Little upgrades new owner
 

Just got my 05 GT want to add some little stuff to it at first to make it a little more my own. Any suggestions? I have been looking for even stuff like Air filters (links please to your favs) Yes or no on the fender strakes? Performance chips? 3rd brakes light cover? whatever else floats your boat.

THANKS ALOT!

It's all personal taste.

Air Filter - What about this change would make the car your own?
Fender Strakes - I think Im the only local with them. I prefer the style...but others hate it because the crossfire has them.
Performance Chips - There really aren't any.

And btw...welcome to the club

What part of Ohio are you from? Your best bet is to check out the regional forum and meeting up with other 8 owners around you and seeing what they've done.

Beyond that just try to think ahead and determine what you want out of your car (tracking it, increasing speed, better handling, better looks, better interior, etc.) and focus on the end game. Then start doing little things towards that end like an intake or exhaust for a little extra speed and sound, some clear corners for looks, springs/struts or a set of sway bars for handling, a new head unit or led lights for a different interior, etc.

Clear Corners with Stealth bulbs
Color matched Strakes (or brushed aluminum or chrome if black or red paint)
Rotary accents on bumpers (brushed aluminum or chrome)

When you get more ambitious (and many more $'s) a MazdaSpeed or similar intake with its integral high flow conical air filter.

Congrats, and Yeah. make it a little of your own ...

Its your car, what does it matter ?

That simply means you never looked.

Its a personal taste thing. I dont have it.


Again, you never looked. Search this site for info ?

You mean stickers?

Again, its your car. Do your own homework.

My Pleasure. Mr. 1 Post.

And for being a DIY you sure are asking us to do a lot of work. Can someone move this please?

I would say exhaust. Get those tiny stock tips out of there and invest in, say, a racing beat catback. :)

Interior LEDs are a way to spice up the interior for next to no money and no labor. Shift knob+shift boot are also cheap, easy, and cosmetic. (If the OEM shifter isn't different enough for you and you have MT.)

Advice though - use ebay for ideas only... research a ton before you buy anything. There is a ton of information on these forums, so Search deeply and search often.

Welcome to the club.

woah a little rough on the new guy
 

i said it was my first post, and i actually havent even picked up the car yet, but ive been waking up every morning at 5 and unable to get back to sleep cause of thinking about stuff i wanna do to it. I had an 86 rx7 and been dreaming of an rx8 since i sold the 7, 5 years ago. ive done some research but i dont really know alot about whats the best stuff for improvements to performance, brands etc. id rather save up some cash and spend it on a really good, performance improving air filter then going up to walmart and getting a bunch of crap little stickers and stuff. i didnt know if this site had like a standard brand/model there of that it just told people was the best.

Im from south dayton, i know the car im getting was a member of the rx8 local club down here so i have to ask the owner where that stuff meets.

im new to these forums so where should i post this?

im 24 btw, and dont have the kind of dad who shows his kid this stuff so ive had to learn everything on my own, but definately dont know as much as id like about what goes on under the hood.

All upgrades besides FI or Midpipe will gain you next to nothing. CAI will supposedly gain you a whopping 2whp...exhaust will gain you like 3-5whp.

Whereas the CAI will not show significant Hp gains, it will facilitate quicker response as it eliminates those air starved hesitations. It also sounds better/louder as it provides full flow at all times (vs. stock VFAD).

The stock exhaust is already quite good.

Besides, he asked what [presumed low cost] little things he could do to personalize his upcoming '8. The performance stuff can wait.

Yeah... i know... I'm going to be selling my RB catback shortly and this guy is in Ohio also.... shameless self promotion. :)


I honestly don't know what I would start with if I could start over again. A new intake would be a start, people always through around how good of an upgrade sway bars are (i have yet to do anything with those)
Or the short shifter (I think its hyped alot, but I don't have one of those either)

And we need to know what "cheap" mods mean?

I was 25 when I first got my 8 Brand new. That was hmm almost 4 yrs ago.

I research it like crazy and ... here I am :)

Just search around the site, you will get some idea.

I have Autoexe Sways installed (front and rear) @ 140% over stock(the other setting is 122%). The body stiffen up like crazy. Much better balance around corners. but on the other hand ... I can feel every tiny little bump on the road. and its not really that comfy to ride in it (Im ok with it, not my gf, not my friends, not my family :()

welcome to the club

never mind
 

seller backed out in the eleventh hour :( never mind....

AW... Good luck next time...

Anyway welcome to the club!

There is really no Performance chip, but I suggest that you should get the Cobbs Accessport as it helps with horsepower and you can get free tunes for the first 6 months of owning it.

The mods I have done so far are: k&n drop in filter, took out the baffle walls of the OEM air filter box, mazsport cooling fan kit, and now I am saving money to get a Racing Beat air duct and an exhaust. Probably I will go with mazdaspeed or greddy. I am thinking also to get the fender strakes (actually trying my girl to get them for me as a gift:))), and put some temperature gauges. You can definitely do lots of things with this car and this forum offers lots lots lots of good ideas. All you need is search the forum and find things that you really like!
Welcome in the club and enjoy the car!

Welcome to the club.

I put in a short shifter, Rewired the fog lights to work all the time, tinted my windows, and installed an enormous stereo.

I also got some nice tires. They were worth the expense. Tires are the only part of the car that touches the road, so all the suspension mods in the world are worth nothing if you've got crap tires.

...and I can't speak for the dunlops, but the Bridgestone OEM tires were total complete crap. I replaced mine with cheap General Exclaims (or whatever) and it was like a brand new car.

The stock Dunlop 8090's are actually very good, but I'm headed to Goodyear F1 Asymmetrics at some point this season.

Agree, one should never skimp on the sneakers.