Adding a little power?
 

Hey everyone, I just got an RX-8 and I love it. Down the road sometime I'd like to add a bit of power. Not much though, just a noticeable improvement. I'm thinking 15-25 hp. Does anyone have a good recommendation on how to go about this or what types/brands of parts to use? Thanks!

for 25hp you'd need straight pipe, intake, exhaust, and AP

Cobb Access Port tuner, intake, exhaust, hi flow cat.

Beware of the straight pipe, lots of BAD side effects such as check engine light, much louder, bad gas smell, etc. Look for the hi-flow catalytic instead.

Should look at upgrading coils as well (BHR ignition mod).

In terms of catless mid pipe, get a dual resonator version unless you like waking up the neighbors and getting pulled over a lot :)

I would get the BHR ignition kit since the oem coils are nothing but trouble

Would changing the ignition coils also help in general avoid the engine flooding problems people mention since they would help produce hotter spark?

Also, does anyone know what the emissions laws are in Texas? I will be moving there this summer. What's a recommendation for a solid intake system? Sound is not an issue.

Nitrous. ;)

Go Large, or do not Leave the House!

I just put my Greddy turbo back on and there is no comparison - no combination of intake, catback, shifter, wheel size or chip will ever come close to the REAL power of a turbo.
At best, you may be able to actually feel those mods, but once you see the night/day change that FI makes, there's no going back.

Top Gear magazine in the UK has a list of all the available cars in their market, and in it is a list of all the available engines, with the TG recommendation of which is they think is 'best'.
There being two versions over there, the 231 PS and the 195PS, I was not expecting anything other than 'get the hi-power'.
What their recommendation actually reads is 'fit a turbo'!!
They have never been righter, this car is made for FI.

I am a turbo newb, there is no doubt - I've never owned a turbo car, never driven a turbo car, never even had a ride in one - I had no idea that there would be so much power in the bottom of the rev range.

I had always thought that the power would come in as the vacuum gauge went higher, with no difference until the pressure went above zero, but there is loads of new oomph even while the gauge reads minus 5 or minus 10 inches of vacuum. This came as a nice surprise!

Go Big.......

S

go big or go home

I beg to differ with the above posts. I mean sure, going FI would be great but is not the only way to increase the pleasure of driving your 8. The mods I have done have transformed the car for me in the all of the right ways and don't regret any of the mods I have done. It's not an either or thing in my view.

Don't be discouraged, do your mods and enjoy the difference they will make. Well worth every penny.

I will have to agree with rx8thunder, I have only a couple of power mods on my car and yet I feel the difference, given it is not going to be as fast as a turbo, but it does make it quicker off the line, I used to get taken out by SUVs and Trucks, Scions, Acuras off the line, but not anymore. It is quick enough for me.

If you can afford the turbo and the maintenance expenses that is required of the FI then go for it. For now it is NA for me and it suits me just fine.

Cobb Accessport, Mazsport Dual Res Pipe, exhaust (most any brand is better than your stock exhaust weight wise), intake, headers, pulley.

Rx8thunder looks like he has a pretty nice NA setup in his signature block. I would get those exact same parts if you can find them.

I don't understand this turbo thing, buy a Scobby instead if you want turbo.

Leave the sweet RX-8 N/A.

I agree with several of the above posters. I looked at Evos before I bought my RX-8. Sure the thing was fast. Fun to drive? Not really actually. The constant restraint I had to keep from doing something stupid in it was unbearable. I like the RX-8 because I can floor it and the car is still very well balanced and easy to react to. I've driven other people's high performance cars round circuits and really I think that's where many of them belong. 15-25 hp was not an arbitrary number. The difference would be noticeable, provide just enough speed to reach the optimum fun point (for me) and allow enough modificaion to my car to make it somewhat unique as well.