spoolage

I'm having a little trouble getting used to the Rx-8 after having an Rx-7 that was making close to 500 rwhp.

I'm not looking to make huge numbers on the 8 but want to give it a little kick.

I'm looking for anyone that already has a forced induction setup, super charger / turbo. I just want feed back good or bad about their setup.

I've been reading alot about these superchargers and it sounds pretty enticing. I'm a complete novice when it comes to blowers, but it sounds like they are sparking alot of interest in the rotary community. How are superchargers compared to turbochargers when discussing reliability???


The Rx-8 is a great car, very smooth, handles amazing, just a bit sluggish.

Red Devil

As far as the engine goes, there should be no compromise in reliability between a turbo and sc.

What did you have done to the 7 to get it so close to 500?

mike1324a

I am just as interested aswell. However there isnt many people with anything other than the greddy kit. This will be changing soon (atleast i hope).There are a few supercharger kits(Pettit, Hymee, maybe HKS) and turbo kits (PTP kit, the best in my opinion) in the works. The only kits actually available to the public are the Greddy kit, Speed Force Racing kit( i think there is only 2 or 3) or a custom job. Out of the box the greddy kit is not really worth anything but if you get the Mazsport interceptor-x ecu then you can upgrade the **** poor out put of that kit to over 290 to the wheels.

MadDog

No offense, Mike, but this isn't really accurate. The GReddy kit, from my experience, performs exactly as advertised out-of-the-box. There are no issues with the emanage. The LTFT doesn't come into play. I have documented the LTFT under boost and it does NOT change over time. With tuning, Manuel got 273 to the wheels using the GReddy turbo. I haven't yet tuned mine, so the AFR is about 10.5 under boost and the difference in performance is amazing. Have you driven a Greddy turboed 8? If so, I doubt you would have called it "**** poor" output. Another 8 owner drove mine and was also floored at the difference. After driving mine, he said his own felt like an 8 cylinder running on 4. You really cannot beat the GReddy kit for the price - if you want a daily driver with a lot more torque than the Renesis delivers NA.

mike1324a

Oh its cool, i dont have a problem with the greddy kit but i was thinking he might not care as much for the lower power kit since his 7 was almost to 500whp. with porper tuning the greddy kit is good. but most pople say hte greddy kit out of the box is not really that good.

OfficerFarva

Well, My greddy kit is partially finished, so I can let u know how my experience goes in a little while. I got to take off the oil pressure sensor and then the turbo is ready to go on. Hopefully, my esperience will be as good as Mad Dog's.

IZoomZoomI

I might be mistaken, but when I posted those numbers before a few forum members told me the PR numbers runs with highere octane fuel (I want to say alcohol). I doubt anyone can get 273 whp on pump fuel in the states. I've heard of 262 but the mean is around the 240 range.

For the most part I don't think the greddy kit is a bad kit at all, it works fine for some cars and in some cases it doesn't. Overall you can't really complain being the kit is only $2800.

MadDog

You are suggesting they could tune leaner than we can? I guess that could be true. Manuel did have the boost over 10psi as well. I suppose my point is that you can a lot more power out of it than the out-of-the-box configuration. I agree the mean is 240HP, but the mean boost is 7psi. There's more room to turn it up! :p

mike1324a

So it depends on how much power you want to make. If you want power now (but it will max out at 290-300WHP with on the interceptor-x ecu and the Greddy turbo) then get the greddy kit. If you want serious power (like 350WHP+ and with a fuel uprade make 400WHP+) then the PTP motorsports kit is the one for you. I would assume you are looking for somehting along the lines of power like your 7 so my suggestion is to read about the PTP kit on the PTP turbo kit thread.

tacho9k

Save yourself and wait for something better to come along than the Greddy TK.

It seems they have bad service and some heavy cons to the turbo and intercooler.

spoolage

My old FD. And my new ride.


Like I've said in previous posts. I'm having trouble getting used to the 8, not nearly as flashy not nearly as quick. But I love having a new car and this thing handles like a dream. I sacraficed 300 hp to have a trunk that can hold my golf clubs and two rear seats. All in all, I'm happy but I still miss that beauty and beast of a car.

spoolage

Honestley, I'm done with the whole speed thing. 250 - 300 hp sounds just right to me. I just want the 8 to have a little kick (spool up) when I mash the throttle. Once you drive a turbo car you cant live without the sensation of a turbo kicking in.

That FD was my 4th and fastest and I dont intend to get another one till I graduate from college. As for the 8, I'll be happy with a little more hp in order to maintain some form of reliability in the engine rather than big numbers and have nothing for transportation. Always, when putting any kind of forced induction on a car your taking a risk, but I'm just trying to minimize the possibility of a problem occuring should I ultimatley decide to take this route.


