenneth. I came close to doing an inverted rear shock setup but I would have needed to buy new rear shocks. I bought a set of NC shocks for a good price right after I bought the RX-8 in 2017 and I wanted to use them. I think ultimately an inverted setup is the right answer, but I'd want to reinforce the upper shock mount to handle the load and that's more work than I have time for.

As it sits I have a helper spring, a coupler, and a 2.5" chassis spring in the rear, and I can't lower the rear any more than I have it right now unless I go to a shorter (5.5"?) rear spring. If I re-engineered the upper spring perch I could solve that problem and keep the spring located.

comebackqid 03-19-2019 01:24 PM

Great build man!

SportRotary 03-19-2019 02:27 PM

I have an upper spring perch design for a 2.5" spring that is just like the one from trackjunkie's build thread (plate that welds onto the tophat). I reverse engineered the shape of the tophat and 3D printed iterations with different 2.5" hole locations until the shock was centered for the full range of travel. PM me if you want the DXF file or more details. I had mine CNC plasma cut from 1/8" steel and it was pretty cheap.

John V 03-20-2019 06:07 AM


Originally Posted by SportRotary (Post 4883429)
I have an upper spring perch design for a 2.5" spring that is just like the one from trackjunkie's build thread (plate that welds onto the tophat). I reverse engineered the shape of the tophat and 3D printed iterations with different 2.5" hole locations until the shock was centered for the full range of travel. PM me if you want the DXF file or more details. I had mine CNC plasma cut from 1/8" steel and it was pretty cheap.

Thanks! I should have a set of plates in a couple days. I appreciate you sending me the info.


SFL_SE3P 03-20-2019 11:48 AM

This is awesome very inspirational. wish I had the talent and funds to do something like this. Good luck with finalizing your build I’ll be on the look out:cool:

MilesJ 03-21-2019 03:20 PM

John, would a mount like the old Eibach R2 mount be SM legal?


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...c82c727ede.jpg
RX8 Eibach R2 Rear Mount

John V 03-22-2019 02:17 PM

Looks legal to me.




Originally Posted by MilesJ (Post 4883561)
John, would a mount like the old Eibach R2 mount be SM legal?


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...c82c727ede.jpg
RX8 Eibach R2 Rear Mount


John V 03-25-2019 12:10 PM


Originally Posted by SportRotary (Post 4883429)
I have an upper spring perch design for a 2.5" spring that is just like the one from trackjunkie's build thread (plate that welds onto the tophat). I reverse engineered the shape of the tophat and 3D printed iterations with different 2.5" hole locations until the shock was centered for the full range of travel. PM me if you want the DXF file or more details. I had mine CNC plasma cut from 1/8" steel and it was pretty cheap.

Just following up, I had SportRotary's plates made by his buddy, he delivered them to me a day after I ordered (!) and I installed them this weekend. Simple install, cut the spring perch "tube" flush with the outer perimeter, clean it all up with a wire wheel, then weld.

I added a short piece of exhaust tubing to center the spring, welded it on, and everything seems fine. I gained a little height adjustability, and have a more robust spring perch than before. I'll get some pictures at some point but right now I'm thrashing to get the car ready for dyno tuning this weekend, installing a higher flow fuel pump in the S2 housing and doing some other minor things.

JV

John V 03-27-2019 05:50 AM

I put a proper fuel pump in it last night. And mounted the wing. The upper element supports still need to go on but that's the last piece.

