shaunv74

Thanks!

Miatamoto

From the Hotchkis site

MX-5 rear bar:
13/16” (21mm) hollow
595% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 390 lbs/in
745% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 470 lbs/in
940% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 580 lbs/in

RX-8 rear bar:

390% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 195 lbs/in
470% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 250lbs/in
580% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 340 lbs/in

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

Thanks Thomas.

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

I'm not the one that has a problem handling disagreement...

LionZoo

Hi guys. As some of you might know, I've been working on a set of custom valved Bilsteins with coilover adapters. While my setup isn't an autocross setup, it can be adapted to such and I find the discussion here to be much more intelligent than the discussion in the general suspension forum. I've tested the suspension (incorrect front springs and all) over one weekend and here are my general thoughts: https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...2&postcount=46

I'd be interested in hearing more feedback. I know George already knows about some of my work.

Cito

Anyone have thoughts on HKS coilovers? The spring rates seem right on, but not sure about their reputation otherwise.

shaunv74

I just ordered some Dunlop Z1 star specs. They have a 255/40/R17 that should fit nicely. Also it's about 1" less total diameter than stock so it should help with the final gearing a little. I'm not sure if my car can take another 0.5" drop in ground clearance.

BRODA

iTrader: (7)

Finally got my RP03's and R1R's after a long wait. Test and tune and points events this weekend. Will let you know how it goes.

MilesJ

Chiketkd,

I put the Hotchkis MX5 sways F and R on my 8 back in January. I think they work well.

GeorgeH

iTrader: (2)

Please do. I'm running the 255 Toyos on 17x9s. So far, I only have one event on them I care to comment about. I tried 32/30, and 35/33. The higher pressures felt better, but my driving wasn't consistent enough to know for sure if it was faster.

This was on a BS suspension setup. I'll have my STX setup (KW Variant 3 & Whiteline bars) on for the next event.

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

Congrats. Good luck out there!
Good to know Miles. I think I'll see how the car behaves w/ the stock rear swaybar and go from there. I looked at my stock one the other day, and the ends long enough to drill another hole in it for a slightly stiffer-than-stock setting. Whatever I end up going with, I'd want it to be adjustable.
Good luck with the new set-up George!

BRODA

iTrader: (7)

The test and tune today was great. The R1R's are excellent, and I cleaned out a few cobwebs after not racing for a while. I also improved my left-foot breaking substantially, which will hopefully help me at tomorrow's event.

Keep in mind I have no idea what I am talking about, but here are my thoughts:

RPO3’s:
They look like crap on the internet, but in person they are beautiful. I ordered these reluctantly because they were the best option for my budget, but they are growing on my very quickly.

R1R’s:
I had the amazing opportunity to drive my car and similarly prepared RX8 on Dunlop’s (Z1 Star Spec) back-to-back. The event was not timed, so it’s tough to say which tire would have been faster on this particular course. However, here’s what I found:

Started with the R1R’s at 38 PSI (F&R) cold. Tire temps and chalk indicated pressures were too high, so I slowly dropped to around 38 PSI hot. The morning was cool and cloudy, and the tires were not overheating. They came up to temperature quickly, and were consistent. However, traction dropped off steeply at the limit. The line between maximum grip and horrible understeer/oversteer was a very fine line. On the other hand, the Dunlop’s were very easy to drive under, near, at, or over the limit. It’s tough to say how much of a slip angle on the Dunlop’s would give the best lap times, because they felt great everywhere.

During the lunch break, I watered the tires and let them cool for 45 minutes. I dropped a few more pounds of air from the tires and set my cold pressure at 33 psi. Feedback at the limit was much better with the lower pressure, and it was much easier to drive consistent laps. However, the temperature was starting to rise (around 75 degrees and sunny), and the tires started to let go when overheated. The course we were running was a series of offsets – up and back twice – maybe 90 seconds total? The tires were starting to overheat just near the end, so I’m thinking they should be fine for a typical 60 second course. A bit of water, a few minutes, and they were ready for the next run.

Conclusion:
I think I’ve found a good setup for tomorrow, and I have high hopes for the R1R’s. The plan for tomorrow is to leave the setup where it stands and focus on driving. Plan B is to wash the car tonight so at least it will look nice, if I get my butt kicked by 3-driver ST Civics.

Crappy Cell Phone Pic:

Mr. Pockets

I've been running in STX so far this year, but with no real local STX competition. The only measuring stick I have is the PAX system. So far I've taken FTDI at three events.

For the fourth, I was second, but awarded FTDI when the driver who should have won left early and didn't work the other heat. That's not really the way I'd prefer to win.

Yesterday was an especially commanding win. Out of 84 drivers, I was easily the fastest on street tires. I crushed the class of six I was bumped with.

The RE-11s are amazing, it's as simple as that.

The course yesterday ran across two different surfaces, old asphalt and grippy concrete. My car is clearly better set up for concrete, which is what I normally run on. It's still balanced on asphalt, just easier to over-drive.

I may need to add a little negative camber to the front. I'm not seeing the temperature difference between the outside and inside that I probably should.

I can't wait to go to a national event and meet much tougher competition. It'll be interesting, that's for sure.

shaunv74

Not sure what you mean by this. I've been educated to try and shoot for the camber setting that creates the most even temp across the tire. This should indicate that you are using as much of your tire as you can when you are putting the most heat in to it.

Can you clarify what you mean? I'm always interested in learning more.

chiketkd

iTrader: (5)

Nick congrats on yet another FTP! You're on a serious roll now. Looking forward to seeing how things go for you at the Peru NT.

Broda, how did Sunday's event go for you?

Mr. Pockets

A tire engineer I know has suggested a 10-degree difference between the inside and outside is what I should shoot for. He's much smarter than I am, so I'm not arguing with him even though I don't know why he made the recommendation.