My days of walking all over Vipers, Z06's, Porches, pretty much anything on the road will come to a halt untill I have more time to do it right once again. Or until the new 7 gets released

RX8PR

ZoomZoom,

In Puerto Rico the higest octane gasoline that you can buy at the pump is 93 octane.
PR is a USA territory, our gasolines need to be conform to all the US regulations.
When we maked 273 HP was with 93 octane gas, factory fuel pump................and the factory greddy kit boost set up, 5-7 psi.
We just tuned the emanage.................for many for hours!

I never used alcohol!

Then we maked 300HP with the greddy kit and upgrated fuel system but at 16 psi of boost.
The greddy kit is capable of more power, you can change the turbine wheel and work on other thinks to find extra HP. But I decided to change to a bigger turbine.

We're goin to finish my car next week, let's see how much HP we make with the Gt35/40R.
But I can tell you that my friends car that basically have my same sethings is making 374 HP at the wheel with 14 psi of boost without problem. He is using the car as daily drive and everything is working fine. On this same car maked 392HP but at 19 psi of boost.

always with pump gas.

Manuel

MadDog

holy $hit. You guys are awsome down there!

Moostafa29

It seems like those on our continent are way behind everyone else.

mike1324a

Then might i suggest the greddy kit with the interceptor-x ecu upgrade. :D

spoolage

I've been talking to Steve Kahn at GothamRacing in Dallas. I was asking him about what setup I should go with and for what I'm looking for he too thought the greddy setup would work just fine. My question is, should I decide I want a little extra power in the near future, aside from having to do all the fuel upgrades etc. What am I looking at in dollars to upgrade the turbo?

I'm debating the idea of letting them use my car as a guniea pig so they can do some R + D on the 8. He didnt sound like he was too hot on the idea of a supercharger but he never really said anything negative about them either. My idea behind the whole supercharger setup is...... why the S/C? Its a belt driven device and I was under the impression that you need a pretty substantial amount of torque to really make them efficient. And it seems like the Rx-8 is the compleat opposite of this, the 8 seems to make peak power around 5-6k rpms where the lower end rpms is a little sluggish and lacks very little torque. Wouldnt a turbo setup be more logical in the FE's?

Regardless, I wont be making a final decision for afew months until afew more products are out, and the ones that are already out are upated with some better R+D..... Was debating on selling my car and just buying an s4 or lancer. But I'd be giving up alot of things I really enjoy about this car as well.



AND

If I do decide to go the Greddy route. What all do I need for a complete setup. The Kit and the Interceptor-X? How about fuel upgrades etc...

Fanman

1. Depends on how much you want to spend. PTP will be coming out with a very nice kit that will be putting out 300+ whp, but the kit will probably be in the $6000+ range as a complete kit.

2. Greddy kit is about $2900 range. Comes with a "regular" EManage unit to control fuel management already. Tune, tune, & tune. Interceptor is not a requirement. Better unit than the standard EManage, but not sure how it compares to the EManage Ultimate unit (which is way cheaper). Beyond that you will need to buy a blow off valve, gauges & gauge pod of somekind. Unless you are going past 275-300 whp/10-12 psi of boost the stock fuel system is fine.

3. The type of SC you are talking about (building tq, along with engine revs) is a centrifugal design unit. There is another design (roots/screw) that delivers tq right off idle (Pettit, Hymee, etc.). Both have their pros & cons.

spoolage

Thanks for the info Fanman.

I've been reading up on those SC's a little, they sound pretty promising. Will have to wait afew months I suppose =)

spoolage

One more thing I dont get.... why do people want to make more than 300+ hp on these cars. If you wana make more hp get something else, these are not straight line cars and their drive trains were not designed for it. One thing I was thinking about in class today was the transmission. These are the same 6 speed trannys that come out of the Miatas. Will these transmissions be able to really, reliably sustain higher hp numbers of 350+???

The same goes for WRX's their stock drive trains are **** poor quality, I'm not sure about the lancer. But I'm definatley considering selling my car and getting something that I can make some bigger numbers with and not worry about reliablity factors to such an extent..... very hard decision.

Fanman

1) Swapped out my tranny for a Centerforce unit already. Mazdaspeed, ACT all already make aftermarket clutches for this car. My CF unit was rated to 415 ft.lbs. of tq...I won't be getting anywhere close to that anytime soon.

2) If done right the RX8 with a turbo kit is very reliable. I've had it on my car for about 6 months already. Other than a few installation issues (which had more to do with my mechanic) no problems. Gotham Racing is a very reliable place...very good reputation.

Red Devil

I think Spoolage's point is regarding the actual transmission itself. How much torque will this unit handle and for what duration? I think this is still an X factor for our cars. I think the engines are very stout, everything else is what I question.

Gerael

So anybody blow up their turbo'd engine yet?? Or notice any degradatio no performance...
fuel economy? anything?

MadDog

one guy blew an apex seal while running with a turbo.

mike1324a

his name is broken apex seal. if you want to talk to him for info.