Hell I'm finding 500 hard enough to deal with.

Went out the other day to test the 5 speed...and anything over 5K it felt like the clutch was slipping....7C..so kinda cool....

Turned out it was just spinning my 275 series R comp rear tires

 

What would you suggest at anywhere close to the price of admission?

 

Watch what you say, bragging about the power of your REW swap upsets the natives....

 

NAILED IT !!!!!!!!!

 

C5Z06, C6GS, Evo VIII-IX come immediately to mind. I love LS engines... in Corvettes... you can buy a clean C5Z for pennies on the dollar now. A clean Evo is harder to find, but if you can find one, $1000 in bolt-ons and a tune will net you 330 whp, and 300+ wtq on stock turbo/cams and 93. I'm biased as hell, but I had a turbo RX-8 making 12 psi daily for a year, and even when I finally got it running "correctly" it was slow as hell compared to my stock turbo Evo.

When I took the turbo kit off the RX-8 I actually liked it more, and there are days I regret selling it as having a good handling slow street car can be great fun. My Evo is a pure track car now.

My personal experience is that trying to make the car something it isn't is an expensive and frustrating experience... like ramming a square peg into a round hole. With enough force you can make it work, but why? I considered doing a 20B swap into my RX-8 too, but the cost for the swap was more than a clean Evo. I have had the Evo for 5 years now and it remains the favorite car I've ever driven, let alone owned. I'm actually bummed I can't drive it more often.

 

^Unless you want real major horse power!!!

Turbo Renesis = Fools gold!!!

 

All that work (not that you built the car but still) and barely being able to hang with even a stock Mustang GT or Camaro SS/1LE/etc = wek sos.

 

It obviously wasn't running "correctly" as there is no way on this earth any STOCK evo would hold a candle to an 8 running 12psi of boost !

 

This @ 10psi.

 

That was 4-5 years ago now i think. Our definition of "correct" has changed. At the time 300whp was a struggle because very few people had a grasp of what was going wrong with general setups.

 

Firecran, What kind of power are you making?

 

Don't get him started !!! LOL

 

I think about 6 to match one .............. 12 and he wont be able to read my number plate through third.

 

"Real Major Horsepower" brah. Like 2005 Corvette levels and ****.

 

I said stock turbo, not stock. My stock turbo/cams Evo was making 330 whp Dynapak vs. my RX-8 at 330 whp Mustang, but the Evo was over 300 wtq and the RX-8 wasn't even close. The RX-8 was slooooow. That's in a straight line... in the corners it was even less fair. With my current setup with no undertray, diffuser, or skirts, I regularly hit sustained 2g's laterally in the Evo.

I was one of the first people to have a 300 whp+ RX-8, one of the few people to run a turbo RX-8 without ever blowing a motor despite over a year of daily use, and in my experience trying to make an RX-8 a fast car is a waste of time and money.

Before the inevitable comments about how I did it wrong and my car sucked and you all do it so much better; your mileage may vary.

 

LOL...
That's right I bought my car and for a fraction of what you've got into your craptasitc Renesis build!
Been enjoying the **** outta my REW swap for over 3 years now.

Don't be so butt hurt!

And times, I'm not worried about that.
I was only on 12psi. There's more in the car!
Remember it's fast, not quick.

 

no but seriously...how much power are you making?

 

So butt hurt are we!
Have you ran your Turdbo Renesis at the track yet?
The way you talk and with a 10,000 page build thread surely it's seen some type of track time?

 

Enough with the "butthurt" comments.

It's a disagreement / debate over a difference of opinion, nothing more. I don't think any of the major players here (from a build perspective) truely feel a need to justify what they've got to anyone. You will never come to an agreement on what is best anyway, but that's ok. Cars are always compromises and people are always different, so it's going to happen. Just no need to try to be offensive about supporting your point of view.

 

Once again, I tend to disagree with the term 'slow'.
The stock RX8 may not be as fast as many, and though I've never done it, uncompetitive at the track, I still find it plenty fast for my taste as a DD.
Throw in the fact that the ride, handling, and quiet cabin, with the amenities available at such good prices now, and I don't consider it slow.
Imho, the swaps ruin the total package.
While I'm sure more power and speed are great, I like it just the way it is, and the extra expense and time involved don't justify it in my case.

However, if I was 20 years younger with more free time, energy, and disposable income, I'm sure it would be fun to try.

 

"Slow" vs "Fast" is a matter of subjective perspective

An 8 felt really fast compared to my Protege5
But it feels slow compared to my MSM.

Still, you illustrate the points where the RX-8 shines. It's a GT car that also happens to be one of the best handling chassis out there. Swaps, forced induction, etc... all move away from that definition to something else. If all you want is a GT car, then yeah, there doesn't seem to be value in power adders. But if you want something faster, your choices are another car or a whole lot of money to make the car something it isn't. You might achieve what you want in the end (most don't), but it definitely won't be the same GT car that it was.

 

Ah ...so you did . My apologies .
You might be right re the torque ............... but as you said YMMV.

 

I can see the appeal of trying to swap a faster and more powerful engine into an 8, it's a nice looking, semi-practical design for a sports car.

I respect those who put time and effort into their automobiles out of enjoyment and enthusiasm for things mechanical, beats vegging out in front of a monitor playing video games.

It's the attitude of many of the 'experts' on swaps that the 8 is an unreliable piece of junk and can only be made better with a piston engine that bugs me.

I am not opposed to people trying to make them faster either.
I would like to see what the new BHR header could do for mine.
But that's a one time, bolt on performance enhancer that may take an afternoon, doesn't alter the integrity of the design, and then it's done.

 

This is the whole point .... The car looks good and handles well already ...So it's got two of the most important automotive features covered ....... it just need moar powa ! So it's worth the time and effort to get that.
The EVO(for example) on the other hand , has power and handling but........ looks like a Lancer with a wing and always will .... "aint nobody got time for dat" !!!!

 

Different horses different courses.

BUT, I think NA Ported full billet alloy 20b running on straight LPG would be a pretty good option. 3rotors potentially will be more reliable than 2. U don't have to wring it's neck to make good power which equates to longer life.

I wanted BIG **** my pants kinda power as I have been dreaming of a 20b for a long time, but trying to fit that huge turbo n all the plumbing is a right pain in the ****.

That being said, I believe if mazda had put turbo on Rene we wouldn't be having the carbon issues we see. If I wasn't so hell bent on a 20bT conversion I woulda definitely gone turbo Rene - but not a bolt on kit n hope for the best. Do it right, rebuilt, strengthened, T- rotors and quality seals. Then u still got the lightweight engine to keep the great handling of rx8