XS Power is also releasing a line of lithium car batteries next month.

 

Not sure I'd trust XS Power though...

 

+1 for the kirkey seat, I am very comfortable in that seat. I have had a different seat from one of the brand names and it was more expensive and not comfortable.

 

A new STX car is being built.... By Tom Berry, BMW 325.

 

Here's an interview with Tom:

http://www.rogues-racing.com/tom-ber...onal-champion/

A very impressive record - 5 jackets, all in prepared cars. Looks to be a tough competitor.

 

Fun Berry trivia... The STX car will be the first car he runs that was built by him. Every other car he bought already setup.

 

...Interesting. Is there a build thread?

 

Update (pricing, etc) on the FCM Bilsteins for the RX-8:

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.p...2&postcount=37

 

Not sure if you all have seen these, but PowerFlex is now offering a polyurethane bushing kit for the RX8:
http://www.powerflex.co.uk/products/RX8-318/1.html

 

^Yeah, I saw those the other day. Interesting to note that they have different p/ns for most locations, would would indicate they have paid attention to the need for different compliances at different locations.

I had these in my '94 Miata and they worked great when they were freshly lubed, but the rears needed to be rebuilt at least twice a year for a car that was daily driven year round in a wet climate. Otherwise the rear suspension would bind.

Having said that, I know Mark has stated that the bushings in the RX-8 are more sophisticated (and I've seen that in the lower front control arm) than the Miata of old, and perhaps the basic poly bushing isn't a slam dunk for our cars?

 

Wonder how much these are...any idea Dave?

 

http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda...ml?id=7kZsHi3U

About $550 for the set, I do believe.

 

that would be good, b/c some of those spots need some side-to-side compliance to work correctly.

 

Just went through this thread start to about Dec 29th when I saw this post.

NC and RX8 use the same bump stops, lengths indicated are bump stops alone, longer reddish one in the rear, yellow up front.

The front bump stop (red curve) has a two-stage rate, so the car will understeer more once it's passed about 1/2" of compression - the slope increases dramatically vs. the rear. You'll get to that easily in typical cornering with a stock suspension, with coilovers it'll vary with body length and if you've trimmed the stops or not. This is 'safe' (factory loves sneaky ways to build in understeer) but sucks for predictability under racing. Our 58mm stops (popular replacement on NC C/S and CSP setups) cure that with a linear initial rate, building to progressive at ~50% compressed length.

Shaikh

 

So are the RE-11s worth the extra money versus the dunlops?

If you were running a stock size wheel, would 245/40/R18 be a good compromise if you also had to use it for your daily driver. I'm not running in STX, just with a local club in a street tire class (it's not as competitive as SCCA).

 

Good luck with the move Mark. Other than the brutally hot summers, Texas is a real haven for this sport as you can race year-round.
A 245/40/18 would definitely be a good size to run on the stock wheels. If you're just doing local stuff, the Dunlops will be a great choice - superb handling in the wet and one of the best in dry. The lower price is the icing on the cake.

 

Shameless plug for myself here: If anyone is looking for the Racing Brake BBK Kit I one for sale in my Part Out Thread.

 

Not sure what KW used - I was in a rush to install mine and did not measure them.

Any of the Bilstien guys have a chance to measure the bumps before they install them?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

From the Bilstein PSS9 installation manual, the bumpstops are 40mm in height and 32mm in diameter for both front and rear.

 

That should make for a nice little STX group in this area. However, I'll be a proud father in about 12 weeks, so we may not run across each other until a little later this season.

Got a set of 255 Star Specs mounted up on the RPF1s Wednesday night.



Been driving around on them since Thursday to scuff them in for a local Winter Series event tomorrow on the concrete at Pennington. Looking forward to the first event on a true STX wheel/tire setup!

 

Hey Iain,

Congrats. My wife is due April 9 with our first. Good luck with fatherhood!

- Dave

 

Thank you. It's been a long time coming, and I'm really looking forward to being a daddy.

Yeah, you can't really go wrong with DFW for motorsports. We've got five active local autocross groups (SCCA, ER, NTAKS, PCA, and BMWCCA), time trials with Texas Time Trials, NASA, and the PCA, plus several groups that operate DEs on the area's three race tracks (MotorSport Ranch, Eagles Canyon, and Texas Motor Speedway). It's a good place to live if you like motorsports.

Chike - the summers can be tough if you're not used to the heat (I've lived here most of my life and it doesn't bother me), but we make up for it in other ways. Tomorrow it's going to be 65 and sunny. :D

Dave,

Congrats and good luck to you as well! My wife is due April 26th, so we're right behind you!

 

So I ran the car at a local winter series event yesterday at Pennington Field (the same site Andy Hollis used for the recent "street tires vs. r comps" story in Grassroots). Miatamoto co-drove the car with me. This was not an SCCA-classed event, but there were several competitive SCCA cars there.

Out of 59 cars, Miatamoto and I took first and second in class (under 4.0L displacement on street tires, including a couple of STU cars), and first and third overall on PAX index (we calculated the index on all the SCCA cars there).

It's a small data sample, and I certainly don't expect it to mean anything to anyone but me. However, the car performed better than I expected against a couple of known quantities, and I walked away feeling confident that the car will be in the hunt. Hopefully next month I'll have a chance to run against Lucas and Ledbetter's 328 and add a better data point.

The car was a blast to drive. While it doesn't have the overall grip of a B (C) Stock car, STX suspension allowances really let you set up a car that's more responsive, better balanced, and ultimately (imho) more fun to drive. I really enjoyed it, and I can't see going back to the restrictions of Stock class.

Now let's just get the car reclassed to DSP so I can enjoy R comps AND the suspension.

 

Iain,

Is your current STX set-up just coilovers and wheels & tires? If so, not bad for your first showing in the car. Best of luck as you get more seat time in the car!