Resonator Removal?
 

As I understand it, the resonator is only in the exhaust path to further damper the sound of the car and does nothing else.... has anyone tried removing the resonator to see what the 8 sounds like and if there are any performance increases?

I want an aftermarket exhaust, but I can't see paying the $600-$1000 clams to have it done. I went to a local muffler shop with a picture of the some of the aftermarket systems and depending on which muffler I chose I could get the system for under $400.

does removing the resonator void the mfg warranty?

removing the resonator will give you a dry raspy sound... i wouldnt recommend it

Without the resonator, the rotary sounds like an angry bee. Anyone who's been to a race where open-piped rotararies are running can attest. Not a pleasant sound at all ... louder than hell too.

thanks for the input. will leave in the resonator, any thoughts on the exhaust? The muffler shop has the standard mufflers - Turbo, Dynomax, Flowmaster... I am looking for a deeper sound. I know that HP gains will be minimal but a want a deep sound....

I'm not a fan of aftermarket exhausts, but there are a fair amount of folks that have either the Mazdaspeed, the Borla or the Racing Beat exhausts. Go to the performance forums and do a search. This is not the right forum for this.

That's one opinion, but it's not the bottom line. I have a 2nd gen NA that I ran with header, straight pipe, and straight through ebay mufflers with ported intake, ported exhaust, and removed exhaust diffusers in the exhaust ports. This was louder than shit, but it was not a bad sound at all, it was burly. An open piped rotary sounds more like a lawn mower or chainsaw than a bee, it gives it character. And to be honest if I could do that with the 8 without warranty, emissions, or diiffuculty (lack of space to work with and lack of cheaper alternatives) I'd do the same thing on the 8 but with a borla straight through muffler for the midpipe. This is actually what I ended up doing on my rx7, borla xr-1 midpipe, because I couldn't hear my music anymore.

This is what a rotary (2nd gen anyways) sounds like with ported intake, ported exhaust, removed exhaust diffuser, header, 2.5" straight pipe to basically blown 2.5" straight through mufflers.

http://home.comcast.net/~rx7pics/before.MPG

thanks for the sound clip, I am still unsure about this aftermarket exhaust. I am basically looking for a deep sound not anything really loud... something throaty

I've heard Greddy is pretty good. In fact, that's what I'm currently waiting to come in. I took my 8 to a muffler shop and the guy suggested Flowmaster too, but they don't offer anything for the 8. In addition, I talked to some car guys at work and they all think that Flowmaster would give a loud obnoxious sound instead of that manly beefy sound that you seem to be looking for.

I think there's a thread in the Aftermarket Performance section dedicated to exhausts. I read it, extensively, and there are lots of sound clips of different systems and other good info.

Yah no problem. Remember though, that sound wont really be achieved by an 8 as easily (meaning yours wont get as loud with similar exhaust setup). The side exhaust ports on the renesis help with noise reduction it seems over the peripheral exhaust ports of the past rotary cars, and I don't even think rx8's have exhaust diffusers like the NA rx7's did mainly because they don't need it.

But that's just to give people an idea of what a basically straight piped exhaust on a rotary (peripheral exhaust, though) sounds like.


Also, I don't like the sound of flowmasters, too tingy and they droan a lot. My friend has a flowmaster on his 88 TII rx7 that the last owner put on and it sounds pretty crappy.

Here is the 8 with the stock exhaust, catalytic converter, and resonator removed.
They were replaced by a B&B midpipe WITH RESONATOR (thank God) and a Borla cat-back.
You could easily add another resonator if it is too loud for you.


http://www.hingemedia.com/chris/movies/RX8a.mpg

5k-9k RPMS at WOT

Maybe I'm getting too old, but the only place that would sound remotely good to my ears is at a race track, where the point is performance no "sounding burly". Your car, your perogative. Sounds like a very large, very pissed off bee to me! A bad ass bee to be sure (or is that bee sure) but a bee nonetheless.

Or, the biggest, meanest chainsaw known to man. Either way, I'm thinking I'm not wanting my car to sound like that. You're free to though. Have fun.

sorry to jack but someone stole my name...hahaha dDuB dam biterz

It's all about choice and taste, I guess. Now don't get me wrong, I agree that is way too loud, which is why I added a borla xr-1 midpipe to replace my straight pipe (that video was shot before the borla). The reason I did it was for pure performance, not because I wanted my car to be extremely loud and annoying, but after driving it like that for about 6 months I got tired of it.

Oh and I didn't jack your name, you jacked mine :p: I've been using this name for everything online for about 6 years now.

deedubb has been a name used in gardena cali for the last 12 years...but its cool i'll share

Well then it's different, see yours is deedubb, mine is ddub.

Mine has meaning behind too as my initials are DW :)

nice flames

icic...as for me, deedubb are initials as well...Dee stands for Devine Dubb W stands for wind...aka kamikaze...my old skool crew here in cali...