The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
- StreetDragster
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- StreetDragster
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Been a while so I think an update is due, not much to report in all honesty, the car is really reliable so it doesn't see much attention between events now.
Oulton Park was attacked, great track, car did well all day with no dramas and towards the end the slicks were getting a bit thin on the inner edges. Changed to the Nankang NS2R’s on the spare Evo wheels (white) to finish the day off. Few photos below-
After Oulton the car went on a bit of a diet, all surplus wiring and modules were removed from the car, alarm stuff, all the wiring to the doors, roof, stereo wiring etc., quite a bit came out.
Plastic (Lexan Marguard™) windows were made and installed in the front windows with sliding vents and ducts to compliment the roof vent. Turns out there weren’t much in glass vs plastic for the windows in rear doors, so I left them glass.
Surplus metal cut out of the doors to get the weight down, door cards removed etc. Replacement door cards made from two pieces of Correx™ plastic sheet, bonded together at 90 degree angles to improve the strength and rigidity.
New MRF slicks where fitted to the slicks and that’s about it
Onto Cadwell park, where the mods worked nicely, cabin cooling was good, tyre grip was good, had to block off the boot lid vent with duct tape to stop exhaust gas intrusion, the additional air into the cabin seems to have upset the pressure balance at the back which prevented exhaust gas coming in previously.
The main purpose of Cadwell Park was not for the Kraken, but to shakedown the Hadouken which had a major upgrade over winter 2018, roll cage, seats, Tein suspension, nitrous, much more gauging etc. Pleased to say that the car worked great on its initial outing, and needs little tweaking for its next adventure.
Pictures and videos from the event below-
Aintree is the next event the cars are looking to attend, no changes planned prior to that.
I've decided that I’m not going to plow much more money into the car, TBH interest in track daying is starting to wain a little as we have covered a lot of the tracks I want to drive (33 track days post Aintree) and I’m gathering interest in other hobbies, the build as well as the drive is a major interest of mine and I’m getting to the point when it needs little without massive cost. That said, I’m still interested in tracking the car, just not at the rate we have been doing, plus there are huge financial losses to be made when I eventually sell/part the car out, so there is no rush to hang up the spurs. Plus I want to get it to Italy when BookaTrack go there next.
Next jobs on the list to do a job I've been putting off, replacing the seats. Ages ago I bought a pair of Reverie Mulsanne carbon seats, which are feather weight, some 6kg for the pair. But the dramas involved in getting side mounted seats into the Hadouken have put me off the idea. As I already have them, and the side mounts, and I have done something similar before though I have no excuse not to fit them, so following Aintree that’s probably what I’m going to do.
It’ll then probably need a tweak back and centre of gravity to sort out the distribution now a lot of weight has come out of the car.
Another area I want to explore is aero, I’d like to add some items like a diffuser, splitter and wing, maybe a flat floor, but I don’t want to go to mad with the cost of it all, so we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks
Matt
Oulton Park was attacked, great track, car did well all day with no dramas and towards the end the slicks were getting a bit thin on the inner edges. Changed to the Nankang NS2R’s on the spare Evo wheels (white) to finish the day off. Few photos below-
After Oulton the car went on a bit of a diet, all surplus wiring and modules were removed from the car, alarm stuff, all the wiring to the doors, roof, stereo wiring etc., quite a bit came out.
Plastic (Lexan Marguard™) windows were made and installed in the front windows with sliding vents and ducts to compliment the roof vent. Turns out there weren’t much in glass vs plastic for the windows in rear doors, so I left them glass.
Surplus metal cut out of the doors to get the weight down, door cards removed etc. Replacement door cards made from two pieces of Correx™ plastic sheet, bonded together at 90 degree angles to improve the strength and rigidity.
New MRF slicks where fitted to the slicks and that’s about it
Onto Cadwell park, where the mods worked nicely, cabin cooling was good, tyre grip was good, had to block off the boot lid vent with duct tape to stop exhaust gas intrusion, the additional air into the cabin seems to have upset the pressure balance at the back which prevented exhaust gas coming in previously.
The main purpose of Cadwell Park was not for the Kraken, but to shakedown the Hadouken which had a major upgrade over winter 2018, roll cage, seats, Tein suspension, nitrous, much more gauging etc. Pleased to say that the car worked great on its initial outing, and needs little tweaking for its next adventure.
Pictures and videos from the event below-
Aintree is the next event the cars are looking to attend, no changes planned prior to that.
I've decided that I’m not going to plow much more money into the car, TBH interest in track daying is starting to wain a little as we have covered a lot of the tracks I want to drive (33 track days post Aintree) and I’m gathering interest in other hobbies, the build as well as the drive is a major interest of mine and I’m getting to the point when it needs little without massive cost. That said, I’m still interested in tracking the car, just not at the rate we have been doing, plus there are huge financial losses to be made when I eventually sell/part the car out, so there is no rush to hang up the spurs. Plus I want to get it to Italy when BookaTrack go there next.
Next jobs on the list to do a job I've been putting off, replacing the seats. Ages ago I bought a pair of Reverie Mulsanne carbon seats, which are feather weight, some 6kg for the pair. But the dramas involved in getting side mounted seats into the Hadouken have put me off the idea. As I already have them, and the side mounts, and I have done something similar before though I have no excuse not to fit them, so following Aintree that’s probably what I’m going to do.
