To me it looks like a huge mechanical linkage throttle body with possibly two butterfly valves. Looks like the intake tubing tapers into a larger size going to the TB, than tapers down in size leaving the TB and into the upper manifold, hard to tell with that low resolution picture though. I could see two butterfly valves being better at equalizing the flow between both rotors, but I am no expert that is for sure.

 

Ah ...I see it now ...the wood paneling in the background. Brilliant!

 

Looks like Carl decided he needed to make an exact copy rather than a partial one. Only difference appears to be the flange now.

 

yes I saw that on fb...that is low

 

is anyone actually surprised ?!

 

Nope.
Took him a while to realise that's how it should be done .... so at least he did some R&D.

 

He is a well-known failure, having survived all push sales on the UK forum.
Be honest, do mind using products that are cheap and locally available, it's not right tho.

 

the only product he made and that was good was the pulleys to underdrive the S1 water pump... Oil pan promoting oil starvation and not preventing it, Coils same as BHR and others using random coils that do not match a high ignition frequency engine (unless race use only application where coil life is not important) and attempting to squeze it in the "original shape/mounting" (where even his own very simple published math doesn't match up) ect... The amount of protection he has on UK forum censoring any callout/explaining how misleading he is... uk rx-8 owners club / forums could easily be renamed to "Carl fan club" .

TBH I wouldn't be surprised if he messed this up as well somehow internally.

 

It's not nice to talk behind people despite how the truth is the matter, at least they should have a chance to replay back.
I would keep myself calm and only mention that many people have been blocked, removed, and banned as soon as they talk about their experiences.
UK RX8 club is the worst experience of owning RX8 in the UK. They pressure-sell memberships even to let have access to free manuals which are in the first pages of Google search lolll
The only part is that pulleys are cheap and local.


 

I told all to him "in his face"...
They threatened to sue me for libel ect...
And they were very happy to speak behind by back after I was banned where Carl posted some of my content out of context and ... Forgot to go to toilet before he came to forum (had screenshots as a friend was still active there) ...

@Brettus might remember that I suspected RR will clone his manifold (as at that time they announced "development") ) but Carl beat them to it..

 

Any updates for 2025?

 

Have been working on my own system and refining a few things but nothing to report on the manifold itself. There might be some exciting developments coming, but it's too early to say anything right now.

 

Would it be safe to say those of us looking for a more complete turbo system, and would prefer to support you, should wait and see what develops?

 

It's nothing to do with the manifold itself .... but ...........yes!

 

Been following a bunch of your progress in the world of boosted RX8’s and gotta say this project is looking like an end-all be-all for the manifold design. Since my RX has been a garage queen the past few years, that I only put a couple hundred miles on in summer, I’ve been looking to take the performance up to have some more fun at the track.

I’m hoping there will be more runs of the manifold or maybe finding a vendor in the states who can produce it! If it’s only going to be limited run made by you I would be interested in purchasing soon too.

Keep up with the awesome work my man!

 

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

I would like to offer support from the states as well. I'm excited to see the new developments when ready.

 

My apologies for forgetting to update this thread.
The development I was referring to above was my adoption of the Haltec PNP ECU. Have had this on the car for six months or so now. I would have reported on it earlier but had a lot of trouble adjusting to the different method of tuning (vs stock ECU I'm used to). I expected it to be able to replicate the same drivability - after many hours of banging my head against a wall, I feel like its 90% there and that's as close as I can get it.
There have been a few issues, mostly caused by my own mistakes, that have slowed down my progress. My plan was to get the car sorted on the Haltec then take it to the dyno and see what we ended up with there. I feel like we are close to that point now but have one remaining issue to resolve (boost consistency). Hopefully I'll get that sorted soon and we'll see some............................. "MOA POWA BABY!!

 

best of luck chap, I'm assuming the Haltech uses a MAP sensor instead of the MAF, so you have to essentially start the mapping from scratch

 

Yeah , I thought it would be pretty simple to do but as with most things ...there was and still is, much to learn.

 

Not happening. Not because it's impossible, but because you'll run out of walls to bang your head on before you replicate the infinitely complex OEM control methods that bring about the driveability you desire. They've spent lots of $ and used equipment we can only dream of to get to that point. Hot, cold, winter, summer, mountains, beach, rain, fog, city, highway, they've all been accounted for and that took about 700 tables. Still, a one trick pony will do with just 3 tables; that is what/where I see a standalone shining.
I still say it's easier to teach a 20yo how to drive a truck instead of raising a newborn to get to that point... but that's just me.

This is based on my experience of implementing an OEM-like boost control strategy which seemed easy enough but turned to nightmare material in a jiffy.

 

the issue as you've found the Mazda ECU has a torque structure, so there's a bunch of complicated stuff happening in the background to ensure your torque / pedal request is met smoothly with a bunch of feed forward transient fuel and transient spark control that Mazda Edit doesn't open up / bother with as it works well , and 90% of the customers just want to tickle the fuel and spark a bit to cope with a bridge port

I'll bet the Haltech has a reasonable transient fuel function though and possibly transient spark too
if you haven't tried the transient spark (aim for 4-7 degrees of retard during an event ) give it a go, as it helps quite a bit .
If its also got a clutch pedal input ( as per stock Mazda) then use this too to apply a spark over lay during gearshifts

 

There is a point where you can achieve an acceptable compromise fairly easily. No, it wont have the finesse of the stock ECU but you can live with it.
Where the Haltec shines is the ease with which you can protect the engine from destroying itself. Something you don't need on an N/A (unless it's a race car), but becomes increasingly more important as you increase power level.
I know you have spent a heap of time developing the stock ecu to do this, but for most people, the Haltec will be a better option. Not only for safety but also for the fact that most pro tuners are comfortable with the software. Whereas virtually no pro tuners want to deal with the stock software.

Re the 4 port solenoid. I used a very simple Greddy spec2 EBC for boost control with the 4 port and had zero issues maintaining stable boost . Basically set 'start boost' to 3ish psi before desired boost, 'set' for desired boost and forget about it. The Haltec needs much more 'fiddling' for some absurd reason.
Also : the manifold itself is set up to avoid the possibility of boost creep. You have the opposite occurring, which, as I explained, is tunable with some tweaks to the manifold itself.

 

That can be done with the stock ECU as well.



Because when people say stock ecu they say the garbage versatune or mazdaedit software with their garbage definitions. If explained even in the slightest, anyone that can tune a standalone can also tune the stock ecu.

 

My understanding is that the stock ECU is much slower at sensing/processing--allowing several engine cycles to occur before an adjustment is made.