Greasyman

I'm considering an RX as an autocross and track day car. I don't care about what class the car runs in ax, since I only run for fun. I want the car to remain streetable, I'd prefer a car that is nearly stock and has nothing more than basic bolt-ons, e.g. - catback, wheels, tires, shocks, springs, that sort of stuff.

I saw one for sale that has a lightened flywheel and D2 RS coilovers. I'm not familiar with that brand of coil over, and don't know if the flywheel is a worthwhile mod. What's the word on these items? Thanks.

Project-Offroad-8

those coil overs are excellent for the money I would recommend them any day. I drove a 350z with the drift series, they were great.

lightweight flywheel is going to be a great investment too, it will help you recuperate your RPM and get back in the power band when exiting corners,

I would also recommend looking at getting a set of 17" rims and a good set of tires. The 18" rims are too big for the torque these cars make off the line.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

D2 coilovers are made in Tawain crap with no R&D what so ever on the RX-8. You want a suspension setup that was actually designed and tested for the car. I suggest looking at Bilstein, Ohlins, KW, etc.


A Lightened flywheel has it's advantages and disadvantages, I suggest looking up some threads on different brands and reading what those owners think about them. Overall people seem happy with them though.

Greasyman

Thanks for the responses. I've been involved with Miatas for the last few years, and, for those cars, I know lightened flywheels get mixed responses. Of those who've tried them, some love them, some hate them, some say they don't make much difference. I've never personally driven a car with one, though.

I don't recall hearing of that brand of coil over, but that doesn't mean they are or aren't good. I am familiar with the ones that 9k listed.

How well do these cars respond to suspension mods? I read one article in which the improvement in lap times wasn't that great when they went from stock to modded, about 1.5 seconds, compared to about 4 seconds when they put on some serious race rubber. They explained the less than dramatic improvement by saying the stock suspension was so good to begin with it was hard to improve on it much. Is this true? When I put an inexpensive set of springs and shocks on my Miata, the improvement was very noticeable, but maybe RXs handle better out of the box than the older Miatas do.

New Yorker

Absolutely correct. 17"s are lighter and will significantly reduce your unsprung weight. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the single biggest change you could make to improve your lap times.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

There are threads in the racing and suspension sections about set ups for various racing series. Take a look through those.

I think you shoulddl drive the car in stock form for a lap or 10 and see what you want to improve. These cars respond positively to lightened flywheels. Some people put silly stage 25 paddle clutches in them though, so be careful with that. Stock clutches are plenty for the power output and a whole lot easier to daily drive.

Catback and intake are basically cosmetic/sound. You're not going to get horsepower out of them. Save that money and put it toward coilovers like the PSS9 or better.

Suspension is like a matress. You need to lie in a few before you figure out what YOU need. I've surprised quite a few drivers with just an OEM R3 suspension, but might switch to quality coilovers next year.

Focus on how the car was maintained. You should be looking at reliability mods like coil packs and Sohn adaptor. I would also strongly suggest better motor mounts, the stock ones let the shifter move around WAY too much in race conditions.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Also not all 17" wheels are light and the stock 18's are pretty light. But even in aftermarket wheels you are only looking at an average of about a 1lb difference in wheel weight when comparing 17" and 18" wheels of similar widths and offsets.

Tire weight is something to think about as well but even so these weight differences are negligible on the street.

CelestialGryphon

iTrader: (1)

These cars handle suitably well for the stock suspensions. I have a full STANCE kit on my car because at the time it was cheaper than OEM as far as replacement went, and I needed springs and struts and a whole kit and caboodle of things. As so far, I'll agree that exhaust is for the loud, not the fast. But it can be nice in echoing canyons. As far as "performance" one that goes hand in hand with reliability/engine life is coils, and, yeah, BHR kit. Charles is awesome as far as customer service is concerned and my car is back to life, no dipping idle, no issues, just running nice and smooth now. As far as an intake goes, AEM or bust. The AEM intake is the same as the Mazda speed, it sits forward in front of the radiator so it actually DOES pull cold air. Before I bought mine I'd seen several people comparing intakes and the AEM intake does the best job of it. The stock airbox is great, don't get me wrong, but the AEM intake does help just because of how far forward it sits versus where the OEM intake picks up air.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

The OEM intake picks up air literally 6 inches above where AEM does, above and in front of the rad...
Even with the stock airbox, intake air temp at speed is MAX 2-3F above ambient, so you're not going to win much there.