Well I can't say I'm too happy with the way people perceive most Honda enthusiasts and first off I would like to say if it weren't for latins and island boys on the east coast tuning honda and rx7's back in the day this whole import thing still probably wouldn't be as big as it is now today in America. I mean seriously the Honda B series engine is a titan in the import scene and that motor helped push tuning in the states besides stangs and camaroes. It's not my fault half the people that "tune" Hodas focus on shitty exhaust systems and an air filter and think they are champions. Just look at it this way; it makes people who really know how to make thier cars look and go fast look that much better.

Ok now that I got that off my chest here goes. Ok guys I got about 10,000 saved up after I totalled my B16A2 2000 hatchback. I'm tired of front wheel drive and would rather push from behind than pulling from the front.

I can't afford a brand new RX-8 and I'm aiming at a 2005 model because most of the forums I read all agree that most of the bugs/recalls/fixes are after 2005. I've also read all the FAQ's I could about carbon buildup and proper basic maintenence about what will be expected of me. Now my buddy has a rx-7 and obviously the older model is faster. I want to keep it simple at first and I'm wondering what Top quality applications I should use for the Mid-pipe, exhaust, and intake system? How consistent are stage 1 turbo kits and are they possible without changing internals? Will I be content with just a good airflow and wheel package or will I be wasting my money and just concentrate on boost performance? I know I'm all over the place but I'm really new to rotarys but would like to enter the world of them and from what I've read most people who "tune" rotarys don't do it right and give them a bad name so help me help rotarys and do it right thr first time so I don't add to the statistics.

 

"straight out the box"the rx8 is a car based around Handling...as for stock, suspension mods will go better with it on the stock engine, the rx8 isnt a straight line car...if you want more power, youre definitely gonna wanna go FI....exhaust, intake and other regular bolt ons wont do much...

 

Welcome to the club

I too switched from Honda to Mazda because of that very reason... too many "ricers" with big mufflers and eBay intakes.

There are really only 3 decent turbo kits for the 8, and 1 of them is no longer being made: Esmiril; Greddy; Mazsport(*cough*)

If you got a catback + intake + cat delete you'd be lucky to gain 8whp... so pretty much would be wasting your money unless you go FI.
Read up on all the applications in the Major Horsepower Section... plenty of info for your questions

 

Good luck finding an 8 . The turboed renesis is a wonderful thing

 

I did the same thing,got away from the honda scene,had b16 on a 92 civic si w/ 345 hp best time was 11.75e.t. but to be honest the 8 is a lot much fun great handling but it does lack a bit hp so you should consider fi like dozer said regular bolt on dont do much.

p.s.
I'm puertorican...lol

 

thanks for the replies so far. yeah I was entranced when the latin groups had the peanut cars with slicks in the back pulling up the the illegal race nights when I was a young buck(27 now).

But yea the honda civic is a tin can on wheels and to some classy I guess but I need a more solid car and is percieved as an adult car. Even though I had my whole car painted silver with side moldings, mirrors front lip, and fully converted my 2000 civic cx hatch(ordered it with A/C only) to a full blown B16A2 and I never got any credit for it besides teenage girls and some 90 pound kid wearing a wife beater who had the same car. So yea I'm done with Honda and now need to get the tatoo removed form my back(seriously).

So FI is the way to go eh? Anyone have a link to this mazspeed kit? Another thing that is very important to me is keeping my tire wear with this rear wheel drive car even as possible without hopefully having to buy a camber kit. I don't weant to replace tires every 6 months and only expect to push it once in a while or when I don't see cops around. I've read some pretty scary stories on here and want to lower the car a decent amount with 18's and off-set/staggered rims. There's japtrix racing here in west palm beach, FL and they have been around for forever and specialize in rotarys so I already have my shop in mind. What does the mazspeed kit come with and how much does it cost?

 

First welcome to the forum and good luck finding an RX-8.

What you wrote above though is a bunch of crap. Sorry. The west coast has been modding imports a lot longer than the east coast. I remember when I moved from Las Vegas to Boston they thought I was crazy. They were all about American cars.

 

thats not what i heard- i heard you were THE reason!!

 

I wasn't saying one coast was stronger than the other but lets jsut say the coasts made it happen.

I checked out that mazsport.com website and the website doesn't work and is under maintanence.

 

I'm actually looking into going from a Dodge Dakota to a Honda Ridgeline.

 

great story hansel

 

I like that you enter with your fists raised because you used to have a Honda :P Seriously though, I'd say any Mazda is a step up from quality on the inside, and especially the 8. But it may not be as easily tuned as many other cars. And if you don't know what you are doing... well...

