Kas

Seeing as I have had time on my hands to think, I'm now leaning towards supercharging my 8 and hoping for around the 220 Kw mark.

My reason for this is simple, it can be taken off in an hour and restored for servicing without getting my hands too dirty.

With power/turbo's comes trouble and realisticly, all I can safely run is 5psi so why not supercharge with 5psi and have instant on demand, no lag power with a unit I can take out at the drop of a hat.

Boost is boost

Kas

Actually, It should make roughly 230 Kw. Thats a 13.something, very respectable for a street car!

Kev

My opinion is to phone redine rotary in Brookvale (serious go). Don't ask - just say Kev from "local" said to chat - ONLY talk to ALEX.

FWIW, I'm just building up the guts for the big go, but it WILL be months away. GFI - I won't be jealous...

Winning

230kw at RW? If it is, how much is this supercharger kit?:D :D :D

Kas

Well there is no kit, YET!

The reason i'm talking about this is i'm working closely with a rotor workshop to develop a FI kit however i'm wanting to meet the market for a realistic price and a realistic level of usability.

Things like

Supercharging does not require warmup/cooldown and has instant throttle response unlike turbo's that need to build up the pressure.

Its reasons for this that I come back and think that IF i still wanted to be doing this sorta thing then I would have stuck my my rx7. Its reasons for the supercharger and its ease of operation that make the bonus points for me.

Still thinking..

Supercharger = $3000 or so
Few intake mods = $500
Aftermarket computer (Microtech) = $1000


The turbo,wastegate manifold, intercooler etc will be roughly the same price. It wont be as much bang for the buck, but it will produce around 30% more HP

Winning

Looks reasonable!! I am still not sure whether I want to mod my RX8. I am thinking of keeping my 8 for 3 years max. Once the warranty expire, I hope new RX7 is coming to Australia. Depends on financial condition though, maybe M3, 911 or maybe Mazda 2, who knows.:p Maybe there will be facelift RX8 with more power. I like to have warranty, somehow it gives me a peace of mind. But if the price of supercharger is not that bad, why not..:D

Wizza

I'm thinking the exact same thing Winning!!

The RX-7 Should be about the right time for a change over.

Kas

Until i'm 50 or so (in 29 years) i will be needing the 4 seats.

Lock & Load

Personally i would love to get my rx8 up to about 210kw in a naturally aspirated form , by making a few mods , as i intend to keep this car for a long time .

When and if the rx7 appears and once power output has been correctly verified , hopefully we wont go truh the same power fiasco . i will try and buy the rx7 , second year production year , then i will have both a RX8 --- AND RX7 .

Choosing between supercharging or turbo , i feel supercharging is more practicall and better suited for the rx8 .

Wildcard

I'm on the same RX-7 timeline as well (I hope), although 4 seats is kinda handy.

IMO supercharging has always been the better option for this car. The place this car lacks the grunt is <4500rpm. A turbo wont help you much here, but an SC working 100% of the time will. I'm pretty happy with the acceleration >6k already. Low revs are where we need extra the kick in the pants.

I'm still waiting with baited breath to see what Paul Yaw comes up with, but in the mean time, a local SC kit would be cool. I'm even interested in being a bit of a guinea pig here. My only concern comes from canzoomers words the other day about the ECU not being programmed to handle positive intake pressure, although I guess an aftermarket computer would take care of that.

Kas

DGW: I've been doing a hella lot of research today. The SC will fit perfectly just before the intake and can grab onto the pulleys just under the alternator.

I'm using my car for a guinea. Cant wait!

I'm even thinknig about scrapping the standard computer and running a standalone ECU. It wont have DSC and other handy tings but it will be flawless.

Wildcard

Count me in. Do you anticipate any changes to the exhaust, other than a more free flowing one? I'm close on the Borla issue but I wouldn't want to jump the gun.

I'd be hessitant about scrapping the entire computer after reading the article about why the RX-8 wont dyno correctly. This car is a rolling super-computer. Who knows what else is being managed without our knowledge.

