RX-8 vs FRS Battle for the Win... and Track Record!

[@16vPete]

Great vid as always - your RX-8 content is by far some of the best on YT!

[@petescarport]

Insane driving. Love the rx8. I’m looking into coil overs and almost decided on the B.C. Racing br series. What’s your thought. I know your running fortune auto. Thanks for input and keep the videos coming

[@rx8matt]

Pete’s Carport my dad's been running on bc coilovers for years... No rebuild, no complaints. I have a BRZ budy who upgraded to AST suspension and in retrospect was impressed by how well his bc's performed. I think they're a good entry level choice. I'd recommended 10k front 7k rear spring rates for a combination of daily driving and track/autocross.

[@petescarport]

Matt Huffman wow thanks for quick reply. Yea my main concern was they only had a 1yr warranty and many other competitors had 5yr but I heard good things. Can’t wait to get them or maybe go with something a little more aggressive if funding comes in.

[@petescarport]

Matt Huffman thanks again for your reply. After doing research I think I might save up for something more performance based and do lowering springs and some good struts. Do you think this is a good way to go. Keep in mind I have never tracked a car but want to do it right. When I was younger I built a lot of cars up and just did stupid street racing crap but now I want to have some fun on tracks and enjoy my build

[@rx8matt]

RX8 does not use struts. lowering springs and good dampers are probably not "more performance based" than a set of quality, adjustable coilovers. my recommendation would be based on where you see yourself going. do you want to do track and autocross casually, just for fun? If so, yes, get a set of quality springs (eibach, mazdaspeed) and dampers (koni, bilstein). they will ride well on the street, not break the bank, and be reasonably high performance. if you think you want to be serious about time attack, racing, or autocross, look up the class rules, and then buy something that fits well within class limits... likely adjustable coilovers like BC (cheapest), fortune (mid level) and then MCS/Penske/ohlins/AST/etc. You might want to save yourself from buying twice and just do it right the first time. since you're likely a few years out from FTD at autocross or track records in Time Trials, even just doing a set of shocks (koni, bilstein, or the nicer Tokico) would be a good move, along with some taller bumpstops to control roll. The rx8 is super fun as is. If you want a real budget setup, good shocks with a good swaybar setup is cheapest and nicest ride quality on the street.

[@rx8matt]

full disclosure, i had the bilstein sport and eibach spring combo (marketed as the bilstein B12 kit) on my rx8 for a few years. i already had two regional time attack championships and a lap record under my belt in a previous car, so i was a pretty good driver. I started off modest with the RX8 just to learn the new platform. The bilstein B12 was a very comfortable, forgiving, and reasonably competent setup. It was only when i wanted to compete again in time attack that i felt the need to go with adjustable, higher rate coilovers. if i had to do it again, due to my driving experience, i probably should've gone with coilovers at the start, but if you're not (yet) a competitive driver and just seeking fun, i'd go with the route described above (shocks & sways, or maybe shocks & springs & swaysif you want to look low). Save your money for gas, oil, tires, brakes, and entry fees. Seat time is more fun than spending money on mods.

[@dianehuffman7079]

I can't look, not when he goes THAT fast!! Mom.

[@ramensospicy2992]

amazing! series 1 rx8 stock transmission and final gear? or swapped to series 2? thanks!

[@rx8matt]

Series 1. It has held up impressively. Using redline MT90. I wish 4th gear was shorter...

[@rx8matt]

And yeah OEM 4.44 final drive. The 4.77 is pretty sweet but sucks for highway cruising

[@GSXBOY99]

What tire are you on buddy? good driving

[@rx8matt]

used Hankook ventus z214s. They are "slicks", but they were well used C51 medium compound. i don't think they are appreciably faster than say Yokohama A052 or Bridgestone RE71RS.

[@spydercross6052]

HI Matt, great driving, and I enjoy all of your videos! When you had the stock seat, what did you do to lower it for more headroom? I started doing track events last year in my 04 RX-8, though I could always use more headroom for a more comfortable and less compromised driving position.

