Here are a few pics of it installed in my black '8- I put it on last night. I'm really impressed with the quality (and equally not impressed with the stock bar... not very effective as thin as it is with all the bends and crimps. Install was fairly easy once I found my trusty torque wrench.

I replaced my stock bar because I felt the 8 lacked the same crispness of turn-in and hard cornering that I had in my Miata (which I added a similar brace to). I also plan on beefier front/rear sways as well soon...

 

hm...... how much is it?!

 

$234 from Trussville Mazda

 

I thought I heard here that the biggest bang for the buck handling-wise was getting better sway bars... Keep in mind that I'm no expert so that might be wrong. I'm looking to beef up handling since performance doesn't seem to have any simple answers. Any advice/comments would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
-Dennis

 

Looks great!

OK, so now you too have the dilemma about getting the engine cover to fit over the bigger brace. Have you tried it yet? You may have to buy the IPT cover...

Do you feel anything about the braking enhanced also?

 

My cover did not fit.

I did feel a difference in braking; but I installed the sways and strut bars at the same time.

 

Pity that they could not come up with a brace that allows the stock engine cover to fit.

 

I put in the front and rear mazdaspeed strut braces a few days ago.. here's a link to that thread

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/ms-front-rear-strut-bars-installed-41355/

 

Hey. I am thinking of getting a black 8 but I have heard that you can see spider swirls on the paint after a while. Is it true. If so what can I do to hide them

 

police34, check out the "RX-8 Show and Shine" forum and you'll find LOTS of advice in the threads discussing various types of wax and polish. I think there's a pretty good Zaino(sp?) thread that addresses black, there are other wax/polish threads as well.

 

My previous tuning experience was with a '96 Miata, to which I added a front shock tower brace, adjustable sways, and 8 way adjustable shocks. The sways and shocks made a massive difference... completely different car afterwards (which has made me a bit of a handling snob : ). The sways could be mounted to either induce or lessen oversteer (I'm tail-happy), and the shocks could be adjusted on for ride stiffness (both compression and rebound).

So, I'll be upgrading the sway bars in the spring, and when the stock shocks wear out in a couple years, I hope that Koni or KYB has adjustables for our 8 out by then.

 

I keep my engine cover in my garage, so that wasn't a big concern for me. If I still lived in a hot climate I would be more worried about it (and would likely just dremel the factory one until it fit)... but I like to keep the cover off.

As for feel, steering feels great, but I haven't driven too hard yet... my only time behind the wheel was shuttling my pregnant wife around. I got yelled at for letting the tail come out on a fun corner, so I didn't push it any further : ). Hopefully after it stops raining tomorrow I'll get some good seat time in.

 

Being a RHD I have a different strut bar

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ight=strut+bar

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply. If I might ask: What made you decide to do the shock tower brace before the sway bars?

 

With winter coming soon, I figured I could wait until the spring- I'm done with any autocrossing or track events until then. I figured the shock tower brace will have more of a real world impact on the crappy Chicago roads during the winter.

 

We don't get snowy downunder and it is summer anyway :p

G8rboy could you elaborate your idea. I am interested to know about your theory with tower brace and winter roads.

 

Potholes and cracked streets caused by the winter freezing cycles to be more specific. The tower brace ties the front end together and I feel helps maintain control when driving over non-smooth surfaces. It certainly helped with my Miata...

 

ic ic... thx