New and have few questions before I buy
 

Hi just wanted to introduce myself. I'm very new to rotaries and mazda's in general. I've always loved their styling and looks and performance, but up until now I had never considered one. Anywho I'm looking into an rx8 and i'm wondering. I've been told that there is a version that's auto with padal shifters, and then the manual transmission. I was wondering of the two which has more potential. If I decided on the padal shifter would I have more problems modding? My next question again a very "newb" question is what exactly can you do to the 8's to make them faster. I know the generic high flow cat, muffler, headers, and intake. I'm wondering what else is there. My goal for hp would be somewhere around 325-500 if possible. I don't mind if it's on the lower end of the hp I just don't want to hit the gas and go no where like I do in my civic now. Any advice suggestions or reputable sites to take a look at would help out a lot.

i answer this because i am on a post whoring binge lately.

the auto and manual both have the same motor thus the same potential. if you are willing to spend the money you can make the needed upgrades/replacements in the driveline to put the same power out of each one.

to make the rx-8 faster... hmmm.... well every bolt on you can imagine AND reflashing the PCM wont get you over 220-230. to make 325-500 your going to need a turbo(no SC atm makes that much) and all the supporting mods. to do it right expect to spend 7-10 grand up to roughly 400whp. beyond that it gets more expensive.

for references, THIS site has more information than you could process in 2 years. trust me, i've tried.

recap:

bolt-ons - 220whp if your lucky
supercharger - roughly the 300whp range from what is currently availible
turbo - 400whp capable kits are there... what can be done on pump gas is yet to be seen
Nitrous - almost forgot it.... 55 shot works well, we dont have the displacement for too much more than than

i'm not looking for a drag beast or anything I would just like to post some decent times if I decide to take this car to the track. I know that basically stock with intake it can hit a very high 14 I guess my goal would be 12 to 13's just enough to have some fun.Does mazda have a mazda supercharer kit or is it all aftermarket like jackson racing and so on? How much do the super charger kits run? I could deal with 300 hp as long as it picks up. Like I said I own a civic that does 0-60 in about 10 seconds right now and I can't stand it anymore. It's a joke right now running nearly 18 second quarter miles.

there is no FI availible from mazdaspeed

all the info for current FI systems in the forum.. go look. look for a thread comparing dyno's....

Not to be rude, but this really isn't the car for you

what makes you say that?

This car has very little to do with staight line performance,,, when you say 'fun' we assume your talking about a stop light racer, when we say 'fun' we're talking about the twisties, and autocross' thats what this car is all about...so if you want an 8 learn how to have fun with corners(not hard to get addicted) or go buy a 1/4mile tracker like a Mustang or 350Z or something....

If you aren't satisfied with the straight line speed stock, then you will be even less satisfied by it after you buy thousands of $ in bolt on parts and it's not any different. You can spend even more thousands making this car fast by adding a turbo, but you'd be better off getting something built to make an easy 400hp in the first place. Based on everything you wrote, this car isn't for you. There are a lot of unsatisfied 8 owners that should have realized this car isn't what they really wanted in the first place, instead of bitching about it after the fact. You take this car to autocross, not the drag strip.

I'm yet to test it I have done a ride along in a buddies so I can't say for sure if i'd be 100% satisfied with the acceleration. I'm sure I will I was just wondering how much more could be done to it to speed it up. I will take what you said into consideration. I've considered this or a g35 so it's all going to depend on the deal and whats out there when I decide to buy, but i'm pretty sure the rx is what I want.

To clarify

If you get the older automatic, they had a (slightly) different engine. Little less power.
Newer autos have the same engine as the manual.

And as for horsepower . . . . . . . . it will cost a bucket full of gold to make it much faster than it is stock. Several people here have done turbos, and spent thousands on them, but they are no where near 500hp.

If you buy the car and have $5000 extra, you can get over 300hp pretty easily. But over 400hp you better be rich, filthy rich.

^^^what he said about older auto's and about breaking 400whp range.... not to mention your talking about a good bit of boost to do it and this is a 10:1 compression motor... on pump gas???

well, if youre wanting a 12 second car.... you'd be better off looking elsewhere. it will take plenty of time, patience, and money to do that with an 8

RX8 do has
good handling
nice styling
comfortable ride
2+2 seating

RX8 does not have
Torque
Acceleration
Fast "straight line" speed
Air condition that works in stop and go traffic

aka, a turboed civic will pwn ur face even after u throw about 2k into it, throwing 7k into an rx8 will get u toe to toe with a STOCK charger R/T, only after throwin in at least a good 30k (btw, u won't even have a renesis anymore) will u achieve awsome times in a straight hint.. 3 rotor swap.

if u want the i wtf pwn u at stoplight car, this is not the one for u, go get a charger or a mustang gt and mod it.

oh SEARCH DAMN IT, hint this car has high static compression.

My AC works fine in stop and go traffic.

For the drag racing bit, even mustangs dream of hitting 12's at the strip for their daily driver mustang.


Edit: The RX-8 has decent acceleration and straight line speed. It's just not a muscle car.

next time you get in the car, crank the air while holding 3500-6500 rpms and feel the vents with your hand...

then feel the temp change drastically as you drop back to idle OR approach redline.... the compressors efficiency range is much narrower than the rpm band.

not saying it doesnt work, just MUCH more efficient in the middle of the rpm band

no.. :icon_no2:

YOU take this car to autocross. I take this car to the drag strip.

lol at this one. Actually these are pretty quick at the track they'll hit high 14's nearly stock just an intake.

an intake doesnt do shit for this car... you wont trap or ET anybetter with an intake or without... the best gains you'll see with any intake is 5whp if your lucky

Well if 14 seconds is quick than fine the RX-8 is GREAT in a straight line.

An intake won't really take anything off. Thats one of the things about the RX-8...N/A mazda did a very good job maxing it out. Airflow upgrades usually net under 10hp each where as if you slapped an intake and headers on your civic it would take off two seconds.

Without FI it would be hard pressed to reach 13s.

Now, if you decided to build an RX-8 with a strong turbo, 5-speed aftermarket tranny, lightweight flywheel/clutch, light wheels, carbon fiber doors/trunk/hood/everything else you can think of and THAN did all of the airflow upgrades you might get somewhere in the ballpark of those numbers. With a good tune, better-ish.

I haven't seen anyone break 13.5 yet WITH a turbo. I'm sure it's happened but I haven't seen it.