Forgive me for some slight cross-pollination.
The quick backstory is that I have owned a 2011 RX-8 for about 2 years now. It currently has 28K miles on it. I just bought a 2004 MazdaSPEED Miata last week. It should arrive next week or the week after. If I think it has potential on the track, the 8 will be for sale.
The 8 has been a great car. I absolutely love how it handles on the track and how smooth the power delivery is. But it has always been weak in the power department. I have always felt the need to deploy oars and row on the straights on track days. Right around 20K miles, I noticed it missing a bit, so I replaced the coils, plugs, and wires with a BHR kit. Then, I had the cat inspected at the dealership. With a clean bill of health, it seemed to be back to its prior performance level--it perked back up a bit. Mine has always outperformed the other RX-8s at the track, but those guys know they are down on compression or have other problems, and are quick to admit it. They point to mine as how a healthy 8 should run. OK. Fine. Makes me feel good.
This is where it gets strange. I took it to another track day yesterday. It was a completely different car. I'm not saying it suddenly had the power of the gods or anything, but it was much faster. Shift points were different all over the track. I was up-shifting to 4th much sooner and more often, because the car was actually reaching 95mph and 8.5K rpm sooner. My lap times clearly reflected the difference. I normally turn in laps at 1:35:2 very consistently on this track. Yesterday, I was consistently turning in 1:32:9 on average. That difference is absolutely huge. And, it wasn't me or the conditions or anything environmental. Same tires, brakes, gas, oil, everything. Similar weather to the last time out too. IT WAS THE CAR.
The obvious question is, what happened? Vacuum leak that mended itself? Clogged cat that blew out? Stuck butterfly in the throttle body that became unstuck? Stuck VFAD valve that unstuck itself? Pressure plate that was never fully clamping for some impossible reason? It knows it has competition on the way and wants to prove itself?
I'm going with that last one.
The quick backstory is that I have owned a 2011 RX-8 for about 2 years now. It currently has 28K miles on it. I just bought a 2004 MazdaSPEED Miata last week. It should arrive next week or the week after. If I think it has potential on the track, the 8 will be for sale.
The 8 has been a great car. I absolutely love how it handles on the track and how smooth the power delivery is. But it has always been weak in the power department. I have always felt the need to deploy oars and row on the straights on track days. Right around 20K miles, I noticed it missing a bit, so I replaced the coils, plugs, and wires with a BHR kit. Then, I had the cat inspected at the dealership. With a clean bill of health, it seemed to be back to its prior performance level--it perked back up a bit. Mine has always outperformed the other RX-8s at the track, but those guys know they are down on compression or have other problems, and are quick to admit it. They point to mine as how a healthy 8 should run. OK. Fine. Makes me feel good.
This is where it gets strange. I took it to another track day yesterday. It was a completely different car. I'm not saying it suddenly had the power of the gods or anything, but it was much faster. Shift points were different all over the track. I was up-shifting to 4th much sooner and more often, because the car was actually reaching 95mph and 8.5K rpm sooner. My lap times clearly reflected the difference. I normally turn in laps at 1:35:2 very consistently on this track. Yesterday, I was consistently turning in 1:32:9 on average. That difference is absolutely huge. And, it wasn't me or the conditions or anything environmental. Same tires, brakes, gas, oil, everything. Similar weather to the last time out too. IT WAS THE CAR.
The obvious question is, what happened? Vacuum leak that mended itself? Clogged cat that blew out? Stuck butterfly in the throttle body that became unstuck? Stuck VFAD valve that unstuck itself? Pressure plate that was never fully clamping for some impossible reason? It knows it has competition on the way and wants to prove itself?
I'm going with that last one.
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