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speed shifting... and launching

Old Dec 20, 2007 | 07:43 PM
  #26  
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sexxxy ....
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 12:12 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by TeamRX8
all things in modulation ...
Including... ahh...
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 06:31 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by ZooM3R
Well i was driving around for a bit, I found a HUGE!!! parking garage and tried it in there... I started at 2k up to 5k, I didn't want to push it any further cuz that's what i pushed it to last time i broke it. Well anyway... i lowered the front psi in the tires to 30 and the rears had 25.
You lowered the pressure in the FRONT tires too?
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 06:47 AM
  #29  
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i think he did that b/c it was 20 deg outside
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 08:19 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by chancejat
i think he did that b/c it was 20 deg outside
In a drag race, you increase the PSI of the front tires (on a RWD) to decrease rolling resistance.
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 09:37 AM
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Ok... I am a relative noob to a 6 speed. and I like to drive this car hard. This thread has me worried...

There are times when I launch from a stop at 4-6k rpms and the tires "hop?" (the car doesn't move, the tires spin, but I can hear an intermitent grabbing sound). Is this the tranny breaking behavior you are talking about? I figured it was just because my stock tires are terrible...

HELP with the info...
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 02:06 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by ModestoRX8
Ok... I am a relative noob to a 6 speed. and I like to drive this car hard. This thread has me worried...

There are times when I launch from a stop at 4-6k rpms and the tires "hop?" (the car doesn't move, the tires spin, but I can hear an intermitent grabbing sound). Is this the tranny breaking behavior you are talking about? I figured it was just because my stock tires are terrible...

HELP with the info...
Wheel hop is definitive bouncing up and down. Grabbing sound like those of machanical parts grinding/grumbling is the differential at work.
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 04:53 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by ModestoRX8
Ok... I am a relative noob to a 6 speed. and I like to drive this car hard. This thread has me worried...

There are times when I launch from a stop at 4-6k rpms and the tires "hop?" (the car doesn't move, the tires spin, but I can hear an intermitent grabbing sound). Is this the tranny breaking behavior you are talking about? I figured it was just because my stock tires are terrible...

HELP with the info...
You're violently shaking and stressing every driveline component you have when you wheelhop. If you don't back off the throttle, chances are you'll break something. If you're hopping, I can't imagine you don't know it's happening, because it's like a jack hammer resonating through the chassis.

A little bit of "scuffing" as the tires try to get traction is not wheel hop.
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 05:17 PM
  #34  
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rear swaybar
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 05:37 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by SouthFL
Grabbing sound like those of machanical parts grinding/grumbling is the differential at work.
+1 Torsen lsd's tend to be much noisier during operation than viscous lsd's - but are much more effective!
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 05:49 PM
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it's not a Torsen
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 06:09 PM
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Originally Posted by TeamRX8
it's not a Torsen
What kind of diffs do RX-8's come with then? I thought they had a Torsen...
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Old Dec 21, 2007 | 07:43 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by chiketkd
What kind of diffs do RX-8's come with then? I thought they had a Torsen...
Nope, a fragile cone and spring LSD setup...
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 06:49 AM
  #39  
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Hey, I guess starting this thread wasn't too bad after all... I thought it was just be being a noob to it all but looks like alot of people are benefitting from it. Oh and yes I did lower the psi from 38 to 30 because one, it was 20 degrees out, and two My fronts max psi say 40. And i thought 38 would be too much... AS FOR MY RESULTS. I have been driving my 8 EXTREMELY hard in the past couple of days and I finally know how to launch VERY high, it feels like a freakin rocket if it launches that high with complete grip and no bogging down, I love it. Anyway THANKS to EVERYONE for all the input and help! It WAS well appreciated.
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 05:40 PM
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Gotcha... yeah no jackhammer here. just some light (bouncing feeling for 1 second or so as the tires were trying to grip.) I hate the stock tires.... Next order of business is to get some new tires.
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 05:40 PM
  #41  
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Oh, and anytime I lower my tirPSI below 34 PSI my tps moitors start lighting up... so I dont do that.
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 06:44 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by ZooM3R
Hey, I guess starting this thread wasn't too bad after all... I thought it was just be being a noob to it all but looks like alot of people are benefitting from it. Oh and yes I did lower the psi from 38 to 30 because one, it was 20 degrees out, and two My fronts max psi say 40. And i thought 38 would be too much... AS FOR MY RESULTS. I have been driving my 8 EXTREMELY hard in the past couple of days and I finally know how to launch VERY high, it feels like a freakin rocket if it launches that high with complete grip and no bogging down, I love it. Anyway THANKS to EVERYONE for all the input and help! It WAS well appreciated.
Be careful, I'm sure you realized it already, but summer tires generally don't like anything below 40 degrees.

