TheAutoLog Blog

Summer mods round 1

June 21st, 2008 · by: Flashwing · 1 Comment
 
Since the automotive world hasn't thrown much at me this week, I thought I'd give everyone an update as to what's happening with the RX8 this summer.

While the rest of you are all enjoying your outdoor BBQs, or swimming in 6 feet of water in the midwest, it's 112 degrees in Phoenix! Fortunatly after two years of building a cooling system for the RX8 I am far from overheating even when temperatures on the highway are 120+ degrees.

I'm hopefully going to be purchasing a few mods as the summer rolls on, but I've tried to take care of important stuff first!



Say hello to the Richard Sohn adapter! As you may or may not know, the rotary engine works much like a 2 stroke motor which mixes oil and gas together. In this case, oil is injected by a metered oil pump into the combustion chamber to lubricate the rotors and internal parts. The primary issue is Mazda designed this to pull dirty engine oil to inject into the motor. There are two major problems with this method.

1. The oil you run in the car must be able to burn with as little carbon deposits as possible. People who baby their rotary motors tend to blow them because the carbon deposits form and damage the internal seals. Your oil choices are very limited.

2. The oil being injected is dirty engine oil. This means you face carbon buildup along with any deposits in the oil being mixed in there.

The sohn adapter takes care of all of this. It blocks off the oil flow from the motor and instead allows you to attach a tank in the engine compartment that contains oil of your choice. In this case, I'll be running Idemitsu pre-mix which is the best choice.

There will be more parts to this project than just the adapter. I also have to come up with a scheme to install a tank which will hold the oil. Since the motor burns approx 1 quart for every 3,000 miles it's not necessary I check it every day. Still, I'm under my hood often enough checking stuff it won't be an issue.

I have also decided to rebadge my vehicle. (Flames welcome). I debadged the trunk of the car as soon as I bought it. I don't have ANY pictures with badges on the rear of my car. I was faced with either rebadging the vehicle in a scheme which fits the car or spending hundreds of dollars having the holes in the trunk welded shut and the lid repainted.

Funds are tight for upgrades, so I'm punting this time to badging the rear and covering up the holes. I'll be replacing the front badge as well. I've considered going with a flat black color but I might come up with something more unique.

Future mods are looking to be tires and the Cobb accessport. While tires are not an "upgrade" of sorts, they are necessary.

More to come!
 

Idle your car, go to jail

June 10th, 2008 · by: Flashwing · 5 Comments
 
As a lead blogger here at The Autolog, I’ve done my best to keep politics and car talk separate but today those two worlds have met. I don’t want to bore everyone with my political opinions and beliefs but this situation was simply too good to pass up.

The city of Minneapolis has passed a new city ordinance stating that motorists are now allowed to idle their vehicle for more than 3 minutes in a one hour period with a few exceptions. If the weather is below 0 or above 90 degrees, people can idle for up to 15 minutes an hour for “the comfort and safety of the occupants” of the car. Emergency vehicles or vehicles that need to idle to power electric equipment are exempt.

The city will make available a 311 information line where people can report violators of this idle rule. Criminal charges could occur if you are a repeat offender.
Now, if you’re not seriously pissed off then I would suggest you sit back and think about how this not only affects you as a driver but where laws like this can lead. I have a few issues I’d like to express.

First, why is this law being put into place? Because of Global Warming! Yes, by not idling your vehicle you can save the planet from unavoidable climate change. I won’t even get into the fact that there isn’t a shred of proof that man is having an impact on climate one way or another and in fact the last 7 or 8 years have been showing a cooling trend.

These kinds of laws do nothing to impact the climate and there isn’t any proof that vehicles idling causes any serious pollution in the first place. What’s even more absurd, is this law is so full of holes that it won’t have much of an impact anyway. If vehicles idling is causing climate change, why not outlaw idling totally? Make it illegal for you to idle your vehicle for more than 60 seconds and violators will lose their license! Now that will make sure we really change the climate!

