TORacing

After having my RX-8 for 9 months I am having thoughts about selling my RX-8 and getting a WRX STi. AS alot of people have said the RX-8 is just not a drag car, and I was hoping I could build it up and turn it into a drag car but as I watch my build up go and those of others it just keeps looking like it's not going to happen. The ECU in the RX-8 is another problem as well, it's just too smart and it's destroying our times and there seems to be no way around it, you can barley even luanch the car. The small amounts of gains manufacturers are seeing and the ones I am seeing of my own are really dissapointing and it looks as if it's going to cost obsine amounts of money to keep up with some other cars out there, it's just not an easily or cheaply tuneable car, as much as I love my 8 and as cool as it looks and I love going to shows and other places and having the only tuned 8 around and how barley anyone has them, it just dissapoints me on the track and that is important to me. But I feel that I just can't let the car go, I am a major rotary fan and I feel I would just be letting my car and my self down by giving up and getting rid of it. So I am trying a last ditch effort to pull soem HP out of this engine as a gaint christmas I plan on a major build up I am planning on SR pulleys, SR HF CAT, a zex wet nitrous system and the cash to purchase the greddy turbo when it releases in february. If i don't see gains that satisfy me I think I'm going to have to strip the car back down and sell it off. What do you guys think?


"Update on my project: is towards the end of the thread, but the custom box for the ZEX nitrous kit will be done by Thursday night, I will run the lines and put in the SR pulleys and HF CAT Friday night. Can't wait till friday when I'll be spraying"

"UPDATE- 1/12/05- Setup is finished and I am spraying, man what a ride. I will post pics this afternoon as soon as I get home."

"UPDATE-1/13/05- I got the pictures but didn't have time to load. Sorry for the delays but I promise I will have the photos up this afternoon"

"UPDATE- photos load : https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...d=1#post691312 "

8's enough

horse , if you wanted a muscle car you paid way to much for it and went in the wrong direction.you should have bought an american muscle car .a friend of mine has an 11sec. camaro he is willing to sell for $12000. i bought my 8 for the styling,looks .yeah i want to go fast when i need to but it's not going too make me sell my 8 if some ricer can beat me.keep the 8 and buy you a dragster.

G8rboy

Horse-
After experiencing the STi myself, I wouldn't blame you- it's a helluva rush to drive... pure adrenaline. I wouldn't trade my '8 for it as my daily driver, but I would love to have an STi in my garage as well- I think it's one of the better bangs for the buck in the power and handling department.

TORacing

I understand what you are saying but I am a import man, I am a ricer, that's what I like, supped up imports. But I do love all those things you mentioned about the 8, I knew it wasn't powerful but I looked at the looks and I loved the RX-7 and it had serious potential but I couldn't have a two seater. I was planning on finding a trashed 8 and building it for SCCA so maybe finding a WRX STi and building it for SCCA and for dragging might be the best path, I would just feel wierd switching cars when it's time to race, like my car looks good but your going to spank it.

8's enough

i dont know but would it be cheaper to change engines in the 8 ?just until they come out with a tested and proven turbo.then you could keep the 8 ,well atleast the body

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

If your primary concern is to have a drag car, then sell the RX-8 and get the WRX. You will never be able to make the RX-8 the drag car the WRX can be. All-wheel drive and factory turbo are very big advantages if the goal is to do the quarter mile as fast as you can. Besides, by drag racing it, you'll likely destroy the 8's driveline anyway.
The RX-8 is simply not built for that purpose. Sorry to say but it seems you bought the wrong car...

Icemastr

http://www.scca.com

http://www.ncrscca.com/

Try some of this with your RX-8 and you might be convinced that your RX-8 is worth keeping and you can have more fun than drag racing without having to replace parts all the time.

The WRX a drag car? LOL. Good one.

czr

iTrader: (3)

You'll have the opposite: much better go, and ehhh with the show.. no matter what you do with the sti.

RX8-TX

Don't be so hard on yourself. Personally, I wouldn't spend my money on all the modding. I would sell it (you are likely to take a hit...but, oh well.) and go for the STI...and look into an Evo (and don't disocunt a good ol' Cobra.) At the end of the day...they are only cars.

Anyways, that's just my opinion!

RotaryNoob

"04 Winning Blue GT RX-8 6-spd W/ GPS NAV
MODS:
OEM Carbon fiber hood, Clear Corners, Custom Blue Suede interior, custom 7 inch clarion flipdown tv, Apexi RSM, Borla, 2 "8-inch" Kicker CVR subs, 900 watt punch amp, Veilside D1-GT body kit, X-men style Spoiler, Carbon fiber B-pillars, Blue neon underbody lights, K&N Typhoon Intake."

First off, all of your mods are purely cosmetic with the exception of your K&N Intake and exhaust which should total about 5 HP.

You haven't put forth an effort yet so you can't say you've tried. Maybe if you add some more stickers it will go faster.

JeRKy 8 Owner

Waitlet me correct you -- IF its released in february. IF is the key word

IZoomZoomI

well nitrous is good way to go to improve times. like what some said above if you're into competive events why not try taking the 8 on some autocrossing events or track events that involves more than just mashing on the pedal? A lot of people here that tried this approach found their ego to be well fed...

Mugatu

iTrader: (1)

If you want a car that is only good for straightline acceleration, sell the RX8 and get a Neon SR-T.

If you want a car that excels in practically everything else, and is moderately fast but not the fastest thing out there, keep the RX8.

It's kinda like saying I bought a 350Z but now I wish I had 4 seats. You have to take the car for what it is - a stylish sports vehicle that is a head turner that can handle the twisties with the best of them.

rx8wannahave

As a car guy I would hate to agree with that statement but in REAL LIFE it is 100% true!

