Where does the RX-8 fit in 2018?
 

I'm restoring (to use the word loosely) a 2007 RX-8 GT that came with a blown coolant seal, torn up driver's seat, worn steering wheel, deployed driver-side side-impact airbags, and a 8" long dent near the pinch-weld due to the previous owner introducing the car to a curb. While it is completely stock and has had all recalls performed, it isn't a pristine example of an RX-8 and it isn't exactly worth making it one, so the wife and I have decided to make it a track car that I can still daily on fair-weather days.

All modifications I'm doing now are reliability-only.
-SOHN Adapter + Premix
-D585 ignition coils
-Possible de-cat
-CSF Racing radiator
-Centric High-Carbon brake rotors
-StopTech Sport brake pads

As time goes on I may consider performance-enhancing mods, but I want to understand the car better as it is, driving it stock first.

Immediately we intend to auto-cross as we both have experience there with previous cars (Pontiac G8, Honda Civic Si, Fiat 500 Sport, and a Nissan 240sx), though I'd like to get better at higher speed driving and she'd like to improve her confidence with pushing RWD cars. We are conveniently located near a road course that holds frequent events and SCCA and NASA both have a presence here. The question is, has the likes of the ND Miata and other newer cars made the RX-8 obsolete in its stock class? Is it best to focus on building for STX, or is the RX-8 limited there as well? I don't expect to be taking championships, but it'd be nice if we made a solid crack at it and to know the car will be sufficient to compete against the peers in-class, leaving it up to us as drivers to take it home.If the 8 cannot be competitive in the stock or near-stock classes, we'll just keep to what we did before, racing 'for fun' without consideration for class or points.

SCCA T4 is easy (few mods to be competitive) and I know of a couple of builds happening.

It's not a terrible car for SCCA C Street, but if you run primarily on index I think you've got an uphill battle. The ND Miata is a better car for CS.

They're great STX cars, maybe not top of the heap anymore, but certainly a solid choice and STX prep would make the car enjoyable on the street, autocross and track days if you want to do that.

If you're going to de-cat, might as well run DSP and step up to sticky tires :)

If you get a high-flow cat with 100+ cpsi then you can run SCCA autocross in STX (assuming nobody minds non-performance mods like the Sohn) but you probably won't be terribly competitive without a suspension upgrade.

Okay, sounds like STX is still a fair option. I'll run CS for a bit, just to feel it out, but once I am ready for coilovers (planning on Bilstein PSS9's), I'll move to STX. I don't mind running a high-flow cat, in fact I'm preferable to having a cat, I just want the most reliability I can obtain, which I feel the stock cat is a hindrance to.

Just keep in mind that some of the mods are non CS legal so you may want to discuss them with others in your class.

Specifically, the radiator, Sohn, and decat. Also, the coils are legal but they have to mount to the stock location and you aren't allowed to change the dwell settings (sort of required to get the most out of a D585 coil on our cars).

Most local guys won't care unless you start beating them and many won't care even if you do. Don't expect regional or national tour events to be so forgiving.

I'm leaning toward moving from CS to STX for next year, pending classing on the 2019 Miata and the outcome of the proposed move of the RX-8 from CS to DS. If the Miata goes to CS and the RX8 remains in CS, then it'll be jump to STX or sell the car. An 80-90% effort in STX seems like it would result in a really fun car that's still reasonably competitive.

My recommendation is:

1. Pick a class to build for. Make that your goal. I figure you can choose autocross or track competition. Not both.

or

2. Don't worry about where you're competitive and just enjoy the car.

I can't speak for your local NASA region, but here in GL we have a pretty intensive HPDE curriculum. It keeps our drivers awfully busy well before they need to worry about modifying their cars. That's by design - by the time they're ready to compete, they're drivers we feel comfortable sharing the track with.

All that time teaches somebody what they want to focus on next.

So if you want to go to the track, focus on safety above all else. Spend a lot of time learning. There is more to learn than you know.

I have the utmost respect for the GL NASA HPDE program. I look forward to the event at Gateway with you guys each year. This year it was a little chilly though!

Keep it up :)

Thank you very much for the kind words! We're rather proud of it. I've been instructing with GL for a few years, and it has taught me so much. We work every event on doing a better job serving our clients, and making them better drivers.

I wholeheartedly recommend trying out some more tracks. :) NCM wouldn't be that bad a haul for you, if Gateway is close for you.

We've probably instructed together over the last couple of years :)

NCM is on the list, I need to make the car reliable now though! It was fine at Gateway but overheating in 100+