A Deatschwerks 9-307-1009 DW300 fuel pump fits perfectly in the stock RX-8 Series 2 fuel pump housing. And flows enough fuel to feed the car with E85 for more than the power I expect to make, even if I run silly boost levels. Stranoparts to the rescue when I forgot until a couple days ago that I needed a new fuel pump.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/5t...=w1036-h777-no

I spent a couple hours on Sunday measuring up the trunk lid to mount the wing uprights. Then drilled it today. It still needs to be set up, and I haven't attached the upper element supports, but I did all the major work mounting it up. Thanks to Rick at Ciro racing for a great deal on the wing.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ab...=w1036-h777-no

I bought a set of LS2 coils off eBay a couple weeks ago. I'm a little worried about the stock ignition system, as the Miata guys report having a lot of misfires with the stock coils. I picked up a set of Brisk silver plugs that should help, versus the wide-gap iridiums that were in this motor, but I won't have time to do the LS setup before going to see Pete on Saturday morning. I may bring the coils down there and if we see crazy breakup at high RPM I can always go to Autozone and get a cheap set of plug wires for a Tahoe and wire up the coils real quick.

The only other thing I did was spend a couple hours Sunday doing a nut and bolt on the car. Driveshaft, axles, suspension, subframes, diff mounts, trans mounts, etc. I don't want anything coming apart on the dyno.

sylvain7425 03-28-2019 03:40 AM

John, talking about the Brisk spark plugs, there is only one part number on their site but ou plugs are of different length for leading and trailing.
What are the numbers you bought and what is your experience with theses in a Renesis engine on a race track ?

John V 03-28-2019 06:51 AM

I have no experience with these coils in a Renesis, since my car doesn't have a Renesis.

John V 04-01-2019 07:09 AM

Peter (PFTuning) and I had a good dyno session on Saturday. Surprisingly few issues. One oil leak due to my own dumbassery. I built a custom dipstick tube using a hacked-up tube from a Ford Ranger. I forgot to bolt the bracket down to the engine block so the dipstick tube vibrated out of the block a bit and sprayed oil on the turbo due to windage. Hence the smoke in the video below, which was our first pull.

https://youtu.be/qLjZ7kc9Mwo I've got too stiff of a wastegate spring in it. I didn't think about it when I installed the Turbosmart actuator several months ago, and it comes out of the box with a 14psi spring. Too stiff to be able to ramp boost up gradually with RPM and throttle position, and to do traction control as well. So that's got to come out. the other problem we had was ignition breakup above 6,500 RPM. I'd like to turn this motor to 7,200 occasionally (higher once I build a really stout engine for it) but the ignition breakup was too bad so we got out of it. The plug gap was right on, but the stock MZR coils are not great. I'm picking up a set of 370Z coils or something else that is known to be strong.

Bottom line, it made 402hp at 6,500 and was climbing. We only had about 15psi of boost in it. Torque peak was 390 before we trimmed it down with some retard on the intake cam. Final numbers are it makes more than 330ft-lbs from 3,500 RPM up to 6,500, with a peak of 370ft-lbs at the wheels on a dynojet. My old BMW made 240-245hp on this dyno and around 236-240ft-lbs torque on this dyno.

Gearing is set up to do 74MPH at 7,200 RPM, but the powerband is so flat (the torque curve is like a tabletop) I think it will be very driveable once I get the boost ramping up smoothly.

First local event in two weeks... pretty excited.

billyboy 04-01-2019 11:57 PM

Looks like a shedload of nice work.

The 2.3 here uses 35 gtr cop to get rid of the unwieldy coil pack at the back of those engines. Was thinking of the cosworth stuff, but it's undoubtedly just an oem coil rebranded - and up-priced! Bit wary of the LS gear with all the fake GM stuff on ebay and the 370 coils will probably be as good. Wasn't too much different price wise, nissan genuine new v LS new either.....at least over here.

Going by the output, what's the turbo, 6758 or 7163? Have an ex Indy hairdryer on the car here, couple hundred bucks - and I couldn't refuse - more work making an intake snout and the unique v-band turbine inlet on the downside.

Having broken engine mounts in the past from torque reaction, I might look for a bit of a strengthening web on those tube mounts though, if there's any room.

John V 04-02-2019 05:48 AM


Originally Posted by billyboy (Post 4884429)
Looks like a shedload of nice work.

