Well I did it. No one here at home can believe it.
 

First off a little background on me. I'm 24 living in abilene texas. I've always driven domestic and loved every minute of it. My two prized possesions were a 65 mustang fastback all original with the k code hi-po 289, pony package interior and top loader 4-speed tranny, and a 2001 bullitt mustang. Those were my all time favorite cars. I just traded in a 2001 dodge 4x4 off road 1500 with a 360 sport on a 2004 rx8. I've always thought the rx8 looked bad ass. I work at a dodge dealership in clyde texas. Hence how i came across a 04 rx8 for 3 thousand dollars. Being always into domestic the only "import" that i have ever had was a 93 mazda protege lx. Had a lot of fun with that car and could take a stock civic with it. Put a fart can on it that was way too obnoxious and laughed at everyone that tried to race me. Mostly it was the retards that put a huge wing on a 82 civic and think it is the fastest thing in the world. Come to think of it I had a lot of the same ones trying to race me when I got my bullitt. Oh well. I'm a redneck at heart, but racing comes in right there too. Like I said I have this 04 rx8 and have no clue about rotaries. I can work on anything but them. I'm an ase certified mechanic but this thing makes me scratch my head. I guess what I'm trying to say is hi and what do I do and where do i go to make it look good and go fast with out spending 20 grand. That's like four months of paychecks. Not up for that. That much would buy me coors for the next seven months. I'm not looking for it to be that fastest thing out there but i want to be able to get respect from the mustang guys I hang out with. HELP!!!!!!!!!!

Well:

Congrats! Welcome! Search and Stickies are your Best Friends! :)

I'll chime in before others and put it to you blunt: You're not gonna get respect from the stang guys until you take it to the twisties. The 8 is not a straight line car (as I'm sure you're figuring out now) and typical mods intake, exhaust, headers will net you maybe 20hp ish. You're gonna have to slap a turbo to get real performance from the sucker. But then you may not be looking at 20k but to do it well and properly...10k or there abouts.

Edit-

I should add however that the 8 is praised up and down for its handling characteristics paired with that head scratching rotary engine. Its a heck of a track car in stock form, and under the control of a skilled driver, will put much faster and more expensive cars through their paces and give them a heck of a run for their money. In comparisons to other vehicles in the same market, it may not be the fastest, but every loves it the best.

Welcome to the club though :) Hope this helps some...

I loved my Dad's '67 Mustang as a kid. The Mustang could be a pretty cool compromise 'sports car' for Dads at the time. I oftentimes think of the 8 in the same way. Congrats and welcome!

Best first post ever...congrats on the car. How is it that you got that thing for 3 grand?!?!

edit: is it a MT?

$3k?!?!?

he said he works at a dodge dealership so it was prbly a trade in and usually the employees can buy the car form the dealership for $50 more then the trade in. At least thats how it is for my dad who works at a toyota dealership

its a hard thing to belive 3k.. i worked at the dealership where i bought mine.. but damn 3k is cheap.. is there anything wrong with the 8? and congrates on the 8.. you will love every sec. of it

3k? Must be a 100k mile salvage title AT.

OMG, AT? Forget the 'Stangers, he's never gonna get the respect of the 8 MT owners!

a couple of my coworkers have stangs

Neither of them are willing to take a drive with me up along the back roads in the California hills. :lol:

"nah dude, I drive in a straight line"


The 8 is a blast to drive, but its nothing like a stang. For best results and worst gas mileage, keep the revs above 4K.

3k?

Must have been a meth or crack head special.

So every single other person in this thread missed the part where he mentioned he traded in a 2001 dodge 4x4 off road 1500 with a 360 sport on the RX-8?

My buddy has a 69 coupe grande 351W, his buddy has a 68 nova with a chevy 350.
We all drink beer, work on our cars together and take each other on rides afterwards. Take them for a ride on a back road and if theyll probably get where youre coming from

no, I read that part....the way he words it, it makes it seem like the rx8 was 3 grand before the trade.

I hope it's not an AT....going from a mustang bullitt to an AT RX8 would be crazy.

If it is an MT (which I hope it is), it's gonna be difficult to get a large HP gain. The engineers at Mazda already are able to produce 230+ hp out of a 1.3 L engine. The setup they put in this vehicle is optimized, in many cases to change certain things out would result in a hp decrease.

My suggestions: lightweight flywheel and turbo. Won't cost you 20 grand, but won't be much cheaper than 5k.

