Rotary Performance midpipe installed. Opinions/issues..
 

First off if you do not want a car to get noticed in under WOT this is not your mod. Under partial throttle it's not all that bad (All of my friends own RX7's with wide open exhausts, so my opinion on what is loud may be skewed). There is a bit of resonation under partial throttle at 3000-4000 RPMs. Combined with the K&N intake and the Borla cat-back this equals a nasty sounding beast.

Does the bite equal the bark? Perhaps. I haven't dynoed the car yet. With these mods it feels like the car pulls easier, not necessarily harder.

Does it backfire? If you thought it was bad before...well..........maybe I can get some pics tonight. :D


Installation issues...

The nuts & bolts on the header side were seized up a bit. Nothing a breaker bar couldn't make short work of. The O2 fooler was pretty easy to install (cut & splice x 4).....but.......After a few minutes of driving I threw a CEL. However the car doesn't feel like it's in limp mode. It still pulls just fine. I'm not sure if the CEL is related or not. I'll have to check the code to find out. The tough part is getting the code without going to a mazda dealership. lol. Also another pretty major issue is some fittment problems with my borla cat-back. I have a minor exhaust leak on the top side of the flange there. It's inaudible, and honestly I can breathe harder than the leak, but it's still a pretty big issue.

Pics (of the pipe, not the install...sorry:() are coming, and I'll do my damndest to get a sound cilp. Don't be upset if I don't reply for a bit. I have to go to work now and I won't be back till after 1am EST.

Did you buy the one with the resonator or did you just get the straight through pipe?

So you are saying the midpipe with the borla is not a perfect fit then? did you buy the gastet or flange kit also? did you use the O2 sensor that they sell or did you go with the one that RX8on19s has?

I got their resonated midpipe, with their O2 fooler and bolt & gasket kit. The gap where the leak is on the top side of the flange between the cat-back and midpipe. It's very small. Only a couple of millimeters. The borla seems to be at a slight angle in relation to the midpipe. I was in a bit of a hurry for work, so I'm sure I probably could've gone about it another way. I'm gonna try to manhandle it a bit to see if I can get it to line up better. If that doesn't work a bit of gasket maker should do the trick.

I'm almost positive the MIL is from me botching the O2 fooler installation. Like I said I was in a hurry for work, so I simply crimped the wires on with cheap connectors. I'm gonna go back later and solder them on.

The two problems I have are most likely my fault. See what happens when you rush? lol :p

Now for the good part.....

Very noticeable power increase. And I mean REALLY noticeable. I wanted to wait till I had a chance to really drive it before I commented on this. There is a noticeable drop in low-end power, and because of the lack of backpressure the engine revs much more freely, and doesn't seem to engine brake as hard. I know this forum doesn't condone street racing, but I lined up twice with my friend's 13.5 second turbocharged protege5. I beat him from a dig (his clutch is slipping a bit. he can't launch hard), and we were dead even from a 40mph roll. I'll have video soon. PM me if you're interested. I'm getting the car dynoed at pettit racing tomorrow morning. I'll post when I have the results.

Dude we have to get together im in Miramar, FLA so i would love to see what is going on and how it sounds also before i do something like that

Keep us updated. I'm very interested. CJ

I just got back from the dyno. 173.5 and the engine went into limp mode. We didn't pull the ABS sensors, but I honestly don't think it would've helped. Every other pull they've done over there has been in the range of 173-176 for RX8s. I'll stick with the butt dyno. And the butt dyno tells me there's a power gain. Also they should be getting a few computers for sale soon at pettit. I'll most likely be picking up one of those.

I've heard that the O2 simulators RP is selling don't work well - it might be a wiring issue, or it may be the simulator isn't doing what it's designed to do.

Dale

PM rx8on19s he has a better O2 simulator on his midpipe and his is working perfect

So are you saying low end performance suffered but mid and top was better?

I'm gonna try soldering on the O2 fooler today. See if that works.


emailists: I think the decline in low end that I feel is more related to the fact that there's no backpressure to fight against. Not like there was a ton of low end to begin with though;).



now for the interesting news............

I went back to pettit that afternoon to pay for the dyno run. They said the're getting a stock RX8 in on monday or tuesday, and that I should bring my car in so we can compare them. And I'm not talkin about on the dyno. ;)

Well. Bad news. The videos/sound cilps, the race with the stock 8 are all postponed indefinitely. During the test drive to see if soldering the connections worked (which it DIDN'T) My friend who did the repairs broke the transmission. And yes he does know how to drive. Seems like a bent shift linkage plus severe 1-2 synchro damage. It won't go into 1st or 2nd unless the car is moving, and 5th gear is totally screwed. It goes in to mazda on monday, and it may not be covered now. The service guy said they go on a case by case basis. On the bright side while the tranny is out it seems like a good time for a mazdaspeed flywheel. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

dam more drama than a soap opera...

Paradigm,

The 02 Sim they sell does not work....I know because I tired it. The casper electronics one does the job. All you need now is a little more fuel....

Rx8on19"s
If I'm not mistaken,have you purchased and installed Rick Shaw"s piggyback unit from Australia which is tunable but arrives with a preset tune set by Rick?
If so can you give is some detailed feedback on your impressions of performance improvements etc.
Any comparisons with canzoomer mod?

Regards
George Thomas
Velocity red OZ Rx8