Still, good luck finding a car and welcome.

 

you might wanna check the good guy bad guy threads , and make your own decision Mazsport, that being said...
Welcome to the club.
FI is definately the way to go
-great turbo kits- Greddy(MazdaManiac Tune), and the Esmiril kit, BHR on the way
-great supercharger kits- Pettit Racing, and Hymee Enhanced
NA- go with suspension mods for the most smiles for the buck, also AFE short shifter(you dont realize how shitty the OEM is until you have it)
Good luck and happy tuning....

 

Fixed.

 

WELL SAID!

 

Americans were tuning compact VWs long before the Honda B-series engines came about. Hondas were really popular in the 90's but certainly nothing ground breaking in the import tuning world. Just cheap and fun cars.

Anyways, what exactly are you looking for in an 8? Have you driven one yet? There's a small chance you may not even like the car..... a very small chance. What are your goals? No sense in shopping for mods if you don't know how the car feels in stock form.

 

I've driven a rx-7 before. I definately am hoping for a step up from my Si engine N/A wise. I know it's a much heavier car and will plan on putting a turbo kit that isnt crazy but maybe at least to standards of how I think the car should come standard. I'm definately more on the econimical side of reliability in a setup than pushing it to the limit.

 

Yes I believe that the west coast were the first import ppl(hence being closer to Japan where alot of the imports come from) however if you're looking for more power turbo or s/c is the way to go the reason that mazsport isnt working becuase "supposedly" they shut down....anyway welcome to the addiction....

 

Don't forget the BHR turbo set up for when it comes out

 

I'm going to go ahead and say it. If you want power, you can go the route of turbocharging the Renesis, which in my opinion isn't worth it, or you can do a four port turbocharged 13B swap. That is the route I would go, and so long as I keep my Rx8 for a few more years it is the route I will go. For the cost of turbo kits and the outcome of the performance, you could buy a 13B-REW and rebuild it, port it, and up the boost on the stock twins and make more power.

If you're not looking for crazy amounts of power, just a good boost, get a midpipe to replace the cats (assuming you don't have emissions testing), get a good tune, and you'll have good amounts of NA power.

Suspension is the main thing you'll want to do to these cars. The suspension geometry is wonderful, it just needs to be stiffer.

 

13B-REW ugh. So you could drop out the engine, the transmission, ignition, the injectors, fuel rails, fuel pump, and radiator, get a standalone ECU and a tuner and have a 10 year old car jammed into the body of it's younger cousin. Yes, you can run higher amounts of boost more easily on a REW because of the lower compression but you will have to practically gut the RX8 to do it. If you are going to do that, don't bother with a crappy REW, get a 20B and call it a day. If you are going to turbocharge a 13B you might as well make it a Renesis. With upgraded ignition and a turbo kit alone it is possible to break 400 whp on the stock car. If you want to play with a REW, just buy an FD.

 

Bingo!

Turbo kits for the RENESIS are much cheaper and easier to install than a full on 13BREW frankenstein swap. Just save yourself the trouble and buy the RX-7 that it came in.

 

I love seeing people who swap 13BT's or even 13B-REW's over into an RX-8 because...well, it's awesome.

Although, if you're doing it to "save money" and go faster....that's just going the super long route! Might as well just turbo the Renny, or if have the know-how, get a 20B. Be REALLY special with a 26B, if you wish

 

Well guess what guys. I'm test driving a 2004 rx-8 today for 14,500 with 50k miles and comes with a petit racing supercharger, 18 black rims on black paint and a carbon fiber hood fitted perfectly. the guy has 26 pics for me to look at and all the pics look great. I did a carfacts report on the previous and only owner and the gentleman was 34 years old(not a teenie burning the engine up) with no accident reports.

I already made an appointment with japtrix racing next tuesday to do a compression test and overlooking all the aftermarket parts already on the car(they specializer in rotary engines). If I plan on buying the car I will put a deposit on it until I can check the engine diagnostics after the holidays.

To be honest I didn't really want an rx8 with this many miles on it already but the guy has every option for the 2004 model including the navigation, fog lights etc. I think this is a great deal considering the petit racing supercharger runs 6k+ by itself and proper fitting carbon fiber hoobs that are quality run about 500-700 so I think I'm getting a great deal in the compression comes back fine.

What do you guys think? Personally I'm very excited to see the car this afternoon and more than likely put a deposit down on the car.

 

already supercharged! NICE....