ahlukehart

I've always had this life long love affair with Nissan, but I never gave Mazda much of my attention. After getting into Initial D a while back a whole new world of cars emerged before me. My brother drives an MX5 and a first gen RX7, so he's been pushing me to dip my feet into the buttery waters of rotary power. My old S13 met an ill fate when I was in gradeschool and I was slowly forced into American motors by my stepfather. He bought a muscle car and gave me his 1999 TJ Wrangler; lifted with 33"s. It was a fun ride, but gave way to a 5th gen Mustang in the recent years. Honestly, I felt dirty driving that stang. It wasn't a car I made a decision on, my Stepfather had just traded in the Jeep and brought home the Stang for me one day, along with car payments (Which sorta pissed me off). Not to mention that it was Auto. Kinda lame. Took all the fun out of driving; took away my control.
After a year of fuss and crappy ford unreliability and blahblahblah, I dumped it and began my search for something less haughty and more accurate of a drive. I was half tempted to snag me a 300z or another s13, but I felt that that was something I wanted some time not to far down the road as a project for when I have time to indulge myself in SCCA events, not that I don't want to race the RX8, but I have no backup (She will be my personal car until I pick me up another s13 or something).
So, I offloaded the Stang after I officially got the title from my Stepfather and was turned on to this 2005 Mazda RX8 (MT Sport package, 70k miles). My brother actually sent me the link to the Rex and flipped on the light bulb for me. After extensive research on the car, it seemed to be custom tailored to how I want to drive. I got excited, but still kept feelers out in the market for other cars. I contacted the owner and went down to drive the car, prepared with my crash course in rotary and general automech knowledge from my work in school (I'm only 2 semesters into the auto program. Spent the last 2 years perusing my degree in Anthropology/Photo Journalism). The guy had just replaced the clutch, fresh tires, blahblahblah, he took good care of her. My inspection of the Rex was thorough as the owner allowed me to take her home over night to the garage up at school. I lifted her and blew up Monroe's skirt a couple of times until I was satisfied with the condition of her insides.
I purchased the car this morning once I got the logistics under control over the past week. I felt it mandatory to quit lurking the boards, which I have obtained a wealth of knowledge from (Thank you kindly), since I have her in my possession as of now. I can't wait to learn this incredible machine. I'm so glad that there is real information in these message boards that I can access about my car. Some of you guys are really quite proud of your machines and I hope to make a good impression as a owner, driver and aspiring mechanic.
I'm on break at work right now, on my Blackberry, so I'll post pics when I get home and such.

All the best,

A.H.Lukehart

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

Very nice first post. Remember to familiarize yourself with the stickies and the search function. You'll be glad you did!
Welcome to the addiction!

ahlukehart

Thanks. I'm trying to jump in head first. I even bought a key case where the top of my key is a rotary triangle. I'll post an ebay link below. It's pretty cool.

Rotor Key Blank Fits 1993 2002 Mazda RX 7 FD3S 3rd Gen FD R1 R2 Turbo Silver | eBay

Before I try, direct links let you view the image instead of the text URL on this board? I'm a frequent poster on GameFaqs CE board. I'm not accustomed to the kinks of this board yett. I'm going to spend tonight finishing up my reading on the "New Members Forum," and such. Hopefully I'll pick up a few things by then. I've already used a search to help me identify the E Shaft as a Crank equivalent. I have a whole new dictionary to learn.

monchie

Nice story bro...

Stephen T

Welcome. Nice to see a sensible head on young shoulders... You may be the only one here like that.
Most of our old heads aren't that organised. Ok, I only speak for myself there. Enjoy the toy!

ahlukehart

I'll post images of the girl tomorrow, when the sun's out. I just purchased a Voodoo Magnum Pearl shift ****. My brother insists I go short throw. We'll see if I'm compatible with it's light weight. It should be in within a few days. I guess this begins the modding of the Rex.

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

Welcome! And you will definitely like a short shifter with it, compliments the car nicely. Things that i never regretted getting for my 8 were the coilovers, sway bars and MS clutch and flywheel. You'll have a blast. I'll also admit i never got passed season 1 of initial d. lol

ahlukehart

Hey, we're all drivers who love and own SE3P's. Our differences give us unique perspectives which amount to the collective knowledge on this board. It's refreshing to see so many opinions of the same machine. I'm just glad there's a corner of the world where drivers respect their vehicles.
I think we're in for a fun ride.

ahlukehart

I'd like to drive a few cars with some of these mods before I step into them myself. I'm most interested in sway bars and coilovers for my first real modifications on the Rex. I'd like to dial in my suspension. I still need time to learn her as she is (stock), so I can appreciate the difference. I haven't taken her to her limits and back yett. Only had her for a day. Where do you recommend I start?

