My first mod - Axial short shifter
 

I bought my RX-8 about a month ago and have been looking at all of the ways I can mod it to make it a tad more sports (less GT) oriented. I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the Axial short shifter mod because I learned about it through these boards. Installing it was relatively easy. I wanted to get at least mod implemented before the big meet at RMP this Sat :)

I just got back from taking it for a spin and I am blown away at how good this mod is. I can now appreciate why so many of you had it near the top of your "best mods" list. If you guys are into very tight, short throws, you have to get this mod, it's really awesome :)

Did you pick it up while you were down in teh states. The SS will be my next mod, hopefully.

No, I bought it online. Was waiting for me when I got home and installed it right away. I got it for about $60 off of MSRP.

WOW, how did you get that. For sale forum thread

The best first mod for the RX8.

I liked it, but the gear whine really got to me.......overall I prefered to oem shifter ( i know blasphemy ) but I guess to each his own. If I didn't have the rx8 as my daily driver and was only for track purposes I would buy another one in a second.

Ooops, my bad. I actually paid full retail for it. I got it mixed up with the discount I got on another mod I ordered but hasn't arrived yet (sprintbooster). Sorry about that.

Wow, I'm surprised by your comment especially given all of the mods that you've done to your car. I use mine as a daily driver as well. As you say though, each to his own in terms of preferences.

Some people have had noise issues and some haven't. Some with noise can't seem to get rid of it no matter what. Truth be known.....if I was one with it, it would bug the crap out of me too!

I don't find it to be nosier than stock but this is an interesting thread on how you can dampen the noise, in case you haven't seen it...

I wanted better throttle response and from all that I've read, this product delivers that benefit. We'll soon see...

Read the thread I linked. It is not a performance product. Try to cancel the order, refuse the shipment if you can when it shows up.

Thanks for the heads up but I did read that thread before I placed the order. For me, it's not about going faster, it's about feel.

Some context: My wife has a new MX5 and I love the feel of that car, it's a pure sports car IMHO. I needed 4 seats though, so I bought the RX8. There are 4 things I wasn't happy about with the RX8 but felt I could mod it to address these short comings. In general though, I find the RX8 to be too GT like and I want to turn it into more of a pure sports car. The areas I am focussed on...

1. Shifter - wanted it tighter, shorter and more defined (problem solved)

2. Poor throttle response. I want to be able to drive it normally around town and not feel the slight hesitations that I feel in first and second gear. The MX5 does not suffer from this at all, and I personally find it really annoying. For me "putting the petal to the medal" all of the time to overcome this is not a solution. This is the reason I decided to take a flyer on the sprint booster. I'm not expecting it to add any horsepower at all, how could it? I just want better feel, more responsive, no hesitation. Fingers are crossed that it will actually do this. If it does, it will be worth every penny to me but I do understand that many think it's a total waste of money. I'm used to those kind of discussion on the audiophile forms I hang out on :)

3. Sound. I want more of a sports car growl to the sound. Right now the car is too quiet. Going to the RPM meet on Sat in part to listen to different systems to decide which to buy -- lead candidates include MS and Borla.

4. Handling. Stock car has too much roll, not enough road feel and is too bouncy. I think I will go with H-techs, Koni yellows and RB sway bars to solve this.

That hesitation is the signature rotary lack of torque. Nothing short of forced induction will fix that.

Otherwise stay in high RPM. 4500+

yeah, it was on the mod list for a while but I just couldn't get rid of the gear whine.......It got to the point where I had to have the radio on all the time at about 7-8 volume level to drown it out and I had tried everything to get rid of the sound. It bothered me to get rid of it becuase its such a good product but I just couldn't handle it........great mod though...like I said if my car was just for racing I would get another.....just couldn't handle the constant annoying sound.

short shifter is fun on our cars!!! i cant drive it without one!!

Excellent mod. When I got the shifter it was like "EUREKA! The car is complete!".

Dozer/BlueFrenzy,
Totally agree with you guys! I just love the new shifter and couldn't imagine not having it now. I just hope I feel the same way about other planned mods...

Well, it ranks as one of the very best, so don't get too excited.

Nice looking car. From your list, you've done a ton of work to it. Other than the SS, what are your top 2 performance mods?

Well......since I haven't gone Turbo or SC yet.............I'd have to say.......and they really aren't performance mods...............that the Mazsport ignition system and the RB CAI with the duct would be my choices. Again, those aren't performance, but then again...........neither is the SS.

If you're still using the OEM shift knob, replace it with something lighter and smaller. It makes a huge difference. The stock shifter is way too heavy and bulky, it makes the gearbox all mushy.

Very interesting. I wasn't aware of the Mazsport ignition system. I see that it offers a mild bump in horsepower. Why is it one of your favorites? How would you describe the benefit? Thx

Thanks for the advice. I did in fact get a new shift knob at the same time. It's round, shorter and much lighter. I agree with your thoughts on the stock shifter.