Yea, I managed to pass the miata right after the video ended. The miata dude followed me after that for two more laps till the end of the heat. Needless to say he was pissed.

RB midpipe.

245-40-18 but going to 265-35-18 soon.

Sent you a pm earlier, need answer/input.

 

i have 245 front and 265 rear
Ultraleggeras come in an 8 and 9 width, and both are still lighter than OEM.
18 x8 =8kg and 18x9 = 9kg I think.

 

Juan you are the second person that havent received a response when I sent a PM. I will resend tonight--cant from work.

A shorter sidewall tire will make a lot of difference 35 sidewall is good. you really dont need anything wider than a 245. That has been the experience from our club members over the years. Bigger the tire the more drag and it does affect top speed.

 

Had to post this even tho car is still NA. 85F outside temps, car never went over 205, oil slightly under. 2 things suprised me most, 1st after shutting the car off and fans off at 180. 15 minutes later water temp reading 120, nice breeze to help. 2nd when leaving the track to home, car was always heat soaked and running with AC on, temps would stay at 200 for the 100 mile drive home. Not this time, water temps went to 185, oil temp same, ac ice cold, after a 5 session day. YALL frakking rule on these mods. I need a sammitch.

 

GD glad it has worked out for ya dude--there is even more to come--hopefully.

California--you running a staggered set up? I never heard of anyone doing that on track.
No prob with dsc or abs?
Very interesting.
Our cars with our Tq band seem to like a 35 sidewall tire for the overall gearing affect.
Juan for you to stay with the fully track prepped miata and you on street tires is pretty good!
I have ran toyo ra1's, nitto nt o1 and hosiers tires. Variety of sizes from 245 to 275. Wheels I have used 17x 8 and 18x9. All of they have been under 25 inches tall.
The fastest set up for me has been the 18x9 wheel with the hoosier 245/35 tires. None of the others have the overall grip that the hoosier has. Its unbelieveable --with hoosiers you really can see where a 4 point harness would help.
OD

 

I'm not good enough to work out too much!

Staggered is working fine on track. 18 x 8 245/40 front and 18 x 9 265/35 out back.
DSC is always off on track so its not an issue.

I also have my old wheels with 245/40 Dunlop Direzza semi slicks on, but I want to improve my driving and get a feel for the staggered set on track before I start using the semi slicks.....

 

does the staggered set up feel better?
it doesnt affect the abs?

 

not as far as I know. My brakes feel awesome.

But as I say I dont have a massive breadth of experience track driving, so its all still new to me! I have a long way to go to improve.....

 

The RX8 runs better on the track without a staggered set-up. It is also more neutral and easier to predict when it steps out. If you want to go wider, go wider at all 4 corners. If you can not feel the difference on the RX8 between un-staggered and staggered set-ups, you are not entering the corners fast enough and/or you are not using trail breaking.

Unless ofcourse your at speedsources level then you can run somthing that will work for you.
But remember once you weld a frame in and you stiffin a car then you change the whole dynamics of the factory design. You have short suspension travel so you need somthing different. But for the stock chasis rx8 and its longer suspension travel, being even at all 4 corners will be best.

speedsource rx8 chasis is stiffened and modified a little.

Here is their "staggered set-up"

Dymanic Suspension DSSV shocks
Front and Rear adjustable anti-roll bars
18x11 Racing Hart wheel front with 285/645-18 Pirelli Racing tire
18x11.5 Racing Hart wheel rear with 305/660-18 Pirelli Racing tire

But remember, their chasis has been modified to compliment this.

You have to chose the set-up that compliments your chasis.

 

good words--well said.
it doesnt mean you can't it just means that if you are on the edge you are going to find out that the car may not respond the way you want.
OD

 

I found out the hard way, unfortunately.

Believe or not I was running some 235/45/17's on some TE-37 17x7.5 rims and the car was extremely predictable and neutral. I had these rims left over from my 95 tsi awd talon. Then I went to 225/45/17 on a 17x8 front and 245/45/17 on a 17x9 rear. I am sure the tire sizes is what made it worse, but the car felt like complete ****.... compared to what I had gotten used to. I guess like you said its about how you want it to respond and your driving style.

Alot of guys that I touge with run 245's or 255's at all corners.

And there is even one RX8 with a pettit supercharger there, damn car is fast outta the corners with that extra power.

Major props to pettit for this s/c kit. When you think anout it even 100whp more to the wheel it alot, I just feel bad for the fact that some things are not respected and appriciated just because its not making 500whp.

