Hey Guy's

Me and my wife own a totally stock (accept clutch and flywheel) rx8..

We have a family member with the 09 and I must say my wife fell in love..

As far as my research tells me, no chassis changes have been made, only the panels and hood and stuff like that.

So the question is, what and if possibly do I need to purchase to do the conversion.. Can it be done easily with just the hood, fenders, radiator support, head lamps and the usual for the type of changeover or am I out of luck ?

I would love to do this and I have done it on civics, and STI's numerous times.. I have grown up..

So can I get some input on this ?

Thanks in advance

Curtis.

 

well one thing i know for sure, the tail lights wont fit flush, i also know the 09 exhaust hangs lower, so i dont know about rear bumper fitment....

 

There are some slight differences in regards to injectors and such but nothing regards to horsepower if that's what you mean.

For looks, there are some kit's available by Auto-exe that replicates the 09's front end. I could be wrong, but i do believe some forum vendors on here sell them.

 

Stop avertising the SE-03c Paris thats my bumper,,,,

Anyway to make a 04-08 look like a 09 which is purely a mystery why you would want to do that,,, you will new bumper, both rear and front (est. @ $1000), new headlights(gosh havent even sought those out but 04s are $400+ so expect more), new rear taillgihts(same as headlights ) New fenders (probably $600-700),,, to make it look like an R3 different more expensive bumper, spoiler($300+)
So for for under $3000 you can make you car uglier than it already is,,,, And like Atilla said thats just the exterior cosmetics....

Hope she didnt fall in love with the R3 seats because I will just laugh and let you go to the dealer and let him give you a heart attack when he pulls up the price,, lol....

 

Partially correct. The 09 tail lights will look funny with the 04-08 rear bumper, but if you are doing a full 09 conversion they will look fine with the 09 rear bumper. The 09 exhaust tips are bigger and sit slightly lower so you can either buy the 09 exhaust or have a shop modify your existing one.

Don't forget the R3 sideskirts if you are going the R3 route. Otherwise this sounds like a pretty good list. Most of these parts are available on japanparts.com. You'll want to get the headlights through a US dealership though, the JDM spec will have the wrong cutoff shields, or if you're spending that much money you might want to find euro spec headlights (not UK) so you can get the correct cutoff shields and no amber reflectors inside the housing. Don't forget the cost of painting unless you have a color that carried over to 09.

 

So it sounds like you'll need to replace the full front clip (bumper, headlights, fenders), and the rear clip (bumper, taillights, rear fenders). Add/modify exhaust, and add R3 sides, wheels. Only things you can keep are the doors. Don't forget the interior. That's another large laundry list.

 

Aipex and RA your right about all that except the hood, the hood is the same,,, so lets bump that price up to around $4k....

 

im sure theres a body kit your wife would like....get the mazdaspeed kit :D

 

Hood, trunk and rear fenders are the same.

 

Wait I thought the trunk was slightly different, isn't that why the taillights won't look flush?

 

They arent flush on the 09s,,, its a new tailight design, the trunk is the same...

 

Thanks for the clarification!

 

Thanks for all the input guys..


No she didn't like the R3.. didn't let her see it yet lol.


SO I am not going to have to change out any radiator support or anything of that nature?

Just bumper, headlights, front fenders, front spoiler.

rear bumper , exhaust, real spoiler.

Can anyone confirm the doors, trunk and hood are matches?

 

they are the same, but again the $3k its gonna cost ya before labor and probably paint, everything under the sun is more worth it than doing the conversion...

 

^why spend all of that money on a conversion.....if you are wanting good oem fitment and are willing to spend that kind of money have you looked into the mazdaspeed kit?

the 04-08 ms kit > 09 stock

 

Because his wife likes it! Happy wife = happy life!

 

just trade your 8 in for the newer one and save the trouble... in the end you also get all the features which the new 8 has too

 

^^^^ yup you could justify it as getting a free oil injection port, and new underderpanels.,...

 

Your pipe dreaming if you think you can convert.

 

I don't think it's impossible. At least not the exterior. Besides, the OP has done prior conversions.

 

Exactly, I can do the conversion no problem and can also afford the parts.


It was only a matter of knowing if the 2009 has the same mounting points and dimensions.. I didn't think they would change any of it.. Just making sure.

And a civic conversion is much different that an 8. Civics are really toys compared to ti..

I may have to talk her into the MS kit, she had a good look at an 8 equipped with it on the show room floor and liked it.. so we will see.

Anyhow, thanks for all the input.

 

front bumper won't fit either

 

Don't know if this is what you looking for.

 

Dammit every one stop advertising the SE-03c, the few there are the more badass mine becomes...

 

I don't think that anyone is going to be able to tell you this for sure until someone actually tries this. I would assume they would be the same, but you know what they say about assuming!

BTW, what color is your car? I'd like to see what an R3 looks like in Ti Gray.