those are some fatty sidewalls...

 

Autocross was today, took 1st in STX!

 

fatty sidewalls ftw .... compliance + street tires is a good thing



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Hey, check the June Fasttrack.. some cool stuff about new BSP reorganization and how the RX-8 fits into that

 

...

 

That wouldn't be too bad. If I didn't drive like **** (being hung over didn't help either) I would've been very close to the Evo's times. I usually were ahead of them at the start of the whole slalom, then the turn around, and then that's where I decided to start being AWESOME and go wide and just...**** up everywhere. Yay. But keeping them in BSP and moving other cars out kind of makes sense.

 

SEB Letter Tracking Number #4942 (in favor of the new BSP minus the TT)

 

DSP is about to bite them in the ****, they need to take the protectionist blinders off and see the E46s coming on strong, hard, and expen$ive. I was even a bit shocked watching Alex Shchipkov at the Blytheville Pro. He told me his old car has no chance against their E46 330, which was obvious to anyone watching.

 

There have been E46s in DSP for years, why haven't they dominated? The reality is that of the many that have tried, (including the illustrious Mr. Tunnell) only Rowse's car has done really well, and he's not spending big bucks on motor work.

If you're smart about your build, it really doesn't need to be expensive. My STX car is just flares, R-comps, a header, some weight reduction, and a spring change away from being a top running DSP car. I'm sure it costs more than a BSP RX-8, but it doesn't involve a motor swap like an E36.

The E46 *does* have the opportunity to be a much better ProSolo car, due to the final drives offered, but the optimal final drive for ProSolo is not the same as the optimal final drive for normal autocross. The E46 has the flexibility in DSP to use either, and they can be swapped in a couple hours, but I don't think most will go there.

 

The one Alex is driving looks much faster, they put the effort into it and it shows for sure(note they finished 1-2 at the NJ Pro too).

funny how you always talk the talk, maybe you will finally show me some walking the walk this weekend?



edit: guess not since you aren't on the entry list


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Cool, was that car at nats last year? A 330 also won the pro in STX, but I don't know that the competition was terribly stiff.

I'm in Lincoln now, doing my first prosolo tomorrow, can't wait! And I *really* hope we get to run the nats courses from last year, as is tradition down here. After coning every run last year, I've got a score to settle...

 

well the 255s R1Rs are the boss off the line, launching at 7500 rpm today (previously was 4500 - 5000 on the 245/35) and even beating the Stock RX-8s at 60 and 200 feet by several tenths

I hope the trans holds ....

 

DAYUM Mark, that's beast. What place are you holding up right now?

 

We haven't run yet today. Launching is the easy part for me, so probably last place is the preliminary projection

Cold today, was raining as I left the hotel. Course has been dry but the clouds are spitting light drops here and there.

 

Sounds exactly like how I had it. Ugh... Well just becareful and good luck man. Don't let the pressure get to you like I did for me...but then again, you've done plenty of these I'm sure.

 

Do work!

 

Well I have a lot of that to do because my car is not working on the 255 R1Rs so far, loose turning in, pushing on exit, won't slalom .... ughly

 

Congrats on the trophy Mark! Those are some great 60 ft times. Over .1 faster than I was seeing in NJ.

 

Mark are you doing Blytheville? Trying to decide if I need to sign up or not...

 

The car is better after some tire pressure and shock adjustments, but still not as good as it was on the 245/35, especially in the slaloms which the courses were mostly and where all the time was. Showing up untested on a new tire size proved to be a significant tactical error on my part, but I can only make the best of it now. The real showing of launch grip was the 200 foot time in the practice starts, 4.9 sec for me because of the reduced tire spin on the 1-2 shift. Don't think I have ever run under 5 sec in the RX-8 before, not even on R tires/Stock.

For the Tour event the two Pro courses were linked together with some minor changes. A bit disappointing, but they probably had no choice since the Pro Challenges didn't finish until almost 5 PM and we have to be off the site by 8 PM. We run 1st Heat too, good chance it may be raining in the morning.

Hats off to Murph for making a very good showing in the BMW 330i. He made me work hard for the last trophy spot and was just as deserving of it himself.

 

Congrats on the trophy Mark, good job out there! I was listening a bit when I could on the sololive website.

Speaking of tire pressures... Even though it's only been 3 events now..(including yesterday)..My new Hoosiers are almost corded. Looks like I've been running VERY low tire pressures... ugh. At least now I know...Just need to flip them so I can keep using them.

 

Corded A6's on an RX-8?!?! How low were you running?

 

26 PSI on a 18x9 wheel. size 255/35 they're not corded, but getting there. A few very experienced people with Hoosier's said that I just need to flip them and start running higher pressures.

 

Marc - https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-25/any-comments-new-hoosier-255-now-some-have-tried-them-170289/

 

Off topic, but I bought a set of the Mazda/Mazdaspeed contingency stickers from Solotime (soloperformance.com) and had them apply the white stickers to reusable vinyl that could be put on and taken off for each tour. Unfortunately, I didn't ask what the vinyl was, and it is solid black. I'm going to re-do it with transparent vinyl to look a bit better on my red car, but I'd like to sell this existing setup. It's about $36 from them.

The basic sticker pack (not reusable) from Mazda is about $21, so I'd like $20 shipped if anyone is interested.