Drecca

Hey all!

Just looked at the year by year changes thread to figure this out. I've found a sweet white 2010 GT. I'm starting to get older and I love my creature comforts.. aka sunroof and heated seats. Bonus, it has the Nav!

Buuut, I don't like the stock look. So I'd need to get the R3 wheels (a few thousand $) the R3 body (another few thousand? Not sure on this one) and the Bilstein shocks.

Apart from the Recaros (which I've read are not heated), what else would be missing? And how much am I looking at?

EricB

iTrader: (7)

Easiest solution:

buy a 40th anniversary.

Its basically an R3 except the old bodystyle.
exclusive 40th anny rims(they look like the 2009-2011, except with metallic paint instead of regular 09-11 rims)
bilstein shocks
exclusive red leather interior
heated seats
sunroof
exclusive metropolitan gray mica color.

unless you already purchased your 2010..
if so.. ill bite.

i saw somewhere that a painted R3 bumper is close to 400-500(dont quote me on this) (i still like the standard bumper alot more than the R3)

personally for the amount of $ that R3 wheels cost, you are better off getting quality wheels from Japan that are wider and with better offset for the same price as R3 wheels.

While you are spending money on those bilstein shocks, you might as well drop a couple hundred more and get good quality coilovers which allow for adjustability.

R3 also has a rear spoiler, but id leave the trunk spoiler you have on.

R3 also has R3 sideskirts and i havnt really seen used sets pop up on the forums or heard much about them so i cant pinpoint a price for you.

R3 also has red stitched shift ****/steering wheel/handbrake/center console lid.

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

realistically you could buy an r3 for around 19, and i'm sure that someone would gladly give you their heated seats for the recaros. and a sunroof is relatively cheap to have installed, just make sure you get one with a lifetime warranty (most offer this). the cheaper way is to buy an r3 and convert it to a GT. please feel free to flame if you feel i'm wrong.

LifeAfterRx8

iTrader: (17)

I like the 40th but It's not even close to an R3...
Seems you're a bit biased towards the 40th.
R3 is basically like a "race" package, 40th is more similar to the Shinka but to praise the 40th anniversary of the rotary engine.

Used, you cannot get better wheels for the 8 than the R3 wheels. They're 19" forged BBS Wheels that are lighter than any of the stock 18" wheels, even most aftermarket.

It's also lighter, and a bit quicker as they changed the transmission and gearing from the S1. They added an extra oil injector and raised the oil pressure rate for reliability.

More info: https://www.rx8club.com/series-ii-technical-trouble-shooting-160/mechanical-changes-rx-8-series-i-ii-161665/

OddEclipse

If I'm not mistaken the R3 BBS rims are around $4,500 bucks.

OddEclipse

Around $350.00 each side. According to my insurance claim.

Razz1

It's not worth the swap in parts. Find an R3.

Worst thing about an R3 is the recaro seats. They are not comfortable on a medium to long trip

Best off with out them.

pistonhater

I would buy the GT since it already has the sunroof, heated leather seats, navigation, etc. Then it would be much simpler to have the body kit installed, along with new wheels.

The R3 wheels are definitely super awesome. But if all you're looking is for a more aggressive look in your GT, then there's a bunch of aftermarket options that would cost you probable less than the R3 wheels.

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

the sunroof installation and trading someone the recaros for the heated leather seats would be much cheaper. as someone just stated, the wheels alone are 4500, then after you buy and paint all the aero you are probably easily at another 2000, so you are already 6500 over what you initially paid. when you could buy an r3 for maybe a grand more and have a sunroof put in, and straight trade the recaro interior for someone's leather. i'm still not seeing how i'm the only one who sees this. plus as also stated, the r3 is a better car. you would be around 30k into the car if you bought a GT and had it turned into an r3.

edit* please buy an R3 and give me the interior.

77mjd

Yup...The wheels are what will kill you. While they are light and great looking, I don't see how they justify the ridiculous pricing on them.

jasonrxeight

hummm. I am thinking of getting some new wheels for my R3.

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

do it!! tear into that r3!

pistonhater

You missed my point.

And you are exaggerating quite a bit. Getting some aggressive looking after market wheels and adding some body kit parts might not be as expensive as the numbers you mentioned. It doesn't have to be the R3 body kit either.

But of course, if the OP ONLY wants R3 wheels and R3 body kit for an aggressive look, then that would be an expensive move.

BTW, having a quality aftermarket sunroof installed the RIGHT way and with warranty might not be as cheap as you think.

But of course...there's always a hack/ghetto way of doing it....

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

Aftermarket sunroofs usually run you 1000-1500, not really that bad in comparison to turning a GT into an R3. Have you seen the cost of aftermarket kit that will fit correctly on the 8? also, have you had anything painted by a quality painter? you would be looking at costs MUCH more if you went the aftermarket route. not to mention the fact that you wouldn't have the bilstein shocks either. and aside from everything, the OP would have the pleasure of saying he owns an r3.

EricB

iTrader: (7)

yeah im biased, but its not ALL that much greater.

according to teamrx8, alot of it is just marketing hype that makes the S2's better than S1's on the track, i think he also mentioned how his S1 is lighter than the S2's.

if its a race package why did they decide to slap on 19inch rims? sure they are bbs forged rims, but for the same price used, you can get volks/advans/etc etc etc of the same quality with better offset and wider.

and by quicker, do you mean faster off the line? because in order to achieve this, they needed to cut back on top end power. Oh and while im talking about power, how do you upgrade the S2's power without getting into custom fabrication? The exhaust options are few and far between, i dont know if the S1 headers fit(i assume they dont) There is no cobb ap for the S2's. 04 Vs 10R3 yes the R3 will do better, 40th Vs R3, its going to be close.