The reason such things are not done is because of how outrageous the enforcement would be which shows the logical fallacy in this law. If idling is causing problems, why not outlaw it completely? It’s another feel good measure designed to be totally ineffective. In the mean time, people are going to be tattling on each other without any proof or due process. How can you prove if you were idling more than 3 minutes? Do we really want people running around being the “idle police” getting people into trouble because they want to run their A/C and not fry in the heat or freeze in the cold?

The long term impacts of laws like this are very obvious. At some point, cities will outlaw rapid acceleration, reduce speed limits, or outlaw amateur racing or racing events because of the large amounts of fuel used in the process. Imagine it being illegal to race your car ANYWHERE in your state or city because it is considered a waste of fuel and creates pollution?

Who knows, maybe cities will outlaw exercise because the extra carbon dioxide people exhale when exercising is causing pollution, climate change, and wasting valuable food resources for your vanity and desire to look good.
If you think stuff like that can’t happen, remember that idling your car in Minneapolis just became a crime!

 

What I've Learned from Racing...So far

June 4th, 2008 · by: Flashwing · 2 Comments
 
Anyone that knows me is well aware of the fact that if you give me an opportunity to talk about my car you probably can’t shut me up. I’m modest when it comes to people giving me compliments, but my RX8 is a huge source of pride.
That being said, breaking into the racing scene has been about as wonderful as it has been stressful. For those of you who have thought about racing but don’t want to risk the car or are scared by seeing those pictures of zip tied bumpers, perhaps I can share some knowledge with you. For others, this might be an opportunity to laugh as my newbie reviews of this crazy sport.



First, those of you who warned me about racing were right. I am addicted, I will be broke, and yes I realize how much I really suck at driving.

In my defense, I felt like this past weekend I held my own. I kept ahead of a few cars that people would swear up and down would smoke me on the track. I also managed to come in a few seconds ahead of a friendly rival of mine. For that, I was happy and proud. I still have a long way to go.

Racing my RX8 has always been the end goal of building my car. Still, I was mistaken in the notion that the car wasn’t race capable from the moment I bought it. I felt that it needed to be changed, upgraded, modified, and personalized. Little did I know that I could have been enjoying racing many years ago and the car would have done just fine. I tend to do things backwards and this was no exception. I built the car as something I could grow into as a driver. It seems that most people drive the car till they can’t push it any farther and then make changes.
Who knows which system is better; at this point for me I’d say do whatever you enjoy more.

I had my mind set on the road course and it was something I felt I could handle on my own without any issues. Thankfully I went along with peer pressure to try auto cross first. Autocross forced me to deal with the technical aspects of driving while not being able to get into trouble with tons of RWD power. Driving the RX8 with the rear wheels in autocross isn’t as easy as a high powered V6 or V8, but it was enough to teach me a few lessons.



First lesson I learned was always look ahead. We as drivers tend to get fixated on looking at the nose of our car. This causes you to miss important stuff happening ahead or accidents you could easily avoid. You MUST look ahead in autocross otherwise your times will suffer. Things like road conditions, camber changes, and CONES are things to look for.

Still, I was rather tame with the car because I was afraid of losing control. Little did I know that my fear was causing my driving problem. When I would enter a turn, I did so with a lot of speed. My first reaction was to apply the brakes to slow me down which meant a back to front weight transfer. When this occurs, the rear wheels lose grip and the back end slides out. My rear suspension was so stiff that the slightest bit of transfer would cause the back end to totally slide out.

So I learned I had to stay on the gas to keep grip to the rear wheels. Sure, someone could have told me this, but it wouldn’t have been as good a teacher as to learn it on my own.

As time went on, and my times improved I began to learn how the car would react under certain circumstances. Granted, I’d say I only know a fraction of what the car will or can do but it gave me a place to start.

After 4 autocross events, 24 runs, and hours of watching other drivers I was ready to hit the road course. Here I learned a whole new set of tricks. I knew about apexing and how to enter a turn, apex and then exit. Still, doing it right was another thing altogether. I attended the hyperdrive event which put me on Firebird west with a racing instructor from NASA. Here he showed me how to apex a turn properly, braking zones, and how to handle cars on the track. It was a lot of stuff crammed into 20 minutes of track time.

