Mazda RX8 To track day or not to track day.
Discussion
, I think for the money there are other more reliable choices.NickyTwoHats said:
Hi Thinking of buying an old-ish RX8.
Adding a roll cage etc and using as a track day car.
Any advice gratefully received - Including "don't do it you fool" if necessary.
Why not- they're cheap enough. Don't cage it though if you can help it. If you don't spend a grand on a cage you can treat the car as a disposable item. Adding a roll cage etc and using as a track day car.
Any advice gratefully received - Including "don't do it you fool" if necessary.
I'm looking at £750 so it is basically disposable.
That said - having watched the upside down Fiesta from the caterham / porsche at donnington on saturday I'm sort of keen on a roll cage...
Are they that expensive to install? Can't they be taken out if/when the car blows up?
N
That said - having watched the upside down Fiesta from the caterham / porsche at donnington on saturday I'm sort of keen on a roll cage...
Are they that expensive to install? Can't they be taken out if/when the car blows up?
N
Edited by NickyTwoHats on Monday 28th November 17:13
NickyTwoHats said:
I'm looking at £750 so it is basically disposable.
That said - having watched the upside down Fiesta from the caterham / porsche at donnington on saturday I'm sort of keen on a roll cage...
Are they taht expensive to install? Can't they be taken out if/when the car blows up?
N
The way I see it there can be no half measures with safety equipment. If you are fitting a cage you need at least a four point harness, and if you are fitting a four point harness you'll probably need a proper racing seat. You'll quickly sink a grand. You have to balance that against the fact that the Mazda us a strong modern car in which you are unlikely to go upside down. That said - having watched the upside down Fiesta from the caterham / porsche at donnington on saturday I'm sort of keen on a roll cage...
Are they taht expensive to install? Can't they be taken out if/when the car blows up?
N
Me and another PH'er Salesy have been campaigning a standard spec Prodrive PZ RX8 for 3 years in a Sprint / Hillclimb championship in the upto 2.0 production class. In that time, maybe 60 events incuding being double driven on circuits such as Goodwood and Llydden Hill it has only been defeated TWICE! It has the measure af all 2.0 Clios and various Type R's it has ever come up against. And has done 3 full on non stop trackdays double driven at Brands Hatch . It has NEVER broken down....
It did have a gearbox exhange when he first got it due to a crunch into second only, that box was £150. When we got the car it was compression tested and had a reading of 6.2. 8 apparently is new / rebuilt and 5 is where you have hot/cold starting issues. Well bizzarely , after 3 years of merciless thrashing the reading has IMPROVED to 6.3!!!! It always has "premix" in the fuel so that must help.
Remember too it has electric motor leather seats, fully trimmed with a big Bose hi-fi too, it's not a stripped out road racer like a Clio Cup or Integra Type R....
I dont think you need to worry about a roll cage , the way the car is constructed with its door arrangement it is IMMENSLEY strong, I would just strip as much weight out of it as you can, and it has lots to lose!!!
More importantly is RwD and fun to drive, and dare I say quite easy and forgoving, Not sure how much of that is the PZ Prodrive stuff ours has over a regular one, but the thing is brilliant fun to drive. We have both posted identical 59.50 times 2-up around Brands Hatch Indy on regular road tyres, not trackday rubber which is pretty quick for a 100% standard 2.0 ( equivalent rotary capacity ) street car. I cannot reccomend one highly enough to you!!!!
It did have a gearbox exhange when he first got it due to a crunch into second only, that box was £150. When we got the car it was compression tested and had a reading of 6.2. 8 apparently is new / rebuilt and 5 is where you have hot/cold starting issues. Well bizzarely , after 3 years of merciless thrashing the reading has IMPROVED to 6.3!!!! It always has "premix" in the fuel so that must help.
Remember too it has electric motor leather seats, fully trimmed with a big Bose hi-fi too, it's not a stripped out road racer like a Clio Cup or Integra Type R....
I dont think you need to worry about a roll cage , the way the car is constructed with its door arrangement it is IMMENSLEY strong, I would just strip as much weight out of it as you can, and it has lots to lose!!!
