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iTrader: (1)

Wow what a fun course. That site rocks. I still hate pros, the format sucks as do the technical issues that never seem to go away. The challenge is a joke, soft classes allow a lot of guys to sandbag to the point that it is not worth running it.

The course was similar to the SD tour in that little cars, CS, did not have to slow down but it was not as narrow. Weather could not have been better.

I wish we could have gotten a better idea of Carter's speed in the RX8 but for some reason that car seemed to have more issues than usual, or before TRX8 started working on it anyway.

Only two events and Wood/Braun have already corded the 285 Hoosiers.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

All we did was change it from where it was in SD to the settings Carter is running after the Sat AM runs seemed to work better for him than me

but what we found after Sunday runs is that the front swaybar bracket on the LF bent outward, allowing about 1/4" of slop between the pivot bushing and the bar. I kept losing the rearend of the car during the highest speed transitions; the turn-around exit into the course back to the finish and the wall before the finish. Kind of makes sense now, as the car transitioned from being heavily loaded on one side to the other there's a range in the weight transfer crossover that the car would act like it has no front bar. That said, Carter ran times considerably better than me, hence the "my driving sucks donkey ***** regardless" assessment. I inspected it just before SD and it was fine, and I don't think it happened there. IMO it occurred during my morning runs at ET with the high grip surface and the 285s.

lol, reminds me of that ol' Hoosier mantra, " 'who'syour' sugar daddy"

BryanH

It's early days for the MR2 Turbo... it was a very last minute entry. The car wasn't even running until Wednesday afternoon. My front end setup was all wrong Saturday morning. In the rear I had toe-out on one side and toe-in on the other (along with an 0.7* camber difference) which didn't help matters. I had excess weight on the car (trailer hitch, amp...), and my rear tires are about done. But beyond all those little excuses I simply didn't drive well. Still learning the new car. It's more different compared to the ES MR2 than one might think. I also need to learn how to launch, and how to memorize two mirror image courses more quickly.

I think if any course were to favor the MR2 over the RX-8 that would have been it, aside from a gearing issue coming back to the finish. I didn't think I could beat the flying Isley but I really should have finished 2nd instead of standing on my Saturday runs. I red-lit my best right side run on Sunday with a .460, and just hit the last damn cone on my 42.8 left side run. I kept my foot in it when I should have lifted to keep the rear end from powersliding too much. Lesson learned there - slide recovery in an ES MR2 is a matter of pegging the throttle to the floor; in a turbo with LSD that probably isn't always the best idea. In fact I was sliding the car through the last 3-4 high speed offsets coming to the finish of that 42.8 left side run. If I'd kept the car under me there (like I did every other time on that course, grrr) I'm sure it would have been a tenth or two faster and of course clean as well. I was banging on the steering wheel pretty hard after that run, and I never get upset like that. It was beautiful up to that point and I had to be greedy and throw it away!


^ Cliff notes: The MR2 isn't dead yet.


It was nice meeting the BS group. When/if the ProSolo schedule resumes in force next year we shall meet again. Or perhaps at an upcoming Tour if I decide not to run ES for some reason.

Edit - here's an interesting picture:
http://cam.loriz.ca/bryan/target11.html
Notice something funny about the lights? I didn't have any bye runs all weekend...

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iTrader: (1)

Hmm, still using them spanky Energy Suspension bushings and brackets?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

yeah, but I unintentionally caused the problem. Was a bit too hamfisted installing the rebuilt shocks and broke the ABS cable on that side, had to unbolt the sway bar bracket to dismount the broken ABS cable bracket and install the new one, and when I remounted the sway bar bracket I didn't relocate it to the same position it was originally in (the ES brackets are slotted) and that's what resulted in it f'ing up. when we went to put the 285s back on for DKNVs Sunday runs is when we saw it, we intentionally didn't tell her about it until after she ran there wasn't anything we could do, no spares

fortunately we have a Summit Racing in town, picked up a new set on the way in to work this AM, live and learn ...

clyde

Sounds like Strano in early 2005. He was singing a different tune by the end of the year.

Totally off topic, but Sammy put on a real show at the WDCR event yesterday in the Shelby GT. The F Stockers are going to be complaining all year long. Maybe the car makes sense in BS? Looking under the car, it sure doesn't look like a "stock" car. Or maybe it's just time for FS to get faster?

clyde

I was trying to be nice.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

since when?



it's time for FS to get a class

John V

iTrader: (1)

Wow, a set of 285 Hoosiers on 8" wheels cording? Who would have ever thought that would happen?



Keep throwing that money away chasing a dream, boys...

mwood

True, we corded two tires on the sandpaper surface at El Toro. But, I also was fast enough (on scratch) to have won at SD and Matthew was the only RX8 within striking distance of Jason (again on scratch)...so, the speed is there and the tires work just fine....now, the drivers need to not hit cones!

