Know your RX8
03-23-2013, 02:39 PM
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Know your RX8
New here.Hope this is in the right place.
Just a quick note here for new 8 owners. I learned that my 8 is a lot like my Harley shovel head.I bought my 8 realizing that the rotory set up and the way the car is built says it requires a lot of attention, not in the "oh s*#t I have to work on it again but more a labor of love.
I had a low power stuck in limp mode thing and I took it to a Mazda dealer here in Colorado
. My car spent the day there and when I went to pick it up, I was handed a 2 inch thick stack of paper telling me I needed $8,500.00 worth of work on the motor
.
I knew this wasn't right so I did more research at home. Already knowing the car , I found out the 2004 rx8 had some design issues, amongst which is the coil pacs. I removed mine and there was a white residue on the back sides of the coils. The design flaw was that the coil pacs shorted out on their own housing
.
A few hundred dollars later, new coil pac's, plugs and plug wires. I fired it up and stuck in limp mode
. This coming Friday I pick up my rx8 from Lakewood Mazda and racing, they installed a new omp(limp mode) and set the cooling fans to come on 10 degrees lower temp to start cooling earlier
.
This would all be a giant head ache for some people. The point here is that an rx8 isn't like your Honda or Toyota. You have to develop a desire to want to work on it and understand it, to appreaciate the engineering that went into it and the joy of driving it after your love of labor with it.
Last thing is my air intake; I removed the stock box and snorkel and ran pipe down through the front end and attached a scoop on my drivers side low down by the street to ram air into the acorn filter I used to replace the stock box filter. To finish I have a high flow straight through flow and it will be hooked up to minimize any bends so the exhaust is flowing straight all the way through.
I won't change the stock pipe size just maximize the flow. Some folks want to beef up the rx8, but from my point of view , there really isn't a lot of bang for the buck compaired to a v8 engine. I'm in love with the drive ability of the car.
My advice on the rx8 is: If your looking for a daily driver like a Honda or Toyota the rx8 isn't it don't waste your money. My rx8 is my second harley
Just a quick note here for new 8 owners. I learned that my 8 is a lot like my Harley shovel head.I bought my 8 realizing that the rotory set up and the way the car is built says it requires a lot of attention, not in the "oh s*#t I have to work on it again but more a labor of love.
I had a low power stuck in limp mode thing and I took it to a Mazda dealer here in Colorado
. My car spent the day there and when I went to pick it up, I was handed a 2 inch thick stack of paper telling me I needed $8,500.00 worth of work on the motor.I knew this wasn't right so I did more research at home. Already knowing the car , I found out the 2004 rx8 had some design issues, amongst which is the coil pacs. I removed mine and there was a white residue on the back sides of the coils. The design flaw was that the coil pacs shorted out on their own housing
.A few hundred dollars later, new coil pac's, plugs and plug wires. I fired it up and stuck in limp mode
. This coming Friday I pick up my rx8 from Lakewood Mazda and racing, they installed a new omp(limp mode) and set the cooling fans to come on 10 degrees lower temp to start cooling earlier.This would all be a giant head ache for some people. The point here is that an rx8 isn't like your Honda or Toyota. You have to develop a desire to want to work on it and understand it, to appreaciate the engineering that went into it and the joy of driving it after your love of labor with it.
Last thing is my air intake; I removed the stock box and snorkel and ran pipe down through the front end and attached a scoop on my drivers side low down by the street to ram air into the acorn filter I used to replace the stock box filter. To finish I have a high flow straight through flow and it will be hooked up to minimize any bends so the exhaust is flowing straight all the way through.
I won't change the stock pipe size just maximize the flow. Some folks want to beef up the rx8, but from my point of view , there really isn't a lot of bang for the buck compaired to a v8 engine. I'm in love with the drive ability of the car.
My advice on the rx8 is: If your looking for a daily driver like a Honda or Toyota the rx8 isn't it don't waste your money. My rx8 is my second harley
03-23-2013, 02:54 PM
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Might I suggest you read this.......................... https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...t-here-202454/ It has a wealth of info you will find very useful.
Oh...........Technically white spots on the coils don't really mean they are bad. The only real way to tell is to test them, but you'll find that out.
Careful with mods to the intake as well. A lot of intake systems actually rob HP. Most intake mods are purely for sound. However I do subscribe to the ram air theory as I have the RB setup.
Welcome to the addiction.
You can learn all you want on this site with just a little patience and reading.
Oh...........Technically white spots on the coils don't really mean they are bad. The only real way to tell is to test them, but you'll find that out.
Careful with mods to the intake as well. A lot of intake systems actually rob HP. Most intake mods are purely for sound. However I do subscribe to the ram air theory as I have the RB setup.
Welcome to the addiction.
You can learn all you want on this site with just a little patience and reading.
Last edited by Mazurfer; 03-23-2013 at 03:15 PM.
03-24-2013, 02:00 PM
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@Mazurfer:I read it and thank you good advice, hence the title right. I will try to get pic's of my 8 off my phone camera and on the computer so I can post here. This is a great site and blessing for those who are new to the 8 or thinking of buying one.
I am trying a experiment with the intake thing. When installed a cone I didn't mean I just ripped out the system and put in a advanced auto parts cone and that's it, nope, I have another stock box to replace if this doesn't work as intended. My expectations are real so i'm sure I won't be disappointed at all because of how I did it.
I first cut off the intake tube from the stock box to retain the stock flow size intake tube. I also reused the 2 screens that should be in there and placed them accordingly. One of the sections I cut from the stock box is the part that holds the mas air flow sensor to keep to stock some what.
My thinking was to do the same on the exhaust end and stay with the stock pipe size and just take out all the turns in the exhaust. Back to the intake. The intake tube goes down the front inside the front bumper and comes out 2 inches from the ground with a small scoop on the end to gather air and ram it in the intake. I did this back in 1963 with a 1957 Pontiac star chief using dryer duct type hose.
After I get the car back another thing to try for me is a cool can install for the fuel line: That's another post however.
. I will try to get pic's of my 8 off my phone camera and on the computer so I can post here. This is a great site and blessing for those who are new to the 8 or thinking of buying one.I am trying a experiment with the intake thing. When installed a cone I didn't mean I just ripped out the system and put in a advanced auto parts cone and that's it, nope
, I have another stock box to replace if this doesn't work as intended. My expectations are real so i'm sure I won't be disappointed at all because of how I did it.I first cut off the intake tube from the stock box to retain the stock flow size intake tube. I also reused the 2 screens that should be in there and placed them accordingly. One of the sections I cut from the stock box is the part that holds the mas air flow sensor to keep to stock some what.
My thinking was to do the same on the exhaust end and stay with the stock pipe size and just take out all the turns in the exhaust. Back to the intake. The intake tube goes down the front inside the front bumper and comes out 2 inches from the ground with a small scoop on the end to gather air and ram it in the intake. I did this back in 1963 with a 1957 Pontiac star chief using dryer duct type hose.
After I get the car back another thing to try for me is a cool can install for the fuel line: That's another post however.
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