£1000 RX8 sprint/track-car project
Discussion
Weekend report below. If you CBA to read it all, here’s a short video of me driving backwards into a field 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcsDvL6qCuY
Now I have time to gather my thoughts I can give a bit of a write-up of last weekend. It didn’t start of particularly well, either! The RX8 had been parked up for the previous week outside my garage, blocking in the Westfield that was due to go for its MOT on Saturday morning. I nipped out on Friday evening with the intention of taking the RX8 for some fuel, then parking it out of the way.
It didn’t start.
Bugger.
It almost caught, and then just sat there spinning on the starter motor. Knowing the battery was of a certain age, it appeared that the slower-than-usual turnover after sitting for a week had flooded the engine before it could catch. Cue a frantic rush to Halfords for a new battery (after going to the first store which didn’t have the right one, I made it to another just as they were closing and managed to nip in just in time!). By the time I’d finished buggering about with all of this I was hungry, and it was raining, so I left the RX8 sitting in disgrace overnight.
Saturday saw me up at the crack of dawn reading up on the various de-flooding procedures, and with Pete on whatsapp we managed to wittle it down to the two most likely suspects. We opted to try this one first: http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
Step 1: remove passenger front wheel. Erm…..
2017-07-27_08-49-14 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
This photo doesn’t show the slope of my drive. Have you ever tried to push a car uphill on gravel? It’s not fun, I can tell you. I ended up backing the trusty Subaru round the drive and using a ratchet strap attached to the tow bar to edge the RX8 forward. That out of the way, I got cracking:
2017-07-23_06-10-46 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Bottom plugs to be pulled:
2017-07-27_08-49-29 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
After squirting a little 2-stroke into each rotor chamber and turning by hand, I put everything back together, and tried to start.
Nothing. Just spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin of the starter motor.
OK, time to try deflooding procedure number 2: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum...
I hooked up the spare (now re-charged) battery for a bit of extra juice and followed the rigmarole of fuse out, turn over, wait, turn over, wait, fuse back in, turn over, nothing, etc etc etc. Nothing. Urgh.
Then it started raining, and I lost the key.
2017-07-23_06-11-16 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Thoroughly pissed off at this point, I went and had a cup of tea.
Pete arrived shortly afterwards and set about pointing out things that I should have worked out several hours before. Useful things such as “can you hear the fuel pump?” and “oh look, the fuel pump isn’t getting any power” and “the fuel pump relay isn’t working.” After taking the relay out and offering some gentle persuasion that it might like to start working again (we hit it against things), it fired right up. Bah!
With that we hit the road, arriving in the lovely S
horpe three hours later:
2017-07-23_06-13-38 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Next day – race day!
First thing first, we had to make it look like a track car. Naturally this involves stickers, and getting those lovely orange wheels on:
2017-07-24_08-44-52 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
No, they’re not all exactly straight. And no I don’t care
And the sprinting? It was awesome. Such a fun car to drive on track. Yes the brakes cooked, and there’s too much bodyroll, and it still has most of the interior, but I came back from that first run shaking and giggling like a child! Any thoughts of taking it gently soon disappeared and I ended up consistently edging time off each run – starting at 1:15.7 and ending on the fourth (and fastest) run with a 1:14.35. Pete had slightly worse luck in this first round, only managing two clean runs in the morning with a best time of 1:16.92 – he managed to void his third run (cone!) and then, just as I pulled in to change drivers after my fourth, the heavens opened.
Still, we had paid for track time, and track time is what we would get! At the very least it was a chance to get a feel for the car in the wet. So, brave pills swallowed, traction control firmly off, out we went.
Run 5 was pretty cautious and I was actually pretty impressed at how much grip the car had on R888Rs. So much so I endeavoured to get on the power a little earlier the next time out and, well, you know how that ended
2017-07-24_08-45-15 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Still, I was really impressed with how the car handled and absolutely made up with third in class (out of twelve). Pete I think was a bit disappointed with his place, but he has this strange affliction called ‘mechanical sympathy’ which means it takes him a bit longer to adjust to a new car. That, and he’s been driving a sub-100bhp Fiesta for the last six months. He’ll definitely be something to contend with at Anglesey!
2017-07-24_08-45-25 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
A couple of vids of our best runs. I’ll try and sort out the camera mount a bit better before next round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5oSPgRJBU&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVty-2QX3sE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcsDvL6qCuYNow I have time to gather my thoughts I can give a bit of a write-up of last weekend. It didn’t start of particularly well, either! The RX8 had been parked up for the previous week outside my garage, blocking in the Westfield that was due to go for its MOT on Saturday morning. I nipped out on Friday evening with the intention of taking the RX8 for some fuel, then parking it out of the way.