The lesson learned is to mind the shoulders and flip them on the rim early. I don't think we're "chasing a dream", but we are experimenting, using Matthew's contingency win tires, for sure. Probably the only dream being chased is taking down Jason, he's on a serious roll and is driving awesome!

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iTrader: (1)

Funny how you like to think you were close on scratch in SD. Why is it you count your dirty runs but forget that I also had a dirty run that put you 1 sec further down.

Sat night I flipped some A6s for a buddy with a GS mini, they only had 8 runs on them. With sun runs and the challenge those same tires were corded.

John V

iTrader: (1)

I understand why you guys are running Hoosiers, I just don't understand why you aren't running the 245, that's all.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

they corded because the pressure was too low and they're Hoohoos, the Kumhos took very little wear, I don't think the surface was overly harsh on tires

NoCones

Because more times than not, the wider tire wins in autox (assuming gear ratios don't get messed up by the bigger tire)...despite the theory that the more vertical sidewall is better and the contact patch doesn't really end up any bigger or better.

Why have 99 miatas jammed 225's on 6" rims forever when they could have had 205's? Same for GS 7th gen Celicas? And what tire was Carpenter jamming on what size rim on that CRX?

Maybe wider is better doesn't hold for the rx8, but I hardly blame anyone for trying.

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iTrader: (1)

In the last three weekends Ryan in the 99' Miata beat Kevin in the Sol using 205 and 225 V710s and 225 A6s.

Yep you need a 285 A6 to keep up with a 245 V710, sure sounds like the tires are equal to me.

All of the cars on your list get less -camber than an RX8. Lots of people used big tires to save the edge.

NoCones

so why did he use 225's when he could have used just 205's?

What did I say about the tires being equal? All I said was that I didn't blame them for trying, given what I've seen in the past with wider tires winning.

I could easily get more camber in my 7th gen Celica than in my RX-8. I don't recall exactly what I could get out of my 99 Miata, but I don't think it was much different from the 8.

Congrats on the last 2 weekends...very impressive.

mwood

Not true. Your quickest scratch was .4 faster than my Sunday clean time, so if we count all dirty runs it is right at .5 difference.
Still a big difference, but given the relative skill levels of the drivers, it is clear the tires weren't holding the car back.

The wear issue is a problem, though...no doubt about it. I'm running a set that currently have 24 runs on them at Atwater. They're going back on this week and will be flipped. I'm seriously worried that they won't last this weekend (6 runs) and the tour (12 runs).

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iTrader: (1)

I am not sure I have ever seen him with the same setup two events in a row.

Right you did not say they were equal, you said bigger is better.

Even with more -camber with fwd on a strut car you are still going to kill tires faster than an RX8.

All the M1 and M2 Miata's we had got -1.2 or less, or about .5 less then most RX8s.

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iTrader: (1)

You are right I just took the 1 sec off of my time without adding yours up.

And you thought this car was going to cost less to run than the Z06.

Hmm, 18 runs at the tour. 29 runs at the pro. Drove on them to both events, so that is about 200 miles. Should I go run a track day now or just use this set of V710s for the rest of the year.

NoCones

And do people crap on Ryan for trying 225's? That's my main issue...you'd think Mike and Matthew were trying 185's the way people react to it.

All I was saying was that wider has often been better. But since it's clearly not even worth trying, maybe I'll see if I can find some 225's or 205's.

(For the record, I'm actually sticking with 245 V710's)

mwood

Looking back, I agree. We let them get to 35f/33r, but I should have gone to the pressures I had been running pre SD Tour, which were 37-38f/r. For Atwater, I'm planning on starting them at 38 all around and working back or forward from there, depending on how the sidewalls look.

Question I'm wondering about is how many runs it will take to "flatten out" the flipped tires, after running them 24 laps before changing? I have to imagine we are going to be riding the outside portion of the flipped tires for at least a few runs...of course, I could just drop pressures and do it more quickly, I suppose

speeddemon32

I vote you stay on the crapiest set of tires you own for the rest of the year Jason. its the only way I even get close to you.

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iTrader: (1)

I found in the past the first run on a flipped tire sucks, after that they were ok.

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iTrader: (1)

Well this set has the most runs on them, so I will use them this weekend. To bad yours have more. Or are you going to bust out the new ones?

speeddemon32

no, new tires dont get put on till the current ones are down to the steel. :D ok maybe not that far, but you get the point.

current tires have several runs, but still look pretty good. they still have two grooves. I have seen some of your tires that dont even have grooves any more. I bet it wont be untill close to the end of the year before its time for the new ones to go on. (unless I do some practice days.)