Hi ,

i have been looking for an RX-8 for a while now and i came across some nice European Rx-8s along with some japan ones as well but not in as much good condition as the Europeans , looking at the price and condition , the european rx-8s will be the best choice for me but since my main purpose with the car is racing , every extra bit of power is useful.

since japan version is around 250psi and european is 231 psi ( due to country laws ) i think the difference is only ecu based rather than engine or anything else, i was mentally prepared to get the Japanese version until a friend put me into confusion and which led me here to ask the experts.

So my friend told me that the European Rx-8 is only slower than Japanese version is because of Ecu limitations as per country laws and Since i am getting the cob+tune from someone on this forum he told me that the ecu will be unlocked hence you will have the same performance as the japanese version with cobb+tune.

Technically it makes sense what my friend was trying to say but being sure is always a good idea, hence i come for help here.

thanks alot

z

 

Also which Accessport/Cobb+Tune do you recommend , since mazdamaniac is very hard to find and hardly reply or no direct contact channel.


thanks.

 

so no one knows for sure about this ?

 

No, I don't know. But what I do know is the Japanese will be right hand drive, if that matters to you. And, why look to Europe and Japan? Can't find one in the US?

 

I thought that, for a given engine (6 port vs 4 port, etc.), differences in advertised HP were just due to country-specific measurement standards and advertising laws.

What series and class will you be racing in?

Ken

 

Well, if he lived in the US, he probably would look for one.

But seen as how he lives somewhere in Europe, or one of those countries that floats around in/near the Pacific Ocean, and all the ones in his local market are from Europe and Japan, those are what he's going to choose from, rather than have to search the entire US for a car he likes, then have to pay shipping and import fees to get one there.

Besides, I thought one of his original posts back in December said that he already bought an RX-8?

BC.

 

There is no specific tune that can be recommended to you. You buy the access port + mazdamaniacs tuning service(or someone else if you can find them) and then send him in data and you get your tune sent back to you. It might take you 4 or 5 tunes to get it perfect, and when you add any performance part you will need to get it tuned again.

I cant give you an accurate time frame of when you might get your tune back from him. At one point it was taking months and months, at another time people were saying weeks. So just be prepared for a wait, if you cannot wait then find another avenue to tune your car.

Also keep in mind it says it only works on 03/04 Japanese MT models, but works on all European models. Read his site.

 

1) No. Same power output, just different measurments.
2) Don't listen to your friend, he showed that he knows nothing about the rx8.

 

I saw no mention that he didn't live in the US, so I just assumed.....Also if he's looking in Japan and Europe, he may as well look in the US also. It's quite a distance between those two locations so he would be paying shipping and import fees regardless..

 

I read it that he's in an area of the world where people import used cars from both the Japan Market, and from the European market to where he lives.

So he's not actually importing a car, these are the choices he has to pick from that are already in his area.

BC.

 

Where do you find all this info? I guess I need to learn how to navigate through these forums better.