I just got to drive a new base Mustang MT at the Kansas Speedway yesterday (Ford Demo Days), and did six laps around the track with it. Granted, the pace car limited us to only about 80 - 90 mph, and we started from a roll, but the few times I briefly went WOT in 2nd and 3rd, it didn't feel any faster than my RX-8. In fact, I was overwhelmingly unimpressed with the Mustang. When I got back in my RX-8 to leave, I had to smile, knowing I made the right choice with my RX-8.

Anyway, enjoy your new purchase.

Just to put everyone's mind at ease it is a six-speed. I apologoze for my wording and i paid 3000 after my trade. They gave me 5500 for my truck. I figure 8500 was a good price. I have notived the handling abilities of the car. I have already scared a few people in it at work. Had one incident where i didn't see a turn and almost scared myself. The it really surprised me. Didn't even bark a tire. Glad I didn't have to change my underwear. So basically what ya'll are saying is that this will never go 12.50's in the quarter without a turbo? That sux.

Maybe if you are prepared to drive without interior and such :)

12.50 is a pretty fast quartermile on street tires. Will be hard even with turbo. At least I figure it needs a few other mods to be quick off the mark.

Welcome and congrats.

We're saying that it probably would've been wise to do research before buying the RX8. It isn't fast. Even with a turbo... spray... supercharger. It's still going to be slow. Yes, it puts out 230 hp on a 1.3L, but it's a gas hog in the process. Sure, it handles well. But above all, you need to appreciate the rotary before comparing it to a piston engine.

Well if you want to keep it N/A

you could go with basic thingy...

I would do..

Lightweight flywheel and stronger clutch.. it seems to shift much smoother to.
and the COBB AP and re flash the stock ECU plus you could use it if you later decide to go turbo.. youll just need to get the maps..

and then Midpipe followed by cat back..

I have power pulleys and cold air intakealong with all the other stuff .. and i beat mustang gt's from the earlier 5.0's to the 2005 gt's never ran a newer model GT
I get respect from them..

I beat auto by like 2-3 car lengths and the manual around like 1.5

I would also say to run 5w-30 or 10w-30
at the moment i run 5w30 royal purple and gonna run 10w-30 next summer..

and change the differential and tranny fluids this helped me with response.. I used redline ligth weight shockproof gear oil on both of them i think it was

75w-95 not too sure might want to check up on them..

Im ready to hit to the dynoe here soon..:)

but if you go turbo youll easily butt rape vettes and other types of cars.. but youll learn to really appreciate it when it comes to handleing.

is a quick little car to reckon with man.. gotta check that oil level i always like mine topped off i dont liek it int he middle.. and have fun with it.. gas mileage will remain almost the same maybe lost 10-12 miles in your total gas mileage averaging out to around .5-1 mpg not much

if you do everything possible to it. you could run 13s.

full free flowing exhaust, race pipe, headers, cobb ap, pullies, cai, lightweight rims, lightweight flywheel, drag radials on the back.

dont forget to take out the seats that you dont need. thats 10lbs for the both back seats (1whp!! free!) im sure the front passenger seat is at least 20lbs. thats 2whp!

this car can run 13s easy. it just needs money. :lol: the highest dyno i've seen is 220whp n/a. add 55 shot of nitrous and you might be really low 13s.

im sure you could hit 12s without a turbo, but i seriously doubt you cold do it without nawwwzzz. nobody really drags this car and posts about it. (except me) and i dont work so i dont have any money for mods. :( (any sponsors? :D)

this car can do 14.4 completely stock. i recently changed out the coils, going to the spark plugs soon, and im probably going to be hitting the track this friday, maybe. i'll be completely stock, except with a cobb ap, so we'll see how that affects times. hopefully i can beat my best of 14.4. im hoping for a 1.9 60', and a 14.3.

hoppppingg. :lol2:

our cars with a turbo is not fast? do you even know what you are talking about?

Guys i wanna thank all of you for your input. And no, I didn't really research it to well before i bought it. I've always liked the cars and one got traded in and I was tired of my gas bill so i traded. So after reading this I have adjusted my target time to a mid thirteen N/A. Ya'll keep saying that it isn't a drag car and that it is built for handling. I fully believe it is built for handling. I had my bullitt set up for road race/drag race. I could out handle most anything and this car handles much better stock. Can't wait to go with new suspension and see what I can really get it to do. I'm still a drag racer at heart and anything I own will live part of it's life on a dragstrip. This car just might pull me onto a road course. Ok last round of questions. Synthetic oil? Typical gas mileage? Good place for body kit? And finally, how fat of a tire can fit under this without rubbing?