Recommended Order of Upgrades for an RX-8?
 

Hi All,

When I used to follow RX-7's religiously there was a site online that posted the recommended order of performance upgrades to the 93-95 RX-7.

Does this currently exist for the RX-8? i.e. 1st Catback, 2nd Turbo, etc.

We might not be mature enough on performance at this point with this car but wanted to take a shot at it.

Thanks in advance. Couldn't find anything on this with SEARCH...

Time

How dare you insult the those who have come before you!! Yes Search is a function, a query tool, BUT it is also a state of mind, a methodology, a willingness to look for information before asking questions that can be answered by self. Had you expanded your knowledge by reading through the "Aftermarket Performance Modifications" section you can find much info about what has already been done and will come to be.

To answer your question....

The path is yours for the choosing. Although, turbo'ing without an upgraded clutch is always an idea, that is not so good. Be well! And may your 8's path to glory be a merry one. Welcome to the Brotherhood

Thanks for the response. Hopefully didnt insult since the 7's had many more years of tuning trial and error than 8's that r only 3 years old!!! Have been checking the aftermarket section and mostly see turbo talk but wondered if a consensus as to the order existed.

Thanks!

1.) Catback
2.) Intake
3.) Lightened Flywheel
4.) Gears
5.) Bask in the glory of the 6whp you gained

Welcome to the world of owning an import car.

Just buy a turbo and be done with it. I really don't understand why people pussyfoot around with bullshit mods when if they would have just upgraded to a turbo from the beginning it wouldn't have cost that much more. I guess it's dropping all that money at once that turns people off.

My world is a little different from yours :wavey: Honestly, if you don't like the power of the RX-8 the way it comes I don't understand why someone would buy one.

As of this time. No. Just go FI

To each his own, here is my plan of action.

I am pretty happy with the power and handling of the car stock, its good for autox, what I do most weekends, and daily driving.

My Mod List :

1) Mazdaspeed OEM body kit - DONE
2) Wheels/High performance tires - on the way
3) Brake pads, SS lines, pain calipers
4) full coil-over suspension/braces/sways, ect - over the summer
5) Sparco Race Seats (pair) - Maby by the end of the year

Then my car will look, handle and stop how I want.....last thing is more power....still not sure if I want to spend the money to boost the car maby 10whp NA or go turbo :

Turbo :
6) Greddy Kit
7) X-Interceptor
8) exhaust
9) various bits to maximize power form the turbo system

NA :
6) Intake
7) super-cat
8) exhaust
9) X-Interceptor, tuned for NA

I want the car to look how I want, then handle how I want, stopping power is already great but i want to make sure i get the most out of it with new fluid, pads, lines, ect. Then the last thing I will do is add power. Again the car already has good power as it is for me, sure it could be faster, but why? I dont drag race....so the power it has does what I need on an autox course, daily driving and out on back roads. I might get all the handling/looks done and decided i dont really need any more power and be done with it.

My personal wish list for my (insert paint color here) future RX-8 is:
1) Mazdaspeed nose and side skirts
2) That carbon fiber rear lip spoiler (or possibly a slightly larger similar piece)
3) Mazdaspeed springs, or some from Progress Technology (I know them, and they don't have a set yet so my car will probably be first!)
4) the new Tokico adjustable shocks (as I've heard good things, and again I know those guys. Jeff there will probably make me do all of the calculations to determine what rate I want based on ride frequency. He's tough on me but it helps me learn.)
5) Someone's hollow anti-sway bars (I just can't handle excess body roll, and when the car's lowered, the geometry starts to get funky anyway.)
6) Mazdaspeed forged aluminum wheels (for their weight, that's a really good price! They're made by Rays anyway. Keep my stock wheels to mount up drift tires!)
7) Yokohama Advan Neova or Bridgestone RE01-R Pole Position tires in 235/40-18in order to "plus zero" the sizing for a little more lateral grip. (Rain? What rain?)
8) Hawk HP-S pads like what they run on the Speedsource RX-8s

With that I would be done. I have made my Mustang faster, and mainly that's been a pain in the butt! Making it handle better though has been great fun...

