I dont want Turbo/NoS/Supercharger, just wanna go au naturale'... What has worked out for people, any threads yall can direct me to? Thanks for the help!
Oh, 2004 GT/MT

 

Welcome to the forum.
There isn't much, power wise, from NA mods just a better sound.
RG is working on some porting, there's exhaust (headers, high flow cat and cat-back), CAI and the RB flash. You can also upgrade the suspension and brakes. Search around in the Tech & Performance sub forum

 

Welcome to the forum radioman. Don't you like being called an "IT"?

 

You probably know this but you aren't going to see much power in NA form, so I would focus on a few bolt ons, some tuning, weight recduction, and handling.

I would consider the following:
-JIC titanium exhaust or HKS Hi-Power.Both make good power and don't weight much
-BB straight pipe (cat delete) or RP Supercat if you have to pass emissions
-Custom cold air intake OR the Racing Beat REVi intake with duct
-Fidanza flywheel, OEM clutch, stainless steel clutch hose, and AFE short throw shifter
-Hawk HPS brake pads, SS brake lines, and slotted rotors OR a BBK from RacingBrake if you want the ultimate
-Lightweight wheels like Volks or Rays/Gram lights
-Sticky tires
-KW V3 coilovers or Koni shocks and Swift springs
-Progress Tech or Whiteline sway bars
-GReddy Emanage Ultimate or Mazsport Interceptor-X or wait for the Cobb Access Port flash so you can do some N/A tuning

At most you may see 220-rwhp if you stay N/A and do no internal modifications. With porting you could possibly see a little higher if you're lucky.

 

just some of the qualitly stuff I KNOW is good from first hand experiences. I'm not saying by any means that other stuff is inferior, just my personal knowledge and products are know are good and work well.

Like the JIC titanium Spartan exhaust. It's one of the lightest exhaust on the market for the 8 (that is dual) and makes some of the best power. I know gains are minimal, but if he intends on staying N/A, all the little horses he can scrape together help.

 

I hear a flywheel makes a pretty nice difference in the revving

 

Of what's currently available on the market, ease of use and bang for the buck:
High Flow Cat or Race Pipe
Racing Beat Race Flash

That's about $6-700, and a quick ~15whp.

 

Welcome to the forum!

To be honest, it is tough to pull any significant HP out of the Renisis in NA Form. I would say your best 'bang for the buck' mods are some of the ones Chicken listed:

- Racing Beat Flash
- Intake. I have Racing Beat with duct and it is great quality
- High flowing exhaust. RB with Supercat is quite nice
- If you want suspension upgrades without the high cost of coilovers, I suggest Koni struts and Tein S Tech springs. I've had this combo for a few thousand miles and love it!
- Oh, you gotta get the Axial Flow Short Shifter! You'd never think the RX's shifting could be improved SO much until you try this product.

 

+1 for axial flow shifter.

 

If all you interested in is more HP stick to what chicken listed minus the brakes, suspension and wheels. Though lighter wheels are beneficial I don't think the costs out way the benefits unless you are going to compete in autox or Time Trials. If you can hold off on the RB flash until we can see what Cobb has to offer. Congrats on serving your country, I Thank You

 

And affects drivability..that mass comes in handy in racing, its not always about how light everything can be, just most things.

 

the only reason I put the suspension/wheels/brakes is he needs to get the max of his car if he's staying N/A.

And I wouldn't worry about the cost-benifit ratio of lightweight wheels. His cost-horsepower ratio is going to be significantly lower by staying N/A. Like I said, he needs the "extras"

 

I'm noticing an improvement with the new diff with the 4.77 gear. Not a huge gain, but a definite improvement in revving/acceleration/responsiveness.

That said, you MT guys already have a very short 1st gear.

 

Wow, thanks for all the input... I am going to be going out to sea sometime so this will all have to wait, but as some people have said, best to do all upgrades at once, so thats what I intend to do.. Anyone know a good shop to get work done at/near SE Georgia area/ Jaxonville, FL area? Thanks again!!

 

Best bang for buck is going to be a flywheel and a hi flow cat followed by the Racing Beat intake and flash. Exhausts really add little HP regardless of make.

 

If You Want N/a Power You Need To Upgrade All Of The Car's Systems - Intake-ignition-exhaust. Also A Stronger Clutch And Light Flywheel Will Help. But To Be Honest. If You Save All The Money And Go For A Turbo Kit, You're Going To Spend About The Same Money

Intake- About $200
Headers $ From $300 To $1200 - I Do Not Recommend The Expensive Ones- They Work The Same Way As The Cheap Ones
Hi-flo Cat - $ 300
Clutch And Flywheel - $900-$1000
Ignition Upgrade - ( Coils, Wires ) About $500- If You're Considering The Hks Coils
Pulleys- $250-help A Lot Believe It Or Not
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These Are Estimated Prices Including Installation Could Be More Or Less By Up To 10%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Greddy Turbo Kit Is About $3500 Plus Like $700 Installation

 

Ignition upgrades & different clutch setup is completely unnecessary for NA upgrades. The stock clutch will handle another 10-20 hp just fine.

Headers have shown very little improvement. Not even worth the cheapy $300 ones. Until they come up with a significantly upgraded design no point.

Pullies have shown about a 1-2 hp gain but for $120 why not. But big hp not really. I had the SR Motorsports units and even those with three pieces added only a few hp. I now have the Agency Power unit. 1-2 hp is about all you are going to get.

 

you have no idea what you are talking about!!!! just stop..

beers

 

haha

 

 

Actually, the stock clutch will handle another 100+ hp just fine, but any clutch will fail if abused.


+1

 

Has Anyone Had Their Car Dyno Tested With Air Filter/header/exhaust/pully/racing Beat Reflash

 

www.racingbeat.com

read about their reflash on their site. It has a before and after dyno chart along with the effect of the intake and exhaust. As well as some good information on the effectiveness of intakes and exhausts from their engine dyno tests.

the information is out there if you do a little digging.

 

http://www.racingbeat.com/ConRX8.htm

that's the only link an Rx-8 owners ever has too know...

I think the "visit this link" for the Rx-8 PCM Reflash is the funniest one. It's spelled "RX-8 Flash Tecnical Specifications" and shows photo's of an old guy on a computer next to an Rx-8... Basically that means "yay! 15 horsepower!"...

 

I dyno'd my car before and after and in stock form it made 170 rwhp and had a real bad air to fuel ratio, then I had immediately after that dyno -a Drop in K&N filter which brought it to 175 then a Agency power 3" full exhaust with no cats and and went to 187.3 rwhp also gained around 7 lbs of torque throughout the dyno's(I think those numbers were 135 lbs then 142). After the upgrades the air/fuel was a little better but it still needs a serious tune which would probably net another 12-15 hp.

Someone in here earlier said with exhaust there is not much gain, I beg to differ... To get 12 rwhp (from a motor that is making low hp numbers to start) is pretty decent. It went from 175 rwhp with k&n to 187.3 which is a 7% gain in usable power.