Kas

See there is a few secrets that i really dont want to share at this stage as to why I was going to keep the standard exhaust on with the turbo conversion.

With the SC it will be ok to run a full system including midpipe as the SC sits on the intake not the exhaust.

well, here goes.

With the turbo, keeping the stock exhaust would limit the turbo's boost capacity meaning that boost spikes of 5+ PSI would not occur. This would save the engine as the compression is so high (10:1). There is only so much boost we can run without touching internals.

With the SC, we could play with cat-backs and midpipes, and especialy with a Microtech or alike, we wouldnt have to do things like sending false readings to the ecu from the mipipe sensors etc..

bring it back to basics and work from there.

Wildcard

OK.... so are you saying that I should wait until I install a supercharger before changing the exhaust? That way the whole system can be optimised?

What about getting the Borla exhaust now and SC'ing later?

Kas

yeah, i mean that you can do this now keeping a SC in mind for later as opposed to getting one and havig to take it off again should you go down the turbo path. IMO.

Wildcard

Cool. I've never been into cars until I got my RX-8, so I've been on a pretty steep learning curve over the last 3 months. Cat-backs, headers and intercoolers were all double dutch to me not so long ago....

SC is really the only FI option I think I will consider, so I'll continue with my Borla crusade.

Dez

Isn't there a way for your SC solutoin to be used with the stock ECU with whatever updates to to "maps" the SC mod might require?

I'm finding myself driving more and more with the drive control systems off on short fun drives, but on the whole I'm quite fond of the smarts that the car comes with by default.

So being the all time optimist, I'd like to think I could get my 8 super charged but retain the smarts that got it "engine of the year" etc?

++dez;

Kas

yeah, my ideas/concepts are evolving..

more info soon

Wildcard

Need info!!!

Kas do you think a local tuner shop is capable of doing a decent SC setup, or is that best left to the experts (mazdaspeed, Paul Yaw's mob, etc etc.)

As much as I want to supercharge, it could all go horribly wrong if you trust your car to someone who doesn't fully understand the complexities of the Renesis.

If you know someone good - I'm ready and waiting.

Dez - I always drive DSC and TSC off. It's the only way to go! (Except in the wet, I've scared myself a few times there )

Kas

DGW,

I have a tuner that is more than capable of doing the conversion. He holds the world title for the fastest non-tubbed rotary and he's using standard seals and dowles. As he says it all comes down to tuning. He has not yet blown an engine and holds a great rep amongst the community.

I've taken my views to him regarding forced induction and he has said that the only way to go is to turbo it. SC in hes eyes generates more heat and is less efficient than the turbo.

We will be making the kit for mine over christmas, and in his words "It will be as if it came from the factory as stock" thats how he wants the kit to look.

He's tuning is second to none. Everyone I know has been there for it and is extremely happy. I've also had a series6 rx7 tuned by him. Unreal.


I know how he works, and how he fully undersdtands these engines.

Here's a quote from him "i feel privelidged that i can make a living doing what i love ,i feel proud of the acheivements we have made both as a workshop and at the drag strip, this is partially why we have gotten to this point with our workload ! , i am NOT interested in slaping things together in order to get cars out faster and keep profits up ! , we take our time with anything we do , any car we work on we treat as our own , this aproach has its draw backs too , with some ppl time is the most important issue , this is understandable , and i'll be the 1st to admit that time has allways been our worst attribute".

And to tell you the truth, i'd rather go local for the job.

Wildcard

Kas,

Do you know anyone reputable in Newcastle?

Kas

I did, but i wont mention that name around here. ask DMRH, he'd know a few i'd say..

Dez

Isn't there a SC package that's coming out soon with full warranty support form Renesis? I'm sure I read it somewhere - either in this forum or out on the web somewhere?

++dez;

Kas

go searching Dez, id really like to read it.

Wildcard

YES!!! Find it!