The Road to Lincoln, NE - Chiketkd's official 2009 Autocross Blog (B-stock RX-8)

[Chiketkd]

The 2009 season is less than 2 weeks away from starting. Shawn will be co-driving with me once more and we'll be travelling to Lincoln, NE the new site for Solo Nationals!

Over the winter, I've primarily been doing maintenance on the car which has included:

• Mobil 1 gear oil in Transmission & rear diff
• New spark plugs, plug wires and coils
• Fresh front brake pads
• Fresh brake fluid (bled all brake lines)
• Recall ECU flash
• Fresh street tires
• New alignment (Camber: -1.8ºF, -1.9ºR)

I also installed the Hotchkis 27mm MX-5 front swaybar which is 3-way adjustable. The settings are 13%, 33.7% and 60% stiffer than the stock RX-8 bar.



Our National event schedule in 2009 will be as follows:

• Dixie NT - March
• Finger Lakes NT - June
• DC Pro Solo - June
• Solo Nationals - September

I also took out a season subscription with the WDCR, so I'll be attending all of those events as well.

The car proved that it can be competitive with the very best last season, we just need to take our driving to the next level.

[Chiketkd]

First local events will be a dyno day on 2/28 with an autocross club in Richmond, VA followed by an autocross on 3/1 with the Virginia Motorsports Club.

Looking forward to getting some baseline power numbers on what the car makes in B-stock trim.

[Chiketkd]

The previous weekend when I was replacing my coils, I broke off a vacuum line fitting on my car and ordered a replacement - the part didn't arrive in time and needless to say, my car wasn't running at 100%. My car made 164.4whp and 129.79 wtq which is down about 15-20whp from what I was expecting...

9.5K rpms anyone?


My dyno graph:


My friend Michael brought out his lightly modded Cobalt SS S/C and his dyno graph is below:




I have since received the parts and replaced the vacuum line and fitting. The car will be redyno'd on 3/21. Btw, I didn't attend the 3/1 autocross with the VMSC in Richmond as 5-8" of snow were in the forecast that day/night.

[SVXRide]

3 way adjustable = 3 mounting holes per end for the end links (?) How far are the holes actually spaced apart?
-Bill
p.s. are you going to make any of the events over in Waldorf?

[Chiketkd]

Originally Posted by SVXRide

3 way adjustable = 3 mounting holes per end for the end links (?) How far are the holes actually spaced apart?
-Bill
p.s. are you going to make any of the events over in Waldorf?

Bill,

Yes, they're 3 mounting holes per side - I guess that technically that makes it 9-way adjustable (even though I'll be using it as a 3-way adj bar).

I'm not sure about those events just yet. Might run a tighter local schedule this season to save money. I'll definitely be at the WDCR Fedex events though.

[Chiketkd]

My first event for the 2009 season will be the Dixie National Tour in Cecil, GA on March 13-15. Shawn and I will be heading out on Thursday afternoon, in order to be at the event site early Friday morning to take part in the test & tune.

Press release from the Dixie Region about this event is shown below:

Dixie Region to Host First 2009 SCCA National Tour Event March 13-15, 2009



For the third year in a row the Dixie Region SCCA will host the first event of the 2009 SCCA National Tour, on March 13-15, 2009. The 2009 Dixie National Tour will again be held at the South Georgia Motorsports Park located 12 miles north of Valdosta, Ga. In 2008 this event hosted nearly 300 entrants, to date a National Tour attendance record, according to event chair and SE Division Solo Steward, Robert Lewis. 2008 SCCA Solo national drivers came from as far away as Pennsylvania, Michigan and California to compete in the prestigious event and we expect the same this year. Entrants must be SCCA members. The long weekend will include a Test-and-Tune, Tech Inspection and a Welcome Party at the track on Friday March 13th. Saturday and Sunday entrants will be divided into run groups with a different track course design on each day. This will be a great opportunity to compete against some of the best national Solo drivers in the country. For event details and registration visit the SCCA 2009 Dixie National Tour Webpage. You must be a SCCA member and pre-registered online to enter. See you at the National Tour.