The RX8 with even 280whp+ is a damn wicked car on the track.

RX8 has balance, thats why it wins.

 

yeah, as I said, I'm not good enough a driver to really comment on setups other than "so far so good" and saying if things are no good.

As I said I am hoping to improve my driving on street tyres then I have the semi slicks to take things up a notch. But I figured if I started using the semis I would be "falsely improving" with the tyres getting better, not the driver!

NA cars with staggered setups are bad though I think, going with some user feedback from people I know. With the Pettit power, you can throttle steer better as you have more instant power and a wider power band.....

So far turn in is great, it understeers a little by default on current setup, but some well timed throttle gets oversteer

 

Totally agree--its the balance ( including outstanding braking) that really makes this car. The extra power does change things---a lot! Many v/8 guys/ street evo's and M3 guys after running with me on track--come over to look at my car. I had a BMW club guy after riding in the right seat at Road Atlanta---say "Damn"!!!
The extra power does change things some ( especially after 120mph) in which braking and aero can need a little help Some woo hoo moments!

California --with the right aligment and suspension set up you really shouldnt have much if not any understeer. Definity not on turn in. That is until the tires get hot enough that their slip angle changes, then high speed exit may develope just a little.
On street tires you may get a little--depending. Or it may be the staggered set up that is causing that?
How is youre trail braking?

 

Very minimal understeer (as in a Racing driver said it defaults into small understeer).
Trail braking is out, as I am too rookie. I am more brake-steer-power.

Understeer when it happens isnt on turn in but on application of power through turn, where it pushes wider rather than kicking back out, but it can also kick back out depending on what I want (and throttle!). In my opinion just right!

 

Oh OK--i understand.
You can still get most of that out with the right set up/tires. The power on understeer will only be apparent on some turns full throttle track out.
But you are smart---all in due time--understeer is much safer than over
heres a little vid on a fember member about 2-3 years ago with ---well shall we say an understeer problem!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...86402979718767

here is me on that same track--just having fun--that S2000 in front of me set the track record

http://contour.com/tags/seat+timefast+s2

 

Next week Sunday back to Sebring with lower ambient temps and a new set of Enkei RPF1 and Hankook Ventus RS3 265-35-18

 

Let me know how you like the RS3s. I am currently running Nt05s in the same size.

 

he is bound and determine to not change tires at the track--lol!
I have heard those are the best street tire now? Thread wear of 140?
Did you have them shaved? They may last longer if you do.
next time try the nt o1 nitto--unshaved--you can drive to the track on them.
Moving on up!
Cant wait to see the vid. I will not have a new one until Dec at Road Atlanta. I hope you can come.
I really like what you did to the hood.

by the way is youre air filter large enough?

 

Damn, I can hardly be bothered to shave myself!!! As for shaving tyres! what!?

 

Soon to be owner of a Pettit SC RX-8...going for the test drive saturday...fingers crossed
OD id like to come up and get a good run through if you're available one weekend ...may just wait for an on-track demonstration at RA in Dec

 

Woo-Hoo! Are you selling yours and buying someone's? I see your car is for sale?
You have a sweet ride all ready my friend.
This coming weekend I am free--just let me know.
Rd Atlanta in December is a "for sure".

California-- shaving a tire means cutting most of the threads off--down to approx 2/32's inch.
Threads/thread blocks move and swiggle when the tire is trying to turn the car. That builds heat - and lots of it. The heat is what causes the tire to wear faster and lose some of its ability to grip the pavement. Thats why if you are buying used track tires it is important to know the number of heat cycles the tire has been exposed too. That is also why pro teams will change tires just to qualify with etc. The shaved tired will actually have a longer track use life than the unshaved one.

 

yes, very true. Even with street tires. I found this out from long highspeed trips. If say you travel at 90+ mph for 1000 miles your tires are Gona get hot. You can loose alot of your grip fast and your tires will dry out and become slippery.

 

if all goes well saturday i will hopefully be getting jskup1's RX-8...i believe you know him
i will be selling mine and this will be my new weekend get away car
i think this is close to the same engine build as yours with the FD seals (probably lighter porting) anyway...i figured you could provide some insight

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8s-sale-wanted-43/2005-pettit-supercharged-rx-8-grand-touring-220481/

 

he has a very nice car. its complete--almost.
beautiful car dude

 

he has a very nice car. its complete--almost.
beautiful car dude