Series II Turbo Kit Question
 

After searching around about the series 2 turbo kits I have only ever heard of the esmeril and turblown kits. Are there any other kits except these ones for the series 2?

You need to look up the series 2 ecu tuning options before considering a turbo.

Turblown is the only company I have heard of producing a kit for the S2. Did you see their recent thread?

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-major-horsepower-upgrades-93/turblown-low-mount-turbo-system-233417/

For ecu tuning I've heard somewhere that turblown has a ecu option that is working on the series 2 that wires into the OEM harness.

Pdxhack what power range is your kit shooting for? I'm not really educated about Turbo kits on the rx8 but is the turblown kit torque curve good or is it a bit low?

Our turbo system makes more power than any of our competitors at considerable less boost. Rotaries don't make a lot of torque unless the boost is turned way up, and even then its far less than their piston counterparts.

I have a S1 RX8 so this does not apply to me. Different tuning and and setup.

Turblown as far as tuning I think I read you guys have a tuning option for the series 2 that is a standalone system. Are we still required to bring our cars into your shop to make this work because last that I saw was that you said in another post that it wasn't plus and play yet and we were required to bring our car in. Also is the garret hybrid still the standard Turbo on your kits?

This is the S2 basically;

http://adaptronic.com.au/products/440.html

Its just a Rx-8 Select that is NOT plug and play, and requires wiring in series with the stock wiring harness. We will sell the ECU outright now, with or without a purchase of our turbo system.

It is $1200 + freight.

Yes the Garrett hybrid is the standard for our top mount kit, we use a CompTurbo for our low mount kits;

http://turblown.net/store/index.php?productID=270

So are the fuel injectors included with the kit? I'm probably going to go Turbo later since I still have warrenty and want to rebuild my engine before going Turbo.

im not really good with cars so I was just wondering why does the turblown kit requires premixing and the esmeril kit doesnt? I read on the turblown website its because of fitment constraint but I still dont really understand. Also as the esmeril kit states it can achieve 414 hp out of the box with ignition and clutch upgrades can the turblown kit achive 400 hp out of the box also?

Because by the time you get the Esmeril kit (IF you get it) and replace all the knockoff parts you will be tired of the whole thing and sell your Rx-8, thus never having to pre-mix?

lol ... that's kinda funny , unfortunate, but funny

I have some questions on the turblown kit? So tier 1 top mount cost 6800? So what is tier 2 than? It also says you have to cut the sheet metal to make the kit fit, but on another page I found that you said you don't have to cut the sheet metal. So do you have to cut it For figment? Also what is included in the top mount turbo kit?

We have a turbo series 2 turbo running built by Mazfix in Brisbane. It has been running for over a year now. They have not revealed the ecu that is being used.

As the car is a R3 model they had certain teething issues however the standard model is apparently easier to install and tune.

Somewhat on topic, but has anyone had any success running the Adaptronics piggyback offered by Turblown?

Adaptronic Select ECU for 2009-2011 Rx-8s - Turblown Engineering

Nope, doesn't work at this time. 5th and 6th ports don't open and you'll be left with a 4 port turbo.

I am rezzing this thread instead of creating a new one. As far as I remember that is less frowned upon in these forums :/

Might be picking up a 2nd gen, wondering if the turbo options have changed? Very sparse amounts of information in this section, only one I have seen that is up to date is the Puerto Rican build with a Greddy and some custom work done.

the only thing that has been changed really is that there are few more tuning options available for the S2. Other than that it just comes down to time and money. Tuning was really the only showstopper a few years ago (compared to the S1)

Sounds like it's pretty much go custom or go home then. Damn. Was hoping after a 7 year hiatus from rotaries they would have cracked the renny a little better. How is the series 1 fairing?

I am on 20,000 miles boosted on a Pineapple built engine on my 04'. I think a turbo S2 would fare well (so long as the tuner is capable) with the engine improvements. You could use a S1 greddy kit pretty easily, the only real modification needed is to the oil pan.

I thought the S2 oil pan had a slightly different bolt pattern than the S1?

It does and it is a two piece setup that extends out on the exhaust side. It is not the easiest modification but The guy with R3 turbo did it and It was not the cleanest work but did the job.

Why wouldn't the Factory PCM open it as usual? Seems to me you let those wire signals pass straight through unchanged.

Can the S2 pan fit on the S1?

Not unless you do some drilling an tapping. That is also needed when using S2 housings in an S1 build. Not a huge deal to do but a machine shop would probably be the best bet and make quick work of it.

Couldn't that potentially cause a problem between port staging and injector staging on the secondaries? Like firing an injector into a closed port?

