PaPaBear

The Mazda Tech from my local dealer said that the K&N drop in is not good for RX-8 due to the oil in the filter. This oil if excessive can damage a sensor. This has not contributed to my engine change which is happening next Monday but did not help. 32,000 miles on my car with proper maintenance and needs a new engine. They tried the new starter and made other adjustments but there is still a hesitation at low RPM's. The follow through the RPM range is not as smooth as it was. After three trips to the dealer, they have decided to replace the engine. I am still waiting for an answer as to the reliability of the new motor. Have they made the necessary changes in the oil provided to the seals over 7,000 RPM's. The adjustment to lower the oil to the seals came to satisfay EPA standards. That was also told to me by te service tech from my dealer.

DailyDriver2k5

Like he said, the stock air intake is the best. Just drop a high flow panel filter in there. I learned the hardway and dropped 500 big ones on the HKS powerflow air intake system and was totally dissapointed. I lost alot of low end which the Rx-8 doesn't have much to begin with. Gained a little more on top.... but the sound was annoying and made the car sound like a angry mosquito under WOT.

In the end, i sold it and went back to the stock intake and a high flow panel filter. When looking at the stock air filter system, mazda basically gave us a performance air intake system from the get go. If you look at it, its basically a strait forward design.Air comes from the nose, goes through the filter directly into a strait pipe/MAFS then into one bend which enters the throttle body. Which alot of intake companies strive to do when designing a intake for cars.

Alot of mass produced car intakes have 2 or 3 baffle chambers, and the intake design is more of a maze of hozes/chambers before finally letting the air reach the throttlebody. Which makes the air flow restrictive.

Mazda skipped the fru-fru and went for the direct approach in the Rx-8.

Spin9k

Did someone tell you the stock intake is the best? It's true! Tuned intake runners and all that, very lo restriction air box. Only the RB has any real benefit, and that's not much, maybe best at high speed (>100mph). Good way to lighten your wallet thou...

Exhaust mod sounds better for the $$, prob does more, but still not much. Sways are BB4YB

mysql101

I agree with you to a degree - the greddy turbo will give you a lot more bang for the buck, but you're going to have to drop 2 - 3 times that amount to get it installed, tuned, and for all the additional parts and gauges you'll need.

AdRoCK3217

Yeah. Because 45whp over stock is..not noticeable. Even the most de-tuned butt-dyno will be able to feel 45whp..

Besides, I don't see very many Greddy turbo kits making much more than 250whp anyways, why spend all that money, for 25whp more? That's blasphemy!

Hmm, AEM intake, full exhaust (header, resonated or cat midpipe, and catback), EMS (or RB reflash), and perhaps an HKS ignition box. 225whp! You go TeamRX8!

mysql101

I'd like to see some evidence of this. All the dynos I've seen show about 180-195 whp range for a NA RX-8. The bolt on mods are within the hp difference between engines. I seem to recall some guys hitting 205 whp range...

With the greddy turbo, people are making in the range of 250-290 whp, depending on fuel management, and tuning. That's a far cry from the 25 that you claim. You also have to be sure to compare apples to apples, different types of dynos will give different results for the same car. Temp, altitude, etc. all play a factor. It's easy to skew the numbers if you so desired.

N rider89

plus any reputable header cost around a thousand anyways. and good ems aint cheap either

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Dude, ZEX wet kit. $600.00, at least a 50 HP gain to be safe and much more with the right tuning. Then you can blow you money after that if you want. You go spend $2,000.00 on bolt-ons and then we will race and see who wins.

prescriptionmazda

^ can't say I've honestly heard of nitrous oxide being "safe."

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Then I guess you don't know a whole lot about using nitrous then.

dynamho

Don't waste your money on aftermarket intakes.

Phantom Menace

If you budget is tight, I'd go with a K&N drop-in with Racing Beat's Ram Air Duct...

romycha1

Are you being sarcastic, or agreeing with me?

AdRoCK3217

Sarcastic. 45whp is very easy to feel.


Seriously, take everything I say very lightly. I, in all honesty, would not do the mods I mentioned. It just doesn't come out right, spending a whole lot of money on NA bolt ons for small gains.

If your planning on dumping a bunch of money into your 8, turbo it. Don't go GReddy, it's a POS. If you are lacking in funds, ok, it'll work for you. But it's crap.

Do a custom kit if you are so inclined, or go Mazsport. Mazsport charges both arms + both legs, and I don't feel its worth it..but to each his own.

romycha1

Where the hell did you get 45whp? Show me what bolt-ons you can get that can get 45whp, that cost less than a turbo kit, and I will happily retract my post.

AdRoCK3217

TeamRX8. Search up his posts.

He made 215whp on a Mustang dyno which is around 225whp on a DynoJet.

All he had was intake, exhaust (header included) and an RB reflash. Maybe a few other things, but that's all I'm aware of. *maybe* he has an ignition box, but most turbo guys should, too..

He made his intake and exhaust, for what I'd assume is less than any turbo kit on the market..


Did I mention he has a Cat?

AdRoCK3217

225-180 = 45


Some cars dyno at 190-200. So, between 25-45whp gain. But, this could also mean the people who dyno higher stock may benefit even more from these mods. So..someone may crack the 235-245whp NA barrier.

Did I mention he has a Cat? Theres even more horsepower left to be unlocked..

Maybe when people start producing aftermarket intake manifold and affordable headers, we'll see more NA guys..

N rider89

most of his stuff was custom fabrication he did iirc. so price i have no idea and i belive he dynoed really high like high 190's so is not that much of a gain.

AdRoCK3217

What? No. He has dyno graphs posted. He dynoed 215whp on a Mustang Dyno.

AdRoCK3217

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=159

YEAHHHHHHHH!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

AC delete, I wonder how much parasitic drag the AC adds on the 8? i would need much more info before I could comment on this.

mysql101

i don't think it matters, as the ac is disabled at the upper rpms afaik..

AdRoCK3217

Yeah. You can't use the AC delete as any kind of performance (horsepower) mod, except that without the extra belt surface, it might give you 2 bhp, and help it rev a little quicker.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

The pulley is still spinning.

AdRoCK3217

The pulley is spinning with absolutely no drag on it whatsoever. Have you ever spun the AC pulley when the clutch is not engaged? It's barely harder to spin than it is to lift a finger. It has no drag. End of discussion.