Thinking of doing some work on my 2004 RX-8
 

I've had my RX-8 for over 4 years (54,000 miles) now and want to do something boost its performance. I have absolutely no experience with cars of any type but really want to learn. Are there any good upgrades I can do without much car experience? Also, Mazda extended the warranty on the engine to 100,000 miles/8years. Should I just wait until it's up before I do anything that could void it? I'm willing to spend at most $2,000. I'm also willing to have somebody else do the work if they let me watch and help so I can do it myself next time.

Thanks!

well for 2k you can start off with suspension, like coilovers and such and then move into the sway bars. with that one can then test driving ability through auto x. then when you see what more the car needs go from there. dont expect much power unless you go FI

What do you mean by "..boost its performance."? That can translate to increased horsepower or improved handling.

Decent suspension upgrades can be had for your $2K, but if you are looking for more engine power, your $2K won't go very far. As Rkesh88 says, forced induction (FI), aka, turbocharging or supercharging, is essentially the only way you can gain a meaningful horsepower increase in the Renesis engine. And don't forget, if you have someone else do the installations, your labor cost likely will be pretty high, cutting down significantly on the amount you can spend on hardware.

You can spend your $2K on aftermarket items like intake and exhaust systems, for minimal HP gain--a few HP--which you probably won't be able to feel. Go to www.racingbeat.com and read what they have to say about HP gains in this engine.

As far as the warranty goes, if you muck around with the engine like adding FI, it's possible--maybe likely--that a dealer will attempt to void your powertrain/engine core warranty.

Thanks for the help! I hadn't thought of improving the handling but my car does tend to slip a lot especially if there's any water on the ground(which is pretty often in Florida). If $2,000 isn't enough for a meaningful upgrade I might just have to wait a while. What's worth saving for?

IMHO, what's worth saving for is the next version of the RX-8 that has more HP. Until then, just enjoy how "quick" it is, how awesome the handling is, and how much fun you have driving it now. And if you wear it out before a higher HP version is out, you'll have some money saved up to replace it with another one. That's what I'm doing, anyway. :biggthump

$700 - AccessPort from MazdaManiac. Gain ~10HP, better throttle response, a few extra MPG, and a few other things.
$400 - Good set of sway bars - search a bit and read...but these help a lot.
$200 - New spark plugs, ignition coils, and ignition wires, if you haven't done this already. If you havnt changed any of them yet at 54K miles, you will be very pleasantly surprised when you do. I think a lot of people neglect the ignition system, those thigns do degrade in performance, and they really do have an impact.

Together, I think those are probably the best and most cost-effective performance upgrades you can do for that amount of money. They are not flash at all, quite the opposite, but they will help performance noticeably.

Get rid of the ridiculous "summer only" tires, where "summer" is defined as summer in Los Angeles. Get something more aligned with your climate. Look into some of the top-performance all-seasons. You will sacrifice some ultimate grip in the dry, but that is grip you should NEVER be using on the street unless you're doing something highly illegal or dangerous. What you get in return is much better behavior in the wet. In my opinion this is a win-win and if you want to race, get a second set of rubber for the track.