Discman2

I have a 2004 rx8 and I wanted to know the best ways to increase HP and overall performance.

Thing is, I have the AT..... Yeah, I know..... I really had my eye on the MT.


but since this is my first car, and I'm only 18, my parents decided to go the relatively safer way( yet slower ) I'm not complaing though, its still fast. but abviously its no 248hp.

I was thinking about getting an exhaust system first, then if possible the turbo kit, but I'm not all car savvy.


Would it even be worth it to put into the AT?


CAN i be put into the AT(the turbo) ?

Any reccomendation on what would be good to put in? Help is much appriciated.

Aoshi Shinomori

Alright. The turbo situation is just starting to blossom, you should go to the major horsepower upgrade section and check out Mazdamaniac's and Philodox's threads. There are a few systems in the works and a few that are just coming out. There is a wealth of information in those threads about turbochargers, but don't leave out the supercharger option. Hymee and Richard Paul are both building supercharger kits for the 8. Check out their threads too. As of right now, as far as I know the Greddy kit with Philodox installed does not work on the auto, but I could be wrong. RE Amemiya has a turbo kit that works on the 4 port motor(motor that's in your car) but I don't think that is out yet. Other than forced induction there has not been a whole lot of things to add much power. Another thread you're going to want to check out is called "the great renesis porting project" Guitarjunkie ported a renesis engine and it got some nice gains. I apologize if this is incoherent, I'm kinda tired. Go ahead and read those threads, they are long so it may take a while but they are all well worth the read. Search around the board and even visit some of the vendors sites to grab some more info. Welcome to the boards and good luck with the car.

Snoochie

A: Realize that this car was already tweaked by mazda as much as possible so don't expect huge gains out of any aftermarket product.

B: Unless you're willing to do major work on your car it's not going to be all that fast and from the sound of it your parents have a say in the situation and they won't be too thrilled when you lose your warranty over a (turbo)supercharger (whichever the Ameniya is I forgot, if course I never paid attention because it isn't for my 6 speed)

C: Just kind of browse around and read some old threads you'll learn a lot. Go to Racing Beat's website especially they talk about exhaust performance gains.

D: Good luck

Fanman

Welcome to the club.

1st, the exhaust really helps the sound of the car. Personally I have the Racing Beat unit on there & I love it. SOund aside, if you are looking for large gains you are not going to get it with an exhaust. numerous dynos done by posters on this board point to about a 3-4 hp gain from the cat back exhaust.

There are really only about 3 ways right now you can improve your hp to a noticeable margin :

1) Canzoomer Unit - Electronic "tuning/calibration" unit. From the box expect about a 5-
10 hp gain, with proper tuning of the unit people have seen as much as 16 to 22 hp at
the wheels.

2) Forced Induction - Supercharger or turbo. One out now (Greddy), more on the way.

3) Nitrous - So far about a 50-55 hp gain using this method.

Discman2

What about an exhaust?

Fanman

Not sure what you are asking here. As I covered in my post above. Do not expect more than a 3 hp gain from an exhaust. Those claims of 10-12 hp from an exhaust are all BS. A good site for you to visit is www.racingbeat.com. They have a high expertise in rotary engines, and they have tested pretty much the whole intake/exhaust parts for the new RX8. Many people have done there own dynos on this stuff and found what they have said to be true.

If you are looking for a good aftermarket exhaust the names that most people have are : Racing Beat, Borla, Greddy, Mazdaspeed.

zoom44

a. the AT is in no way any "safer" than the MT except one- it doesnt go as fast in a straight line.
b. the MT isnt 248hp either-Its rated at 238 at the flywheel.
c. others will say it so i might as well be the 1st. if you want to go faster and your parents want you to be safe- go to a high performance driving school. they'll teach you how to do both without having to do anything to your car.
d. invest first in some things that will help get more power to the ground
- lightweight and/or underdriven pullies
- sway bars/strut tower braces (charle hill will tell you how much less he has to worry about wheel hop because of these parts)
- new coilovers

c and d alone will make you faster 1/4 mile and on road courses than anyone else with an AT who hasnt done one or the other or either. later on when your warrenty expires you can think about FI or other forms of adding HP . by then there will be more choices for AT owners.