I wanted to create a build thread for my 05 Base that is going to be my daily/ auto X/ Time Attack project. I have owned the car for almost a year now and have been able to test it at a few events in stock trim and am very pleased with the base performance of the car. Short background on me: My name is John and I have been doing performance driving for about 10 years. I am an SCCA Solo and Porsche Owners Club driving instructor in San Diego and was 2009 SCCA Class Champion in San Diego in my old car.

I have the help of AJ-USA.com,Bilstein, and AEMcurrently with this build and I am about to get it off the ground this weekend with install of Bilstein's PSS9 Full Coil-Over Kit and AEM's CAI. I can not thank them enough for the support!

I really can't wait to build this car , here are a few early photos of my RX8.






First things to be added were a HKS Hi Power CAT Back, larger Hotchkis front sway bar, lighter 17" wheels and 245 tires. I stayed stock width with this set of wheels as I was thinking I would be building a Stock Class SCCA car, but that idea has gone out the window. Below is how the RX8 currently sits, as this is a photo from the past weekend at Streets of Willow Springs in CA.





I was able to run a personal best time of Streets CW of a 1:30.1 on 245 Kumho XS. I am going to use this as a baseline and then compare once the build evolves, so stay tuned! I'll be updating here and on my Facebook page. www.facebook.com/johnburrowsracing

 

Welcome, I look forward you your progress.

 

Welcome and looking forward to this build. What did you use to run before? I used to run with the SD SCCA when I lived there. Ran with John Fudge and Danny Yu.

 

This was my old play thing, should look familiar since it was usually the only del sol out there. I ran STS with Steve Coe, Michael Heintz, etc.

 

Welcome, keen to see more updates.

 

Here is a video of one of the Porsche club events. Took 3rd of 25 drivers in the unlimited class, which was awesome since the car was still stock. Lots of room for improvement!

 

good, apart from the homo music

 

here is a quick iphone pic of how the car sits after this past weekends install. Loving the Bilsteins! Trying to get back out to streets soon to test out the new suspension and alignment. More updates to come.

 

Awesome picture....though it also looks like a matchbox

 

Haha I know, I was noticing that too. I'll have some DSLR ones in a little, but thought this one was kinda cool.

 

I'll will be headed back out to streets of Willow to test out The Bilstein PSS kit, new alignment, and CAI. Car already feels amazing daily, so it should be a fun test weekend. Lot of tweaking ahead

 

Good luck and have a great time! I upgraded my suspension last year and went to a more aggressive alignment and I shaved almost 2 seconds off my best time.

 

I wanted to set expectations low and shoot for a second quicker. 2 would be even better! I'll let you guys know what happens

 

Subbed.

 

cool looking forward to the build bro.

 

Nothing new to see here, sorry ....

 

I just started my build so no problem, nothing crazy new yet. I am also wanting to do this to document the progression of the car for those curious about the gains of each mod. First test went well last weekend, I am just trying to put everything together before I post.

 

Kind of random, but what's the story with the sinister looking 5 series with the brake ducts in the background of pic 1?

 

haha, that is a buddies M5. It really is pretty sinister. Cams, header with no CATS or mufflers. German NASCAR pretty much. I think it dynoed last month at 420whp??? It is also on VOLK TE37 and full coil overs.

 

That is the most retarded comment I have ever heard. Please tell me the similarities between the two apart from apart from being V8

 

First off, it was a joke.

Since you asked.

"NASCAR / Stock car racing in the United States has its origins in bootlegging during Prohibition, when drivers ran bootleg whiskey made primarily in the Appalachian region of the United States. Bootleggers needed to distribute their illicit products, and they typically used fast vehicles to better evade the police. Many of the drivers would modify their cars for speed and handling, as well as increased cargo capacity, and some of them came to love the fast-paced driving down twisty mountain roads."

Insert: One loud straight piped massive German sedan that handles pretty damn well for it's size. M5

Anyway this is getting off topic.

 

I know the history of nascar. No need to copy and paste from wikipedia.

I wouldnt say that today they are built for handling, they drive around in an oval. The m5 can turn in more than one direction

 

First test with the new parts went pretty well. I dropped 1.9 seconds. Went from a 1:30.1 to a 1:28.2. Pretty happy with the results, but I know I can drop a bit more time with some more dialing in. Got lucky enough to get a photo in the same corner, so I could see how much flatter the car is now. Trying to figure out what is next... Some mild aero or maybe adjustable rear sway bar??? We shall see. Better brakes are a must and I just picked dup race brake fluid, so I know that will help for now. Build is coming along, but it still needs more. Here are some Photos and videos though.



Stock



With Coil-Overs

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Couple videos I made of install...

 

Congrats on the 2 seconds!

 

If you're planning on doing time attack you may want to read the rules of whatever series you plan to run in before planning to do your next mods. Brake upgrades wouldn't hurt, especially if you're running on r-comps.