Like a previous Martial Arts instructor taught me, for every hour of practice you need five hours of mental practice as well. Only after I went home that night and looked at a map of the track did some of those lessons come back. I was able to talk about the turns with more accuracy, describe what the car was doing better, and overall have better sense of what the car will do with my inputs.

The Time Attack was my first time on the track by myself. I had another instructor with me during the first 20 minute practice session, and then during the second 20 minute session I went alone. I further refined my turning and apexing, although I was still turning in too early at times. The best part was I was fully aware of when I made a mistake.

The best part about life is the advice you get and at the time you don’t know how important it is. I recall speaking to a fellow Mazda member who was racing that was encouraging me to push the car harder. I replied that I was trying to find the limits of the car and also not break anything.



He told me, if you’re not afraid to risk the car you’re never going to find your limits. We’re not going to leave you stranded here so don’t worry about that.

I’d still like to leave under my own power and not on a flat bed, but he was right. If I was going to be worried about breaking the car all the time then maybe this wasn’t for me. My second practice session I went out and absolutely hammered the car. When I wasn’t at 6,000 RPM’s or above I was wide open on the throttle flying down the straight. The 100 degree temperatures pushed my cooling and oil system to the max and I went a couple laps longer full out than I wanted to. The car held up, and so did I.

At the end of the Time Attack I came out a better, more capable driver. Maybe not a lot better, but a little better. I need tons of practice before I could even hope to be considered experienced but I’ve got my start.

When I was racing, I wasn’t worried about cops, people walking into the road, other cars crossing intersections or anything that you would encounter on the street. All I had to worry about was the track, my driving, and doing my best. If I learned anything from racing it’s that I’ve only tapped a fraction of my car’s ability, and that driving on the street is a totally different game. The track is reserved for me to learn my limits and make my mistakes. Those mistakes made anywhere else could be fatal. Risking my life, my car, my license, and my money by trying to find my limits on the street seems even more senseless with each passing track event.

I’ll always enjoy spirited driving on the street, but after tasting the kind of driving I’ve done on the track the streets will never be as sweet.

 

A K&N airfilter increased gas mileage by 3 mpg

June 3rd, 2008 · by: goingbigger · 1 Comment
 
With two years of stockness under its belt the truck received its first bolt on accessory. Though the bolt on wasn't anything extreme or insane it was still pretty fun to turn a wrench. Last Friday as I decided to go shopping for a bolt on that would enhance performance, increase gas mileage, not to common on performance parts, and not cost an arm and leg to purchase.

After all that hoopla I decided on a K&N cold air system. Like I said, nothing insane. I went to Summit's website, www.summitracing.com, and checked prices then as a comparison checked out Shucks down the street. Summit was cheaper and Shucks had to order it which past experience has shown to be a slow process at best so the choice was simple, Summit.

Being so desperate to wrap my hands around some goodies I had the filter next day aired, Saturday delivery, so it could be put on before the excursion to Seattle in the evening. I ordered it at 12:30pm Friday afternoon and it was at the front at 9:30am Saturday morning upon opening my eyes. Now that is what I call fast, reliable and super cool.

After an hour so of installation it was ready for a test run. Remind you this is just an air filter. There was a notable increase in motor grumble, always a bonus, quicker throttle response, better mid range torque, smoother high rpm revs, more horsepower but doubt it 8 hp gain claimed by K&N and, drum role please, INCREASE IN GAS MILEAGE. Now that is what I am talking about!

Driving to Seattle at an average of 65mph, ok I was speeding, the truck Instant Economy displayed an average of 20 mpg, saw 24 for just a little bit. That is a 3 mpg increase over stock at 65 mph. I will take that any day of the week especially since gas prices are going through the roof.

So here is the first bolt on performance part for the truck.


 

DezodWest Time Attack A Success

June 2nd, 2008 · by: Flashwing · 1 Comment
 
It wouldn’t have been yet another race weekend without being totally fatigued before the action even gets rolling. The Time Attack race at Firebird Raceway on Saturday was a huge success not only for Dezod, but also for AZMC and Mazda in general.


My weekend started Thursday morning with rolling over to Bullitt Automotive in Tempe for a race spec alignment. In a race to make any positive suspension changes prior to the Time Attack race, I opted to see if the alignment for the car was out of whack. This time, I was actually right. The alignment of the vehicle was indeed a mess due to a combination of street driving, suspension changes, and overall problems with the passenger side having maxed out camber adjusters.

