The STX thread!
If the course has a long (say, over 5-7 seconds) left hand sweeper you can get fuel starvation, but the fuel has to be pretty low, such as your second or third run after the light comes on. I've experienced it twice at Packwood but I don't recall if that was in stock class trim or STX.
I think all Broda needs now is clear corners and then he'll be a world class STX competitor!!! :P
I typically like to get to the event with a quarter tank, that way I never have to sit there and worry about idling a bit, using too much gas while keeping the engine at perfect temps, not having to worry about fuel starvation, stuff like that. That way, at the end of the event, I'm on the gas light.
But that's just me.
I typically like to get to the event with a quarter tank, that way I never have to sit there and worry about idling a bit, using too much gas while keeping the engine at perfect temps, not having to worry about fuel starvation, stuff like that. That way, at the end of the event, I'm on the gas light.
But that's just me.
Having said that, I plan to continue to target just having the light come on by third runs.
First Event on Michelin Super Sports
Conditions were mid-40s, dry, overcast, with a light breeze.
Course was typical for an early season PIR North Paddock event – transition intensive, short (37.5 sec for me) & tight.
I had no co-driver.
My primary competition/benchmark was four drivers in two STR MX-5s. Both have similar prep level to one another (good coilovers & OS Giken diffs). Both were on Toyo R1-Rs, and both were co-driven.
Now, I originally bought the Super Sports for rain events. However given the ambient temps & the fact that the only other tires I had to run were the ‘kooks, I decided to leave the Michelins on the car. I also had a relatively mild alignment (-1.5/-1.0 camber) and a malfunctioning (read: non-existent) ABS module.
Indexed results for open PAX are here:
http://scorekeeper.wwscc.org/results...lass?list=OPAX
My position (5th) is the same for overall indexed results.
Overall I’m very happy with the above. The top four drivers are either multi-time national champs or very close.
What’s interesting is that I was bracketed by the four STR MX-5 drivers. I sort of expected to be below all four, given that they were on R1-Rs and had dual drivers, and given that I more or less consider all four to be equal or better drivers than me.
I did use blankets between runs but I still had less heat in my tires. Not by a huge amount but it was easy to feel by hand.
The Super Sports felt very good – especially in transitions. Grip on the one sweeper in the course was noticably lower than what I am used to in the ‘kooks. They were also easy to control when the trail braking got out of control due to the lack of ABS.
I’m not saying the Super Sports are equal to the R1-Rs in cool, dry conditions. In fact one of the MX5-s ran Super Sports the day before at the practice event (which had basically identical conditions) and they felt that the Toyos had more grip. And, quite frankly, my gap to Ryan Otis in the STR car was quite large for a 30 second course. Some of that can be explained by driving skill & the fact that he was in an STR car, but in my experience not all of it. So I’m fairly confident the Toyos make a better cool/dry tire (three sets of tires anyone?). Nothing surprising there. But the Michelins did pretty darn good considering the circumstances. A co-driver and/or more negative camber might have helped close the gap a bit.
Hopefully I’ll get to test them in the rain soon.
As for how the car behaves without ABS, you get front lockup in a straight line, or in a turn if the fronts are heavily loaded. But if you realize you’ve overcooked a turn before the fronts have been overloaded, and then brush the brakes to correct the line, expect very assertive trail braking. Overall it was a good opportunity for me to practice good braking technique & re-learn the skills that were necessary to drive an old NA Miata quickly. But I missed the RX-8s excellent ABS braking system - I do think I gave up a bit of time in the two spots on course were there was moderate straight-line braking, and on a faster course it would be a real problem.
Course was typical for an early season PIR North Paddock event – transition intensive, short (37.5 sec for me) & tight.
I had no co-driver.
My primary competition/benchmark was four drivers in two STR MX-5s. Both have similar prep level to one another (good coilovers & OS Giken diffs). Both were on Toyo R1-Rs, and both were co-driven.
Now, I originally bought the Super Sports for rain events. However given the ambient temps & the fact that the only other tires I had to run were the ‘kooks, I decided to leave the Michelins on the car. I also had a relatively mild alignment (-1.5/-1.0 camber) and a malfunctioning (read: non-existent) ABS module.
