Very interesting. Those connectors look almost like cannon plugs. All the stuff I worked on was in the Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters. We were always told that soldering at the connector level was not used due to the brittleness of the connection, especially if solder wicks up the wire. The stuff I worked on was made to function in very high vibration and dirty environments, though.

Most of the autosport connectors I've used (my track car is wired mostly with Deutsch DT, DTP, and DTM connectors) are crimp, as are OEM auto connectors.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with soldering as long as the connection is clean and properly stress relieved (which is why I'm surprised you're not supposed to shrink the RX8 connections).

I'm also surprised that the posts are heat sinks. You'd think that Tekin would have used a larger heat sink if the heat sink as designed is not large enough.

Good to know before I solder up my RX8. I was planning to shrink all the connections as I don't like having exposed wiring.

Which direction are you guys installing the RX8? I was thinking with the wire posts toward the centerline.