hey, it sounds like you got pretty close to the S plan price anyway, isn't it great! I am getting delivery Mon. I'll break the car in nice and easy and then have fun, hopefully by then you guys should have everything worked out and the Random Tech cat will be ready. do you know what the diameters of the cat and Borla are? I know theres not much room! 40 + W.H.P. is outstanding, I'm sure you can feel a big difference on the butt dyno with that!

 

Monday??? Wow, that's FAST for a car you ordered. I would bet they found the one you wanted at another nearby dealership.

Borla cat-back pipe (from the cat to the muffler) is 3 inches in diameter, not sure about the cat itself. Check with Xavier296 in this thread, he's working with Random Technologies for Canzoomer, and might know the dimensions of the cat: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=16228

 

Hi Axel -

No, I am not saying the RE CAI doesn't fulfill my expectations. In fact, I am quite happy with it, and my "butt dyno" tells me it definitely makes a difference. I cannot say exactly how much of a difference, but there definitely is one. I plan to get the car professionally dyno'd as soon as I can... probably sometime in January, if not sooner.

I quoted the above 3-5 HP gain numbers based on what people on the board who have dyno'd their cars have reported for aftermarket exhaust systems. As far as I know, no one has dyno-tested the Rotary Extreme CAI besides the manufacturer, who claims somewhere between 10-15 HP gain.

IMHO, I think the RE CAI is money well spent. Stay tuned to the "Mazdaspeed/Aftermarket Performance" section of the board for my dyno results sometime soon. Hope this helps.

 

As a general rule of thumb a "butt dyno" will provide a discernible difference at around 10hp change.

Of course sound is a huge psychological modifier factor.

Generally if it sound louder, it "feels" faster.

If you put in good earplugs and test with and without it, and you actually feel a change then the 10-15hp claim may be true..

 

The Random Tech mid-pipe and cat has 3 inch inlet and outlet, replacing the stock cat that has about 2.6 inch inlet and 2.75 outlet. There is no resonator on the Random setup. One plus to this is that the pipe is MUCH farther away from the heat shields, curing the problem with heat in the drink holder and console area. Haven't had chance to test the "butt dyno" yet, but a real dyno run next week should answer some questions. Willing to answer any questions, just PM. No price yet, delivery date around mid January.

 

I too would like to try this on my UK model RX-8. I'm due to collect the car first week of January. It's a 231hp UK model. I have both a wideband and laptop datalogging facilities. I've done a lot of tuning in the past on my MX-5 (Miata in the US) - it runs a turbo and makes around 250hp / 230lbft at the 'wheel. I'd certainly be interested in giving it a go on the UK model. As to marrying it with a Borla, I could try that too; years ago my first MX-5 modification was to swap out the OEM exhaust for a Borla.

When it's available, I'd certainly be interested in buying one to see how things go on a UK model. Also happy to supply ECU wiring information and WB data if required.

All the best

 

Right now the prototypes are the only ones out. They require "some fitting". The final version should be ready soon (fits completely in ECU box - no wires to run - unplug stock - plug in Stage I).

We are working on a mod. to allow dynoing without triggering the ABS and upsetting the ECU (putting the car in limp mode). This problem occurs even with traction control turned off. Have done it in "hack mode", now trying a more elegant method. Once that is working, dyno results will be possible. This mod. may be required to drag race the car, as a good burnout will trigger limp mode.

More on this later.

 

With all this talk about the Random Tech cat, I think most people are forgetting how illegal it is to replace a cat. Supposedly one will fail a visual inspection if he replaces the stock cat (although I'm not sure how a shop could confirm the Random Tech cat is not OEM). Does anyone know of a way of replacing the stock cat and getting away with it?

 

The Random Tech cat I saw was pretty shiny! It would fail visual for sure . If you put stock looking heat shields around it you might pass.

 

Canzoomer found a way to "trick" the ECU in order to get accurate readings. That's why he claims the current 238hp is inaccurate and that it is closer to 225hp.

 

Why did you move your response over to here?
Just curious.

