MazdaManiac

The SoCal dyno day will soon be upon us, so I feel compelled to remind people that no amount of tuning will correct a mechanical deficiency. You can sometimes mask a hardware problem with tuning, but it will usually rear its ugly head at the most inopportune time and in the most catastrophic way.

So, if you are gonna spin the rollers on the 27th or 28th of March, get your ducks in line so that I don’t have to deliver bad news and shake my head ruefully. Nothing sucks more at one of these events than to be told that you just wasted $100+ because you forgot to check your CAT or coils.

That said, it seems that most of the FI guys have really tightened up their installs and solved some really annoying issues in a satisfactory way over the last two years. Last year was promising – boost leaks and losses were not nearly as puzzling and erratic as they had been the previous year. I’m hoping for some really happy faces by the time the beer starts flowing in Gardena.

I’m really looking forward to giving “the other” Pettit car a good Falcon punch in the vagina. That thing has been raining on Steve’s parade long enough and I’m sure the owner would like to get on with the enjoyment part of FI RX-8 ownership. I know I certainly need to rub the tarnish off of my ego caused by the big bang last time that car was on the dyno. Note to self – get that car on early when my edginess and sensitivity is the highest. Mechanical/installation issues will arise, but loosing a motor to them while in my care is not an allowable outcome.

Well, watch my Rotary Rotation video over and over again and let the joy that is Dr. Wankel’s contribution to my insanity fill your days with excitement and lemon donuts.

I’ve been working feverishly over several things here in BHR land – turbo upgrades, fuel pump upgrades and a billion AccessPORT calibrations. Hopefully, I’ll start clearing my plate a little more effectively over the next few weeks and start to get to what really interests me – examining and documenting all of the different technical, electrical and mechanical aspects of the RX-8 and how we can improve them.

I’ve posted three new sections to the “Technical” area of the BHR WEB site – “Intake Tech”, “Exhaust Tech” and “Fuel Pump Tech”. Give them a good read and tell me what you think.

I’ll have a similar write-up on the ignition system soon and I will follow up with a primer on AccessPORT tuning that will hopefully compliment my “AccessPORT Tuning Seminar”, which will be held again in the next month.

Apparently, since you are reading it!

idiot

I’m at Sevenstock this weekend!  Come by the vendor booth or check out our live feed!  If you’re lucky you’ll see me rick roll the entire show!