More importantly is RwD and fun to drive, and dare I say quite easy and forgoving, Not sure how much of that is the PZ Prodrive stuff ours has over a regular one, but the thing is brilliant fun to drive. We have both posted identical 59.50 times 2-up around Brands Hatch Indy on regular road tyres, not trackday rubber which is pretty quick for a 100% standard 2.0 ( equivalent rotary capacity ) street car. I cannot reccomend one highly enough to you!!!!
Furyblade_Lee said:
Me and another PH'er Salesy have been campaigning a standard spec Prodrive PZ RX8 for 3 years in a Sprint / Hillclimb championship in the upto 2.0 production class. In that time, maybe 60 events incuding being double driven on circuits such as Goodwood and Llydden Hill it has only been defeated TWICE! It has the measure af all 2.0 Clios and various Type R's it has ever come up against. And has done 3 full on non stop trackdays double driven at Brands Hatch . It has NEVER broken down....
It did have a gearbox exhange when he first got it due to a crunch into second only, that box was £150. When we got the car it was compression tested and had a reading of 6.2. 8 apparently is new / rebuilt and 5 is where you have hot/cold starting issues. Well bizzarely , after 3 years of merciless thrashing the reading has IMPROVED to 6.3!!!! It always has "premix" in the fuel so that must help.
Remember too it has electric motor leather seats, fully trimmed with a big Bose hi-fi too, it's not a stripped out road racer like a Clio Cup or Integra Type R....
I dont think you need to worry about a roll cage , the way the car is constructed with its door arrangement it is IMMENSLEY strong, I would just strip as much weight out of it as you can, and it has lots to lose!!!
More importantly is RwD and fun to drive, and dare I say quite easy and forgoving, Not sure how much of that is the PZ Prodrive stuff ours has over a regular one, but the thing is brilliant fun to drive. We have both posted identical 59.50 times 2-up around Brands Hatch Indy on regular road tyres, not trackday rubber which is pretty quick for a 100% standard 2.0 ( equivalent rotary capacity ) street car. I cannot reccomend one highly enough to you!!!!
For insurance purposes, they are measured to the equivalent of 2.6L so not surprised you're practically unbeaten against 2L machinery!It did have a gearbox exhange when he first got it due to a crunch into second only, that box was £150. When we got the car it was compression tested and had a reading of 6.2. 8 apparently is new / rebuilt and 5 is where you have hot/cold starting issues. Well bizzarely , after 3 years of merciless thrashing the reading has IMPROVED to 6.3!!!! It always has "premix" in the fuel so that must help.
Remember too it has electric motor leather seats, fully trimmed with a big Bose hi-fi too, it's not a stripped out road racer like a Clio Cup or Integra Type R....
I dont think you need to worry about a roll cage , the way the car is constructed with its door arrangement it is IMMENSLEY strong, I would just strip as much weight out of it as you can, and it has lots to lose!!!
More importantly is RwD and fun to drive, and dare I say quite easy and forgoving, Not sure how much of that is the PZ Prodrive stuff ours has over a regular one, but the thing is brilliant fun to drive. We have both posted identical 59.50 times 2-up around Brands Hatch Indy on regular road tyres, not trackday rubber which is pretty quick for a 100% standard 2.0 ( equivalent rotary capacity ) street car. I cannot reccomend one highly enough to you!!!!
For all MSA motorsports rotary engines carry an equivalency factor of 1.5, turbos 1.4. So a 1.3 rotary cones out around 1998cc. But to be fair, the 231bhp rotary makes nowhere near that, according to the experts. Most dont make 200 when even slightly worn! The 220bhp Integra Type Rs and Clio 197s are a fair match!
groomi said:
For insurance purposes, they are measured to the equivalent of 2.6L so not surprised you're practically unbeaten against 2L machinery!
Insurance companies haven't got a clue, it might drink petrol like a 2.6 but its power output would be pretty woeful for that capacity engine.The car is mine and having spent a few years on it now and speaking to the experts i would be surprised to see over 200 Bhp. The integra type R is the closest match but the rear wheel drive, perfect 50/50 weight distribution and sublime handling make the RX a better car. On a sprint around Goodwood from a standing start the Integra driven by a very good driver managed a 101.63 second lap. The RX did it in 100.31. It was only beaten at Lydden hill after i went in too hot into paddock an lost control and took it too easy on the last run.
