I see what you did there, Team.

Surprising to hear the BFG Rival isn't living up to the early hype. Still early days, I suppose. Any data points with these tires on a RX-8?

 

If you're talking about availability, that's definitely true. Performance-wise, who knows? Tires in the sizes we want still don't really exist.

 

no RX8 results, seen a few others though ...

 

I'll probably go Dunlop, as they seem to work better at low temps, which I need in the NW.

Although a local STR MX-5 that went from R1Rs to the new Dunlop was having problems putting power down. Probably just a setup tweak, as this seems to be the opposite of people complaining about understeer when tossing a set of R1Rs on a car.

 

I still have a new full tread set of 255/40-17 Dunlop ZII tires in need of a home ...

 

Hmmmm....

 

The word is that the Dunlop ZIIs need quite a few good heat cycles before they come in

 

Luckily Paul at Mazmart is getting me taken care of with my front LCAs and getting them to me tomorrow morning! That means I'll have enough time to get them installed and the car realigned and be ready for my first event of the year.

What are your thoughts on a used set of RS3's that have 4/32 on 2 of the tires and the other 2 have 5/32 that were daily driven on? Do you think they will do me any good? I bought them for cheap enough so it really wouldn't matter.

 

That is basically what I am running on. They are better than an equally treated star spec at this point in their life. I've never had a new set of Hankooks, so I don't really have a point of reference there. But, I do know they are the same compound to the cords.

 

How are they holding up for you? Still give you grip?

 

They seem fine. But, like I said, I don't have an a b comparison of these vs new. They are probably down slightly on grip. But, I did run FTD last weekend on them, so who knows.

 

Nice, I planned to see if I liked them enough to buy a new set. What is your setup if you do not mind me asking? I'm looking to prep my car for STX of the next season or two depending how I like it.

 

Also I see your up in Columbus, I'll probably see you out there this season. My roommate and I are looking to hit all of our Louisville events, and try to make it to as many Lexington and Columbus events as we can.

 

Eric,

My car is pretty underprepped. Progress springs, d-specs, and a front bar. 17x9 with 255 Hankooks.

There's a lot more i'd like to do, but just not in the budget, so I just go out there and wheel it. LOL

I'll try to make it down to a Louisville event this year too.

 

Oh wow, you are, lol. Looks like I need a lot of seat time this season. What alignment are you running?

 

Had the car corner weighed and aligned at Cobb Tuning today; 2677# less driver and fuel gauge on E.

 

Yea like I said, I've got a lot of "room for improvement" on the car....haha.

-2.2* front camber, 7* cast, 0 toe.
-1.7* rear camber, 1* toe in per side.

For just starting out and not completely burning loads of cash, start with some 17x9 and some autox tires. Stick an alignment on and go from there!

 

I'm getting my alignment finished tomorrow.

Same as you only -2.0* in the rear. I bought some cheap 17x9 cobra r wheels and put a used set of RS3s to learn on. All on stock suspension still.

 

Yep...good place to start. Have fun...are you totally a rookie or do you have a few under you already? Let us know how you do!

 

I ran a 91 Miata that wasn't prepped at all for a complete season, I mastered smoothness in it, but running a completely stock car with crap all seasons didn't give me any advantage. Sold that and bought a WRX, only ran it 2 events until clutch started slipping then it found a deer and was totaled. Last season I made it to a couple events in the Rx-8 so still getting use to it. It will be my first time with a proper alignment and wheels/tires.

 

Did you have helium in the tires??

 

it's a cumulative effort of many, many details; lots of custom built or selectively purchased for lightness parts, just about tapped out for STX mods now

fueling it up will put the car at 2700+, it will also gain a bit more once I get the datalog and video stuff fitted

lost 10 lbs in the last two weeks too, unfortunately I had gained that much between the Xmas holidays and then so back to square one ...

 

Mark = First RX8 to have custom carbon fibre springs and shock bodies

That is an impressive weight for sure. Looking at Dave's car, which will be lighter than last year, i can't imagine saving that much more weight. I guess we will see next week when the numbers come in. That is a truly awesome number though.

We will have a string of Rival results for the RX8 crowd starting next week and through April. We are coming off of RS3's last year and should have some good data points for everyone. There are no real suspension/alignment changes, just a lighter car. We may dial out some camber depending on what we see with the Rivals, somewhat designed for camber challenged cars.

My gut is that a car setup for RS3's will be good on the Rivals, with ultimate grip going to the RS3, but consistency to the Rival. It took a pretty specific set of conditions to get the RS3 to be the perfect tire last year. We never drove them on concrete, but asphalt was hit and miss with the first 2 runs of a heat basically throw a ways to get heat in the tire.

The Rivals look impressive if that counts for anything. I picked them up yesterday and mounted on a 9" rim, the 245 has nearly the exact tread width as the 255 RS3's. The tread with is much wider than the 245 Pilot Super Sports I also got mounted.

 

go back to you're earlier post, you didn't think a lb or two is any big deal. I do, with the understanding that they eventually will all add up. I didn't just use 20 Ga on the rear half of my manifold (first part is 18 Ga T321), the entire 3" exhaust all the way back is 20 Ga T321 tube. I didn't weigh it down with a bunch of heavy V-band clamp assemblies. I used half-depth slip joints that are slotted with a T-bolt clamp. An ounce or two here, a lb or two there. My entire exhaust; manifold, huge cat, and 3 mufflers weighs less than the factory cat-back muffler. Just one example.

The Bellville CF springs aren't allowed per the newest FastTrack clarification that just came out



.

 

Mark, no one has ever put a more proper signature to their name on a forum. It will be fun to meet you at nats and see your car.

Jeff