I was showing the beauty of a tiny engine to a friend of mine last night at a parking garage. I was distracted by my other friends struggling to fit a 15" monitor, I had in my back seat, into the trunk. I went to help them (no we didn't fit it into the trunk) and my other buddy closed the hood. I should have doublechecked but didn't and basically... I left my engine cover at the parking garage :-(. I went there today and it's gone, talked to the attendants and nobody turned anything in nor did the janitor throw anything like it away.

Sooooo... anyone know what the cost of one these things are? Or perhaps if I'm going to end up cooking the underside of my hood now that I don't have the cover on?

You should be fine with the cover off. I think its just there for looks. Check with your Mazda dealer. They should be the only 1's who have them.

I am thinking once it gets summer time, mine may come off anyways. Might help give it more air?

Good point!

I have noticed it is actually running a smidge cooler. Also I can hear the engine growl a lot louder at high RPM.

yeah, when I went in for my 1st oil change they put too much oil in, I brought it back and they drained and forgot to put the cover back on. I noticed the next day, and had been wondering why it seemed so much louder. Noise was the only difference I noticed.

The engine cover is unnecessary weight! I took mine off, my 0-60 time is now 5.6 sec.

this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. what does one do with an rx-8 engine cover?

Soo... I called our good friends at Rosenthal and had the parts guy struggle to find the "Surge Tank Cover" (engine cover) which is part# N3H31313XB. Gave me a list price of 197.40... owch.

Don't forget these things after you take them off people!

lol! if i were you i'd use this as an excuse to get a fancy strut tower brace that boots the engine cover out

Hay if anyone reads this and has recently wrecked their RX8 please email me. I want your engine cover! Or if you're selling a fancy strut tower brace as mentioned above... email me too, might be interested.

Originally posted by cumpressor4u2nv
this is the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard. what does one do with an rx-8 engine cover?

I think it'd looks nice if I hang it on my wall :D
but goodluck finding one from a wrecked rx8! search the forum, I believe someone posted something about being rear ended and sandwiched on the highway or something..

noah hahaha the engine coverdoesnt even weigh 5 pounds!!Taking off 5lbs isnt going to knock your 1/4 mile down by .3 seconds like you say.

Yeah Jerky never heard anything so ridiculous...lol

I think he was joking, guys... give him a break, he just lost his wheels!

Originally posted by noahprtlnd
The engine cover is unnecessary weight! I took mine off, my 0-60 time is now 5.6 sec.

What's your 0-60 time without your wheels?

Hey antichristpm, check Mazmart, as mentioned by others on this forum they are the only company parting out multiple 8s. They may or may not sell something in this price-range since they are concentrating on drivetrains for now. Ask for their RX-8 expert.

Originally posted by Astor
yeah, when I went in for my 1st oil change they put too much oil in, I brought it back and they drained and forgot to put the cover back on. I noticed the next day, and had been wondering why it seemed so much louder. Noise was the only difference I noticed.


Service dept. forgot to put my cover back on too AND they overfilled as well. 70 mi away, tho - can't just go right back. They had to ship it to me overnite and I had to deal with the oil myself. Gonna start checking those things before I leave from now on.

Shit is it really$200 for the engine cover? I lost mineyesterday and was about to make apost to find out ifanyone knew how much they cost but I foundthis one. Do I reallyneed that thing anyway? Itsreally annoying to take off allthetime but Ill admit it doeslook nice. I wouldnt even pay $50 for it though. Does it really protect it from anythingor is it just to reduce noise and looks?

It kind of depends on your point of view.

One school of thought is that it's unneeded.

Another is that if it were really useless, Mazda wouldn't spend the extra $50 or so per car parts cost to put it on...

only reason you might want to buy a replacement is because it may protect the hood from direct heat from the engine. you may have paint problems a few years down the road if you don't replace it.

This is totally a guess, but the 8 is designed to be "friendly" in a pedestrian collision. Mazda might have needed the cover to help distribute the force of a pedestrian landing on the hood.

Originally posted by zephyr750
only reason you might want to buy a replacement is because it may protect the hood from direct heat from the engine. you may have paint problems a few years down the road if you don't replace it.

hmm, good point.. i have mine installed so i guess i should leave it on

another price kicker is the shift knob...that is pretty da#n steep for a plastic cover....anyone wonder how much the manual shift knobs cost?...they retail for $219..is that not a crock or what...thank god they warrantied mine for the premature wear...the stupid mazda speed one is only $79....WTF!!

I think Mazda is takingadvantage of us Rx8 owners sincewe own their flagship car. They figureif we can afford to buy their top car thenwe can pay extra for "prestigous" parts for the carwhen we lose them. Guys Ireally dont think we should be charged these bullshit prices for the items being discussed here. Too badwe cant do anything about it.

Right nowIm just going to go w/o a cover. My Rx8 sounds a little bit meaner without the cover anyway.

So if you're ever strapped for cash, you can always sell your cover on eBay.

Originally posted by BillK
Mazda wouldn't spend the extra $50 or so per car parts cost to put it on...
You'd be surprised what things cost wholesale. I'm guessing the whole thing, gromits included, was less than $15 to Mazda if purchased from a supplier... much less if they did the molding themselves.

I really like the eBay suggestion... I wonder how many other "unneeded" parts our cars have that could be easily sold off.

Imagine the stuff they took out of the Acosta Racing 800+ HP RX-8, I'm sure they have a Cover leftover for sale or something :)

No, they might need to return it to stock form for warranty repairs. ;)