The Adaptronic potentially changes all of that. I only say it with some hesitation since the S2 requires starting with the Universal ECU rather than the RX8 specific version. That's why I asked the question.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-eng...8/#post4605997

Additionally, specifying injector sizing as "0" results in the Adaptronic ECU treating that injection pair as not existing and it will stage accordingly. This allows you to run 2, 4, or 6 injector staging in any combination though you will want to always keep the P1 pair in use and wired accordingly for idle/low engine speed purposes.

What tuning options are there currently for the S2. I.e. What changed since last year? I'm looking at going with a new R3 but want to ensure I can tune if I go FI. Does the Adaptronic Select solve the S2 Woes?

Versatune, MazdaEdit

So has anyone on here managed to turbo / supercharge an r3 using mazdaedit or versatune with a successful tune? How did the guy in the UK get on?

The only guy who has turboed an R3 on here was Gamaliel . He used a Haltec .

I'm sure M/E will do it though as it will tune an N/A R3 no problem

i have blown seal and gonna build. how reliable is the rx8 motor stock with a turbo? and what can i do to make it handle the extra hp from added turbo. thanks

At the very least I would recommend you fit some aftermarket 'unbreakable' apex seals . It really depends on how much boost you intend to run as to whether you go any further than that . under 9 psi and that's all you need to do internally.

And as far as reliability goes ................... that depends on how good the install/tune is . anywhere from 5 mins to similar life to an N/A .

thanks brettus! im in the air with what i really wanna do. still trying to figure out whether or not engine is rebuildable. its blew water seal and coolant in chamber. rebuild and turbo should would be nice :)

So I'm totally new to this and I haven't started doing anything to my R3 yet other than I cut my exhaust due to lost fuel economy (planning to put in a proper exhaust before I put in engine work) but from what I can gather and maybe I'm wrong that Esmeril kit can now go onto a R3?

Esmeril Racing - RX-8 HP Turbo Kit

now using a Billet 62mm turbo and comes with all the basic upgrades (excluding internals) and as it states and the best I have found so far is the 09 r3 like I have uses a 1200cc set of injectors where as the kit includes only 1000cc,

so if you guys would please help me with some questions I have and please read through the link about the kit

1. am I better off using the stock 1200cc injectors and just using the new fuel pump or are the provided 1000cc better in some way I'm not realizing?

2. if I'm planning to go with the 13 psi (which seems the kit comes with a preset tune for it? or perhaps the R3 isn't compatible with the preset tunes included) do I need anything more than ceramic "unbreakable" apex seals? or do I need to reduce boost to keep my internal upgrades to just apexes?

3 if I use this kit would I be better off taking my car to a dyno tune instead of using a preset (assuming the R3 is compatible)

4 is it possible to use the "ManiacMazda" tune (that allows for approx. 10,500 rpm) with the turbo kit or will the modules/ tunes cause issues with each other?

I'm sorry for reviving a long dead thread but this is the most relevant thread I have found to what I'm looking for and I have a plan for my R3 but no clue if my components will be compatible with each other or even with my car so I would like to get more detailed info before I start dropping stacks of bills on my car only to discover none of it will work.

please and thank you for any help or links you guys can provide me with to help get me going (or cutting out of a dead end concept) in the right direction for building up my rx8

The Esmeril kit sucks and should not even be a consideration even on a S1, the S2 RX-8 brings in even more complications.

You can't use a MM tune because the Cobb doesn't work on the Series II RX-8.

No one revs to 10,500RPM.

I suggest you start researching more so you can get a better understanding of the basics.

https://m.youtube.com/results?q=maniacmazda%20rx8%2010k&sm=3
Q
10300 on this clip so it possible to rev at least near the 10.5k mark. And if the esmeril kit is that bad would the turblown kit be a viable choice or should I just go custom and build my own system since I am putting this on a series 2 and an r3 at that

There is no reason to rev the engine to that RPM, by then you are already losing power.

I'm not sure what the hp chart is with that flash on it but I know it redoes the tune on your car... Suppose to help it continue to gain power til 9800 I heard but I seen no chart on a dyno so I can't say for sure.. I would think you could get more performance out of them by going to 10.3 if you spent the time and money tuning... Question is would the gains be enough to justify the cost and how much more benefit or problems would occur by doing this and then going to FI...

Do your homework, Esmeril as a company is shady and no one has made good numbers with that kit. Turdblown is even worse as a company. Search.

And as I said, no one revs that high because there is no power to be gained at that RPM, all you are doing by revving that high is ruining the engine since it is not designed to be revved that high.

Hell even on the street I rarely see redline because under boost things happen in a hurry.