Indexed results for open PAX are here:
http://scorekeeper.wwscc.org/results...lass?list=OPAX
My position (5th) is the same for overall indexed results.
Overall I’m very happy with the above. The top four drivers are either multi-time national champs or very close.
What’s interesting is that I was bracketed by the four STR MX-5 drivers. I sort of expected to be below all four, given that they were on R1-Rs and had dual drivers, and given that I more or less consider all four to be equal or better drivers than me.
I did use blankets between runs but I still had less heat in my tires. Not by a huge amount but it was easy to feel by hand.
The Super Sports felt very good – especially in transitions. Grip on the one sweeper in the course was noticably lower than what I am used to in the ‘kooks. They were also easy to control when the trail braking got out of control due to the lack of ABS.
I’m not saying the Super Sports are equal to the R1-Rs in cool, dry conditions. In fact one of the MX5-s ran Super Sports the day before at the practice event (which had basically identical conditions) and they felt that the Toyos had more grip. And, quite frankly, my gap to Ryan Otis in the STR car was quite large for a 30 second course. Some of that can be explained by driving skill & the fact that he was in an STR car, but in my experience not all of it. So I’m fairly confident the Toyos make a better cool/dry tire (three sets of tires anyone?). Nothing surprising there. But the Michelins did pretty darn good considering the circumstances. A co-driver and/or more negative camber might have helped close the gap a bit.
Hopefully I’ll get to test them in the rain soon.
As for how the car behaves without ABS, you get front lockup in a straight line, or in a turn if the fronts are heavily loaded. But if you realize you’ve overcooked a turn before the fronts have been overloaded, and then brush the brakes to correct the line, expect very assertive trail braking. Overall it was a good opportunity for me to practice good braking technique & re-learn the skills that were necessary to drive an old NA Miata quickly. But I missed the RX-8s excellent ABS braking system - I do think I gave up a bit of time in the two spots on course were there was moderate straight-line braking, and on a faster course it would be a real problem.
I am very impressed with my stance coilovers. I just installed them on the car and have not had a chance to tune them yet but they were good enough to give me fastest Raw Street tire class time at Gulf Coast and 9th in Pax (7th car). Just a shame there are so many great cars and drivers in the pro class where I race.
http://gulfcoastautocrossers.com/eve...nt%203_pax.htm
http://gulfcoastautocrossers.com/eve...nt%203_pax.htm
I am very impressed with my stance coilovers. I just installed them on the car and have not had a chance to tune them yet but they were good enough to give me fastest Raw Street tire class time at Gulf Coast and 9th in Pax (7th car). Just a shame there are so many great cars and drivers in the pro class where I race.
http://gulfcoastautocrossers.com/eve...nt%203_pax.htm
http://gulfcoastautocrossers.com/eve...nt%203_pax.htm
Eric Simmons
What car does your sister drive? She can park in our "cool section" if she wants too. We race Sat and Sun once a month with a 2 month break in the summer. There are also quite a few other local...ish events, if you are prepared to drive up to 2 hours.
I will say hi to Eric he is a good friend of mine and damn that boy can drive.
What car does your sister drive? She can park in our "cool section" if she wants too. We race Sat and Sun once a month with a 2 month break in the summer. There are also quite a few other local...ish events, if you are prepared to drive up to 2 hours.
What car does your sister drive? She can park in our "cool section" if she wants too. We race Sat and Sun once a month with a 2 month break in the summer. There are also quite a few other local...ish events, if you are prepared to drive up to 2 hours.
Eric is a decent driver when he is not trying to drift the whole run
Simmons
Eric drives his beast on Saturdays (stripped out miata turbo) and just drifts the whole course.
We nearly got banned from the Porsche event because he kept driving sideways and I kept spinning the thing, lol. Then I went and got my Rx8 and got 5th Fastest of the day beating 2x 911 GT3 RS
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Joined: Mar 2012
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I wasn't planing on building my new car for autocross, but, well, I can't help it. The 8s too much fun. I'm trying to make a semicompetative autocross car (not national level, but could make a run at a national event), that's streetable, and could take a lap day every once in a while. Sorry about the novelish size, I'm looking for advice on everything. I'll also admit I didn't read all 95 pages of this thread, so feel free to tell me off for that.
