RX-8 + autocross = :D

[clyde]

When I left, after three of four heats, I was in third place in B Stock AFAIK, about three seconds behind the class leader (58 seconds vs 55)...and I couldn't be much happier. I ran on street tires in the rain on a very slick course in the first heat. The M Coupe driver ran Hoosiers on a dry course (with a fair bit of rubber down). The second place driver is a hotshit S2K driver that I've been worried about all winter. I was a second behind him, and he had run R-comps on a mostly dry course in the second heat.

Considering that it was my first event with the RX-8 and was just trying to get a handle on how it drives, I think that I did pretty damn well and that the RX-8 will be quite competitive (at least at the local level).

Oh...it was really fucking fun to drive the car too. One of my problems was that whenever I got a little bit of power oversteer, a little part inside me was going ":twisted: :kekeke: :twisted:" and took over for a little bit. I also pussyfooted it around quite a bit and wasn't nearly as aggressive in a lot of places as I would be with more experience in the car.

Once it's sorted, I think that the 8 will be able to hold its own against the 00-03 S2Ks if they stay in BS next year. This a is a killer fucking car.

[rumatt]

Cool. I've been wondering what your autocross impressions would be in the 8.

Glad you like your car. :cool:

[bren]

Things sound promising, too bad you were in the first heat. Those winds today must have dried the course rather quickly for the later rounds.

[JST]

Things sound promising, too bad you were in the first heat. Those winds today must have dried the course rather quickly for the later rounds.

Not just the first heat, but the second half of the first heat. It started raining just as the first half of the heat was wrapping up, and it rained almost until the end of the 1st heat.

The lot was greasy greasy greasy. Managing power on oversteer was the order of the day.

By the middle of the first half of the second heat, the lot was largely dry, with a few wet patches. By the third heat, the lot was bone dry.

Clyde looked pretty good out there.

[clyde]

I think the car is going to be a dragon slayer.

An RX-8 with a decent driver competed in a national level event this weekend at the Houston Tour. It took 3rd of 19, beating out some very accomplished drivers in very well sorted cars. I'm liking my chances.

[blee]

You guys missed the action in the second half of the fourth heat, during the fourth runs. We had to end the event early.

[JST]

You guys missed the action in the second half of the fourth heat, during the fourth runs. We had to end the event early.

What happened?

EDIT: OK, the cryptic references in the mwcsccc-autox listserv makes me really curious.

[nate]

You ought to take that thing to a real track.

[blee]

Okay, here's the story. I'm assuming that someone will explain what happened on the mailing list(s).

During the last runs of the fourth heat, a white Civic with a GS-R engine swap lost control just before entering the skidpad on the back half of the course. He plowed straight, catching the left front bumper and corner of the left front fender on the guide wire that secures the position of the power pole in that position. The wire swung his car around, and the force was strong enough to snap the top portion of the pole. It didn't fall to the ground, but some parts of the light fixtures on that pole did. There were sparks and a high-voltage wire fell to the ground.

No one was injured and the car was still perfectly drivable after repositioning the bumper. Crews came on the scene very quickly to disable and cut the downed lines as Salazar began to clean up the event. Upon further investigation, a pole directly connected to the one that snapped was found to be angled more steeply than before, and another line was found to be down in the parking lot across the street. That line was also clipped.

I have pics and I'll post them later. We have insurance, of course, and the person who rents out the lot stopped by as we were cleaning up. She seemed pretty calm about the whole thing; I certainly hope we can continue to rent the lot for future events.

[clyde]

Okay, here's the story. I'm assuming that someone will explain what happened on the mailing list(s).

Who is the Council chair this year?

I certainly hope we can continue to rent the lot for future events.

I'm glad that no one got hurt. Beyond that, if the Council clubs lose the lot...uh oh.

[JST]

Okay, here's the story. I'm assuming that someone will explain what happened on the mailing list(s).

During the last runs of the fourth heat, a white Civic with a GS-R engine swap lost control just before entering the skidpad on the back half of the course. He plowed straight, catching the left front bumper and corner of the left front fender on the guide wire that secures the position of the power pole in that position. The wire swung his car around, and the force was strong enough to snap the top portion of the pole. It didn't fall to the ground, but some parts of the light fixtures on that pole did. There were sparks and a high-voltage wire fell to the ground.

No one was injured and the car was still perfectly drivable after repositioning the bumper. Crews came on the scene very quickly to disable and cut the downed lines as Salazar began to clean up the event. Upon further investigation, a pole directly connected to the one that snapped was found to be angled more steeply than before, and another line was found to be down in the parking lot across the street. That line was also clipped.

I have pics and I'll post them later. We have insurance, of course, and the person who rents out the lot stopped by as we were cleaning up. She seemed pretty calm about the whole thing; I certainly hope we can continue to rent the lot for future events.

Oops. That's too bad. I'm glad no one was hurt, and really hope that doesn't impact our ability to rent the lot.

[blee]

Okay, here's the story. I'm assuming that someone will explain what happened on the mailing list(s).

Who is the Council chair this year?

I certainly hope we can continue to rent the lot for future events.

I'm glad that no one got hurt. Beyond that, if the Council clubs lose the lot...uh oh.

