New Member! Well...sort of! :P
 

Hey guys!

Just thought I'd formally introduce myself.

I've been a long-standing member of RX-7 Club, and I've owned multiple rotary-vehicles..but as a new 8 owner, I wanted to introduce myself and get to know some locals.

Here's my prior RX-experience... :P

1988 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._8230328_n.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1778170_n.jpg

Then I bought my first FD...'93 RX-7 Twin-Turbo

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...93781159_n.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...64210496_n.jpg

In between this FD and my current one, I had bought a '93 VR that I ended up not keeping very long. Sort of a "flip" car that I was able to make some profit on.

Next up was my current FD, a '94 Chaste-White.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._2610240_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1435919_n.jpg


After blowing a 13B-RE motor in the dyno before even driving it for the first time..thanks to a wastegate diaphragm that caused over-boosting....I ended up running a standard 13B-REW motor.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...7_224062_n.jpg

I made 326hp/287tq @ 11psi...and right at 400hp @ 15psi.

Unfortunately, during one of my visits home to Georgia (I'm Navy, stationed here in San Diego).....the motor blew, and I got scammed out of a $500 deposit towards a street-ported motor replacement. I was going to do methanol injection, the whole 9 yards...

At that point, my brother who is a master mechanic and wiring specialist came to me with the proposition of doing a 2JZ swap into my FD...

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._6849827_n.jpg

She's my REAL money-pit project...I have a "Build Thread" on RX-7 club in my signature, for those interested...That's a whole story in itself..


So ANYWAYS!!!

Here I am now on RX-8 club! And here's why!

The new family member AKA "the wife's car"....Please say hi to "Hachi"! :]

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...85705826_n.jpg

Bought from a forum member, she is running the Greddy turbo-kit along with Cobb AccessPort tuned by MazdaManiac, HKS BOV (UNrecirculated), AEM TRU Boost gauge/controller, AEM wide-band, Turbo XS Exhaust w/ cat, Espiller lowering-springs, aero-package side and rear accents, and powder-coated OEM rims.

The Mazdaspeed bumper on her is mangled, so I've already ordered a poly-urethane replacement through AIT Racing. That should be installed in the next few weeks. ^.^

Just yesterday, with the help of a fellow RX-8 club member, Rolando, we installed a Kenwood double-din navigation unit, with rear-view camera, bluetooth hands-free microphone, and steering-wheel audio control module.

Oh, and I also traded my Base-model cloth seats for his heated, power front and rear leather seats. A great trade, if you ask me. He auto-crosses, so he needs seats that wouldn't make HIM slide when HE slides. lol

Some pictures from yesterday's adventures!

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...24869504_n.jpg

SOOOOOOOOOOO many wires...this was half-way through. It was an utter MESS in the beginning!! Thanks to Rolando's personal experience of working on his 8, and being a Best Buy Geek Squad stereo installer....it all went smoothly.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...44030606_n.jpg

And, all done! Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah to me indeed! ^.^

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...29373475_n.jpg

I also moved the car's prior a-pillar gauge setup to a center-console pod-gauge setup. Looks much better IMHO...very clean, and almost factory! Perfect! :D

I've also replaced the clear-corner side marks back to factory amber ones, and I'm in the process of removing the previous owner's blue LED interior lights with some white ones.

Next for "Hachi" after the replacement Mazdaspeed bumper is installed....is to buy an AEM intake to work with the turbo setup, a carbon-fiber trunk, and some rims!

After that, she's basically done. My wife will actually be driving this car primarily, so I just want her to be as clean, comfortable, and "reliable" as a turbo-charged rotary can be... >_>;;


So anywho! Just wanted to say "Hi" to everyone, and I look forward to hopefully meeting some of you guys in the near future!

I live in San Diego, in the Mission Valley area. If you live near by, please feel free to hit me up! I am friends with only a handful of local car enthusiasts, drifters, etc...so I'd love to make more friends!

See y'all on the forums!!

- Mike

Nice. Nuff said.

Welcome to 8club :) What type of intake do you have now with the Greddy kit?

So do you call your FD hichi :lol2:

All rotaries...nice! Have you ever owned a non-rotary? Anyway, welcome to the club and your wife will surely enjoy the ride.

You mean like the 2JZ FD ;) haha...

