Magnaflow is normally not junk, but their cats do not stand up to the heat of a rotary and fail quickly. Your only 3 options are: OEM, BHR midpipe with their cat, BHR midpipe with HJS cat welded in.

If you need to pass inspection, a Magnaflow cat is good for that. Just be sure to take it off before some spirited driving.

Environmental concerns aside, even from your personal health's perspective, it's not that dumb.

You just gotta pay for a good one like an HJS, which has to be imported from Germany nowadays.

It's really worth it IMO because this means I don't have to leave the car in recirculating perpetually or have the gasoline fume ruin my lungs.

Thanks for all the additional info... in a perfect world, I would like to leave the headers on, simply for the sake of avoiding a large bill to replace...
I am wanting to accomplish two things - pass inspection, and quiet this car down substantially...
So that said, im guessing my better route might be (as steve dallas mentioned) to get a BHR midpipe with their cat or HJS cat welded in....
As long as I can pass inspection and quiet this down - i'm down for either of those options...
Looking at the BHR site, this is all I see....

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...1d9f545cd2.png

So I am guessing Steve is referring to the $479 option...?

Where can I find info on a stand alone midpipe, and getting an HJS cat to weld in?
Is it possible if I go that route to use my midpipe and cut out that tiny little cat and replace it with the HJS?

Thanks for all the info, you guys are a fantastic help here and I really appreciate this.

BHR makes the best midpipe with the best sounding and most durable resonator, IMHO. That is what you get for $479. You can add a cat on the item page for an upcharge. That cat is not durable enough for autoX nor track days, unfortunately. Only one cat is proven to stand up to that abuse, which is the HJS.

If you only engage in street driving and keep the ignition healthy (which you should do anyway), the factory cat is fine, if you can find a good one. New ones are around $1200, but used ones go for much less--just be sure to inspect the hell out of it to make sure it is clear. The BHR cat is also fine for street driving.

You can order an HJS cat and have it drop-shipped to BHR. BHR will weld it in to one of their catless midpipes for a reasonable labor charge, but it may take several weeks.

Or, you can buy a cheap cat for the purposes of passing emissions and run with a BHR catless midpipe the rest of the year. I did this for several years, until I got sick of the stench and had an HJS cat welded in.

If the header is from Racing Beat, it will have their logo on the flange. If it is an RB header, you are good to go. If not, it is probably an eBay header, and you should replace it before it fails.

Side note: the restrictions in the RX-8 exhaust are mostly in the exhaust ports. You do not gain much by upgrading the exhaust, generally less than 5%, so many of us don't bother, as the cost to benefit ratio isn't there. (And, if you are thinking about porting the engine, there isn't much metal that can be safely removed, so very little to gain there (and it requires an engine rebuild to do it).

Steve, thanks so much for the information....
So, this car is NOT going to see track days... its going to my 20 year old son so I would be naive to think that it wont be driven kind of hard once in a while on the street, but nothing more than that.
Im just looking to be much quieter, and pass emissions at the most affordable cost. so that said.... would the BHR mid pipe and cat be OK and not introduce more issues?

Sounds like the BHR midpipe and cat is all you need, although I would definitely check out that header.

Thanks for all the help Steve.... OK, so I am going to order the BHR midpipe w/ the cat and start there.
What do I need to look for regarding the header? Also, one last question... since it looks like the header thats on there is standard length....
If I start with the midpipe, and cat as previously discussed, and then find out I need to change the header, if I get a hold of a factory exhaust manifold, that should mate up to where the header ends, now right? maybe, hopefully? Thanks...