The 2.3 here uses 35 gtr cop to get rid of the unwieldy coil pack at the back of those engines. Was thinking of the cosworth stuff, but it's undoubtedly just an oem coil rebranded - and up-priced! Bit wary of the LS gear with all the fake GM stuff on ebay and the 370 coils will probably be as good. Wasn't too much different price wise, nissan genuine new v LS new either.....at least over here.

Going by the output, what's the turbo, 6758 or 7163? Have an ex Indy hairdryer on the car here, couple hundred bucks - and I couldn't refuse - more work making an intake snout and the unique v-band turbine inlet on the downside.

Having broken engine mounts in the past from torque reaction, I might look for a bit of a strengthening web on those tube mounts though, if there's any room.

Thanks, it's been a long journey.

A friend dropped off a couple of sets of coils, some R35 GTR and some 370Z, and it looks like I can make something work.

Turbo is a 7163 single scroll, V-band turbine inlet and outlet. Nice and compact.

The engine mount brackets are going to get redone at some point. I made them this way originally so I could use factory MX-5 engine mounts. Next winter my plan is to yank out this engine (Assuming it survives the season) and build something with stronger internals so it can tolerate more revs. At which point I'll rework the tubular subframe to allow a more conventional engine mount. The challenge is on the left front corner there is almost no room due to oil cooler plumbing, the oil filter, the steering shaft, etc so it's going to have to be built around all that stuff.

John V 04-14-2019 07:12 PM

It runs, it's fast, and it's really fun. There is a ton more work to go still in terms of sorting both in power delivery and handling. This is new territory for me, coming from the BMW, so I'm well behind where the top RX-8 is in DSP but I'm looking forward to getting my car handling that well.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/au...=w1320-h778-no

TeamRX8 04-15-2019 02:13 AM

Oh man, I have that exact turbo sitting unused at my house. Would have loved to have unloaded it.

It’s awesome you have your car out there already. Looking so forward to you developing it fully.

John V 04-15-2019 11:40 AM

Thanks Mark, I anticipate it being a very long road. I only have one practice / test and tune event before the first Pro, where I will quickly learn just how much more development I have to do. If I had just gone FI with the BMW I think I'd be in better shape because I understand that chassis better. I'm kind of starting from scratch here and there isn't much public information on the RX-8 as far as what spring rates and ride heights are a good starting point. So I've done the usual spreadsheet work and picked some stuff, but feel like it's going to take a long time to get to a decent setup. Then again the RX-8 chassis is so good compared to the BMW it's probably harder to screw it up. :lol:

TeamRX8 05-01-2019 04:17 AM

Wow, that first autox vid really got me pumped up and excited. What a beast that will be once you get it dialed in.

John V 05-01-2019 06:09 AM

Thanks Mark. It's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to getting it dialed in.

I cancelled out of the NJ Pro this weekend. I've got a bunch of little problems I couldn't get resolved in time. Kills me, because I really enjoy the NJ Pro, even though my old car broke pretty much every year I took it there :lol: I'm signed up for Spring Nats which is less than a month away... that should be enough time to get everything resolved and get another local shake-down event completed.

The big thing is cooling. I finally picked up a radiator capable of cooling the thing, and then discovered that my electric fan only worked on its "medium" speed setting. I don't think there is any way it's surviving multiple runs at a pro unless the fan can extract all the heat. The new rad has about three times the water capacity of the stock miata junk, and I'm working up ducting between the intercooler and the rad, so I think I'll be OK.

I like the RX-8 so much better with this engine than with the Renesis. IMO it's how the car should have come from the factory.

TeamRX8 05-28-2019 06:30 PM

Just want to say congrats. Given how little dial-in time the car has I think the results from Spring Nats shows how much potential this is going to have in SM! :)

John V 05-29-2019 04:49 AM


Originally Posted by TeamRX8 (Post 4889001)
Just want to say congrats. Given how little dial-in time the car has I think the results from Spring Nats shows how much potential this is going to have in SM! :)

Thanks Mark. Unfortunately I was chasing what turned out to be an electrical problem for most of the event and the car ran really poorly, bucking and stuttering most of the course. We eventually found that a small transfer connector that sends power to the injectors was loose, which was causing the problem.

