mike31

im heading out to the track tonight and i was wondering if there were any quick tune adjustments i could do to my rx8

mike31

its a stock rx8

army_rx8

put a turbo on

seriously though....i'd just make sure you tire pressure is within spec..b/c the suspension is made to work with tires at that pressure..other than that nothing..the 8 is a well balanced machine out of the box. you won't have tiem to upgrade suspension or anything if you are going tonight..so i'd just leave it as is..and have fun.

just take teh corse slow at first until you get used to it..and you willnotice you will learn what her (your 8's) tolerances are...she is very forgiving...your times will go down as the night goes on.

just stay calm and don't let your adreniline let you do anythign foolish .

if you want go read up on some driving technics on here or somewhere else online...so you can try some different things while you are out there until you find what works best for you :D

hope any of that rambling helped you.

mike31

much thanks

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Hey Dude
Good luck at the track. As stated pay attention to the tires. We run a pressure of 36 getting on the track. just make sure your hot pressures dont go over 42. Thats with the o40's. Run a can of techron gas tx through before the track, get the newly designed plugs(you can change them in 30mins). Keep your gas tank over 1/4 full. Change oil before you go.(not an absoulute thing but I like to do that)
have fun man and stay safe----keep the dsc ON
olddragger

NAVILESRX8

iTrader: (1)

keep the DSC on?



geeez......

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

yes please keep the dsc ON when you are on the road or on a high speed track. autocrossing--yea off, dragging yea-- off. Until you have a good deal of seat time ON THE TRACK with THIS car keep it ON. Go to the SE thread and read the Road ATlanta guys and see the vids. One of us did 2 360's and came to a stop 2 ft from the wall. Yes his dsc was OFF. He was going through a turn he has gone through a 100 times before (with it on)and bam- the car was out of control! ANother just crashed coming off the interstate on a ramp doing 40mph----dsc off. The dsc has saved my butt more than once. It's sensitivity allows very aggressive driving and only comes on when it needs too.
stay safe dude!
olddragger

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

oh yea forgot to mention something--before you go to the track take your A/C fuse out of the box
olddragger

fullsmoke

What's the point in this? Also, what are you referring to when u say "newly designed plugs?" I am in the ATL area, downtown--where do you autox?

FS

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

fwiw, those plugs were only redesigned for improved cold start dynamics, they are not better with regard to performance, it's still the same heat range and basic plug, they just added groove to help sweep fuel out if it gets flooded

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Team
Great pic, thanks for posting. I thought these plugs where step hotter also? Doesnt the tsb suggest these plugs for people who do a lot of "city driving" and have hard starting, rough idle etc problems?
I wonder if Nology has a set of capacitators out yet?
Fullsmoke--I don't autox. I am part of the gang of 8's that have gone to Road Atlanta many times. The reason to take the fuse out is that it is really easy to do-------- and this car (i understand that most modern cars do this also) automatically turns the compressor on intermediatly irregardless of whether you have the a/c button on or not. It doesnt do it at wot BUT many times on the track you are not at WOT or even above 5k for that matter. So rather than taking a chance that it's not coming on I just take the fuse out then I know it's not! Try it on the street for a day or two-- see how the car feels to you. I can tell a small differance in mine.
peace brothers
olddragger

Razz1

Take the fuse out... Wow. I'll have to check around. Never heard of that before.

If it's true Thanks.

I might try it anyways on track day.

Unfortunately Ben got killed on Thursday at Calf. Speedway.

I'm waiting to see what they plan on doing for the next couple of events.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

well I think we've confused the sparkplug issue a bit

the original standard plugs are RE7A-L(eading) and RE9B-T(railing)

there is an alternate set of optional plugs for cold weather locations, it is not a revision, it has been offered early, they are one heat range hotter RE6A-L(eading) and RE8B-T(railing)

Then there's the sparkplug redesign that came out Engine Cranks, Won't Start TSB, the RE7C-L(eading). Note that it is still a #7 heat range as the original standard leading plug. The trailing plug remains unchanged. The TSB states that the optional cold climate plug was not changed initially, but if they did change it later a bulletin would be issued. I've never seen a change issued on it yet.

Also, I incorrectly stated that the original "A" plug was still being sold by Mazda, this is incorrect. The redesigned "C" leading plug is now the standard inventory part.

So as far as I know there is only one revision and it's for the standard leading plug only.

I wouldn't recommend wasting your money on Nology's capacitor sparkplug wires.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Razz,
Got killed ! Damn man--how did that happen? Really sorry dude, my condolences. Kinda makes you think doesn't it.
Team --thanks for the clarification, i guess the hotter plug would just be for those that are city drivers--lot of stop and go etc? This car does remind you of the initial developement of the 3nd generation doesn't it. It gets better all the time. Again thanks
olddragger

SDB

This DSC question is getting interesting. I have spent many hours in different cars on the track at Sebring so I know it fairly well. The first time I took my RX-8 out there I forgot to turn off the DSC. It kicked after a few laps (after I got adjusted to the car) and I felt it upset the car just at the apex. It only slightly affected me but I had to compensate for it anyway. I turned it off on the next straight and left it off in the following sessions. I felt that if I pushed the car with DSC on it would generally get in the way, slow me down. and make for a more dangerous situation since I would have to constantly be compensating for it.

I do keep it on when driving on the street and its true that I really have to push the car before it will kick in. For street driving I would always recommend to keep the DSC on, these should be standard equipment on all cars.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

hey sdb,
I know what you mean. My 1st entry into this discussion was dont turn the dsc off UNTIL you have a lot of time behind the wheel on the track. Then when you do remember that you have to learn the car AGAIN. I have just ran across too many people who are not cautious enough on their first series of track days etc and get into trouble quick. ALl while rying to shave a few seconds off a track day lap.
One of the things I have to be careful off is I will do a mod and go to the track, then i will do another mod(as the money is available) and go to the track again. Each time the car behaves differently and I have to adjust. So I am not comfortable yet to turn mine off. Road ATlanta is not a forgiving track---not enough run off and too many walls. There is one 90mph turn thats downhill, negative chamber and has a dip in the apex area if you are a few feet off ideal and walls on both sides. I thank god for my dsc!
stay safe guys and go fast safe!(as you can be)
olddragger

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

Mike
sorry to hijack your thread man. How WAS your track day---tell us man!
Olddragger

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

here's the article, internet tongue wagging has them traveling over 150mph when it went off and pancaked the passenger side into the concrete barrier

there have ben a lot of Carrera GT crashes, initially everyone's been blaming the driver but at some point you have to wonder ...

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4562562/detail.html

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

kinda sobering isn't it? I have worked in emergency rooms for years and I have seen it all. Still crashes like this and knowing that talented lives have been cut short is never easy to take.
Stay safe everyone
olddragger

Charles R. Hill

iTrader: (7)

I found it much easier to rotate the car once I started to work with the DSC. Like everything else, we don't really know what's up until we hit the limits. Even on the street the other day I laid into a decreasing radius corner(like the one at Road Atlanta, olddragger!) and used the DSC to help square me up so I could finish accelerating through it. Maybe by my next trip to Atl. I'll have that turn down pat. Then, I could keep up with O.D., Marietta 8, and the rest of them.

CRH

Sapphonica

The DSC probably saved my butt yesterday.

I was pulling onto the freeway where the entrance ramp has a slight (~15-20 degree) curve, and when I shifted from 1st to 2nd (at the redline), the rear end of the car kicked sideways. I still had to steer into the slide a little bit, but the DSC kept me from doing a 360 and plummeting off the edge of the road (no rail, about 200 feet down).

Sooooo, ditto on keeping the DSC on.