JonnyT

Picked it up last Friday...

rotaryxlr8

Nice ride brudda but, ummm...I like the Ferrari in the back. Keep it clean and welcome to the club!

JonnyT

I like the Ferrari too...I drive it to work every Friday. I needed something for Mon-Thursday and my wife and I fell in love with the RX after a visit to the Dealership.

BTW- being a 'newbie' here, how do you add text/pics to the right side of your posts?

LucasET

Nice ride. The more pics I see of the Sunlight Silver, the more happy I am that I went with that color. I think the color adds a certain elegance to an extremely aggressive design that the other colors just don't do. Yours is exactly like mine on the outside, except I added front splash guards because I noticed an unusual amount of tiny rock chips on the side flares in front of the rear wheels. They seem to have helped quite a bit (a little advice)...and I think they finish off the appearance package nicely.
Welcome to the forum. Is that a 308 in the garage?

JonnyT

Yes...'78 Carb GTS.

Do you have a picture of your car w/splashguards?

Razpewton

Okay, what's this thingy back here called?

Thanks!

glxyjones

those are the side aero flares that come with Mazda's apperance package. It attracts dirt like crazy >:o

Razpewton

glxyjones....

Thanks! What would your recommendation be? I kind of like that look.

\\Konig\\

iTrader: (4)

Thats a good lookin 8. Wouldnt mind having the ferrari too...

SuPerHerO::tOnY

rawr i like yur entire setup from the dealers. appearnce package w/ titanium grey or in my view "gunmetal" w/ the red and black interior seats. beautiful. gg

LucasET

Sorry, I don't have any pics yet. I have some on a roll that has yet to be developed. I, unfortunately, don't have a digital. If you search around, you'll be able to find several pics with the splash guards on (a little help guys?). As I said earlier, they really finish off the look of the appearance package, and they have actual function. I really don't know why Mazda didn't just include them with the package. Obviously, if you have the appearance package, you won't be getting a different body kit anytime soon. I'd reccommend getting them. It took me literally 20 minutes to remove the rubber rocker guards, cut them, reattach 'em, and apply the splash guards. Finish Line Performance (Rosenthal Mazda) has them at a pretty reasonable price, and they come with easy to follow instructions.

Pete

splash guard

Pete

Pete

and from back



BTW welcome to the board, and congrats

JonnyT

The splash guards look great! Thanks for posting the pics...guess I'll have to run down to Mazda and get a pair. What do they cost?

LucasET

I think I got mine for ~$80. They come painted. All you have to do is install them.

JonnyT

Is the install easy?

LucasET

It's REALLY easy. It took me about twenty minutes. All you need is a flat hed screw driver, a ratchet set(or appropriately sized wrench), and a pretty sharp blade to cut the rubber rocker chip guard. I was a little hesitant about cutting anything on my car, but it's just a piece of rubber that you can replace easily if you decide you don't like the look of the splash guards.

LucasET

If you want to save $20, you can order them from one of the dealers that advertise on this site. They're pretty reliable. Or, you can tell your dealer that you can get them cheaper than what ihis retail book will say, and he might give you a deal. Their list is $105 I think.

JonnyT

Thanks! I appreciate the advice a bunch. Does the $80 include shipping? Also, any recommendations on getting a fresh air intake?

Razpewton

Yeah....thanks for the info!

Gonna have to get me a set.

LucasET

I can't remember if the shipping was included or not. I want to say it was. Even still, it was cheaper just to order them myself, and the time it would take for my dealer to get them was just as long (~7days).
As far as the air intake goes...there is some debate over whether they are even worth the effort. Some people have said that their cars have responded poorly to an add-on like this, while some have said they could tell a slight difference right away. I'm not sure what adding an air intake would do to any warranty stuff. I was going to get the K&N intake, but I've decided to wait for more info to come out about performance gains. One thing you can do to see if you'd even benefit from one is to take out your air filter (on a nice clean day), find a smooth stretch of road, and run your car well up over 6000 rpms. This allows for a big increase in air volume getting to your engine. If you get a kind of lull at that point, your car is one of the "touchy" ones and probably wouldn't benefit from an aftermarket intake. I don't know why some of the cars are like this, but I would imagine it mostly affects the earlier shipped cars. If you search through this forum, you'll find just about any information you could think of.

LucasET

If I had the money, the first mod I would install is an exhaust (probably B&B)...and their are even debates about gains there. The OEM exhaust seems to have decent performance, so I don't when I'll get on that.

LucasET

This thread might help with info about the intake.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-aftermarket-performance-modifications-23/dealership-warns-me-about-k-n-filter-34211/

JonnyT

Hrmmm....I guess I should wait to get some more info before doing anything.