New Guy here with a story, a plan, and a dream
07-15-2012, 04:58 PM
#1
New Age Knight
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New Guy here with a story, a plan, and a dream
Hey what's up? My name's Josh and I just thought I'd introduce myself to you peoples 
Been following this club ever since before I even bought my car, so I know the rules: Search, keep a fresh quart of oil with you at all times, and a redline a day keeps the carbon away. How am I doing so far? 
The Story: Anyways, about the ride. Roxie (unique eh?) - 2004 Titanium Gray MT w/ Touring Package. 117,500 miles. Bought it January 20th...ish? Bought it off a small back lot in Austin for $7,600, paid in full from school money. It stalled 5 times on the way back home (It was fine when I test drove it!) before I parked it safely in my driveway. Drove it around the block later that night to get used to the transmission... Did I mention I learned how to drive standard when I bought the thing?
Anyways, had the failing fuel pump replaced for $630 (plus oil change and some kinda fuel cleaning service). After realizing I got stiffed on that little piece of hardware (Midas) I've done everything myself since then. Within the last month and 300 miles I've replaced my own interior lights, rotated my tires after a blowout (learned tire maintenance the hard way), put in new spark plugs and wires, and even installed a Stage 1 Exedy clutch kit. Car idles nearly perfectly, gas mileage is amazing (~120 highway miles one night on 4-5 gallons), and I can *sometimes* spin/chirp my tires on the first two shifts
Was supposed to go drag racing this weekend for my birthday but my friend decided to postpone to an all-import night next week. Still gonna change all my oils though.
The Plan: Hopefully, next semester I'll be able to get a full REVi Intake, Full TurboXS Exhaust, a BHR flywheel, an Adaptronic ECU and a water-methanol kit... Because I know somewhere out there wants some data about an NA Renesis with some vapor and a tune
Long term future includes rebuild, a turbo, and a widebody.
The Dream: I dunno, maybe this is just me being an aspiring noob or maybe this is actually going somewhere, but I've always wanted a career with cars. Designing, tuning, building, producing, racing - any and all of those would allow me to live a full life, and what better time to start than now, on my first car? Best case scenario: I further refine my lifelong passion. Worse case scenario: You guys get teardown pics of an old motor after water meth. But I'll never stop trying
In the six months since I've bought the car I've learned so much about about the RX-8, rotaries, and engines in general: the relevance of gear ratios, the intelligence of the PCM, peripheral vs. side exhausts ports pros and cons, fuel injector and intake port staging across the rpm range, split ignition timing, the importance of proper AF ratios and EGT's, volumetric efficiency for MAF tuning, porting, exhaust pulses affecting turbine spin, conventional vs synthetic and faulty oil seals, how proper oil distribution helps seal life, premixing, and most importantly the bond you develop with your ride at 9,000 RPM or during wrench time. You name it I've learned it... or at least read up on it. This Forum is awesome.
So... There's my story, Sorry for the long post, and Thanks to everybody for all the invaluable information, advice, and stories. Zoom-Zoom.
Been following this club ever since before I even bought my car, so I know the rules: Search, keep a fresh quart of oil with you at all times, and a redline a day keeps the carbon away. How am I doing so far? The Story: Anyways, about the ride. Roxie (unique eh?) - 2004 Titanium Gray MT w/ Touring Package. 117,500 miles. Bought it January 20th...ish? Bought it off a small back lot in Austin for $7,600, paid in full from school money. It stalled 5 times on the way back home (It was fine when I test drove it!) before I parked it safely in my driveway. Drove it around the block later that night to get used to the transmission... Did I mention I learned how to drive standard when I bought the thing?
Anyways, had the failing fuel pump replaced for $630 (plus oil change and some kinda fuel cleaning service). After realizing I got stiffed on that little piece of hardware (Midas) I've done everything myself since then. Within the last month and 300 miles I've replaced my own interior lights, rotated my tires after a blowout (learned tire maintenance the hard way), put in new spark plugs and wires, and even installed a Stage 1 Exedy clutch kit. Car idles nearly perfectly, gas mileage is amazing (~120 highway miles one night on 4-5 gallons), and I can *sometimes* spin/chirp my tires on the first two shifts
Was supposed to go drag racing this weekend for my birthday but my friend decided to postpone to an all-import night next week. Still gonna change all my oils though.The Plan: Hopefully, next semester I'll be able to get a full REVi Intake, Full TurboXS Exhaust, a BHR flywheel, an Adaptronic ECU and a water-methanol kit... Because I know somewhere out there wants some data about an NA Renesis with some vapor and a tune
Long term future includes rebuild, a turbo, and a widebody. The Dream: I dunno, maybe this is just me being an aspiring noob or maybe this is actually going somewhere, but I've always wanted a career with cars. Designing, tuning, building, producing, racing - any and all of those would allow me to live a full life, and what better time to start than now, on my first car? Best case scenario: I further refine my lifelong passion. Worse case scenario: You guys get teardown pics of an old motor after water meth. But I'll never stop trying
In the six months since I've bought the car I've learned so much about about the RX-8, rotaries, and engines in general: the relevance of gear ratios, the intelligence of the PCM, peripheral vs. side exhausts ports pros and cons, fuel injector and intake port staging across the rpm range, split ignition timing, the importance of proper AF ratios and EGT's, volumetric efficiency for MAF tuning, porting, exhaust pulses affecting turbine spin, conventional vs synthetic and faulty oil seals, how proper oil distribution helps seal life, premixing, and most importantly the bond you develop with your ride at 9,000 RPM or during wrench time. You name it I've learned it... or at least read up on it. This Forum is awesome.
So... There's my story, Sorry for the long post, and Thanks to everybody for all the invaluable information, advice, and stories. Zoom-Zoom.
07-19-2012, 11:43 AM
#9
New Age Knight
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It helped me move from a civic budget to a sports car budget
07-19-2012, 01:35 PM
#12
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Can't see the picture, stupid browser. Haha, if you're talking about the wheel clearance... Those pictures were taken when I had first bought it. The previous owner had undersized rubbers all the way around 
They've since been replaced, waayyyy less gap.
They've since been replaced, waayyyy less gap.
07-19-2012, 02:03 PM
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Give the guy a break.. He's got the same spirit I had at that age. 
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