The clio's normally are at least 3 secs slower at a sprint, but i have just picked up a 172 Cup to see what i can do with it.
This is a novelty- an RX8 thread with no grumbles about fuel or oil consumption!
For what it's worth, although mine has never been tracked it has been extremely reliable ( around 7 years with me, coming up to 10 years old) and great fun on the road. You will get to and from track days in comfort. They are just ludicrously cheap for what they are.
Also handling is very forgiving. Mine has avoided/got me out of one or two situations with unexpected hazards or stupidity (mine that is) that you won't get on a track, so I would expect it to be good as a first track car.
Good luck!
For what it's worth, although mine has never been tracked it has been extremely reliable ( around 7 years with me, coming up to 10 years old) and great fun on the road. You will get to and from track days in comfort. They are just ludicrously cheap for what they are.
Also handling is very forgiving. Mine has avoided/got me out of one or two situations with unexpected hazards or stupidity (mine that is) that you won't get on a track, so I would expect it to be good as a first track car.
Good luck!
Salesy said:
Insurance companies haven't got a clue, it might drink petrol like a 2.6 but its power output would be pretty woeful for that capacity engine.
The car is mine and having spent a few years on it now and speaking to the experts i would be surprised to see over 200 Bhp. The integra type R is the closest match but the rear wheel drive, perfect 50/50 weight distribution and sublime handling make the RX a better car. On a sprint around Goodwood from a standing start the Integra driven by a very good driver managed a 101.63 second lap. The RX did it in 100.31. It was only beaten at Lydden hill after i went in too hot into paddock an lost control and took it too easy on the last run.
The clio's normally are at least 3 secs slower at a sprint, but i have just picked up a 172 Cup to see what i can do with it.
Fair point. I have no idea what mine produces, but then how many worn engines produce anything like their original quota unless meticulously fettled...The car is mine and having spent a few years on it now and speaking to the experts i would be surprised to see over 200 Bhp. The integra type R is the closest match but the rear wheel drive, perfect 50/50 weight distribution and sublime handling make the RX a better car. On a sprint around Goodwood from a standing start the Integra driven by a very good driver managed a 101.63 second lap. The RX did it in 100.31. It was only beaten at Lydden hill after i went in too hot into paddock an lost control and took it too easy on the last run.
The clio's normally are at least 3 secs slower at a sprint, but i have just picked up a 172 Cup to see what i can do with it.
groomi said:
You still have to tell them what the engine size is and they only list 2.6L for the RX8, well the 231bhp version anyway.
They know what the capacity is, it's a standard RX-8. It's useful information to identify the model for some cars, but it would make sod all difference whether it was nominally 1.3, 2.6 or 3.9. Furyblade_Lee said:
For all MSA motorsports rotary engines carry an equivalency factor of 1.5, turbos 1.4. So a 1.3 rotary cones out around 1998cc. But to be fair, the 231bhp rotary makes nowhere near that, according to the experts. Most dont make 200 when even slightly worn! The 220bhp Integra Type Rs and Clio 197s are a fair match!
Without trawling through the regs of every race series in the UK, I'd beg to differ.Certainly most series I am familiar with have both turbo and rotary equivelance of X1.7, particularly for cars that are post 1988.
I recently went from an EP3 Type R to an RX8, and on my first outing at Blyton was a lot faster. They handle very well out of the box, and being as cheap as they are they are almost disposable.
Its worth watching the Topgear review, as what Clarkson says at the end is very true:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5FNjyaLfC8
In the dry the car has ton's of grip and handles very well; it the wet its another matter. Decent tyres with at least 4mm of tread are needed to make wet track days fun. I recently did Croft with about 2.5mm on the rears, and the car was twitchy and tail happy. So new tyres are on my list for Santa.
Its worth watching the Topgear review, as what Clarkson says at the end is very true:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5FNjyaLfC8
In the dry the car has ton's of grip and handles very well; it the wet its another matter. Decent tyres with at least 4mm of tread are needed to make wet track days fun. I recently did Croft with about 2.5mm on the rears, and the car was twitchy and tail happy. So new tyres are on my list for Santa.
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