1. LED wiper lights
2. purple tint
3. apex, toyo, hks stickers
4. spinners
5. biggest wing possible, maybe even straight off a boeing and fabricate it.

6. Flames

Step 1: Steal underpants
Step 2: ?????????
Step 3: Profit!!!

Never bought something perfectly content and later realized you want an upgrade? That EVO of yours is stock right?

It's obvious that some buy the RX8 content and never research the tuning side of the equation.

Power is infectious.

Is keeping warrenttee an issue for you? Because thats the reason Im upgrading everything BUT the engine right now. 41k miles untill boost...

Good point. I will prolly follow suit. Would rather risk screwing something up when the car is older too since I will be more brave with it after a few years...

Time

Honestly, I don't understand what you're trying to say here. Especially in response to my post.

he drives a wrx, or sti........anyway he is in the turbo community. We put all the bolt ons we can and make 10-20 hp. He gets that from a downpipe/exhaust.

He can add the same stuff we do, exhaust, header/manifold, intake, highflow car, ecu, ect....yet each of his mods can give him the same 20hp we get from ALL our mods.

Like the evo drivers, they can drop 1k on their car and be making an addition 100hp......we can drop 1k on our car and be making 10hp......

Even looking at other imports that are non-turbo.....my girlfriend has an RSX TypeS, with intake, header, exhaust and a/f controler she is looking at 20-30 more whp.... if she gets a cam kit and an ecu reflash (about 2k) she is looking at close to 60whp over stock......

Not every other car than the rx8 can make big power with little work/money, but there are lots of other cars, import and domestic that can make more power....why? Well the biggest reason is the factory left a lot of potential in the drivetrain, lots of places to improve.

In the rx8, mazda pretty much put the best of the best in parts on that car stock, in terms of power. Thats why things like intakes and exhausts dont give much extra power.......you cant improve much on the stock car. Also the improvemnts that are made produce extra/more sound......while it might not be much, its still enough that some owners wouldnt want it.....so thats probably the main reason the factory didnt do that, also emissions.

The most power you would get out of this car with an intake, headder, NO cat, exhaust, ignition upgrades, ecu, ect......MABY 20-30hp at redline on pump gas.....and it would be LOUD at WOT....loud enough that I for one dont want it.

this is the order i'll likely be going...

1) high flow cat
2) exhaust
3) intake
4) light flywheel
5) Turbo/SC

I know he drives a evo. I also already know everything you just told me in your post.

In my OP I said:

What the fuck does that have to do with ike or his evo? We're talking about mods for the rx8 and non-FI cars, his post is worthless.

[edit:changed to evo]

Hell, I setup an appointment at AMS the week after I got the car. I was totally content with the power, but more is always better :ylsuper:

I can understand someone not researching, or someone wanting more power after they've had the RX-8 for a while. What I don't understand is dropping a ton of money on mods and getting minimal gains. But the main person I was talking about are those that buy the RX-8 with visions of making it faster before the contract is signed or the ink has dried. If you're not happy with it when you first drive it, some mods aren't going to make you happy.

Lastly, it's a shame what you guys have for options when it comes to turbo kits. I would never put e-manage on a car that I actually liked, and you're being gouged for the Interceptor-X because it's the only good option available.


KY, I drive an Evo.


Zoned, I loved that episode!

I was agreeing with you for the most part.

Really? I'm so confused...........

I was making the point that it's difficult to make power from the RX-8 so if you're not happy with it the way it comes get something else. A little different from what you were saying but I think we both agree that dropping a bunch on boltons for the RX-8 is silly.

I said my world is different from yours because my import makes a lot of power with basic mods...

Tops on your list should be.....
Jim Russel racing school!

Yeah baby!