It didn’t start.
Bugger.
It almost caught, and then just sat there spinning on the starter motor. Knowing the battery was of a certain age, it appeared that the slower-than-usual turnover after sitting for a week had flooded the engine before it could catch. Cue a frantic rush to Halfords for a new battery (after going to the first store which didn’t have the right one, I made it to another just as they were closing and managed to nip in just in time!). By the time I’d finished buggering about with all of this I was hungry, and it was raining, so I left the RX8 sitting in disgrace overnight.
Saturday saw me up at the crack of dawn reading up on the various de-flooding procedures, and with Pete on whatsapp we managed to wittle it down to the two most likely suspects. We opted to try this one first: http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php...
Step 1: remove passenger front wheel. Erm…..
2017-07-27_08-49-14 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrThis photo doesn’t show the slope of my drive. Have you ever tried to push a car uphill on gravel? It’s not fun, I can tell you. I ended up backing the trusty Subaru round the drive and using a ratchet strap attached to the tow bar to edge the RX8 forward. That out of the way, I got cracking:
2017-07-23_06-10-46 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrBottom plugs to be pulled:
2017-07-27_08-49-29 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrAfter squirting a little 2-stroke into each rotor chamber and turning by hand, I put everything back together, and tried to start.
Nothing. Just spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin-spin of the starter motor.
OK, time to try deflooding procedure number 2: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum...
I hooked up the spare (now re-charged) battery for a bit of extra juice and followed the rigmarole of fuse out, turn over, wait, turn over, wait, fuse back in, turn over, nothing, etc etc etc. Nothing. Urgh.
Then it started raining, and I lost the key.
2017-07-23_06-11-16 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrThoroughly pissed off at this point, I went and had a cup of tea.
Pete arrived shortly afterwards and set about pointing out things that I should have worked out several hours before. Useful things such as “can you hear the fuel pump?” and “oh look, the fuel pump isn’t getting any power” and “the fuel pump relay isn’t working.” After taking the relay out and offering some gentle persuasion that it might like to start working again (we hit it against things), it fired right up. Bah!
With that we hit the road, arriving in the lovely S
horpe three hours later:2017-07-23_06-13-38 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrNext day – race day!
First thing first, we had to make it look like a track car. Naturally this involves stickers, and getting those lovely orange wheels on:
2017-07-24_08-44-52 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrNo, they’re not all exactly straight. And no I don’t care
And the sprinting? It was awesome. Such a fun car to drive on track. Yes the brakes cooked, and there’s too much bodyroll, and it still has most of the interior, but I came back from that first run shaking and giggling like a child! Any thoughts of taking it gently soon disappeared and I ended up consistently edging time off each run – starting at 1:15.7 and ending on the fourth (and fastest) run with a 1:14.35. Pete had slightly worse luck in this first round, only managing two clean runs in the morning with a best time of 1:16.92 – he managed to void his third run (cone!) and then, just as I pulled in to change drivers after my fourth, the heavens opened.
Still, we had paid for track time, and track time is what we would get! At the very least it was a chance to get a feel for the car in the wet. So, brave pills swallowed, traction control firmly off, out we went.
Run 5 was pretty cautious and I was actually pretty impressed at how much grip the car had on R888Rs. So much so I endeavoured to get on the power a little earlier the next time out and, well, you know how that ended
2017-07-24_08-45-15 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrStill, I was really impressed with how the car handled and absolutely made up with third in class (out of twelve). Pete I think was a bit disappointed with his place, but he has this strange affliction called ‘mechanical sympathy’ which means it takes him a bit longer to adjust to a new car. That, and he’s been driving a sub-100bhp Fiesta for the last six months. He’ll definitely be something to contend with at Anglesey!
2017-07-24_08-45-25 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrA couple of vids of our best runs. I’ll try and sort out the camera mount a bit better before next round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5oSPgRJBU&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVty-2QX3sE
Thanks Mark!
T minus 11 days to Anglesey, and another weekend spent tinkering. Pete and I have also somehow bullied each other into taking many brave pills and have also signed up to the Mazda Sprint Series event on the Sunday – meaning our poor little car is effectively going to be put through four sprint events in two days. That’s 2 sets of sighting laps, 4 practice runs and 24 timed runs. If it lasts that long…
So, what have we been up to?