Thanks for the compliments guys. :D

No intake other than the piping that came with the previous owner's Greddy turbo kit. I'd like to put on an AEM intake though to lengthen the piping, and help with things like a smoother idle. I'm well-versed with atmospheric BOV cars running a MAF sensor though, so I'm not bothered so much by that.

lol, the RX-8's name is "Hachi"...Japanese reference, obviously. That, and if you watch the anime "Nana", it kind of references from that as well.

The FD doesn't have a nickname...never really has. "Financial Disaster" I guess..lol *shrugs*

It does have a custom license plate though!

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._6298450_n.jpg

"1337" is also the "NEC" code for my job in the Navy. How awesome is that? :]

I've owned non-rotaries, sure.

My first car when I was 16-17 was a 2000 Toyota Celica GT

After that I had an '86 Toyota Corolla GT-S Hatchback.

My DD right now is a BPU'd 2011 Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited, the one in my sig.

I understood. hichi is 7 in Japanese :)

You didn't see his sig did you? lol

"Nana" is the word more commonly used in Japanese for the number 7, IIRC.

I guess it would be a funny anime-reference/Japanese fanboy thing to do to name my cars "Nana" and "Hachi"..

...Not that I'm complaining. lol :P

Both are used. Just depends where in Japan. I have done the interior swap on the 8.

Who did you buy the 8 from? How is it running?

Seeing as how it wouldn't be difficult to find this out if you searched my posts, I bought this particular car:

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8s-sale-wanted-43/2004-turbo-rx8-224094/

The motor wasn't blown. But it did cost quite a bit in parts/labor from Tri-Point Engineering to get her running again.

Right now she is running really well!

I've got the most recent MM tune in the Cobb loaded up, and the AFR's seem to be spot on.

Only thing I don't like is that the tiny Greddy turbo is very peaky. It doesn't hold a solid boost level...so using the AEM Tru Boost gauge/controller, I find myself having to adjust it every single drive to keep the car running a consistent ~10psi...I try to keep it from spiking over 10.5psi, while also ensuring that it doesn't bleed down in the 8's. I openly admit that I'm not intimately familiar with the many settings that go into a boost controller, wastegate crack pressure, etc....but I've gotten a few tips from my brother to help me get some safe settings out it.

For being primarily my wife's car though, I'm really not looking to do a full-out turbo upgrade on the RX-8. At ~10psi and a MM tune, it's more than fast enough for my wife, and still fast enough by MY standards to be incredibly fun. It sounds fantastic and runs just as well. Now with the stereo and comfy leather seats, she's comfortable AND fun to drive! Just gotta finish up the aesthetic mods, and clean up a few things and she's good to go! :]

My 2JZ RX-7 swap has been a 2 year project at this point, so having a 300+rwhp turbo RX-8 now is definitely helping to fill that performance void in my life. The 2011 Sonata 2.0T is most certainly a great DD, but it's a boat... lol

The RX-7 and RX-8's just have such a unique feel to them. So small and lightweight, it's like putting your hand into a glove. They both fit me just right! I really love both cars! I'm really happy with my decision to have invested in this particular RX-8!

^.^

Very nice man. The 8 and the 7.

Oh and Sonata. I just bought one myself.

cool another BB 8

Lol, yes...i was just looking at the pictures, not the op's signature :p

Cool, you must have a cool wife. It looks like a nice project, when you get that bumper replaced, get and under tray as well to protect your radiator and aid in forcing air through it.

Welcome Welcome! :)

Beautiful cars! Must be nice to be a new member and start off with FI!

I've always loved the FC's, so I'm especially liking that...

It's actually shichi and Yoshi is correct that nana is a tad more common. Numbers get weird in japanese because they use different "counters" to count different objects, so it can get a little messy.

Yep. Typo on my end. Anyway it just depends who is saying 7. It is acceptable to use nana or shichi. I know if I were saying a larger number (77 for instance) I'd use nana (nana-juu-nana) though.

Very nice - welcome!

another local...sorta :ugh2:

Yeah. I've been looking at the aftermarket undertray f/s on the forums, but I don't know...

Any suggestions on undertray options for use with a Mazdaspeed-style front bumper?

Welcome. I think I saw your build thread. Did you ever end up finishing your FD?