Left the DSC on for first run in Atlanta and then again in Toledo. It was about a 1.5 second penalty

 

Thanks for the thoughtful answers, guys. From a car setup standpoint, it def. sounds like doing the B Stock-type mods are the shortest mechanical route to shaving seconds off my time. I just wanted to get all your opinions before making this conclusion on my own, as I'm still quite unfamiliar w/ the strong/weak points of this car.
I'm still debating on whether to go 17" or 18" sizing; the former potentially allowing for wider widths in light of cost.
Also, I'm gonna make an effort to finally get to Evo school this year; in Los Angeles.

Gulaman

 

If you go to 17" wheels, what size tire is available? I think Kumho has a 275/40/17 available. In my opinion, that size isn't going to be a whole lot better (if at all) than their 245/35/18 which is what all the fast guys were running last year.

Now if you can get ahold of some 18x9.5" wheels you could fit the 285/30/18 V710. But if I were you I'd stay stock and learn to drive the car to the limits of a stock setup. It will be the most instructional.

 

Yeah, for 17", the 275 is what I had in mind. In any case, I'll be running at least the first few events this year bone-stock. gotta start saving up for all these goodies. Just last night I sold my track wheel/tires from my A4...so at least I've got a bit of a start on my mod piggy bank!!
Last question: for those that have used V710s, are these so soft that they would completely be written off if used in HPDE?? if so, that may require me to downgrade to Victoracers or 'kook Z211. I definitely want to get a couple of DE days in along with a full season of AutoX out of my next tires.

 

You asked what was the fastest setup for $2k and now you want to hurt yourself in the one area you gain the most.... Make up your mind. The V710 was on the pole setting T1 and T2 cars at the run offs, if the big fat T1 viper can make them last all race and come home 2nd I think the will live on your RX8.

My last set of V710s had about 100 runs and 1000 miles when I gave them away for someone else to finish off. You will notice that around 50-60 or so runs the V710 gets slower, more like a Victoracer at that point.

The only way I would ever even think about 17s is to run the 275. However if I had the funds I would rather run the 285-18. The guys that go to 17s and run 245s are nuts, good way to slow your car down.

 

[QUOTE=ULLLOSE]You asked what was the fastest setup for $2k and now you want to hurt yourself in the one area you gain the most.... Make up your mind. The V710 was on the pole setting T1 and T2 cars at the run offs, if the big fat T1 viper can make them last all race and come home 2nd I think the will live on your RX8.

QUOTE]

Well, that's why I'm asking first, not acting first!! would like it to be an informed decision. Data gathering, rationalizing, weighing the options, etc, etc....you should see my big decision matrix I've got posted on my wall <sarcasm> !!
Good to know however that the V710 holds up decently. I would've been prepared to just run my street tires for DEs, if the consensus came back that the V710s would be thrashed by DE use.

-Gulaman

 

The driver has a lot do with whether that will happen.

 

No doubt you could go one season on a set of V710s autoxing. If you toss in a few track days you might need two sets for the year. Just depends on how many laps and how hard you push. The 275 would take a track day better than a 245, more tire to spread the heat over.

 

2 sets of V710s pretty much kills your budget. That means no konis, no schools.

I'm not a V710 driver, but the sprint races are only a few laps. If you run with a group like Chin Motorsports, you'll get lots of laps. You may get over 6 hours of track time in a weekend, and I doubt a V710 will hold up to that kind of use.

Another track acquaintance of mine drives a 996 and gets more track days in a year than I will get in the next 5 (over 20 this last year!). He drives Mich Pilot Sport Cups and when I asked him about tire life, he was able to get 10-11 track days out of a set. When he first started out he was only getting 7-8 days before replacement. As his skilled improved, he got quicker (very, very quick), but he wore his tires less.

Don't know how many track days you have, but I would think twice about bringing out an expensive sprint tire for a weekend of high speed mayhem. I would prefer to have a tire that has longer life and consistency over its life. I find that finding speed out on the track is directly proportional to my consistency and smoothness. In other words, I find speed in very small increments, by increasing my speed by 1mph in some places, or moving a braking point a few feet. I can't do this without consistency. I'm still working at it and have a long way to go and for my skill level, a V710 is wasted grip and money.

The V710 may give you the opportunity to put down a very quick time at the track, but it's going to be expensive. If you are going to buy 2 sets of tires, I would get the V710s and a dedicated track tire, like a PSC, RA1, Advan, or even another set of dunlop SSRs. All except the SSRs cost about the same as the V710.

Bruce

 

Good food for thought, Bruce. In my case though I'll never get 6 hours of track time per weekend. NASA events usually give me only 1.5 hours per day, and by the time I get around to getting tires this year I'll probably only get 2 track days in for '06. On my Dunlop SSRs last year, I did 3 DE days and about 9 AutoX (@7 runs/event average) days, and they look only about 1/2 worn.
But I'm more interested in optimising my car for AutoX rather than DEs; so much so that I'm willing to run some of the DEs on street tires if it means lengthening the AutoX life of an expensive tire like the V710.
Anyhoo, this is all January stovepipe talk for me it seems...my car's not even broken in yet!!!

 

If you decide you want to run 17s check this out:https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=79804

 

Hey ULLOSE, in your experience is there any minute benefit from using wheel *offset* as a selection criteria? e.g. say, if choosing between a couple of wheels 18x8 to mount AutoX tires...one is designed w/ less offset, therefore providing a slightly wider track. is that even a worthy consideration?? I thought of this because it seems that nearly every aftermarket rim out there has less offset than the stockers.

 

"Wider is better" it has to be true or Pontiac would not have spent all that money on those adds. I would go for width before offset. I would rather have stock offset with an extra 1/2" of wheel width than stock width with a 1/2" of offset. Most aftermarket stuff has the wrong offset for us beacause they were built for another car but just happen to fit the RX8.

 

You can always fix offset with spacers too. (With longer studs if necessary.)

 

But ...it's always better to get the right wheels in the first place

 

When it comes to tires. The DOT R tires are sticky. Howerer they are closer to mud and snows compared to real racing slicks. As long as you don't drive them on the street, not at all. Gross generalization warning: Best of street tires ~0.95g, Best of DOT R tires ~1.15g, Best of real racing slicks ~1.45g.

If you really don't care about class. Real slicks are a bigger jump over DOT R's than they are from street tires.

Ray

 

But getting real slicks up to their optimum temp range is, at best, problematic in autocross conditions. If you can't get the tires into their temp range they may or may not be faster than r comps...or even knobby mud and snows for that matter.

 

Guess you're right. I never see a competive mod or prepared car running real racing slicks.


Ray

 

Actually, I've never seen a nationally-prepped mod or prepared class car running anything but real racing slicks.

 

I think that's what's called sarcasm.