dbright007

I won't say top end rpm's weren't an issue - they were, but the real big issue IMO tracking a 4AT is the real wide gear bands, and how that affects you at the low end of 2nd and 3rd. You will almost never see 4th in a 4AT on track unless you have a really big straight.
For you MT readers, 2nd beeps at 79mph, and 3rd beeps at about 120.
Coming out of slow turns at 50 or fast turns at 90, you lack the real grunt you need to power on to the straight.

mdw1000

^ Yeah, I would agree. The 4.77 rear gear helps some with that, though. And not forgetting to downshift to 2nd when you are entering the turn I did that a few times

dbright007

Ha Ha, have done that myself... come out of the turn and it's like WTF?!? Oh, wrong gear.....
Wish I had a sig like yours MDW..I had the 8 mods all planned out when the track bug bit. The beater track car has gotten most of the attention, but maybe I can even things out over the offseason.

thecow135

so 6AT would not really be that different.

mdw1000

^ You will probably accelerate a little faster, but not a huge difference I wouldn't think. You would probably be more likely to get into 4th, but it all depends on the track. What does your second gear top out at? Mine is around 70, if I remember right. At Gingerman in Michigan I was getting up to around 90 at the end of my first ever track weekend (7 20 minute sessions total). You can look at gingermanraceway.com to get an idea of what that track is like, and compare it to the ones you are considering. I was almost expecting never to get much past 70, as the MT guys that had been there before were getting into the low 90s, maybe 100 i think.

mdw1000

Thanks! Over the offseason I'm hoping to add a second oil cooler (probably setrab), some stiffer sways, and some more gauges. Mainly oil temp and trans fluid temp. I was hoping to get these with the xgauge feature on the scangauge, but it sounds like our car doesn't have those sensors. Then with the new gauges I should be able to figure out if I need to upgrade to the Black Halo (Paradox) radiator, or perhaps just add a trans cooler. I haven't had anything happen to make me think I have a problem with trans temps, but just want to make sure since I'm tracking it some. Might upgrade the front brake pads also, but I'll probably just wait on that one.

I'm hoping to add FI sometime in the future, but I'm not sure when. I'm happy with the lower end acceleration now with having the 4.77 rear gear, but I'd really like more passing power, both for the road (mainly two lane highways) and the track. I actually made one pass my first track weekend, and there was a moment where I was afraid I'd run out of straightaway before completing the pass. I probably won't try passing much on the track until I get more power, unless it is a really slow car. I'll just pull into the pits to get some separation, or slow up for awhile if there's no cars behind me. I'm planning on staying in the low run groups for a long time. No hurry to move up.

I'm leaning towards Pettit as they are working on a reflash for the 4AT. I really don't want to run a piggyback if I can help it. Want to go as simple as possible. But I'm also considering a custom turbo kit as well. Time will tell which one (or if any at all).

Clavius

I thought 3rd beeped at 124'sh.. or so a lil bird told me..

Man all this talk about tracking is making me want to track mine after the warrenty is gone.

Galen Darkmoon

You go Mr Hill.

Galen Darkmoon

A positive response, so nice to see.

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

Patiently waiting for the end result.

mdw1000

Good point, CRH. But the only one local to me that works on rotaries is the Mazda dealer. The couple of techs i know there are really cool - one of them has worked on rotaries since the late 80s. He told me they'd be much more comfortable working on an RX-8 with a supercharger kit (rather than a turbo kit). And since I'm not a mechanical genius like so many of you here, that has to factor into my decision. So that definitely makes me lean towards the SC. In fact, I gave them the link to the Pettit install doc - they downloaded it to their computer to review it. At first glance they seemed pretty happy with it.

Of course, that is all contigent on the funds coming together, which looks like it won't be until sometime next year at the VERY earliest.

I think I'd be happy with the power gains of either one. We also have an Acura TL, and I'm pretty happy with the power to weight ratio of that car. And it looks like the RX-8 would have a significantly better ratio with the Pettit S/C installed than our TL does.

Phil's 8

iTrader: (3)

Mr. Hill I assume that you are talking about using a turbo with the automatic for drag racing. How about other forms of racing? Would you say the same for road racing? How about dodging the cones?

mdw1000

Phil brings up a good question. I'm not planning on drag racing. When I say I want more passing power for the track, I mean road courses. Not racing, just HPDE type events.

Also, on a vaguely related subject. Anybody know if Pettit plans to offer NA reflashes? Or will theirs just be for their SC? I posted a thread about it in the Pettit section with no response.

mdw1000

Thanks for the offer of help!

I know that you are a traveling "shop"- I just want to make sure there is someone local that can work on my car in the event of a problem that disables it. It is my daily driver, so I'm relagated to using the thumb if I don't have it available Mac11 is also fairly local to me and is always a huge help to me, but he has a day job, and I don't want to take too much advantage of him or other people.

I'm hoping Pettit will come out with a detailed install video so that people can see exactly what is involved.

tajabaho1

why cant we have any cool people in CA? you mean I have to drive all the way to arizona for these stuff? god.......

Phil's 8

iTrader: (3)

Again I do not speek for Pettit but when talking to Cam, his plans are to provide the flash in the short term for FI equipped cars only but may expand to n/a cars. You may want to go to the Access Port thread to see new information on the Cobb tunes for n/a 8s.

All the cool people left and went to Arizona or Nevada Just playing - no need to flame me.

mdw1000

Oh, Mac works on my car all the time. In all likelihood any more mods to my car would be installed by him, Red Devil, and some other locals with my inept assistance.

I just don't want to impose on him in an emergency. He lives 1.5 hours away from me.