You aren't kidding.. that's for sure. Good luck.

 

Signed up for my first event this coming Sunday. Hope to gain a lot of knowledge from you guys as time goes on!

 

there are some knowledgeable RX8 owners/competitors in your area

 

here is the course map from this weekends Pro Solo event, probably one of the top 3 Pro courses I have ever run (and also one of the longest); my first Pro Solo event was in 1995 and I have run the series every year since. It was a nice blend of handling and power elements, but a real ball-buster if you made a mistake anywhere ...




.

 

some video from the Open Challenge

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhVSkHAvNnw

 

Very nice video Mark and great starts in spite of the RL. The San Diego field looks awesome. Wish I was there. Good Luck!

 

I was looking for a bit of help from some of the more experienced drivers about the best car mods to improves my car to help get better Autocross times.

Here are my mods worth noting:
Light weight wheels with good tires either RS3 or Starspecs
Stance Coilovers
Better brake pads
Autocross Alignment
Solo Pro driving school (Driver Mod)

I want to spend a bit of money on the car to help improve my times and would like some feedback on best investment for my money. Here is what I think I should buy:
Cobb Access Port
Sway bars
BHR ignition coils
Seat
Battery
Exhaust and Induction (I think this is very expensive for the gains or rather weight losses and I don't want a cop magnet as it is my daily driver).

Any feedback about what order you would start buying things would be great and also anything else that has helped make your car faster.

 

Nice job Mark. Great videos of a HUGE course!

 

Go get them tomorrow Mark!!

 

Day 1 results from the San Diego NT:

Class standings for STX [12 Cars] (4/28/2012 12:21:08 PM)

---------------------------------------------------------
T 1 113 Bryan Heitkotter 1994 BMW 325is White Dunlop
56.176 55.893 55.615 55.615

---------------------------------------------------------
T 2 94 James Yom 2004 Mazda RX-8 Silver
56.250 58.622(1) 56.517 56.250
(0.635)
---------------------------------------------------------
T 3 194 Steve OBlenes 2004 Mazda RX8 Silver Hankook
56.603 58.189(1) 59.094(1) 56.603
(0.353)
---------------------------------------------------------
T 4 96 Mark Sipe 2005 Mazda RX-8 White Toyo
57.499 57.240 56.675 56.675
(0.072)

Mark had a great last run to close down on the leaders. Way to go!

 

Yep, Mark has the car working and he is working the car....that last run was sweet.....he is in the hunt.
Also noteworthy is Andy McKee's RX7 in XP....he is all over the Zust Lotus....the Lotus just might go down tomorrow.
Best luck tomorrow to both.
Jim and Carter

 

Steve has a cone on his first run that was missed in the audit. He is a stand-up guy and let T&S know about it, but it won't show up until the actual results come out. The live timing doesn't update after the class is finished running.

I made some mistakes and overall was not aggressive enough. That won't cut it against this group of drivers. Just need to trust the car tomorrow and drive with my head. Bryan drove like a champ and it was great to watch him work the car out on course. James Yom is always strong and also did a great job in a car he's not that familiar with codriving with Steve. Steve gets the Goody's Headache Award for coning away all his runs including a time good enough for 2nd place. Couple of BMWs breathing down my neck in the next two spots behind me.

Video clip from my 3rd run today


.

 

Thanks for all of the support. My car was great, but I made the wrong mistakes in the wrong places and it cost me today. Congrats to James and Steve for putting down great times in their RX-8.

video clip of my 2nd run today


.

 

Good event Mark against some of the very best. Very glad the car is still working well....that will finally let you concentrate on the driving.....the thing we all need to do more of.
Jim and Carter

 

here is a pic of McKee's XP class FD3, my understanding is he hasn't done much from SM trim except get some of the weight out

 

and a new color. Thanks for the pic. As you know the Zust Lotus came back with a vengence on Sunday but I suspect McKee will put some heat on him in time.

 

Andy's RX7 is just simply Amazing.

 

Andy's car is amazing...and he was on the Goodyear DOT's...

next on his "to do" list, slicks...this should get really good


Mark, solid job against some very tough competition. Good to see you, as always.

 

Mark, do you have any in car video?



Simmons

 

I posted my fast time run video from each day above.

 

I was wondering if you had any video from inside the car?



Simmons

 

Here is video from Heitkotter

 

I only have a single GoPro cam and it is mounted on the exterior roof.

 

Finally got around to doing a few uploads:

 

hey i need some help.
I'm about to buy new tires Hankook Ventus R-S3.
So from what i read the best size on my wheels (18" 8.5 +30) would be 255/35/18 for autocross and daily driving. The thing is that they cost around 1000 and a little lower size 245/40/18 cost $200 less, so it is a big difference. The question is, is it worth to buy the wider ones and pay 200 more?how much difference in handling will be between them?

the other question is about alignment.
i'm on the tein s-tech and koni yellows right now.
what settings would be the best for me?
so far i found interesting alignment from "Alignment settings for street/track use" thread.
Front
camber: -1.8 L/R
toe: 0 L/R
caster: 8.3 left 8.0 right

Rear
camber: -1.6 L/R
toe: 0.04" L/R or 0.08" total toe
what do you think?
thx