In general, when its cold outside and you drive your tires really hard you heat them up and then park the car and they cool quickly.

For a comparison, to make metals harder they temper them by doing the same thing, heating up the metal and then cooling it quickly in water.

Only in tires its called "heat cycling" and when you do stuff like this in cold weather it makes the tires loose their gripping ability once it gets warmer.
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 06:48 PM
  #43  
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staticlag is wise.......very wise......now what about speed shifting.....i dont know anything bout that i just shift fast and precise.
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 08:00 PM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by chancejat
staticlag is wise.......very wise......now what about speed shifting.....i dont know anything bout that i just shift fast and precise.
The RX8s gearbox is fragile and its easy to break stuff...

It can be shifted just as fast as any other transmission but you want to 'flick' the lever with your wrist and not use the strength of your upper arm to 'jam' it in gear...

They are really easy to break (keep that in mind).
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 08:07 PM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by stuntman
The RX8s gearbox is fragile and its easy to break stuff...

It can be shifted just as fast as any other transmission but you want to 'flick' the lever with your wrist and not use the strength of your upper arm to 'jam' it in gear...

They are really easy to break (keep that in mind).
Yes. For me, coming from slamming gears through a T56 to this tinkerbell tranny was very interesting.
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Old Dec 22, 2007 | 08:54 PM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by stuntman
The RX8s gearbox is fragile and its easy to break stuff...

It can be shifted just as fast as any other transmission but you want to 'flick' the lever with your wrist and not use the strength of your upper arm to 'jam' it in gear...

They are really easy to break (keep that in mind).
yes, when getting ready to race, think "shift quick, not hard". It also helps to not drop completely off the throttle when you shift, and try to catch the next gear matching RPM.
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Old Dec 24, 2007 | 12:01 PM
  #47  
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Originally Posted by ZooM3R
I had a couple questions about shifting when you're about to do a 1/4. Well I recently launched my car from 5-6k and it wheel hopped and once it calmed down my tranny was completely destroyed... I had a cracked housing and gears and synchors were damaged. So now I have a whole brand new tranny and I would want to know exactly HOW TO launch and speed shift so the tranny won't get damaged again. I heard about side stepping the clutch and feathering, if someone can go into more detail about these it will be really appreciated. Cuz I think next time mazda gets my car in for a destroyed tranny they will certainly think it was abuse, I was lucky they didn't think that the first time.
Back in 2003 I ran 14 seconds all day with my Rx8. I even dialed the launch perfect. My best 60 foot mark was 1.9 using the bone stock wheels and tires. My shifting was flawless(near perfection) Once the car was dialed in. it was a fun car. BUT before I got the Rx8 to put down 1.9 60ft marks and mid 14 second runs. I destroyed 3 gearboxes, 2 3rd members(diff's) and 1 engine..(engine lost compression from my abuse).. the MORAL of my story.. not worth drag racing your Rx8. car was not really built for that. Car is to heavy and the drivetrain is to weak.. many years later. Mazda has done nothing to improve on the design. and I have done all kinds of research. Including talking to mazda's R&D


cheers and happy new year..

Last edited by Judge Ito; Dec 24, 2007 at 12:03 PM.
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Old Dec 24, 2007 | 08:41 PM
  #48  
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If these components are so fragile why are people trying to do these things in a RX8?
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Old Dec 24, 2007 | 10:28 PM
  #49  
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theyre not fragile there just not made for lots of torque or heavy abuse..........like high rpm launches
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Old Dec 24, 2007 | 11:58 PM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by Judge Ito
Back in 2003 I ran 14 seconds all day with my Rx8. I even dialed the launch perfect. My best 60 foot mark was 1.9 using the bone stock wheels and tires. My shifting was flawless(near perfection) Once the car was dialed in. it was a fun car. BUT before I got the Rx8 to put down 1.9 60ft marks and mid 14 second runs. I destroyed 3 gearboxes, 2 3rd members(diff's) and 1 engine..(engine lost compression from my abuse).. the MORAL of my story.. not worth drag racing your Rx8. car was not really built for that. Car is to heavy and the drivetrain is to weak.. many years later. Mazda has done nothing to improve on the design. and I have done all kinds of research. Including talking to mazda's R&D


cheers and happy new year..

nice to see you around..

to the others.. the car was not made to drag race.. if you cant afford to fix it dont do it..

beers
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