Also, your only tuning option is Mazdaedit flash tuning with your own hardware or running a stand alone along with the factory ECU. Both are complicated and best left to professionals.

I only know of one boosted R3 and it has never ran for very long.

So took your advice and did a lot of searching around on those kits and so far I haven't found a single reliable source showing good numbers. Every personal post from people have said that they produced terrible numbers had tons of running issues from not idling to during when boost comes on and even found some that said that the kits blew their engines to bits within the first couple thousand miles.

Also searched around for ways to boost an R3 and the best I have found is crazy expensive... Was told my best bet for a proper tune and build by professionals would be to ship my car to Promaz in Australia... Not an ideal situation and on top of it would cost me approx 23k just to get all of the parts, installation, and tuned and that doesn't count my shipping cost to get it there or back...

Outside of building on my series 2 most recommended so far people say to order a 20b and swap in that as they are much easier and have a lot more support for boosting as well as tons more potential output.

As much as I love my r3 it appears it is becoming the death of my dream to boost a rotary until I swap or drop massive cash on the stock engine.

So I will be going back and looking into pros and cons of swapping vs promaz and seeing how reliable each really is with numbers and engine life expectance...

Thank you guys for all your help and feed back and sorry for the dumb question in lack of knowledge. My eagerness seems to have blinded me to the negatives of what i was looking at

20B swaps rarely happen and are stupid expensive. A 13B REW swap is your best option if you want boost. Not cheap either, but your best option in every way.


A 20B Turbo swap would be the best option IMO but as I said, $$$$$



But there are companies like this who do turn key REW swaps.

As per 9ks comments, 20b s are certainly not easier or cheaper, dont know where you are but shipping a car internationally to get a unproven build sounds silly

I'm in central USA and there aren't many shops around that will touch a rotary and even fewer that have a good enough reputation that I would want to touch my rotary... I would be traveling almost to a coast to get to a good shop that can do this work and not have to worry about it exploding... I'm sure there is a couple closer but I haven't found them yet and I'm one of the few in America that isn't a muscle head and enjoys imports and most of the import fans here even hate the rotary engine... to find an rx8 around me is harder than finding a corvette... the big town near me is 45 minutes and there are 3 rx8's... over 20 corvettes, and 2 vipers and 5 porches that are worth mentioning performance wise ranging from caymen to 911... so as you see the rotary scene here is very small and hard to find... so bad in fact there is a 05 rx8 gt that has been for sale for 4,000 and been on the sale lot for nearly 4 years..

as for 20b vs 13b rew... the 20b would definitely be preferable but the money might be an issue... I could probably get 20k together for it in a couple of years but I have a feeling to get it turn key ready I'm looking at 30k+ for a turbo'd one... maybe a stock 20b I could get swapped and ready for 20 but i'll have to look its just a guess... I have a buddy that lives on east coast with a certified rotary shop says he can get the engine in crate for about 13k but that's his cost and i'll have up charges and then the whole swap process to pay for..

as for now I guess I will be staying a stock engine r3 I suppose til I get money together to do something about it... i'll get my lambo doors on first (we have a terrible problem with mustangs and big pickups parking against cars and blocking the doors)

P.S. out of curiosity what kind of fuel economy do you guys get with combined city and highway? they are rated at 16/21 and 18 combined but I have been getting around 20.3-20.5 with about 60% highway 40% city driving... is that something I should be worried about being a warning to a problem starting? or have I just been lucky with my consumption?

Just a heads up in the UK a rotary specialist called LC Rotary have successfully done a turbo R3 using one of the newer Borg Warner Hybrid Turbos and are getting approx 350 BHP at low psi.

I don't have much details but their Instagram is LC_Rotary_sales

You're looking at a cost of around £7k for similar here in the U.K.

What shops claim is one thing, what is true is another. Making claims based on one dyno session is goof for advertisements but does it last is the real question and when you do your homework you will find that most don't.But yeah $10,000.00 could get you a turbo R3 from the right builder, but then you have to get it tuned.

I'm also planning about increasing my S2 performance, looking for something around 300whp. So far has found some recommendation about rx8performance turbo kit.
But still, need to get a good tune, been visiting some local workshop here and mostly they hate my car :wiggle:
Also being limited to RON 92 fuel is what setting me back for now (RON 98 is rarely available here).

IF you are serious, do some more research because turbocharging a Renesis is expensive and not so rewarding if you are seeking decent power. But at least there are tuning options that are more developed for the S2's now.

I've been looking into Turbo Kits for the Series 1 RX-8

I have experience with 2J's in Toyota Supras but have been looking at a Rotary. I like the look of the RX-8 and have a friend with a swapped REW.

I will be doing a lot of research and hopefully have a car to work on soon