jimmy_jammy

Ok, have now owned the RX8 for about 18 months and feel im ready for a step up in power. I've see many threads on turbo upgrades and a few on 3 rotor upgrades.

My question is... If I want a power upgrade, nothing silly just a bit more punch and acceleration, What should I go for? Can someone tell me roughly the price differenes, power differences and what would be more reliable between a 3 rotor or turbo.

Maybe this has been posted before, but i'd like to know again

Cheers!
Jim

TrboLvr

If you're looking just for a "bit more" then it sounds like the Greddy turbo kit is fine for you. Thats what I'm going to do as soon as I stop blowing money on the Stealth. I'm pretty sure the 3 rotor conversion is a pretty expensive process and I know the turbo kit can be found for about 3K.

XDEEDUBBX

make sure you do some research on 3 rotor swaps. It's so easy to just throw that idea around than to actually do it. Plus it takes some serious dime and know how to drop to get it done.

mysql101

greddy will get you about 100 additional hp to the ground.

a 3 rotor will also get you about 100 additional hp to the ground.

That said, one costs about 6k, the other will cost 20k+.

Also you could later turbo the 3 rotor and get a lot more hp out of it...

tajabaho1

the 3 rotor only cost about 6k?

karatekid8989

uh no... The greddy kit plus the extras you'll need to get it to run smoothly is 6K. the 3 rotor set-up is 20K

mysql101

at least 20k. Most shops charge in excess of 30k for a 20b install these days...

maybe now you'll understand why we just install turbos and call it a day

limepro

if u have 10k+ lying around go with the mazsport turbo, if you have 30k lying around go with the 3 rotor

if u just want something that goes faster get the greddy for around 6k nice power upgrade there too

tajabaho1

wow, I'm so noob, but anyways, I see greddy turbo kits for 3ks whats the other 3 k for

and also, is greddy the best turbo for rx-8? if not is there something better thats cheaper than mazport? that thing wayyyy expensive

EDIT: maybe the OP wants to know too

mysql101

http://rotaryinsider.com/rx8-9.html

..basically install, dyno time, tuning, misc parts, gauges, etc. It adds up. But if you DIY and buy a used kit, you might be able to get away with about 3k for everything.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

both

tajabaho1

damn, what about other turbos?

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

Neither

Just give it a 50 shot on NOS

SmokeyTheBalrog

I believe the Petite Super Charger is better than the Greddy. It is just coming out so you will have to get in line.(The first customer is getting it installed now.)
Cost: ~$6k - 7K maybe a little more.

mysql101

Which begs the questions: How do you know it's better? In what way is it better? Is it better in fuel economy? Power? Is it magically more efficient than a turbo?

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

You have answered your own question. Add FI to your exisiting motor. Only reason to go 3 rotor is for big whp.

SmokeyTheBalrog

(Again I believe, I am not sure, but this is my understanding of it)

Greddy comes with poor hoses, EMU, and some other problems. You have to spend time, effort, and money to fix these short comings. (The EMU isn't so much poor as supposedly difficult to use)

The Petite when done should hopefully be a complete kit that you don't need to add anything too. Just buy, install, tune.

Also, if I remember correctly the Greddy reaches peak HP around 6-7 RPM while the Petite maintains the peak near 8 - 9k. One could argue this gives Greddy the advantage becuase you reach peak sooner, or you could argue that it removes the high reving Rotary feel.

The biggest thing in favor of the Greddy is that it is done and widely available. While the Petite is currently undergoing it's first customer install and is an unknown.

I might be completely wrong. If so I do apologize in advance.

mysql101

It's also $3,000 You can't expect it to match up with kits that cost more than twice as much.

The weird thing is that people keep quoting a $6k figure as the cost for greddy, then quote just the base price of the kit for others, without tacking on the same costs for install/tune/gauges/etc that was tacked onto the greddy kit.


We don't know that yet. Furthermore, if you ignore the cheap hoses and do the fix #2, the rest of the costs and extras you associate with greddy will also need to be done by all kits - as none of them is ever fully complete without gauges and tuning.


This one is true... but people need to take the greddy kit for what it is - a starter kit that was meant for 6 psi. Meanwhile most of us are boosting it to 12 psi with no other upgrades and getting about double the hp out of it We just need a drop in turbo upgrade, or a turbo relocation kit and we'll see another 50 whp out of it. Even with an additional $1000 for a new turbo, it's still undercutting the competition.


Biggest thing in favor of the greddy is that it's been out for... 2 years? We know all about it, how to install it, how to tune it, what it's shortcomings are, how to fix them, and it's a turbo.


Yeah, greddy isn't perfect, it took the hard work of fellow kit owners to make it usable for the rest of us, but you're getting reliable 100 whp gains for about 50% less.

