Just wanted to say my Xcessive LIM was like that too, years ago. Apparently they haven't cleaned up their castings at all. It did take quite a bit of TLC to smooth out, but does the intended job well.

Yeah it's not like they have any competition lol.

Also I guess you can say that you called it after seeing the 35r, I ended up going with a bigger turbo... and if/when this current motor decides to call it quits I will be taking a serious look at a semi p-port setup. Not a fan of bridgeporting. We'll see how it plays out. :eyetwitch

Sorry for the late reply, haven't been on in forever, but basically yes and no. Car is registered in Florida, which has no emissions checks or any sort of inspection. I'm moving back to Texas, which requires inspection, but I know it'll pass even without... things lol...

I'm deleting pretty much all of the creature comforts- ABS, TCS, ASM, AC, gauges, interior, sound deadening, blah blah blah. The ONLY thing I want to retain is the electric power steering, simply because the 8's sterring rack ratio SUCKS as a manual unit, at least for low/medium speed stuff, and that's coming from someone who prefers no power steering lol.

But yeah, I'm moving to Austin soon, which means Circuit of the Americas will be in my back yard, meaning MANY TRACK DAYS. The car will be an uncomfortable, hot, loud, fast bitch that just happens to have a license plate and insurance haha.

Nice build thread. I will be more than likely going 13B REW, or 20B
In a year. Also run NASA TT.

Be looking forward to more updates! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks man.

For NASA time trials you will have more of an advantage with a single turbo 13b-REW. You get a 0.2lbs/hp advantage for having a two rotor with single turbo, and you can also use electronic boost control to have a flat horsepower curve. Meaning that when the turbo spools up it will spike at high boost and taper down to a lower number, so you will make the maximum allowable horsepower at every RPM in your power band.

Cool, thanks for the info! I will go with the 13B-REW for also cost reasons too.
Same as you for more simplistic build too. As more people have done it. Next spring
I'll probably start buying parts that I need throughout the year. Did you end up
going with that Canbus system that was meantioned earlier? I have a gen 2. So Looks
like it only works with gen 1 :/ I like the idea of it though. Maybe I'll send them
an email to see if there ever make one for a gen two. Doubt it though, as there isn't
as many of us :banghead:

You will be much better off buying a Series 1. If you add up the total cost of a project like this, it's a drop in the bucket. 04/05 RX-8's with blown motors or minor cosmetic damage are going for like 2,000 to 3,000 bucks. You can sell your nice series 2 and get a more economical daily driver and have a ton of money to put towards the project.


I'm not using that steering controller that I mentioned before, they only have one model that is set to 100% assist all of the time, and they were not willing to work on making an adjustable unit so I gave up on their overpriced unit and figured out something else.

ah nice to know on the controller. Yeah your right. Getting a gen 1 would have been
cheaper. But this isn't going to be a dedicated track car either. It will mostly be street
driven. With the occasional track day or autox. I actually compete in TAG with
kart racing. It's just cheaper to do with having a family. But I still like to get on
the big tracks once in a while! :)
I was thinking going REW would be better than going with a turbo renesis motor.
But I'll keep researching for the next year before I make any decision.
Just I knew I could make a more reliable 350 to 400whp with the 13B REW.

When I started looking for an Rx8. I really like the R3 I found. So I decided to get
her. Mainly as I knew I'd be driving on the street more than anything. Love
those recaro's!

Oh. Then honestly I would just do whatever swap seems more fun to you and maybe just do HPDE type stuff. In the big bore classes like Super Unlimited and TT1, 2 and 3, you will get crushed in a street car. In big bore the rules are very open as far as what you can do to the car, and you won't stand a chance against cars that sacrifice every shred of streetability for that extra edge on track. I would still just get a separate car... the rollers are so cheap that I don't see why not. And at that kind of power, you are going to want real safety equipment if you're competing for times. Meaning roll cage, seats, harnesses, head and neck restraint etc etc.

But the 20b won't need to scream its head off to achieve it- therefore more reliability?? Just asking

I like to do the TT because it costs the same and I love competition.
But usually I'm in a stock class....
Hmmm, maybe I'll just leave her stock for what I need! lol
And I agree, your right. That power should have all the safety stuff in.
I don't know, I'll think about it as I learn more over this next year.
If I put together a dedicated car, I would have to stop racing the kart as doing
both would be to much.
In the mean time I'll keep tabs on this thread to see how it goes! :)

Should be more reliable if all factors are the same but it depends on a lot of things.

The 13bREW is just a much easier and cheaper swap than a turbo 20b, and if things do go south, finding parts and rebuilding is much easier as well.

Yes well that's for sure!! It's way cheaper to build/fit another 13b. Omg this 20b swap is hurting the pocket. Make it stop!! Or go would be good too

How's it going with the car.....I just started down the transmission swap parade:-)

With the new turbo and tune, 4th Gear lasted about 10 minutes after I started to push it hard :banghead: (and that was de-tuned to 425WHP)

So...looking at a T56 variant likely from GForce....and new axles

That's just great... sounds like my transmission will make it through dyno tuning and maybe one session then, my wastegate spring pressure will likely already be around 400RWHP...

What turbo are you on and how much boost?

The T56 variant and the T5 street box look nice but I want straight cut gears and dog engagement with super close ratios. The only way I'm going to get that is with the GF5r transmission.

The car is moving along but I'm spending my money as fast as I make it. Work has been slow, if I actually made a decent living this would be easier but oh well. Should have some updates soon.

Keep me posted on what you decide to do with the transmission.

Off topic but I saw in the radiators thread you had a CSF aluminum radiator. Any feedback on it? Did you ever end up installing it and if you did how was the fitment and how'd it perform vs stock?

I just ordered one. Looking for some feedback on it since theres virtually none on here about it.

If you have off topic questions you can private message people.

I test fitted it, no problems. I never used it because I'm doing a v-mount instead. I know a lot of people that run CSF radiators at the track, you have nothing to worry about. Quality was good, if I were looking for a stock replacement radiator I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one again.

Thanks for the feedback!

are you using the stock ecu for the power steering or did you ever get ahold of the can bus guys? sorry if i missed where you answered this

No I'm not retaining the stock ecu at all.

I got ahold of that guy with the controller but I'm not interested in running the rack at 100% assist power all of the time. I'm going a different route for controlling the rack but can't say much about it for now.

ahh gotchya, i emailed him about a week ago and he never got back to me, are there any other options you would be able to share that dont invole the stock ecu? lol ive been searchin for awhile and havent found anything

So I've been working on the car and will have some updates soon.

In the mean time, I was able to tag along with UMS Tuning (where my car will be tuned) to the Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle in California and I made this video. It was an awesome event and is my main goal for the 2015 season. Make it to Super Lap and run with the big dogs.

^that older coupe impreza is nasty.... Ive always wanted one of those.

Black GST Impreza L?

Yeah that thing is nuts. Fastest thing out there by a pretty good margin.

Did you decided on a turbo manifold yet?