With the alignment straightened out, I spent the rest of my time focusing on smaller elements of the vehicle that I have needed to address. One element was the main drive belt which has been squeaking since I installed my Agency Power Underdrive pulley. The belts I have been using are ones provided by AP and had a few miles on them. I picked up a $13 from NAPA and after changing it out the squeaking went away! No more broken car sounds.

The previous week, AZsonicsnake assisted me in a Mazmart high performance water pump install along with a full coolant flush. We inspected the water system and found it to be very clean and the new water pump went in without a hitch. This pump made the difference between giving me several more full out practice laps while other RX8’s (and other built race cars) were overheating or breaking because of the extreme conditions. Thanks Tony!

The final work was getting the driver’s side flare fixed by using some plastic sealer to attach it to the car instead of using 3M tape which doesn’t survive the heat. The flare is firmly attached an no longer hangs off the side of the car. My final body work will involve pulling a few dents and getting my trunk holes filled. I think these elements will be on hold for a while though.

I also removed some excess clear coat from a rear tail light. After sanding it down and hitting it with a rotary buffer it’s looking good as new! If I tend to the front bumper the car will look much better.

Ok so!

The Time Attack…

The day started early around 7am at Firebird as I got registered, assigned a class, and unloaded the crap from my car. I was competing in the RWD street mod class. Due to the forecast (100+ degrees) I opted to throw 4 gallons of 110 octane race fuel into the RX8 to prevent any pre-mature detonation if the car ran hot. It certainly did run hot as the second practice session ran much longer than the first pushing oil temperatures into the 245-250 degree range and my water temperatures to the 230-240 degree range.

Thankfully a well working water coolant system prevented the oil system from being saturated with heat.
My first practice session out went rather well. Since I had driven the hyperdrive the previous weekend, I was familiar with a couple trouble spots on the track and was able to further refine my driving without having to worry about basics. I was able to drive the track in my head which is necessary for doing well. I had a azsolo driving instructor with me the whole time. His assessment after I was done was I needed to brake later, turn later, and roll into the throttle sooner.

So in short, DRIVE FASTER!

Drive faster I did indeed. The second practice session was pucker time as I was taking the brake zones much deeper; deep enough ABS was kicking in halfway into my stop. I was turning and apexing making sure to nail those rumble strips each time. I had issues with downshifting after the quarter mile straight because I needed the power of 2nd gear but I could carry the speed of midrange third gear into the turn. In all, I was hitting 92 mph at the end of the straight before braking.



Without going into too much detail, I felt I took the car to the edge of what I felt it was capable of and it went even further. The car continues to amaze me and I have a lot of growing as a driver before I will over drive the vehicle.

The Time Attack occurred during the hottest part of the day and the track was very warm. I had one warm up lap, 2 hot laps and one cool down. During my second hot lap I could start to feel the tires giving out as they heated up. Still, I stayed heavy in the throttle as deep as possible and only used the brakes when necessary. In all, I felt my time was impressive based on some of the vehicles I was up against.

I was 6 out of 7 people in the RWD Stock class, the fastest time being 1:11.63, the slowest being 1:27.55, and me being 1:15.57. Being less than 4 seconds behind the leader and also coming a few seconds ahead of someone who I have been trying to beat for a while was a huge thrill.

Some other notable vehicles I came ahead of...
Honda S2000 1:27.55, Nissan 350z 1:24.01, Infiniti G35 1:20.10, 03 Mustang Cobra 1:18.41, Subaru STI 1:20.25, Honda Civic SI 1:17.42, Scion TC w/ dezod turbo kit 1:27.50.

Overall it was a fantastic event and I’m looking forward to attending an HPDE event sometime in the middle to late fall. For now, I’ve got a few things that need to be done on the car before pushing it heavy on the track. Before my next event I hope to have a better set of tires, the access port with a full tune and a new ignition system.

I’ll post pics and video as soon as I can. Otherwise check out www.azmazdaclub.com for highlights!


~Flashwing