Stock 05 Upgrades
 

I have a stock 05 auto and was thinking of making just a couple of upgrades. I am looking at mazdaspeed cold air intake, and exhaust for now. I will add a cobb AP as well in a couple of months. Need to save some cash for that.

I do work for a car dealer, and trade a lot with them, so its not like I'll really be paying for the intake and exhaust.

How much could I expect to gain from these mods before adding the cobb, and how much once I do? I may slowly add a couple of other items later when I have a little more cash, but seemed to me this would be a descent start?

Hey Stacy, welcome.
The thing that you'll notice with the RX-8 as opposed to many other cars is that simple mods such as intake / exhaust do no yeild the same type of HP gains that you'll see in a standard V6 piston car.

intake MIGHT give you a few horses, nothing major.
The Cobb AP is really your best bang for the buck. Not only will you get a few horses out of it (5-15hp) but the increased oil metering, lower fan temps, disabled CEL's, all make it a great value. Make sure you buy it from Mazdamaniac as you'll get custom tuning support from him. (all other vendors charge extra for the tuning)

^that +1

Similar discussion: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-specific-performance-mods-97/worth-money-169897/

Yes I read the other thread. Just curious if its even worth doing the exhaust, and if I can just a few HP from the intake it would probably be worth it to me.

I also planned on getting the cobb from MM. I'll contact him when I have the cash. So total with everything I am guessing maybe 20 more HP if I am lucky?

intake and exhaust together make a tiny bit horse.

more of a sound than performance. although i love my hipowa!

One advantage to a MS or aftermarket intake, besides a bit more Hp, is that you won't find acorns in your stock intake box like I just did this weekend. Damn chipmunks!

I posted this on the Finally Cobb AP Thread but no one replied. I have a AT 2004 and was wondering the following. I have been trying to learn about this Cobb AP myself and read a lot on the forum. I know what it does for the mostpart and know that it can customize your computer settings to your car and modifications. I was just wondering if anyone put it on a stock AT RX8 and if so what improvements did they see. Just wondering if it is worth the investment if you are not planing to add turbo or any major mods.

Here's an excellent member's review of the Mazdaspeed intake, which in general should be applicable to any 3rd party intake.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...daspeed+Intake

The mazdaspeed cold air intake is something you have to have :)
You will feel it after 4500 rpms
Mine is 04 4speed auto
http://i44.tinypic.com/otf81h.jpg
http://i42.tinypic.com/29cp1rt.jpg

Does the MS CAI come with installation instructions, or is it intuitive given its location/purpose? Seems like the stock MAF relocation would be the only 'technical' part.

It comes with all the nstallation instructions and everything you need, but it's not that easy to install it tho, you have to take off your front bumper to install it ...
i installed mine in Mazda dealership

I hope you don't have to take off the bumper every time you want to change the filter element. ;)

I haven't changed mine and suggested the fender, but when I went to look it was a no go. Now I'm curious about the filter, sure as hell don't want to take the bumper off to do it.

Here's a video I found in the DIY forum that shows someone taking off the bumper. Just to give an idea of what everything will start to look like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAt0MhycRTU

you should remove your cat :) if you want some real gains

Huey52 thanks for that link. I did a search myself, and after going through about 2 pages of threads I gave up looking.:banghead:That is an excellent write up, and just the info I was looking for.

philipchan thats a nice looking ride.:)

Hopefully I'll get it installed early next month. Still debating on the exhaust, but may do that as well.

You don't need to remove the bumper to clean the air filter, just jack up the front and remove the air dam. The exhaust is a great mod for better sound and appearance. If it is a low cost mod you should do it!

Well that's good to know. I kinda figured that would be the main spot to do it, but I didn't look since it's so muddy up here thank's for that info Raleigh.

If your looking for an exhaust there is a poll for midpipes that may help you decide what to look at. I have the agency exhaust system. It's sorta loud, but just right for me. This is just my two cents to try to help. Good luck.:)

I saw someone selling a Cobb AP used on here. I was wondering before I commit to purchase if you guys could help answer a couple of questions about them.

I noticed on the MazdaManiac's site he mentions ones for both a 4 port and 6 port auto. How do I know what I have? Is there a diference in the AP's for different year vehicles?

Anything I should know before buying one? Tried to read through the thread on them here, but that thread is over a 100 pages, and lots of useless posts in there.:banghead:

what year is your rx-8?
2004 - 2005 automatic rx-8 is 4 speed
and 2006 - 2008+ automatic rx-8 is 6 speed.

I assumed they were talking about the number of ports. My mistake than.

Anyways I checked with MM, and if I buy used I would have to purchase custom mapping, so its cheaper just to buy a new one. I'll just have to wait a bit longer to get one.

The 4 speed is a 4 port and the 6 speed is a 6 port.

IT doesn't make a hill of beans about the AP. It the map that you use. If you buy the AP from the one seller in question. you will still have to purchase the tuning service from MM.

Reason, you're not the original owner. Tell MM who you bought it from, their real name and email addr and you have a 4 port auto.

Also if you have not read his 10 deadly sins (questions) post, you should.

I read a lot this weekend on the AP. I also read his 10 deadly sins. I also decided against buying a used AP, as it would have ended up costing $100 more than buying new by the time I got it tuned for my 8.

I think that I will also make the AP the last peice I buy. Seeing that you have 6 months to get it tuned, and I plan on adding a few other items 1st, not sure if it will need to be retuned after each item to get the most performance out of it?

I will probably add a high performance cat, BHR ignition, and maybe pulley's. So if I want to add an AP maybe best to wait until I get these other items?

The access port does not need to be returned, it is done by e-mail, with your logs