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Old 07-24-2019, 09:34 AM   #301
John V
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I am in no way advocating that anyone take autocross seriously.
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Old 07-24-2019, 02:49 PM   #302
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You should wrap your RX-8 in camo and really start the rumor mill going:

https://jalopnik.com/what-year-is-th...FuTIjW1o4aTmjY
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Old 08-08-2019, 12:09 PM   #303
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Just got caught up on fuel pump stuff at the sandbox. With all the questions, advice, and commentary re: similar things, all I could think was "How did people do this before the internet?" The collective wisdom (even the bad stuff) is amazing.
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Old 08-20-2019, 12:42 PM   #304
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It's been a challenge due to work being super busy this time of year (end of the fiscal year is always crazy) but I got some stuff done on the car.

Converted the fuel rail to a dead-head setup.



Installed and plumbed and wired the surge tank



Made a quick and dirty heat shield for the turbo and manifold. The ECU temperature had been getting pretty hot so the goal here is just to reflect the heat back and away from the front of the engine bay.

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Old 08-20-2019, 12:43 PM   #305
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The event this past weekend went pretty well. I had the tank down around 1/4 full and didn't have any fuel starvation problems at all. Looking at the logs after the event, the fueling was really consistent, no drops in fuel pressure and no issues running lean. Sam drove with me and we pretty much matched each other run for run in the car. He ended up getting me by 0.15 after four runs.

I'm not super happy with the handling. The balance is good and it's quick to turn in but it just feels "bouncy." It's not that stiff as far as RX-8s go, but looking at it on course, it looks soft. It looks to me like it spends a lot of time on the bump stops in the shocks, or there is something binding up and releasing. In Oscoda it was magical, so I'm hesitant to really make any changes. DC is a weird lot, extremely bumpy and this course went over the worst of them.

As far as the "official" results go, I was 2nd on index, about 0.01 behind Tommy Layton in his FS M3. Tommy is always fast, so I think that's a good sign. But our results don't count the "non-comp" runs in the PAX results, and I know Marcus Pyne was quicker on index than I was, and so was Sam running my car, and so was Sam running his SSR car the heat after mine.

It's also burning a lot of oil on throttle lift. It doesn't seem to burn any on throttle, so I'm not sure what's going on. I don't see anything on the plugs to indicate it's burning oil. I wonder if it's a PCV thing since it's done that since the very first event.



Overall, I guess I'm happy, but it's really nowhere near the top cars in the class yet. Lots of work to do next season.
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Old 08-21-2019, 05:52 PM   #306
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I hate to concur, but the car looks a little weird on course at DC. It's still there on index, so it's clearly laying down great times. Based on your last few events, I think you'll be okay in Lincoln.
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Old 09-03-2019, 05:55 PM   #307
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Bummer about the trans . . .I blame cement debris (dust)
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Old 09-09-2019, 07:00 AM   #308
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The issue with the handling ended up being ride height. I had the front end too low for the front spring rate. Raising the front helped the handling a ton. I still think it needs a bit more rate.

I blew the motor up at Nats. Wasn't too surprising.
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Old 09-09-2019, 07:42 AM   #309
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John V View Post
Raising the front helped the handling a ton.
Did that then require any adjustments to aerodynamics?
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Old 09-09-2019, 08:36 AM   #310
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Quote:
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Did that then require any adjustments to aerodynamics?
The front splitter could probably do with being a bit lower, but the mounts are adjustable so that's no big deal.
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