Knightsports 2010 Catalog

Attached here on this post is the Knightsports catalog for 2010. Be sure you have Flash so you can see it properly. Kind of cool that they have it online now so I don't have to scan all the pages like I did for last year. Looks like great stuff as usual, not too many additions. Keeping it simple as usual.

B Stock RX-8 Champ In STX

The December issue of Sportscar Magazine featured a great cover on Jason Isley trying out STX this year. He has won B Stock in his RX8 a few times from my understanding, and wanted to try something different. Due to copyright issues, I can't scan the magazine and host the article, but I'm sure I can at least discuss it! I wanted to post my opinions on his setup that I found to be interesting, as well as what he did run for STX this year. Comments are welcome as I want to hear other people's take on this.2009 Nationals Specifications
2005 Sunlight Silver RX-8 Sport Edition
Wing, No Aero Appearance Package
Grey and Black Cloth Interior
No Navigation
Standard Stereo System2,750 lb Race Weight
ABS / PS / 221WHP and 154WTQ

Front -3.0 Camber 1/8 Toe Out / Rear -2.5 Camber 1/8 Toe In
9k Front / 6.5k Rear Springs with Rebound and Compression 7-Way Adjustable Shocks
18x9 +35 Wheels with 265/35/18 Tires


Engine
SR Motorsports Wide Grip Performance PulleysCobb Tuning RX-8 Access Port Tuned by Church Automotive Testing
Braille B2317R Battery

Intake
RacingBeat REVi Intake Box
Design Engineering Reflect-A-GOLD Heat Wrap and Tunnel Shield (Below Airbox)
Exhaust
RacingBeat Header
RacingBeat Race Pipe with Random Technology 300CPI Catalytic Converter
Custom 3' Single Exhaust with Borla XR-1 Multi-core Racing Muffler

Suspension
Moton Clubsport Monotube Shocks
Hyperco Optimum Body Springs
Mazdaspeed Front Anti-Roll Bar with Poly Urethane Bushings
No Rear Sway Bar Installed
Moton Front Upper Bearing Plate
Small Fortune Racing Rebound Adjuster
Full Alignment and Corner Balance

Footwork
Forgeline EV1R Wheels
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec Tires (Shaved)
Goodridge G-Stop Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Racing Brake 4 Piston Front Calipers
Racing Brake Open Slotted Two Piece 13' Front Rotors
Racing Brake Open Slotted Two Piece Stock Size Rear Rotors
Hawk HP+ Brake Pads Front and Rear

Interior
Sparco Fighter Racing Seat in Black (Driver only)


So that is it! 8 weeks to build and test out that car for Nationals. Jason came 2nd place in STX and his wife came 1st in STXL. There are some modifications that had me raise my brow in question to be honest. For starters, what strut bar did he run, as they did not mention anything about a strut bar being upgraded from stock. Secondly, no BHR ignition upgrade from the poorly made stock ignition coils? Even if he was planing to go back to B Stock from the beginning, after spending that much on some of the other mods, I personally would have also bought the best ignition kit out there. I had thought that STX allowed you to change clutch and flywheel, or at least rear diff but I guess not as I was told.

Another one that has me puzzled is his alignment, as well as running without a rear swaybar. That really surprised me. No rear swaybar would cause the rear end to be pretty easy to kick out if I'm not mistaken, unless somehow his spring setup makes up for it? The alignment of running such a high camber, especially in the rear surprised me. I was always told not to go so high on rear camber to ensure all my power is being put down. Granted he is running 265, and I'm currently running 245, but could that width really make up that sort of difference? -3 in the front I suppose I could see. The toe setup is very close, if not identical to mine so that made me feel good.

I guess another is the pulleys. That has been going up and down on the forums as some see it useful, and others see it as useless. I've heard it can cause cooling issues due to under driving the water pump, but I've also heard that people have claimed a 10HP increase. The battery was a good tip as I've been looking for a replacement battery for next year, so I'll have to look into the one they chose and see how good it is compared to another stock battery.

Some people had questioned the cat, and why he didn't go for a 100 CPI cat. I'm not too familiar with catalytic converters, except that we need high quality metal ones. Also, one racing seat as opposed to two?

A lot of little intricacies with the setup, but then again, I'm no RX-8 guru. I've learned whatever I do know through a lot of forum surfing, autocrossing, and breaking things on my own car. I hope this post can enlighten people as it has me, and give people some ideas about various setups. I know I can't wait to try out some setup ideas I've come up with in the past, as well as because of this article.

Pictures taken from the Sportscar Magazine Official Website.

RX-8 - Jack Yamaguchi

This book is a resource that is overflowing with information for all RX8 enthusiasts. I had received this book for my birthday back in May, and I was originally going to review this for that month, but I wanted to make sure I covered everything before reviewing it.

For any RX8 owner, this book is very essential to fully understand all the fundamentals and capabilities of the RX8. It covers everything from many driver impressions, to history, design, testing, structure, and just about every detail about the car. There is some information you find in here that you won’t find on a forum message board unless you dig really deep. I highly recommend reading or owning this to anyone who is an RX8 owner, or at least interested in the RX8.

Big thanks to josh for getting me this awesome resource for my birthday, can’t thank you enough for how awesome this is, both to have and the chance to review it!

Knight Sports Catalog 2009

This Month I'll be reviewing a product catalog from Knight Sports instead of reviewing a movie. Wanted to do something a little different this time, and I had just recently picked this up. For starters, this is almost like looking at a adult magazine for car enthusiasts.

High quality pictures, great paper quality, and excellent explanations of all their products (at least the ones I can read in english). Knight Sports is a well known tuning company from Japan that has been around since 1971. They make quality parts that are highly respected, but at a cost of course. In my opinion, I think they have one of best RX8 line ups around, but for RX7s, I'm still a Fujita Engineering kind of guy, especially for their GT kit.

Many of the parts here are very well engineered and well thought out. Take the header for the RX8 as an example. Of all the headers I have seen, this header is the only one that splits the middle runner into two (it explains with diagrams in the catalog). Very cool stuff and definitely worth a download.

Feel free to grab the catalog here, scanned in high res PDF. (Thanks to Altspace for hosting!)