Mazda pro 7 racing is now introducing a RX8 class to runalong side the S1 and S6 cars in the IRC series.

Currently there are already 2 cars built and another oneunder construction.
(not including mine)



After speaking to one of the guys who has already built one and has it on track I decided to build one myself. The car is basically a standard Type S with safety gear and a few bits and pieces.



I imported a grade 4 (Good Condition) 2003 RX8 type S outof Japan which arrived a few days after new years. Importing a car ex jap cost approx half of what a dealer in NZ would ask for an equivalent car.



So far I have stripped the interior and removing thewiring.



Ill post some pics of the car as it is developed into a race car.

Feel free to give me any advice/ criticism as this is the first car build I have done.

 

Awesome, I see some extra aero bits on that car as well that you could sell. Good luck with your build.

 

Sweet - look forward to seeing these on the track !

 

Hi There

Who did you use to buy the car in Japan and import it with through?
I have imported a car before and I used Tau, but they use to mainly deal with wrecks.
Any info would be great.

Will be good to see how the RX8's go against the RX7's.
Good luck
Thanks

Rotaman

 

And he has a potential buyer already lol

Explde64, where in NZ are u located?

 

Hi guys,
Im in Auckland. I got the through Import 2 Order. They sent me a list of all the cars up for auction each day and I said how much I was willing to pay for the ones I liked. After a couple of weeks looking and bidding I got this one. The 2003-2004 cars (which don’t meet NZ emissions laws) can be picked up for between $6.8K -$8.5K landed in NZ

The RX8 will be slower than the S6 as they will be about 100kg heaver, have less expensive suspension package and stock computer etc. Target cost is between $13k and $15k on track where the s6 RX7 cost between $35k-$60K so I am told.
They should be between the S1 and S6

One of the guys ran his RX8 at the Manfield IRC round a month or so back

 

There isn't any advantage going with anything other than the stock ECU because it is very powerful and can do most things better than anything aftermarket anyway - save perhaps a Motec.

I can see the weight thing as a major disadvantage - maybe that's where you need to spend some extra $ .
Power wise you may have an edge .

 

I have made a start on the wire removal.
Most of this wiring is for the AV/Sat nav.
I am removing all of it except for the Rear lights, screen heater, ABS sensors and Fuel Tank pumps/sensors. Which is only a hand full or wires.
The Air Bags have been removes so all the sensor wires from the seats and doors goes as well

 

Make sure you keep us updated mate i'm pretty excited

 

Pro7 now have car specs for the rx8
Car Specs - New Zealand's Mazda RX-7 Racing Series

 

I have made some progress on my rx8 over the long weekend.
I romoved the wiring from the cabin and also removed the AC system.
As you can see I now have a lot of wires to remove from behind where the dash was.


Now I have a hole in the fire wall I can hear a whining noise when the car is on but motor is not running, sounds like the throttle body servo, is this common?

Next weekend I have been told there will be one rx8 running at Hampton Downs with the Pro 7's
There should be one or 2 at the NZ gp meeting at Manfield the following week as well as 2 weeks after that at the IRC round.

With any luck others will see them run and we can get a few more built.

If any one is after RX8 interior parts check out Trade Me - Listings from explode64jj

 

awesome man, cant wait to see more progress an get down an watch some racing

 

I have made a bit more progress by removing the sound deadening from the car.
8kg of dry ice and half a bottle of thinner later the car looks much better,
Also ordered the roll cage kit.

 

good stuff keep taking photos and keep us updated.

 

how many kg worth of sound deadening do you think you removed?

We removed buckets of the stuff from a friends S14, it's heavy ****

 

i would say 5kg ish i didn't weigh it so only guessing. the bin felt
heavy. also cut all the ac stereo and airbag wires out from behind the dash. all the weigh is starting to add up


Posted from Rx8club.com App for Android

 

nice work, my RE040's are so noisy on the road i began to think the RX8 didnt have any sound deadening..

roll cage kit? is it only a bolt in "kit" then for this series or full spec MANZ approved?

 

Cage is a full weld in cage. Racecraft engineering in CHCH make a kit and send it to you. All I need to do is have it notched and welded to the car.
It's a much cheaper option if you know people who are expert welders and have build cars before.

 

I have finally got around to fitting the seat.
On the weekend a friend and I cut the floor where the cat goes and stepped it to fit my race seat. In order to do this a new mid pipe had to be made. it's a bit ugly but we had to put in 2 steps to get around the gearbox and still keep clear of the new section of floor.

 

Looking good bro!!!

MORE PICTURES

 

Great work and yes more pics

 

Ill post up some more pic once I get them off my Phone. In the mean time I have started a Facebook page documenting the car build. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jacks...26596210776429
The idea behind the page is hopefully some more ppl will see it an get interested in building more Pro7 RX8's

 

Liked mate

 

Ditto. Good idea.

 

Hi Guys

Here is a few more pics of what me and my mate did over the weekend