Wednesday 13th June 2012

PH Fleet: Mazda RX-8

It's finally got its German plates, but it hasn't been a good month for Dale's Mazda...

---

My last update mainly involved boring paperwork and dealing with tedious stuff like insurance and tax. The rewards for putting myself through the tedium of the German registration process were a shiny new set of D-marked plates and a 100 per cent insured and road-legal car for Nurburgring Nordschleife public sessions.

Time to plate up
In fact the photo above may well be the last known exposure of my wankel-engined Mazda on UK plates. A rainy session on the 'ring is basically my idea of heaven (see why on this video). But only a day after this was taken I was rolling around with my AW-RX84 plates on, with the de-reg part of my old V5C winging its way back to England. AW is the geographical tag for Ahrweiler, the county in which I reside. And the RX84 part was the closest I could get to RX8 on the rather simple 16-euro German pick-your-own-numbers vanity plate system.

New Michelin tyres were ordered to replace the terrible Kendas that I've been using since January , and I just had time to test-fit my new stainless exhaust system before everything went pear-shaped with a big bang.

A bang, but not the sort you'd think
Nope, it wasn't the rotary engine living up to the forum predictions. It was an on-track incident during a public session that put my RX-8 inside the local Mazda dealer with a whole heap of parts to be ordered. Including another exhaust system. D'oh!

I can't really go into the details, but suffice to say I stopped on the Nordschleife and some poor chap on a bike didn't. Well, he tried to, but pulling the brake lever in the middle of a turn is never a good idea on a motorbike. And his sliding superbike travelled over 20 metres before wedging itself underneath the back of my parked RX8. Most importantly, he wasn't hurt.

But both of our summer toys are spanked-up right now, and the posturing and negotiating between insurance companies and drivers isn't even half-way done yet.

So no more videos of sideways shenanigans this month, just a return to paperwork, phone calls and planning again...

---

FACT SHEET
Car: Mazda RX-8
Run by: Dale Lomas
Bought: December 2011
Mileage: Only 180 miles since last report!
Purchase price: £2,800
Last month at a glance: Got German plates, got bumped, got bored

---

Previous reports:
Ordering pieces of paper to pass the German MOT
Dale makes a new RX-8 mate
PH fleet intro: Mazda RX-8

Epic drift photo by Dennis Van Der Meijs

 

[Sivraj]

Wow loved you video!!
Impressed with your track knowledge.
Shocked at how little grip you had!

[otolith]

Sivraj said:

Shocked at how little grip you had!

Related to;

"New Michelin tyres were ordered to replace the terrible Kendas that I've been using since January "

I should think!

[mat205125]

Brilliant reports.

[moribund]

Ouch - fully insured just in time!

[JayTee94]

Shame about the bump, but your video was really good. You went into detail that I just would not have thought about. Appreciate the advice.

[TinyCappo]

Was the engine running when the bike impacted?

Reason i ask is when i had a rear ender in my rx8 with the engine running the company that rebuilt the engine prior to the accident wanted to inspect the engine and if necessary carry out a compression check before reinstating the 2year 25,000 mile warranty which included drift drag and race use!

Their reasoning is as there is no flexi section in the exhaust apart from the flex in your mounts all the shock is transmitted to the engine if you get a sudden smack on The exhaust. A sudden shock can damage the seals foobarring your engine. Might be worth a look.

Edited by TinyCappo on Wednesday 13th June 14:04

[jamespink]

"I stopped on the Nordschleife"... A bit like I stopped in the outside lane of the M25... Are you saying you could not have got off the track? If you could have steered to the grass, surely there is a bike less rider thanking you right now...

[M@1975]

Ouch, shame to hear it's had a prang already.

Motor racing is dangerous kids...

[Captain Muppet]

jamespink said:

"I stopped on the Nordschleife"... A bit like I stopped in the outside lane of the M25... Are you saying you could not have got off the track? If you could have steered to the grass, surely there is a bike less rider thanking you right now...

Always drive so you can stop on the road you can see to be clear. Basic road safety. It's how I didn't crash on the 'ring. It's not fast, but I'll gladly swap some speed for not crashing. I know it's less fun than going really fast, but I really hate crashing in to things that belong to other people. I know it's a race track, but it's open to anyone so you have to treat it like a road.

The only exceptions are when I'm on a track and there are marshalls to warn me by waving yellow flags, or when I've got a closed track all to myself (when sometimes I crash in to walls and stuff).

Also I suspect there is a lot more to the story than he can tell us.

[Nigel_O]

Suggestion - Rain-X

You simply wouldn't have need to use your wipers in the video (nice car control BTW - can't believe just how slippery that place is in the wet)

[Si_man306]

Great skill in that wet video! Also some really sensible advice- loved the way you were showing where they car would slide and where it wouldn't.

I used to be able to drive my track 306 rallye with a similar level of confidence (took that to the nordschlife) but am still a long way from that in my 350z! Am yet to do a wet day but when I do I will be taking all that on board.

I take it that video was on the 'rubbish' tyres?

Hope you get the car sorted asap

[Si_man306]

Nigel_O said:

Suggestion - Rain-X

You simply wouldn't have need to use your wipers in the video (nice car control BTW - can't believe just how slippery that place is in the wet)

Used this myself and hated it, just made the water stream up the windscreen, making visibility difficult and when you tried to use wipers they couldn't control the water.

[BoostMonkey]

OMG that was you, I came past you about 5 min's after the incident.

As you've made a point of not going into any detail, I will say no more.
Apart from hoping both parties get back on the ring soon.

[Coldfuse]

sigh....


All this "track knowledge" and you decide to stop in the middle of one of the most dangerous tracks on the planet?

There's definitely something amiss here...

[TJW]

Awesome slide @ 8:55 on your video. Shame to hear about the bang. :/

[robm3]

Dale,

Great to see you on PH. We met a few years back when you were at the hire company so I'm glad you're still doing your thing at the 'ring
Look forward to more updates.
Robin

[sonofbarefoot]

You don't stop at the ring unless something amiss has happened my money is on Dale has spun the car or something has made him come to a halt.....maybe that's why he is not saying or is BoostMonkey who passed him! Have to laugh at Dale's quote "Well, he tried to, but pulling the brake lever in the middle of a turn is never a good idea on a motorbike" sounds to me he had to brake as your car was stopped after said "turn" and must have been in his way cos he ran into the back of you pulling the brake lever on was maybe his only option!

BoostMonkey am I close?

Edited by sonofbarefoot on Thursday 14th June 08:42

[Dale Lomas]

I love how so many people think I would just stop on the track, in the racing line even. Give me some credit... lol...

[CampDavid]

sonofbarefoot said:

You don't stop at the ring unless something amiss has happened my money is on Dale has spun the car or something has made him come to a halt.....maybe that's why he is not saying

Edited by sonofbarefoot on Thursday 14th June 08:42

Either that or Dale isn't stupid enough to comment on the internet regarding something that's being dealt with by the German police and insurance companies, as all accidents in Germany are.

[sonofbarefoot]

CampDavid

Dale said "but suffice to say I stopped on the Nordschleife and some poor chap on a bike didn't. Well, he tried to, but pulling the brake lever in the middle of a turn is never a good idea on a motorbike. And his sliding superbike travelled over 20 metres before wedging itself underneath the back of my parked RX8"

I am not saying he is stupid but he did comment and was informative enough to tell us all what the biker did wrong!! And I never suggested he stopped on the racing line either....

Edited by sonofbarefoot on Thursday 14th June 11:13