Mr. Pockets

Thanks, Chike. I know you had a good weekend, as well, so congrats right back to you.

Peru will be interesting. My hope is to just not be DFL. People have dropped out of my class, so now there are only four of us, which will make that goal much more difficult to reach.

BRODA

iTrader: (7)

Mr. Pockets, Congratulations on your amazing season so far. Very impressive!

I won STX yesterday against light competition, but I don't expect a very impressive PAX time (still waiting for results to be posted). I dropped down to 30 psi cold for the afternoon runs and shaved a few tenths, but that could easily be attributed to learning the course better. Didn't have a pyrometer to verify tire temps, but rollover still looks good at 30. I might stick with the lower pressure for the next event and try to borrow a pyrometer from someone.

I also haven't checked my alignment since the beginning of '08, so I may do that this week.

Mr. Pockets

Thanks, dude. It's been fun so far beating everybody on the local scene, but the real test will be Peru in July. I can still do a lot to the car yet under STX rules. I have the stock cat, stock intake and stock ECU flash. I'm also using a relatively heavy (thogh great-sounding) Greddy exhaust that I should change out for a lighter single-exit.

Man, those pressures sound low, but I haven't used Toyos. I run my RE-11s at 40psi in the front and 38 in the rear. When I was on Azenis, I had the fronts at about 36 and the rears around 30.

I would recommend buying a pyrometer instead of borrowing one. It's very difficult to get accurate temperature data at an autocross, so you need a lot of samples before you get a real sense of what your tires are up to. You can get a general idea by using a pyrometer at a single event, but you need to use one over several before you're really sure.

I use my pyrometer to set my pressures early on, and after that I use it to monitor the hottest tire so I know when to cool them. If I see over 110degF, I start spraying. The RE-11s don't seem as sensitive to heat as the Azenis I ran last year, but I don't really want to find that upper limit.

BRODA

iTrader: (7)

Thanks for the advice. I was running 28-29 lbs cold in my Azenis at all four corners, and they wore incredibly even. Also, thanks for the alignment advice via PM. For anyone who is curious, I am running the following setup:

Alignment:

• Front Camber: -1.5
• Rear Camber: -1.5
• Front Toe: +1/8 total
• Rear Toe: -1/8 total
• Ride Height: Approx 13 1/4" fender lip to center of hub

Suspension:

• JIC FLT-TAR coilovers
• 8 kg (450 lb) front springs
• 5 kg (281 lb) rear springs
• Racing Beat F&R sways

As mentioned, I may be adjusting (or at least verifying) the alignment this week. Still undecided.

Also, got the PAX results from yesterday, and there were about where I expected (quite a few positions behind Daddio).

Mr. Pockets

I have the same alignment settings, except that I have -2deg camber in the front and I'm considering increasing that a little. My caster is 6deg.

As for the parts, here's the very short list:

Stance GR+ coilovers.
560lb/in front, 336lb/in rear.
Stock bars.

And that's really it. I've been asked to measure the ride height, so I'll do that tonight.

I'm using 255/40-17 RE-11s on 17x9 wheels.

BRODA

iTrader: (7)

Don't you mean Bridgestones?

I am on 265/35R18 Toyo R1R's on 18x9 +40 Enkei RP03's.

Mr. Pockets

Wow, I sure did. Thanks, I'll fix that.

Zelse

iTrader: (12)

Hey everyone, even though I'm in SM, I'm sure I can still post here, right? Broda, your car felt great (I was the other RX8 he drove) and definitely was good to feel out the differences. Like Broda mentioned, the Dunlops were very consistent, and feeling and controlling the "edge" was very easy. It felt like Broda's car was very similar grip, regardless of the size difference (Broda has 265 where I have 245) but as I went into turns..if I did something slightly wrong, I had to seriously correct something to make the car work how I wanted. Very interesting to see. Plus the feedback from the coilovers were nice, but not what I expected. My setup during that time (since it's going to be changing soon..lol)

Stance GR+
10k springs front
7k springs rear
8 clicks from soft all around (out of 15 clicks)
Progress Technology Swaybars
Front set to medium stiff
Rear set to full stiff
Energy Suspension Polyurethane Swaybar Bushings
Evo-R adjustable endlinks

Will be nice to see how my car is going to handle after I get my new RPF1's that are 18x9 +35 with my new autoexe 4 point strut bars front and rear.

Also, after doing a lot of research, I'm getting a new alignment. Right now she's at
FRONT
-2.0 Camber
0 Toe
Max Caster (no idea what it is)

REAR
-2.4 Camber
.1 Toe In
Max Caster (no idea what it is)

What I want to run, after reading a lot of the alignment page and all and seeing some other RX8 alignments is
FRONT
-2.0 Camber
0 Toe
Max Caster

REAR
-1.5 Camber
.1 Toe In
Max Caster

Anyways, thats my two cents. Results, movies, pictures and all are on my blog as it is the latest post. Check it out everyone! Thanks again for all the input Dave, helped a lot.

08boostedmzda

iTrader: (1)

I'm considering going with the same wheels, but with 265/35/18 RE-11s. Personally I think they look great, I'm either going with those or the 18x9 Advan RZ, paired with 265/35/18 RE-11s.

Other parts:
KW v3 coilovers
Racing Beat sway bars
Agency Power crank pulley
Agency Power cat-back exhaust
Hawk HPS brake pads
Axial Flow Short Shifter
(For now) 245/40/18 RE-11s on Stock 40th Anniversary rims.

Alignment:
Front:
-2.0 camber
0 toe
7.8 caster

Rear:
-2.0 camber
.125 toe out

I have LOTS of room in the camber adjustment to dial more camber in so I might increase negative camber just a bit in the near future.