hokie027

If I were to do it all over again I'd just get a CAI (Cold Air Intake), you put the filter outside the engine bay so you don't have to worry about the various under the hood components heat cycling through the filter. The RB Ram Air Duct is good, but even with it as mentioned above, it only really works when you are moving. CAIs work all the time. I have a good pic of the Duct below.

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

Agreed. Unless you're looking for noise, or looks, I truly recommend researching the DIY for 'gutting' your OEM intake, and pair it with the duct.... At that point, your intake system would be very similar to RB for a lot cheaper.

Ronin1011

Wow, the duct looks a lot bigger than I imagined. I appreciate your insight, im trying to do whats best for the car and the performance. looks like i will invest in the duct. Was it easy to install?

Ronin1011

By the way the Custom air duct looks great!

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the compliment sir

EDIT- BTW, Im currently staying in Silver Lake WI, Im like 20 minutes from Kenosha lol.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Exactly. $185 new and you've essentially got an RB CAI intake that looks stock (because it mostly is). The only 'gutting' is VFAD removal, which you would have to do for any CAI. [well, I did use part of another VFAD to seamlessly mate the RB duct to the stock box]

Ronin1011

sorry for being naive but, whats the VFAD you speak of Huey52? i feel stupid!

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

variable fresh air duct.

it opens up at around 5k I think. that's where the awesome sounds come from on the stock box.

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

before 5 k you suck air from a sock with a cone shaped end. after 5k a flap opens up for the vfad and pulls in air like a short ram

Ronin1011

no S$*%....so, fresh air under 5000Rpm is extremely important.....the Typhoon II doesn't help the situation cause its pulling heat from the engine bay....which is why everyone tells me to hit up the Revi Air duct and why Renisis07 has made a custom nose scoop to allow cooler air to enter the filter.... >.> sound like i need to get movin on this..Thank you all for helpin me out and being so patient with me!

shadycrew31

iTrader: (6)

Word. or you could just buy a 335I and call it a day.

Bluerenesis

I am sick of people acting like dicks on this forum. People are here to learn and to inform others. So what if some people dont want to spend hours going through thread after thread or just missed the right thread 40 pages in. We are here to basically support each other. If you want to pull this crap, get online with your XBox and harrass the other kids or nerds. If you dont want to be informative than dont even post or reply. Your intimidating people from posting and giving this club a bad name. We all started from somewhere. We werent born fully knowledgable about rotarys. I may be new as a member to this forum but I have been reading this for years and have been an owner since 03, so by all means Im not new to this. I am sure I am going to here crap for this post so go ahead if you must. Here is my opinion to the original thread though, with this car, its going to have to be FI for large gains. If you just want to make your car stand out from the stocks, then go ahead with the minor things like the ignition (BHR),cold air intake ( i prefer REVi with duct combo), ACCESSPORT calibrated through MazdaManiacs, Exhaust, lightweight power pulleys, Lightweight flywheel, lighten up the car maybe with carbon fiber among other little thing I may have forgotten to mention. But in all honesty this is the wrong car to get the gains you probably want but I still love it and yes I have wasted money for small gains but its my money and my choice. Have fun with your car its still unique. My car turned heads in July of 03 and isstill turning heads basically stock looking besides rims. You dont really see that with other sportscars unless obviously they are rare to the road or public view.

StrifeX

Thank goodness someone else sees the nonsense. Anyway, I've been reading up on all these "minor" upgrades as well as FI. I'm very interested in racing since I went to an SCCA event earlier this year. Is a FI'ed RX8 any more competition to other cars than an NA?

What I mean is, if I boost my RX8, say with an esmeril kit. Get all the right work done, and even do all the "minor" upgrades, bring it up to over 420 (assuming the minor upgrades do anything after the turbo), then go race it, is still gonna be on the slow end? To sum it up, does FI make it a fast car, or just a fast RX8?

map

Anyone know the rationale behind the AEM being on the list? It's really hard to figure out if I want one when almost everything says intake is just a noise maker, but MM must have a different opinion if it's #6.

zoom44

aem is one of 3ish intakes that actually make more power

Kane

iTrader: (1)

Where in that list is weight loss?

I'd say that is number 2 - lets say you and your car weigh 3300 lbs - you are pushing 14.2 pounds per horsepower.

Now, drop that to JUST 3100 lbs - 13.3 lbs per horsepower - an equivalent gain of.....16 WHP.... best bang for your non-FIed buck.

JustinBeiber

whats the weight difference of a sport model with no electric seats, sun roof etc? any easy weight loss items that can be removed?

map

Yes, but of somewhat nominal value, no? If it plays nice enough with a Cobb and a high flow cat to make it worth it then I'm in. Just can't figure out if that's the case. I'm not interested in being louder.

JessiahC

iTrader: (5)

That is definitely an outstanding point you made there. Other than the obvious, like lightweight wheels and a treadmill for some of us, where would you shave off the most unnecessary weight?

Bluerenesis

dont some rid of their A.C?

Razz1

Where's the flywheel.

That is a great mod.
Butt you need to add two more DE's

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

Kane I will agree with you but in my opinion the fact of the matter is the RX8 is already very light, unfortunately not for the HP but theres only so much you can do to reduce weight in this car and maintain the 50/50 weight distrubution. Hell 2 piece RB rotors cost a ton, and conbined with rims is about the best your gonna get unless you dont mind losing your 50/50 and gutting your interior. It would almost cost more to remove weight than to go FI and have the stock interior... That 200lbs youd lose would have to come from somewhere, either you're losing weight and going on a diet or your spending a fortune on losing your cars weight.

In my opinion its the power thats lacking, not the weight. Ive always felt a 10-1 HP to weight ratio would be perfect for this car. 3000lbs, 300 hp at fly... means roughly 250-260 at wheels... That would make our car perfect, we know the chassis can handle it...

Just my .02 cents...

Kane

iTrader: (1)

Well, me personally - I'd go FI....

But if your all motor, instead of paying thousands for a few HP - swap the factory seats, racing battery, go on a diet, lightweight wheels, two piece brakes.

Those are the normal weight saving mods IMO.

Then you can get crazy, take out back seat, relocate battery to trunk, SUPER light seats (Buckets), remove insulation, carbon fiber...yada yada

The point is FI = $10,000, small weight savings = $1000 to $3000 (might save 40 pounds)
AEM, Cobb, Exhausts, and all the normal bolt ons.... = $2000-$6000, all for a few HP here or there.

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

Unfortunately FI can only last so long on our engines... 50K is about the highest ive heard and it was from my local buddy (Speedy Guy00) and I was suprised it lasted that long.

Long story short, our cars are $$$ to do anything on, to each his own...

Kane

iTrader: (1)

If you can get 300HP without FI, I'm going to bet you'd have more money into that engine than if you had just gone FI in the first place....