It’ll then probably need a tweak back and centre of gravity to sort out the distribution now a lot of weight has come out of the car.
Another area I want to explore is aero, I’d like to add some items like a diffuser, splitter and wing, maybe a flat floor, but I don’t want to go to mad with the cost of it all, so we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks
Matt
- These users thanked the author StreetDragster for the post:
- ChrisHolmes (Mon May 06, 2019 7:49 pm)
- Harrizone
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Glad to see you guys still enjoying the cars, for the meantime anyway.
Now a distant memory unfortunately.
- casey
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Interesting to hear the latest news Matt, and your plans
Any idea what lap times you two were getting at Oulton and Cadwell?
Any idea what lap times you two were getting at Oulton and Cadwell?
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Federal 595RS-R or Rainsport 3
Seibon Carbon Fibre Bonnet, "Racing Brake" front calipers, Racing Beat (RB) ARB's F&R, RB REVI intake, full RB Stainless Steel Exhaust & Mani, 20mm Eibach spacers, KOYO Ali Rad, Lightened Fly, Tein MonoFlex coilovers & strut brace, Axial short-shifter, BHR Coils & Engine Mounts, Greddy Sump
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Err not sure Malcolm, I'll check the telemetry and let you know.
Stupidly though, I think i've deleted the Oulton sessions from the card by accident, eek
Stupidly though, I think i've deleted the Oulton sessions from the card by accident, eek
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Love the Oulton Park circuit
Rotary History;
Sep 2005-Aug 2006 EO55 XOL VR 231 New
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Sep 2005-Aug 2006 EO55 XOL VR 231 New
Oct 2014-Mar 2019 OE06 EWJ VR 231
Jan 2019-Jun 2020 T200 CAD Orange SC 231
Feb 2020-May 2023 RR54 AJR VR 231 Modified for Track
Oct 2020-Mar 2021 YA56 EUE Copper Red Nemesis
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- zippyonline
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
So Matt, what's the latest plans - I see lots of bits of this car for sale!
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- StreetDragster
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
It's off to the crusher on Monday
Coming to a baked bean can near you soon
:-(
Coming to a baked bean can near you soon
:-(
- 13Black
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Ah darn, I really liked the car and watching your videos. Seemed like a well-setup and piloted steed. I must have seen you briefly at Mallory last year but I didn't say hi.
I hope it was fun while it lasted.
I hope it was fun while it lasted.
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Yer, 38 trackdays on 5 countries, happy with that!
I've been thinking about throwing in the towel for a few months now, but all the planets are aligning at the moment.
The Mrs has the tow car and she fancies a change to something different
The parking space for the trailer maybe under pressure soon
I'm generally not feeling it any more
And my driving buddy is heading abroad for a few years
So i think its time to end this story., but if you want a piece of memorabilia, like a rollcage, get in touch lol
Matt
I've been thinking about throwing in the towel for a few months now, but all the planets are aligning at the moment.
The Mrs has the tow car and she fancies a change to something different
The parking space for the trailer maybe under pressure soon
I'm generally not feeling it any more
And my driving buddy is heading abroad for a few years
So i think its time to end this story., but if you want a piece of memorabilia, like a rollcage, get in touch lol
Matt
- 13Black
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Might have to just order as many tins of beans I can afford atm and hope for the best
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Experimelon 183whp rebuild | Rotary Revs D585s | PZ Suspension | Hawk & Yellowstuff pads | Extra steering lock | Custom exhaust | Added rearward flames of glory | Unnecessarily repurposed ball gags-= Clicky click for build thread =-
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- StreetDragster
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- StreetDragster
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Sad in many ways, but the car had a good life, being used as intended. It gave you some great times and memories, plus some parts will continue to breath life into the ever diminishing number of 8's on the road/track.
Great to have met you and your mates a few times at trackdays Matt. Best wishes for whatever your next car adventure might be
RIP Kraken.
Great to have met you and your mates a few times at trackdays Matt. Best wishes for whatever your next car adventure might be
RIP Kraken.
Essex Rotary Full Bridgeport
Seibon Carbon Fibre Bonnet, "Racing Brake" front calipers, Racing Beat (RB) ARB's F&R, RB REVI intake, full RB Stainless Steel Exhaust & Mani, 20mm Eibach spacers, KOYO Ali Rad, Lightened Fly, Tein MonoFlex coilovers & strut brace, Axial short-shifter, BHR Coils & Engine Mounts, Greddy Sump
Federal 595RS-R or Rainsport 3
Seibon Carbon Fibre Bonnet, "Racing Brake" front calipers, Racing Beat (RB) ARB's F&R, RB REVI intake, full RB Stainless Steel Exhaust & Mani, 20mm Eibach spacers, KOYO Ali Rad, Lightened Fly, Tein MonoFlex coilovers & strut brace, Axial short-shifter, BHR Coils & Engine Mounts, Greddy Sump
Federal 595RS-R or Rainsport 3
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Re: The Kraken- RX8 Trackcar
Cheers Malcolm
You'll probably still see me about, just with John in his grey pz
:-)
Matt
You'll probably still see me about, just with John in his grey pz
:-)
Matt
- These users thanked the author StreetDragster for the post (total 3):
- casey (Sat Jul 20, 2019 5:35 pm) • 13Black (Sat Jul 20, 2019 6:27 pm) • ChrisHolmes (Sat Jul 20, 2019 6:40 pm)