Priority number one was to sort out the brakes – we were cooking them at Blyton after two hot laps. Pete and I headed down to my local rent-a-ramp place www.thisisyourgarage.com (an awesome place for anyone around Oxfordshire) and quickly found that here was no way the standard hoses were going to come off without a big fight. So we bravely gave up (they’ve been added to the ‘winter’ list!). We did, however, notice that the rear pads were badly in need of attention – one of the rears was down to about 1mm of friction surface
A quick delivery from Euros and a set of Pagid pads went on, and we’ve also put some fresh 5.1 fluid in there. The brakes certainly feel better now, time will tell if they’re good enough for Angelsey.
2017-08-08_01-27-12 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Back home and we set about changing the steering wheel, fitting a fire extinguisher, re-tapped the crusty thread for the front towing eye and stripped more of the interior. There was a brief panic when we realised changing the steering wheel had dislodged the sensor for the traction control, but some bodgery with a piece of fibreglass panel cut to size seems to have done the trick in holding it in place, and the TC now switches on/off and cuts in as it should. We’ll be taking the standard wheel to Anglesey just in case, though!
Not the most inspiring set of pics, but you get the idea.
2017-08-08_01-27-44 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-08-08_01-27-56 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-08-08_01-28-13 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Oh, and a Javelin Sprint Series sunstrip has also gone on…
2017-08-08_03-53-23 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
We’ve also had the aircon re-gassed in an attempt to counteract the now-inevitable heat we’re going to get in the cabin on sunny days. Yes, I know it’s weight, but when we’re driving to and from circuits 200 miles away it’s worth the penalty!
I’ve also got the Westfield back from having its gearbox rebuilt. It’s going up for sale again imminently, but I couldn’t resist a quick pic of the two track toys together…
2017-08-08_01-28-34 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
T minus 11 days to Anglesey, and another weekend spent tinkering. Pete and I have also somehow bullied each other into taking many brave pills and have also signed up to the Mazda Sprint Series event on the Sunday – meaning our poor little car is effectively going to be put through four sprint events in two days. That’s 2 sets of sighting laps, 4 practice runs and 24 timed runs. If it lasts that long…
So, what have we been up to?
Priority number one was to sort out the brakes – we were cooking them at Blyton after two hot laps. Pete and I headed down to my local rent-a-ramp place www.thisisyourgarage.com (an awesome place for anyone around Oxfordshire) and quickly found that here was no way the standard hoses were going to come off without a big fight. So we bravely gave up (they’ve been added to the ‘winter’ list!). We did, however, notice that the rear pads were badly in need of attention – one of the rears was down to about 1mm of friction surface
A quick delivery from Euros and a set of Pagid pads went on, and we’ve also put some fresh 5.1 fluid in there. The brakes certainly feel better now, time will tell if they’re good enough for Angelsey.
2017-08-08_01-27-12 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrBack home and we set about changing the steering wheel, fitting a fire extinguisher, re-tapped the crusty thread for the front towing eye and stripped more of the interior. There was a brief panic when we realised changing the steering wheel had dislodged the sensor for the traction control, but some bodgery with a piece of fibreglass panel cut to size seems to have done the trick in holding it in place, and the TC now switches on/off and cuts in as it should. We’ll be taking the standard wheel to Anglesey just in case, though!
Not the most inspiring set of pics, but you get the idea.
2017-08-08_01-27-44 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-08-08_01-27-56 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-08-08_01-28-13 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrOh, and a Javelin Sprint Series sunstrip has also gone on…
2017-08-08_03-53-23 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrWe’ve also had the aircon re-gassed in an attempt to counteract the now-inevitable heat we’re going to get in the cabin on sunny days. Yes, I know it’s weight, but when we’re driving to and from circuits 200 miles away it’s worth the penalty!
I’ve also got the Westfield back from having its gearbox rebuilt. It’s going up for sale again imminently, but I couldn’t resist a quick pic of the two track toys together…
2017-08-08_01-28-34 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrBookmarked - had one of these on thee radar when i bought my EP3 type-r.
It was out of the a 350z, RX-8 or the type R - all around the £9k mark - glad (from a money point of view) i went for the type-r - it seems like the arse fell out the other two.
still love everything about these though and after agreeing to ditch the S3 for an i3 to save money on the commute a cheap and fun weekend car is a very real possibility !
It was out of the a 350z, RX-8 or the type R - all around the £9k mark - glad (from a money point of view) i went for the type-r - it seems like the arse fell out the other two.
still love everything about these though and after agreeing to ditch the S3 for an i3 to save money on the commute a cheap and fun weekend car is a very real possibility !
seiben said:
Thanks Mark!
T minus 11 days to Anglesey, and another weekend spent tinkering. Pete and I have also somehow bullied each other into taking many brave pills and have also signed up to the Mazda Sprint Series event on the Sunday – meaning our poor little car is effectively going to be put through four sprint events in two days. That’s 2 sets of sighting laps, 4 practice runs and 24 timed runs. If it lasts that long…
So, what have we been up to?