First off, here in Utah we have a tendency to run mid to top of second gear courses with soft openings, so I'm torn between 17 or 18 inch wheels. What's the difference in speed and acceleration dropping down a size?
I've also had a soft offer of the suspension off of an mx5 cup car. I've heard that some miata parts fit on the 8, and I could get it dirt cheap. From what I've been told, it's a good suspension, double adjustable, changeable springs, but I have no idea what it actually is, probably some Mazdaspeed shop special. I'm limited in my mechanical abilities, so a straightforward suspension change is about all I'm willing to try. Would it fit? Would the shocks be too soft for autocross? As an alternative, I'm looking at the mazdaspeed coil overs and sport dampeners as well as at Koni yellows and the Ohlins. How are they?
I've previously liked the highest end of spring rates with no sway bar. It's worked well for me in the past, but it's my first time with a mazda, and I'd prefer a streetable car. What are good spring rates for an autocross/track RX8? As far as stabilizer bars go, I've got no idea. I see that a handful of stx preped 8s have racing beat sways, and others have hotchkis. Do either of them make an improvement? Are either of those adjustable?
As far as everything else goes, I'm thinking mazdaspeed exhaust if I go with their springs, or the corksport or maybe a turbo XS otherwise. I'm sure that there isn't much of a difference in intakes, so I'll just take what's cheap there. I've also liked the feel of the stock LSD so I'll probably leave that. Did I miss anything?
Well, if you took the time to read this far, thanks!
First off, here in Utah we have a tendency to run mid to top of second gear courses with soft openings, so I'm torn between 17 or 18 inch wheels. What's the difference in speed and acceleration dropping down a size?
I've also had a soft offer of the suspension off of an mx5 cup car. I've heard that some miata parts fit on the 8, and I could get it dirt cheap. From what I've been told, it's a good suspension, double adjustable, changeable springs, but I have no idea what it actually is, probably some Mazdaspeed shop special. I'm limited in my mechanical abilities, so a straightforward suspension change is about all I'm willing to try. Would it fit? Would the shocks be too soft for autocross? As an alternative, I'm looking at the mazdaspeed coil overs and sport dampeners as well as at Koni yellows and the Ohlins. How are they?
I've previously liked the highest end of spring rates with no sway bar. It's worked well for me in the past, but it's my first time with a mazda, and I'd prefer a streetable car. What are good spring rates for an autocross/track RX8? As far as stabilizer bars go, I've got no idea. I see that a handful of stx preped 8s have racing beat sways, and others have hotchkis. Do either of them make an improvement? Are either of those adjustable?
As far as everything else goes, I'm thinking mazdaspeed exhaust if I go with their springs, or the corksport or maybe a turbo XS otherwise. I'm sure that there isn't much of a difference in intakes, so I'll just take what's cheap there. I've also liked the feel of the stock LSD so I'll probably leave that. Did I miss anything?
Well, if you took the time to read this far, thanks!
I finaly got out today for the 1st time with the car.
The Lot was Very small, tight, and dirty.
It was still Fun to try it out.
http://youtu.be/rXfeGhbrRw8
Simmons
The Lot was Very small, tight, and dirty.
It was still Fun to try it out.
http://youtu.be/rXfeGhbrRw8
Simmons
I'm batting zero here lately
another major malfunction tonight, tried to rebuild my RacingBrake front calipers and when I went to bleed them brake fluid is blowing past the piston seals like the flooded Mississippi River.
when it rains it pours ... sigh
another major malfunction tonight, tried to rebuild my RacingBrake front calipers and when I went to bleed them brake fluid is blowing past the piston seals like the flooded Mississippi River.
when it rains it pours ... sigh
I have to pretend I am driving my st civic again and lay off the brakes more
Simmons
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 918
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Lolz... i went to check if there was a rx-8 workshop called simmons racing and found this... sports racing shoes....
http://www.simmons-racing.com/
loved the intro song!
http://www.simmons-racing.com/
loved the intro song!
Last edited by Blacknightz; Mar 20, 2012 at 01:21 AM.