[@rx8matt]

i did two things. first was get longer bolts and drop the rear of the seat pan. The seat pan attached to the frame with four bolts and you can reverse the rear brackets and use longer bolts to drop the rear of the seat pan down. there's a youtube video by someone else on how to do this. i also took the seat bottom apart and shaved out some foam. this lowers you some more and holds you in a little better... but it obviously made the seat a bit less comfortable. some NC miata guys, myself included, have actually cut off the rear "feet" on the seat rails where they attach to the floor and put in some custom drop brackets that are basically straight or curved upside down to drop the height of the rear rails. any combinations of the three recommendations should be a big help.

[@spydercross6052]

Thanks for the great info!! I’ll have to try one or all three of those.

[@TenguDrift]

Nice video, are the brakes stock ? Some amazing driving there ! 😍

[@rx8matt]

Yep stock calipers and rotors with hawk dtc60 pads

[@DanMarcelino]

Awesome as always brother 👌🏼 how’s the renny holding up?

[@rx8matt]

Well the one in the blue car is on its last leg. I lost the white car in a racing incident so i might transplant that engine into the blue one

[@DanMarcelino]

@@rx8matt sorry for your loss! Any engine work done to any of them? Or stock seals etc? Mine is still going really strong BUT definitely not stock and only back road battles.. we don’t have an affordable track here sadly.. so you’re putting in way more track time than me

[@rx8matt]

@@DanMarcelino yep, sticking with almost all OEM parts

[@DanMarcelino]

@@rx8matt wow that’s pretty good then!! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 awesome brother 😁

[@icanturn6844]

Do you have a build thread? Great driving. Are you on hoosiers?

[@rx8matt]

No, i had one for my old integra but didn't start one for the RX-8. I am on heat-cycled hankook Z214 C51 compound tires from 2015, size 245/40/17 on 17x9. The FRS was on 2018 Hoosier R7s. I imagine i'd be able to shave a good chunk of time with some fresh Hohos.Would you be interested in a video that walked through my car's build and specs? seems like quite a few people have been interested to see what's been done to it and how it's set up.

[@icanturn6844]

Matt Huffman Yes. That would be cool. I dont have an rx8. I drive a miata. But I know a good driver when I see one so when I ran into your channel I subbed. I recently moved to Indy from CA so im hoping I can go to some of the tracks up here sometime in the future. I cant believe you were on 3yr old c51s. Damn impressive. Nice job.

[@alphawav3]

Matt are you still on stock drivers seat? Nice run btw. Im starting to love that track. The design is really quite cool

[@rx8matt]

alphawav3 I've got a corbeau fx1 pro on sparco hd aluminum side mounts bolted directly through the floor, had to cut out the factory mounts to get enough headroom. I would recommend sticking with the stock seat as long as you can... Low seat installs are challenging in this car

[@rx8matt]

alphawav3 I've got a build video coming up that shows my seat

[@vertigo91na]

Nice run!

[@LukeAnthony-v3r]

FRS lost it's torque advantage when the rain came, looked like tyres. think there might be some driver in the mix there too :D

[@sturgeonsqueezer]

Awesome.

[@Shadow1986]

Why does the red ball never move downwards very much in rx8 videos

[@rx8matt]

Ouch, burn!! (For those who might not know, it's because the rx8 doesn't accelerate very hard after first gear so the g-bubble doesn't move much in that direction. Although I have seen 0.7g during hard launches from standstill)

[@Shadow1986]

@@rx8matt hahaahah. you're a good sport

[@dianehuffman7079]

You go Ricky Bobby!!

[@Berry29tm]

Hey Matt! What kind of motor mounts are you running?

[@rx8matt]

Berry29tm raceroots poly. Although hopefully they've upgraded their bolts, one of them snapped on me and they were fairly indifferent when I brought it to their attention... I like the mounts, though

[@Berry29tm]

@@rx8matt I have just bought the Rx8 performance steel/poly ones.. pretty expensive, hope to notice the difference once I install them... have you heard any thought about them?

[@rx8matt]

Berry29tm I bought mine long ago and haven't researched the ones you got. You'll get a little more vibration, a little more direct driveline control. Big thing is they won't sag or leak and let the drivetrain go out of alignment

[@Berry29tm]

@@rx8matt yeah that exactly why I bought them.. with the stock one I suffer terrible misalignment issues especially on track.. 2 out of 3 misshifts