Turbo project...
 

I keep telling myself that Roxy is more of a "grown-up" car than my Evo...but I still wanna mod the shit out of it. I miss the feeling in my butt-dyno when I reflashed my ECU and turned up the boost on track days. I miss the whine of the turbo and the <pssht> of the blow-off valve...

So I begin my journey towards snailing. I've got mild experience with turbocharging a naturally aspirated car, and ALOT of experience tuning turbo cars.

This will serve as my compilation/notes station. I'll chart the journey from start to finish here, and by the time it's done, I hope to have a daily driven 300 hp on a steady curve (as steady as a turbo will allow). I would definately appreciate any advice and help that anyone wants to give.

Phase 1: Research
Phase 2: Compilation of Parts/Accessories
Phase 3: Installation
Phase 4: Testing/Tuning
Phase 5: Zoom-Zoom

Phase 1: Research

I'll start with this: How Rotary Engines Work

Can anyone offer advice on the best Series I turbo builds?

Hopefully by the end of Phase 1 someone will have come up with a tuning solution...if not this will take a lot longer.

All the answers are here on the forum . Have a read up and then ask specific questions and i'm sure you will get all the help you need ...

Wait are you turboing a Series 1 rx8??

You siggy says 09 White GT, do you have a series 1 and series 2 rx8?

Yeah - if it's a series 2 you may be shit out of luck ....

Nah, just a series II. I want to reference the Series I's because it's the most similar creature.

I'm hoping that by the end of my research phase that the ECU tuning problem will be solved...

This isn't going to be a quick process...I'm gonna take my time, work with a few different mounting options, etc... Research includes measurements.

I used the Powermod from Aus on my turbo for a while and it worked well (although not as good as flash tuning) . I recently asked the guy who developed it for info on S2s so will let you know if he comes back with anything ....

AWESOME, thanks, bro! That'll definately be a breakthrough, because it'll make other companies want to get in that game...hopefully.

Have you seen this yet?

http://turblown.net/store/index.php?productID=81

Yeah, I saw a link in another post about these guys. I don't know much about them, but I'll look into it. Thanks, bro.

Have some info back on the Powermod . The guy has not tested on a S2 but is willing to help if we want to try fit one .
I know where you could get one 2nd hand at a good price if you want to give it a go ....

I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard...I mean even if the ECU software is fully protected, having an "Interceptor type system" would be the best way to go about reliability and "legality" on the street/track...

...but I'm not sure I'd be willing to let my daily driver be the guinea-pig for a new system... I mean, until the kinks are worked out, I'd be hitching a ride to work/class everyday, haha.

Why can't everyone just be as cool as Mitsubishi and Subaru and just keep their ECUs open for tuning? I mean, it's not like Mazda's responsible for something messing up...and they'd get more service business from people who DID fuck something up, haha...

I am in the same phase you are. I have been reading up and have sent about 10 emails to various vendors looking for a tuning option. Tagging along and I'll post any info that I can find on the subject.

dont understand what you mean by "keep their ECU open for tuning". With a COBB AP you can tune the ECU till your heart's content...

For the Series II?????

Last time I spoke with them, they didn't have a unit for the Series II.

ahhhh.. missed the series II header... my bad. Yeah, COBB doesnt see the potential for designing an AP for the II.. a shame really.

The guys over at Turblown seem to have a turbo / custom ecu solution but it isn't cheap. I don't know anything about it at this point.

Not for Series II's. Also, a Cobb AccessPort for an RX-8 costs like 200 used...with a free program called ECUFlash you can tune your ECU with a netbook, laptop, or PC (only on Mitsu/Subarus). Altering EVERYTHING to your heart's content... E.G.: Idle (w/ and w/o AC), Intercooler Sprayer, etc...

Alright, guys I've been reading over a whole bunch of info on Rotaries, N/A -> Turbo conversions (again...), and Engine Management...

I'm going nowhere with this build until there's a reliable, non-self correcting way to tune this engine...

Brettus, you got any more info on PowerMod?

Unless you want to go with a custom ECU, we are stuck.

wanna see how this turns out. good luck bro :)

Nope . It would take someone with a few clues to figure it all out but i would be reasonably confident that it would do the same job as it did on the series 1 once you get all the connections sussed . Injector sizing could be an issue though ....

http://www.dnamotorsport.com/PowerMod/PowerMod.html

Currently all you can do is go full standalone; ie haltech, motec, etc...

We were the first shop in all of North America to run the Motec M2r outside of motec usa; it is a good route, just kinda spendy for a street car..

I'm thinking about scrapping this project. I've reached my wits end waiting on someone to release something worthwhile, and after some thought, realized this:

- Mods would create a lot of downtime.
- Still under Factory warranty, mods would void it.
- Looks great as she is, and is powerful and handles extremely well for a street car

I'm thinking she's gonna be my street/show car. Looking into an M'z Custom kit and R3 Skirts and some new wheels with a drop. Intake/Exhaust will be the extent of her power mods.

But don't give up on me yet! I'm also looking at this, or something like it...

What a Wimp.......:uhh:

Theres something out now if you havent heard yet. Theres a turbo kit from emeril and a supercharger kit from pettit...check them both out!

I've seen both...but I'd rather piece the kit together myself, which still leaves me with the same tuning issue of before. Esmiril is being super vague about the engine tuning, which is understandable because they're the first ones to actually say it works. I'll keep an eye out, and possibly try again in the future.

Dynotronics can tune your ECU so your car can run a turbo. They were offering someone from the forum a free reflash on there ECU so others could show more interest. Its in the seires II section under tuning. I believe the topic is ECU. I have a 2010 rx8 r3 and if I choose to go turbo next year after I piece my kit together, I will most likely go that route.

A base reflash like that for a NA car is a waste of money already, for a turbo car is a great recipe for a loud bang.
You can't reflash a turbo car and call it a day, it's a progressive process that takes time. Band aid solutions like rich running cars and ugly timing maps are just that... band aids to cover bullet holes

::Thread Revival::

I think (hope) what people are getting at is that a BASE reflash is needed in order to go down that progressive path of fine-tuning fuel maps, ignition timing, boost levels, etc. in order to achieve the best overall performance. I'm not a fan of email or snail-mail reflashing, but if it gives me a base to work with at my local dyno, then that'd be better than installing a turbo, then trying to run the car without any knowledge of where to start working. THAT, my friend is a great recipe for a loud bang.

BTW, I tuned both my Evo and my Eclipse (don't mind some of the ricer and ghetto mods...I was young.) exclusively with ECUFlash and a Tactrix Cable with consistently great results.

I can tell you how mine went , or you can read about it in the ecu thread, but basically had a hypertech ecu hooked up to my car, which is series 2. Had the car running on the hypertech ... tuned ... problems came with alternator and cars ecu. You Have to completely cut out the cars ecu all together. If you piggy back AT ALL it won't work. I'm told you need an internally regulated alt, not externally as the runs from factory. Problem with completely going around ecu is you lose some pretty important things. Power steering, gauges, etc. So doing a gauge pack is very doable , but no idea what you do about power steering. That's kinda where we got stuck last year until we work a fix somehow. Hope that helps.

tried this as well .... reflashing didn't work very well. Tried this route with Dynotronics via mailing data back and forth . Maybe would work better if car was actually with them ... but sending ecu back and forth tuning didn't really accomplish anything unfortunately.

Bcdjudo7, did you see this?

Doesn't work full, will result in a 4 port turbo with inactive 5th and 6th ports.

You do realize this thread was a year old right?