 

You can legally replace the stock cat if it was damaged, like say by a screw driver and hammer, on accident while repairing the something or other under the car... This accidentally happened to my '91 Toyota MR2 Turbo. Someone in engineering had the crazy idea to put a Corolla cat in it which required the tubing to be reduced in diameter before and after the cat. An accidental hit with the screwdriver and hammer and wallah, NEEDS a new one and now aftermarket is ok. Just as an FYI we opened it up to 3" diameter to allow more breathing and less backflow pressure to the stage II Turbonetics upgrade. he he...

 

"Originally posted by hogcar
Answer the question where are the results??? I figured
I should post over here so you would STOP telling me
about all of the missed posts that I need to read.
I need to start selling a mystery product and get several
testimonials of support, then I could accept a ton of
orders and collect the money before posting real world
results. Racing Beat had a Mazda rx8 well before they
were being sold. Don't you think they have the r&d to
develop these products or could it be that there is no
free lunch and that their reputation would be hurt
if they sold products that were not as advertised? "

"Hogcar, this sounds suspiciously like a troll post. If you have legitimate questions, you'd be better served to ask them politely, instead of coming out swinging.

Sorry to say this, but if you want info on this mod, you need to read the histories. There is far too much info to summarize it all for you because you "demand" it.

As for your results question, just a few posts up it was stated clearly that Canzoomer's dyno results will be posted soon. If you want to wait for them, please do so.

If on the other hand you are trolling and looking for a fight, then you can consider this a polite warning. Thanks."




__________________
- Omicron -




Hogcar is right. He is not thrashing the board. I also read all the threads and it doesnt do anything to take away the uncertainty.
People are asking questions to Canzoomer's (price increase,testing etc) and he doesnt respond. Well he just responded to a question about where the piggyback connects to, but he doesnt want to answer anything else.
It is not about trolls, is about consumers tired of being taken advantage of. If there is a price for a product, you must know exactly what you are paying for. It is not enough only by comments of few people who had tested the unit with Him

 

He most certainly does respond: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...5&pagenumber=5

 

With all the talk about the cat not being able to handle the heat if you advance the timing or having its life shortened by leaning the air to fuel ratio, I have a question. What happens when you burn up the cat. Does it actually restrict airflow and slow the car down or does it just no longer clean up the exhaust properly.

 

As far as I know, it just doesn't clean up the emissions properly.

 

The ceramic honeycomb inside the cat will melt and become a large, semi-solid obstruction in the exhaust system.

 

...Maniac,

Ceramics "melt" at much higher temps than metals. The "catalyst" in the ceramic is what is destroyed by the heat, not the ceramic part.

Anyone else want to comment on this?

 

Perhaps.

Ever see inside a catalytic converter that has failed this way?
I have.
The substrate melts and fuses into an irregular, impassible glob.
I'm sure the palladium and such goes way before that point, but it leaves the converter as vapor.
All catalytic converters will fail that way over time, but it is exacerbated by high post combustion EGTs.

 

I stand corrected.

 

I've never seen the inside of a cat so I'll take the word of the above comments that stuff melts and flow-through becomes restricted. What I have observed on my '83 Bronco was that the engine overheated no matter how much servicing I did to the cooling system. The problem was corrected when I had the cat replaced. The muffler guy diagnosed the problem by banging on the cat and detecting a rattle which he said was the catalyst broken into briquets. There was only 80,000 miles on the Bronco when I had that problem.

 

Different cats. fail in different ways. The newer styles are harder to plug. The ceramic doesn't melt, per say, it cracks from the extra high heat and cooling extremes. At least the ones I've seen did. Sometimes it's funny (if you don't have to pay for it). The 3rd gen 7 pre-cat (in the downpipe) would fail and the pieces would fall into the main cat and plug it. Designed to fail?

The previously mentioned Random Tech "jewellery cat" has no ceramic at all. It's a metal spiral coated with the catylist. Appearantly the metal spreads the heat better so the catylist is more efficient and the metal can handle the temp. extremes better. Different cats. are now also designed to do different jobs. One takes care of hydrocarbons, one NOx, one CO, and combinations of these. That's why many cars have more than one. Also most cars have a small cat very close to the exhaust port of the engine (called a "pre-cat"). These are there to take care of startup emissions. They are small and close to the heat source, so heat up to working temps. faster. So far as I know, nobody checks that these are working, but I wouldn't be surprised if Calif. starts soon. Up to now it's been a "visual confirmation" check.

So if you manufacture cats. are you running a "cat house"?