I also need to add spring rate badly... :)

I think once I get it sorted it will be very quick but it isn't right now!!

TeamRX8 05-29-2019 04:57 AM

Yeah, like I said, that’s expected given how little time the car has, definitely going to be a serious challenger once sorted imo

I can definitely see you need more rate gripz :suspect:

John V 06-02-2019 06:58 PM


I love this thing.

John V 06-02-2019 09:06 PM


Originally Posted by TeamRX8 (Post 4889426)
Is it slip-understeering? Kind of seems like a lot of steering input in places.

I don't know what slip-understeer means...

It needs more rear spring for sure and more shock tuning but it handles pretty well. FedEx is very bumpy and kind of slick. Times were very good compared to Strano and karwan.

John V 06-19-2019 09:09 AM

The Toledo Pro was fun despite bad weather. I ended up second, about 7 tenths back from the winner. I was still well off the pace from where street mod should have been, and I continued to have intermittent problems with the car. First, the good. The spring rate changes, bar changes and alignment changes I made really improved the car from the DC event last weekend. I ended up with an 850lb/in front spring, 600lb/in rear spring and the medium stiffness Mazdacomp front bar set to about 1/3 off of full soft. the car was really well balanced and driveable. With the increased front static camber from the offset lower knuckle bushing (running about -4.2 now up front) turn-in was less lazy and ultimate grip was up compared to the -3.4 degrees I was running before. So I'm happy with that.

I'm still chasing intermittent misfires. Looking at logs, I'm losing the crank signal occasionally and I'm not really sure why. It's causing me to not have any control over the intake cam as well because the ECU is losing sync. At a couple points the car went into limp mode and I had no engine power for a few seconds on each run. Not the fast way around the course. I have new cam and crank sensors in the car and the wiring all checks out. I think the issue may be what edge I'm using to trigger the crank and the cams, so I'll put a scope on both signals this week. Unfortunately this problem tends to only happen at high RPM under load so it's a bit hard to replicate. I'm hoping if I look at the crank / cam signals with the engine revving with no load I'll see the issue right away but it's rarely that easy. Worst case I'll drag it down to Pete and we can try to look at all this on the dyno when under load. Still, it's frustrating.

I'm working with a company to get a small fuel cell made for the car to replace the fuel tank. I'd like to have something in the ~ 5 gallon range so I can stop running the tank completely full. The car is around 2,760lbs with a full tank and I could easily drop 90-100lbs of weight. The rest of the weight reduction to get closer to my minimum (2,580) will need to be lighter brakes then some redesign of my engine and transmission mounts and perhaps some exhaust weight. I think getting down to 2,630 would be pretty easy, and that's a good cushion over the minimum where I wouldn't worry about being underweight when crossing the scales with low fuel.

TeamRX8 06-20-2019 12:56 PM


Originally Posted by John V (Post 4890963)
I ended up with an 850lb/in front spring, 600lb/in rear spring and the medium stiffness Mazdacomp front bar set to about 1/3 off of full soft. the car was really well balanced and driveable.



Clearly it’s still not stiff enough then ... :eyetwitch

:)

.

John V 06-21-2019 07:02 AM

I kind of like it. :)

RE-Vision 06-21-2019 11:06 AM

Hate to be a bother John, but is it possible to post how your bar is installed? I have the old version of that bar (the tripoint one) and I absolutely can't run full stiff, as it interferes with the shock bodies.

TeamRX8 06-21-2019 08:57 PM


Originally Posted by John V (Post 4891171)
I kind of like it. :)

I guess it grew on you, because spring stiffness wise only 50 lbs/in lower in the rear:

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-...4/#post4887427

still running the OE rear bar?

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