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

Once you get a feel for your car in stock form, then you can really work on what you want to make your own. For me, i had the normal bolt ons before working on my suspension like exhaust and cai. After that, i went for coilovers that made the suspension a bit stiffer and lowered my center of gravity a decent amount. From there, i wanted to stiffen it a bit more without going overboard as my 8 was both a track 8 and a daily driver. Then i choose my sway bars after that. I'll admit to getting the clutch and flywheel a bit after i settled on the suspension.

ahlukehart

Holy crap. I frakkin love this car. It moves with me and behaves like the car I've always dreamed. I don't know why people keep doggin on the 13B not producing enough power. I slayed a Mustang today at the light. Maybe he just didn't know how to work clutch and throttle, but this darling produces more than my old stang. The Rex wasn't meant to drag anyways, and that's not what I bought her for. I'm still impressed by the power she does produce. It's handling is so tight and precise. I don't know if I've ever been more excited about a car. I'll post pics in a minute. I have to upload them to my imgur.
I'd love it if you guys could share your excitement about your machines in this thread as well.
Mod Note: RX8Club Rules:
15. We do not have a street racing or "kills" forum on this site, and threads or posts about street racing will not be tolerated. These types of posts inevitably turn into flamewars, which nobody wins. Also, any forum member caught trolling and intentionally instigating a flame war on any other auto enthusiast forum gets an immediate 1-week ban; protesting this action results in a permanent ban.

Your new. Review the Rules. They can be found in a "sticky" at the top of this forum. This time you get a Warning. Next time a Ban.

ahlukehart

https://i.imgur.com/EzT3ynq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QMOHcc4.jpg

Tomorrow, I'll pop out my DSLR and take some real images. These are from my Blackberry. I apologize for the quality.
2005 Sport

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Please don't talk about street racing and please get different wheels

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

+1^
Welcome, be sure to read the Forum Rules sticky.
Don't want to get banned already.
IMHO, stock wheels look better, but all I've done to mine is the BHR midpipe.
I'm happy with stock, and plan to paint my rotor hubs & calipers.
Not much else, I'm thinking about the Sohn adapter but I'm also thinking about getting a compression check before I get in too deep.
Did you get yours checked?
If not, it might be a good idea before you sink money into mods.
Have fun!

ahlukehart

Ah crap. I guess I got too excited. Makes me look kind of foolish. It was just a thrill because I just got out of a Mustang myself.
The wheels were what the seller had tacked on himself. I've been thinking about sizing down so some 16's. I'm not a fan of running on big tires. Even 16's would have been a stretch on my S13.

ahlukehart

It slipped my mind to run a compression check. I suppose that's on my list of immediate things to do. I do enjoy the painted calipers though. A little flashy for my taste, but the Rex is all sorts of ostentatious.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

I don't know, I like the 18s. I don't know if 16s would hurt your handling or not. I never thought about it.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

16's won't fit. The brakes are too big. Unless, you have a base model with an automatic.
The people that take the car to the road course use 17" wheels. They are large enough to go over the brakes, they are lighter and the rubber costs less.

viprez586

iTrader: (5)

Welcome!
You need a special rotary compression tool that measures RPM and compression at each rotor face to get an accurate compression reading.
Alternatively you can pay Mazda to do it. Shouldn't be anything over $100-130.

Rotary-engine Compression Tester System

ahlukehart

Yeah, I read up on that before I went to sleep last night. I guess that means 17's. I'm going to see if anyone just wants to swap up for my 18's. I'm not a fan of the Chrome. I'm guessing it won't be difficult to find someone who is interested though.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

17"s are preferred for many of the racers out there.

The stock wheels are 18" on nearly every RX-8, with a fraction of base trim automatics having 16s, which they can fit over their much smaller brakes. You won't find many people with 17s, and those you do are likely to be track or autocross cars. If you are looking for OEM look 17s, hunt the Mazda3, Mazda5, and Mazda6 forums for their OEM 17s,

ahlukehart

I just watched a video of the compression test being done. I think it would be beneficial to just purchase these rotary specific tools anyways if I plan to work on her in the future. I'd like to be prepared as possible, and sadly, there is some truth in saying that a mechanic is only as good as his tools. I once spent 3 days replacing the clutch on my wrangler with my stepfather in the mountains of New Mexico, as apposed to a couple hours because I hadn't a lift or the right tools.

ahlukehart

That's what I was thinking. I'll have to see who's interested and who's in the general state that I am. It would save me having to buy new wheels and tires if I could raw swap with someone. My brother had good luck with that on his MX5. Some teenager had slammed it and smacked wheels on her that were just embarrassing. Took the handling out of the car. He upped an add on CraigsList and found a swap within the week.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I should correct myself. 17s are much more common than I originally indicated, for use as winter wheels.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

If you do move to 17" wheels, the tape-on wheel weights may not work. You may need to use the rim/bead weights to balance it out.