Priority number one was to sort out the brakes – we were cooking them at Blyton after two hot laps. Pete and I headed down to my local rent-a-ramp place www.thisisyourgarage.com (an awesome place for anyone around Oxfordshire) and quickly found that here was no way the standard hoses were going to come off without a big fight. So we bravely gave up (they’ve been added to the ‘winter’ list!). We did, however, notice that the rear pads were badly in need of attention – one of the rears was down to about 1mm of friction surface
A quick delivery from Euros and a set of Pagid pads went on, and we’ve also put some fresh 5.1 fluid in there. The brakes certainly feel better now, time will tell if they’re good enough for Angelsey.
2017-08-08_01-27-12 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Been following this with interest as I'm after my first track toy - didn't realise you were that local! TIYG is a great place, I run a local car club and we hold our monthly meets there. T minus 11 days to Anglesey, and another weekend spent tinkering. Pete and I have also somehow bullied each other into taking many brave pills and have also signed up to the Mazda Sprint Series event on the Sunday – meaning our poor little car is effectively going to be put through four sprint events in two days. That’s 2 sets of sighting laps, 4 practice runs and 24 timed runs. If it lasts that long…
So, what have we been up to?
Priority number one was to sort out the brakes – we were cooking them at Blyton after two hot laps. Pete and I headed down to my local rent-a-ramp place www.thisisyourgarage.com (an awesome place for anyone around Oxfordshire) and quickly found that here was no way the standard hoses were going to come off without a big fight. So we bravely gave up (they’ve been added to the ‘winter’ list!). We did, however, notice that the rear pads were badly in need of attention – one of the rears was down to about 1mm of friction surface
A quick delivery from Euros and a set of Pagid pads went on, and we’ve also put some fresh 5.1 fluid in there. The brakes certainly feel better now, time will tell if they’re good enough for Angelsey.
2017-08-08_01-27-12 by Ben Edwards, on Flickrseiben said:
Just as an aside - all of that grey insulation stuff is a bugger to get off - took me two days, a heat gun and a scraper. However, I weighed it at 10 odd kilos when I was all done...
Well, we survived Anglesey!
600 miles, 2 days of events, 30+ 6,000rpm launches, one spin, one 100mph trip across the grass and two pieces of silverware.
2017-08-21_12-09-56 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-08-21_12-10-10 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
I'll spend the next few days sorting out videos and stuff (we did 37 runs between us so there's a lot of footage to sort through!) and write a bit of a report when I have more time. Epic weekend though and really close between Pete and I - 0.21s on Saturday, 0.09s on Sunday!
600 miles, 2 days of events, 30+ 6,000rpm launches, one spin, one 100mph trip across the grass and two pieces of silverware.
2017-08-21_12-09-56 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-08-21_12-10-10 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrI'll spend the next few days sorting out videos and stuff (we did 37 runs between us so there's a lot of footage to sort through!) and write a bit of a report when I have more time. Epic weekend though and really close between Pete and I - 0.21s on Saturday, 0.09s on Sunday!
Kendrew this weekend. Things ave been happening...
First up, we have a bucket seat! Sparco Sprint, just out of date and a nice eBay bargain:
2017-09-04_09-17-29 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-04_09-17-44 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
And... more shiny things!
2017-09-06_09-52-52 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-06_09-35-52 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-06_09-36-08 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-06_09-36-17 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-06_09-36-38 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-06_09-36-44 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
2017-09-06_09-37-32 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr
Thanks to Pete for getting these fitted today while the car was in his care. I'm looking forward to having a go!
First up, we have a bucket seat! Sparco Sprint, just out of date and a nice eBay bargain:
2017-09-04_09-17-29 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-04_09-17-44 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrAnd... more shiny things!
2017-09-06_09-52-52 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-06_09-35-52 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-06_09-36-08 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-06_09-36-17 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-06_09-36-38 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-06_09-36-44 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr2017-09-06_09-37-32 by Ben Edwards, on FlickrThanks to Pete for getting these fitted today while the car was in his care. I'm looking forward to having a go!
Oh yeah, and the promised videos from Anglesey:
Mazda sprint on the coastal circuit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0I98J0VSNo&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8jrjbbmXwo
...and the Javelin sprint on the full circuit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69am2i7XuBk&t=...
And me spinning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2WH9A9ynuA
Mazda sprint on the coastal circuit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0I98J0VSNo&t=...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8jrjbbmXwo
...and the Javelin sprint on the full circuit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69am2i7XuBk&t=...
And me spinning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2WH9A9ynuA
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