I believe Eric is the chair this year. I, too, am pretty nervous about the possibility of losing the lot. It's not a good thing. We've had incidents at other events, although I don't know that the extent of the property damage was as high as it may be in this case. Still, the $1 million insurance policy should cover it.

I can't speak for other clubs in the MWCSCC, but I know that Salazar does its best to treat the lot with respect -- we work around the weak areas of the pavement (both for the drivers' and the lot's sakes) and we clean up everything before we leave. Other clubs seem to do this as well. The lady who coordinates the rentals seemed pretty calm about the whole thing, which is a good sign, but we'll see. I hope they at least retain their commitments to the existing reservations, if there are any.

[clyde]

I believe Eric is the chair this year. I, too, am pretty nervous about the possibility of losing the lot. It's not a good thing. We've had incidents at other events, although I don't know that the extent of the property damage was as high as it may be in this case. Still, the $1 million insurance policy should cover it.

AFAIK, this is the first significant property damage to a local venue since I started in 2002 (aside from wearing out the lot surfaces). IIRC from news reports after the hurricane, the full telephone poles are about $3k each to replace. Who knows how much fixing/replacing the wiring will run, but I'd imagine that it won't be too much since it was limited and access is easy. The only other item would be a possible charge for the emergency response. :dunno:

So, not only was no one injured, the total cost of repairs will probably be reasonably small. Hopefully, that bodes well for continuing insurance coverage for Council events at reasonable rates.

The lady who coordinates the rentals seemed pretty calm about the whole thing, which is a good sign, but we'll see. I hope they at least retain their commitments to the existing reservations, if there are any.

The availability of Rosecroft has been a continuing question mark for some time due to the double whammy of the ever present efforts to sell the facility and the continuing legislative efforts to introduce slot machines to the site.

[Lartymarf]

Clyide,

How many run sessions did you have per day? Was it a 1 day autox event?

[clyde]

With the exception of the National Tour and ProSolo events that the WDCR region of the SCCA will be hosting in late May (which are two day events plus a test&tune day), all of the events are one day. Almost all events are four runs (occasionally three and, once in a blue moon, five).

[JST]

With the exception of the National Tour and ProSolo events that the WDCR region of the SCCA will be hosting in late May (which are two day events plus a test&tune day)...

How do I qualify for those?

[clyde]

With the exception of the National Tour and ProSolo events that the WDCR region of the SCCA will be hosting in late May (which are two day events plus a test&tune day)...

How do I qualify for those?1) Be a card carrying member of the SCCA

2) Send in a check with a completed application (http://scca.org/amateur/solo2/nat_tour/entryform.pdf) (also available in the FasTrak supplement to Sports Car.

3) Have a copy of the 2004 Solo Rulebook in your posession (at registration?) (Hence, my question about rulebooks for sale on the WDCR autox list last night)

[lemming]

Snyde:

that's awesome that you are doing that well in that car -a car you barely know. NICE WORK!

as for getting RX8's to the track?

i think they do just fine.

http://www.grandamerican.com/race_results/view_final125.html

they won at PIR, beating Turnermotorsport's cars.

[clyde]

Snyde:

that's awesome that you are doing that well in that car -a car you barely know. NICE WORK!

as for getting RX8's to the track?

i think they do just fine.

http://www.grandamerican.com/race_results/view_final125.html

they won at PIR, beating Turnermotorsport's cars.Best lap was .5 seconds behind the TMS 330i tho. :paranoid:

In other RX8 autox news...the National Tour was in Houston last weekend. It was the first National level event with an RX8 driven by a half competent driver (it may have been the first RX8 at all). He came in 3rd in BS (out of 19, rx8 codriver was 11th), 3/10ths behind the first place Boxster (and 7/1000ths behind the second place S2K). He was hesitant on the first day since it was the first time that they ran with the new Hoosiers (their setup work was done with the old road race compound tires) and didn't get as much out of it as it could do. He was more aggressive the second day. From what he told me and what I've read elsewhere, his second run of the day was very fast but he just barely tagged two cones. If he hadn't coned, he would have won the event by about 1/4 second.

I think the RX8 will be nationally competitive in BS even with the S2Ks.

[lemming]

the ironic thing, SNyde, is that the rx8s won the race at PIR by having a better fuel strategy, not something thought of as the rx8's strength.

:lol:

i mean, the punchline is that they had a better pit strategy but as the 330i's keep winning, their weight penalties will increase and the rx8s will be even more competitive.

[clyde]

People have been reporting getting ~7 MPG at the track in their RX8s which I don't think is all that far off what the E46s get. :dunno: (someone feel free to correct me)

[Nick M3]

People have been reporting getting ~7 MPG at the track in their RX8s which I don't think is all that far off what the E46s get. :dunno: (someone feel free to correct me)

I couldn't get mine to go below 11 at the track. I don't know how much less the 330 gets, but I was definitely flat out for much longer than any other car. (After all, when you have so little power and so much weight, you get to sepnd a lot more time on the gas in the straights. :p

[lemming]

jeezus.

7MPG for a 1.3 litre engine.

that's definitely something, all right.