SmokeyTheBalrog

(These are my understanding of the prices. Especially concerning the Greddy they might be completely wrong.)

I thought it cost a few thousand to buy all the upgrades. Mainly the new EMU or have people generally figured out how to work around the old one? And maybe a new turbo.

So, I thought it was ~$3K for kit ~$2k - ~$3K for upgrades = ~$5K - ~$6K + gauges + install + tune
Unless you don't need a new EMU, then it's more like ~$3.5K - ~$4.5K
(I have no idea how much people spend on the parts and fixed $500 is probably)


And i thought the Petite was ~$6l - ~$7K + gauges + install + tune




[QUOTE=mysql101]
This one is true... but people need to take the greddy kit for what it is - a starter kit that was meant for 6 psi. Meanwhile most of us are boosting it to 12 psi with no other upgrades and getting about double the hp out of it We just need a drop in turbo upgrade, or a turbo relocation kit and we'll see another 50 whp out of it. Even with an additional $1000 for a new turbo, it's still undercutting the competition.

True. Though isn't the Petite a starter kit too? I guess my big question is that can you do this easily/safely with the old EMU + upgrading hoses and knickknacks?

If so, the Greddy is pretty cool. Are you using the original blower or a new one?



Very true. The Greddy is road tested while Petite is doing their first install this weekend I believe.

Greddy: Best bang for buck, 2 years experience, with effort can equal the more expensive systems. Tunning a bit more tricky. (Right?) (+ install + tune)

Pretite: (If the marketing holds true) more expensive, No effort needed besides choose/purchasing gauges. (+ install + tune)

Thanks a lot for the information mysql101. Changed my opinion of the Greddy.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

I seem to remember you getting yours recently & still having a lot of problems getting it sorted .
It remains to be seen how "bolt on" the Pettit is but I am thinking it will be way easier than the Greddy as a DIY .
Also - the Pettit should make a bit more torque at low rpm (below 3500) than the Greddy.

SmokeyTheBalrog

Mmmmm troque...

mysql101

Lets say 3k for the kit, 1k for install, 500 for gauges (boost/afr), then $200 for hoses, clamps, and what ever misc parts else. If you don't like the EMU, sell it for $400, and get an int-x with the difference, so another $1k added. Buying any of these parts used will save you usually 33% or more.

I don't know what petit's kit costs, but if it's 6k, you'll have to add on the same 1k for install, and $500 for gauges.




EMU isn't old... MM has his working well enough that he sold his int-x. I ran both and think the int-x is solid as a rock, so I'm sticking with that.

Ultimately we know we can make a good 100 whp with the greddy kit. The highest end kits with the renesis seem to stop at 330 whp. So starter kit or not, if you can upgrade the greddy turbo, you'll be making as much hp as anyone else, regardless of price tag.


Original turbo, about 13k miles now, and I bought it used off someone on the forum. No problems with it.



I had problems because I didn't upgrade my hoses, and one of them burst on me. I also had two bad coils and ran around with those for a few weeks trying to fix everything else on the car... neither should matter, since the coils are not part of the turbo setup, and anyone from this point on should know to also buy better hoses.

I'll leave the arguments of turbo vs supercharger to the previous thread we had on the topic. I think the results are fairly conclusive.

chickenwafer

iTrader: (9)

The GReddy kit is actually pretty decent once you get new hoses/clamps, all the accesories and gauges, etc. And if you run at the designed 6-7psi, it's incredibly reliable for a turbo on an NA engine. Most problems occur when people start to wick the boost up to 10 or more without proper tuning and don't upgrade the crappy couplers and hoses that come with the kit. When the boost goes that high, you need to think about upgrading your fuel system.

The Pettit is still an unknown quanitiy. Who knows how it's gonna perform? Furthermore, what is the stock boost set at for the Pettit S/C? I would love to see people DOUBLE the boost the S/C is set at with a smaller pulley and see how reliable it becomes, because that is what people are doing with the GReddy kit. They run double the boost the kit is designed for and then cry when it blows up their engine because they either ignored the fuel system or other things.

Just my 0.02 cents.

EDIT: I also know that people have the GReddy kit and are running 9-12 psi of boost reliably. You can run that much boost if you tune it properly. But that still doesn't get around the fact the kit wasn't designed for that much boost and the turbo is undersized.

tajabaho1

do you think SFR turbo is better than Greddy for the buck?

mysql101

Did you read anything in this thread? 50% less cost than anything else out there, puts out about the same power levels. Uhh okay.



btw, I've been running 12 - 12.5 psi for the last few months. I've completely given up going to the low setting on the boost controller. It's just as much difference going from stock to 6 psi, as there is going from 6 to 12.

here's a pic of me boosting at 12 psi while I'm eating a big mac with my right hand.

http://img.ircimages.com/ircimages/2...ae1a033ed3.jpg