Also, if most of the stuff is cosmetic then what do you expect to gain from the RX8? Make it lighter (flywheel & rims are great difference makers) and then wait for a SC/Turbo before you start making it nicer to look at (if that is possible).

Personally, I would not mess with the RX8's looks until my engine mod's were complete. Heck, the car looks good already so I'd rather get 300+ HP out of it before I mess with it's pretty face.

Another option and I will get flamed and maybe kicked out of this website, LOL, why not pull the ol Rotary out of the RX8 and stuff something else in if you are going to use it as a dragster. I say this because if you will be dragging your car then it probably would not bother you to pull out the rotary.

Personally, I would love to pull more HP out of the RX8 (when I get it GOD WILLING) but I refuse to make it into a weekend or purely race or drag car...I want an EVERYDAY SMILE instead of a weekend or race day smile.

GOOD LUCK and if you are getting rid of your 8....GIVE ME A GOOD DEAL...LOL

dragula53

this was exactly what I was thinking. OEM carbon fiber hood? X-Men spoiler? kickass stereo? neon lights? All we need now is a GT-R emblem to finish the car.

StewC625

If you wanted a drag car, then why on earth buy a car with a reputation for not having any torque and with horsepower ratings that were in question?

Should have gotten a Mustang or some other piece of neaderthal iron.

spork

Eh, there's nothing wrong with wanting and STi over an 8, but I do think it's dumb that you didn't just go for the STi in the first place. Seems like a waste of money to me. The STi is a sweet car, but the mileage is similar to that of an 8 (at least my friend gets ~15mpg city too) and it's so damn ugly. If the STi looked as good as the 8 inside and outside I'd have to seriously consider it. Of course looks is a matter of taste tho (but I think most people will agree that WRXs just don't look very good. Same with EVOs). As it is now, I'm jealous of the power but I definitely would take my 8 over an STi.

Imp

A properly driven and set-up STi or EVO will outhandle and outpower an 8 any day of the week. (SCCA.. different classes... STi/EVO A-Stock.. 8 B-Stock... both are in STU where the 8 can run 275s and the EVO/STi can only run 245s to help and try to normalize things).

Straight line, an EVO is, at this time, much stronger for drag racing... the STi has some development hurdles and will catch up to the power of the EVO... the EVO in this country has 10 years of development already from the DSM that shares many of it's tuning products/methodologies.

And they ALL put a smile on my face in the handling dept... The 8 more than the other two... but Power Corrupts.

I'd say, as a daily driver, the STi would be your best bet for dual duty weekend warrior auto-x and Drag racing fun. But I just like the 8's handling over the other two.. just a preference.

TORacing

Well, I found a STi that is cheap enough that I can purchase it as my track and adrenaline rush day car, so I will still be able to keep the RX-8 as my daily driver and my show car. For those who said that I had not put an effort into tuneing the car don't reazlize that the mods listed in my sig are not all the mods I have and are someof the ones that actually made it on to the car. I have planned and researched along with some rotary shops i my area on many projects including a 20b engine swap (too expensive), a custom turbo (ECU got in the way), street porting (not much of a predicted gain), Bridge porting (loss in driveability), milling high strenght rotors that will with stand more boost (might as well build a whole new engine) Stand Alone Fuel management (not the best driveabiltiy), JDM ECU and Wiring Harness swap (not sure if it will pass inspection), and many other large projects that we have researched and tried to find out ways to trick the ECU to eliminate things such as the "safety" fuel map that the ECU engages after wheel spin and other things of that nature that just won't work or are too expensive and expansive then I would like to perform onmy daily driver.

93rdcurrent

The STI is going to be hard on transmissions...

I think that the Icemaster has already addressed this but I didn't follow his links yet. I recommend that you look into porting the engine. That plus the wet system should get you closer to the 350 hp range. I will be looking at doing the same. I am also considering the turbo but might go with a custom from Turbonetics. I really liked dealing with them when I was building my 575 hp MR2. Canzoomer has a good piggyback ECU that is programable so you can dyno the car and dial it in properly (if we can defeat the safemode and I know it's debatable whether it exists or not). All together you will be spending a fair amount of money. Hey tell me what car doesn't cost a lot when you are trying to get under the 11 sec. mark? You will love the 8 blown up much more than you would like that STI I'm sure.

Benedick

I think what you have found is that the Mazda engineers did a good job of getting every last drop of performance out of the rotary. That means it'll take some time for the tuners to put out products that increase horsepower in any meaningful way. However, I am sure those products will come. Given another year or two, you should be able to bolt a few new toys to the RX-8 and have a very fast car. In the meantime, you can enjoy the way the stock car handles and drives.

rx8wannahave

Yeah...it's just a matter of time not IF...when.

knowledge1213

what is a "safety" fuel map?

tyler550

Ur not letting anybody down mate,it's just unfortunate that u found out the hard way that 211NM of torque is a joke,especialy 4 a guy who wants 2 drag other cars.
Look at it this way,at least u didn't waste ur $ on the more expensive 350Z.
U will b very,very,very happy w/ the STI / EVO.If i was u,I'd buy the EVO 8.
Both cars have lethal power 2 weight ratios & they can b made even faster 4 very little $.
I really can't believe Mazda released the Rx-8 w/ such a useless amount of torque.
The Rx-8 has such a great handling-breaking package,combined w/ it's low weight,the rx-8 would have been a real weapon w/ 300-320NM of torque.

TORacing

a fuel map the ECU reverts to, to protect the CAT, drivetrain, etc. for damage after exsive wheel spin, which in turn robs us of HP.