As far as reliability, well im getting sick of it being brought up, if you want a reliable car dont buy a S2, dont buy a S1, dont buy a rotary period. If you are THAT worried about it, the 40th has a engine core warranty until 2016. Besides, a bulk of the engine problems people have are on 04's and 05's from the bad flashes and also bad remans during that time period.

LifeAfterRx8

iTrader: (17)

It's okay to be biased, if you didn't like the 8 you purchased, you wouldn't have bought it in the first place. Notice I put "race" in quotes? Really, I meant a track ready car. For S2's, they really only had the more affordable "sport" model, the luxurious Grand Touring model and the track ready "R3" model.

If I was that worried about reliability regarding a rotary, I wouldn't have purchased another 8. I'm just simply stating some information that may interest him. He's about to purchase a new car, so why wouldn't you want a non-reliable car to be a bit more reliable?

OddEclipse

I don't know what you are talking about... those are the most comfortable seats I ever sat in. Unless you weigh 300 lbs. and are 6'6" tall.

OddEclipse

I also read somewhere that the R3 has slightly different suspension geometry.

brilliantblackrx8

I see what you are trying to do here, I like it. Make a pseudo R3 in White! AKA Australian GT in White. Yes this would be costly, but if you just wanted to cut out the Recaro's and do the aero stuff and wheels, that would be sweet. You could also look at some aftermarket bumper's like the M'Z speed one, those look really nice. The sides are really expensive, but look great. Maybe you could search for a salvage R3 and pick up some parts there, but that would be a crap shoot. If your going to go through the trouble of swapping shocks, just get some Koni's instead, you'll look better dropped slightly anyways.

Orthonormal

All the series 2s have revised suspension geometry. The differences in the R3 suspension are the Bilstein shocks specially tuned for the R3, a slightly stiffer rear swaybar, and springs with the same stiffness and probably slightly different free length to keep the ride height consistent with the standard suspension (compensating for the different weight and potentially different gas pressure in the shocks).

The Bilstein shocks for the R3 have different part numbers from the Bilstein shock for the 40th Anniversary Edition.

But if you're going to buy a rotary, it seems smart to buy one that includes improvements to address the known weak points.

SamPappas

iTrader: (1)

^ amen. the r3 is a better car than the 40th, and the non r3 s2, I'm glad someone agrees.

pistonhater

I give up on you

1. The revised suspension geometry might not make that huge of a difference for people that actually track their cars. So yes, it could as well be just marketing hype. Have no clue about weight differences.

2. I know by experience the gear changes do not make a significant difference off the line. I drove a few R3s and older RX-8s back-to-back often on the same day when I was car shopping. I pushed all of them the same way and I could barely feel a difference from a dead stop. There was a slight difference in the clutch response, but I I assumed that was more related with the different tranny. In terms of power, they felt virtually identical to me. So I'm Not sure what the real advantages of the gear changes are. I don't think it does much from a dead stop compared to the S1s. There's an article somewhere on the web comparing gear changes between the two, and the differences were not a significant at the end.

3. It is probably to soon to tell, but 'theoretically' speaking the addition of the 3rd oil injector and oil pressure are very promising in terms of reliability. Perhaps the older S1s (2007-2008) came with enough upgrades to make them just a reliable. I do like the addition of the 3rd oil injector the most.

The whole Recaro comfort argument is certainly very subjective. Some people find them comfortable, some people hate them for long trips. I guess it boils down to personal preference. But I did find them a bit too tight during test drives...and I'm not a big guy by any stretch of the imagination.

I think all S2s came with a revised suspension geometry. Again, i don't think it makes a significant difference in the overall scheme of things. That's my humble opinion after test driving - and pushing really hard - several models back to back during a period of weeks and months. Suspension geometry and gear changes or not did not make any substantial differences.

The main difference was the R3 in terms of the tightness of the suspension - due to the bilstein shocks.

EricB

iTrader: (7)

the S2's definitely capitalize on the weak points of the S1's but at a severe tradeoff when it comes to the consumer.

Its about 6-10k for a S2 conversion for headlights,tails,front bumper,fenders,rear bumper and paint. Theres a 40th for sale for 14k with 16kmiles.

It all depends what the op wants. but im still sticking that alot of the S2's are just hyped up to be better cars on track. Yes the R3 is better than the 40th on track, is the sport-touring-GT better than the 40th on track? I dont think so.

Take it with a grain of salt because ive only driven a R3 for 5 minutes. But i used to own a 09 S2 touring, and ive test driven regular S1's with stock suspension(LOL JOKE, more like boat suspension)

EDIT:^^ i agree with the gearing change, the difference i felt after i drove the 40th was so minimal, the s2 had slightly faster pickup but its nothing that a better launch couldnt fix from a s1.



If you buy the 40th i mentioned for 14k, bought a S2 conversion kit that i mentioned above you get : S2 exterior, Heated red leather seats, Navi, Sunroof, Bilstein shocks, Filled crossmembers, Ability to buy cobb ap, Ability to buy aftermarket engine stuff(aka the best of both worlds)

jrx13

Mine is the white one in the pics. 2009 White Touring with R3 wheels & R3 side skirts, just missing the front bumper. It's lowered right now but I will be switching to Bilstein PSS9's in about a month. The R3 wheels I bought used, the side skirts new from the dealer already pre-painted.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/series-ii-red-white-blue-225046/

EricB

iTrader: (7)

car looks great I miss my S2 tails every time i see them. After i buy wheels, coilovers, **** that breaks etc, im doing a S2 rear conversion. I want my led tails back so badly