400 HP RX 8, Can it ever live up to the RX7 in acceleration?
This may come as a surprise to many RX8 owners but the RX8 will probably
never match what an RX7 was capable of in acceleration, unless you have real
deep pockets. I say this because the weak link here is the driveline, it is
physically weak compared to the RX7's and on top of that it has more weight
to push. I think many people either do not realize this or just don't think
it applies to them!
We have already seen some transmission failures with stock power so if you
plan on 400hp and 11-12 second 1/4's, plan on changing some driveline parts.

The RX 8 with 260-270whp
Now this is coming from someone who won Racing Championships with RX7's,
owns several RX7's and even makes a living from RX7's, For daily driving I
feel the Super 8 is a better choice than the aging fd RX7, the instant
response and bottom end torque from our forced induction kit works well with
the close ratio gears. Its so snappy and responsive that it actually feels
quicker than the average 7. Around town I hardly ever rev past 5000 and I'm
still way ahead of the crowd. The 8 is more of an all around car than a 7
ever thought of being, it rides better, handles better, has much more room,
it's much tighter and quieter, things work better etc,
Recently a good friend of mine and fellow enthusiasts drove my RX8 it right
after a test drive in a $150k Aston Martin, he was blown away and couldn't
get over the fact that the RX 8 felt quicker and all around better than the
Aston, his comment, this is like driving silk, It just feels right

Super 8 Stage III
As for our Super 8 Stage III for manual cars, the kit will be an upgrade to
the Stage II Kit. We've seen 338whp on the dyno with the stock injectors at
max duty, so stage III will hopefully be around 300-310 whp and bigger
injectors won't be needed. From what we've seen up to 310whp has been very
reliable and until more R&D is completed we won't know how far to go with
Stage IV. More info soon as it comes.

 

drool....

 

So it will be possible to get the stage 2 kit and simply upgrade to the stage 3?

 

This is why I started taking weight off the Rx8 before adding any real power. Based off all the topics I've read the only drive line week point is the Transmission.

I wonder how much a chrio treament would cost...


Anyways...WAIT 2 GO PETTIT! I would love to have the stage 3 or 4.

I wont really need any more power than that...especially if I put the 8 on a bigger diet. This would definately make me more competitive in autocross.

 

so theoretically stage 2 should still allow the driveline(or most parts in general) to last a good amount of time/miles, correct?

 

Driveline life is largely a result of how you use your left foot. If your going to be drop launching the car, your going to have issues, doesn't matter if its stage II, III, IV or X.

A good clutch combo will help, but even RX7 trannys had weaknesses.

 

^ sorry I should have been more specific...

I have a lead foot, but I don't launch my car. If i were to do this it would be redlined often(no change from now), but not dropping the clutch. I am sure I will have to replace the clutch just due to my driving/teaching others to drive. That I am not worried about.

I am curious about other things that wouldn't naturally go out for lets say 80-100k miles if the car is driven responsibly. again, this is a theoretical question, I am not expecting a detailed plan of what will and won't break. obviously with fi comes more wear, I am just trying to get an idea of how much and if it would be worth it for me eventually.

 

I have to say that having had the opportunity to go for a test ride in Cams SC RX8 test mule(with Cam at the wheel) a couple of months ago, the most memorable thing was how seamless the added power of the SC comes on when under throttle. I am used to modded turbo cars with lag, and the Pettit SC solution just rips without impacting overall driveability at all. I am not sure what "stage" Cams car was in when I took that ride, but he had just re-installed the stock exhaust and commented that he wanted to see what the car was like on an otherwise stock car, but knew the exhaust was limiting the power some. Even in that trim it was a great feeling rush of power.

My hats off to Pettit on this one, and hopefully we will start seeing more first-person feedback on the system by customers in the near future!

Jeff

 

I would only be worried about the Tranny in extreme instances. I.E. 400 wHP +...even then I dont think the tranny will break.

Most people having issues with our transmission were due to factory defects I think. So far I have 30k miles on mine the transmission seems to run great.

I really dont think you or many others will be going beyond that mark (HP I mean) so a simple clutch + flywheel combo would be all I would do.

However, I plan to race (road course and auto-x) and would probably need to chrio treat the internal tranny gears to be on the safe side (I could probably get away with not doing so and not suffer any damage).

Dragracing is a whole different story but as you mentioned you will not be doing that style of racing/driving.

 

Does this mean you won't be doing a stage III AT or does it mean that you're forcusing on the manual first? I can totally understand the manual first, but boy do I ever want stage III for my AT.

Also, way to hit 338whp!

 

Don't forget that at 338 wHP the turbo guys were also runnig out of spark so ignition system would need an upgrade as well.

 

yup, thats the limit for stock components.

But hey, tossing a fuel system and better ignition in isnt a big deal if you want the big #'s

 

me like

when will the kits be available for export ?

 

You have my attention. If you buy the stage 2, will it be easily upgradable to stage 3 ( ie just a smaller pulley and and injectors and all that) and then to stage 4 or will it be a totally different kit?

 

hmmmm.......yum yum give me some...

 

I would imagine what is needed for an upgrade is the following...

Bigger injectors
Smaller pulley
Re-tune maps

 

yeah, thats likely what will be planned

 

Kinda what i ment was that is it a base kit that over time you can add parts and upgrade via stages? Is it at any point a different blower and pipes and all that jazz. Basically i dont want to buy one kit and then have to buy a totally different kit when i want to upgrade the kit.

 

the stage 2->3 transition will be like an upgrade package, stage 4 will likely require alot of part swapping, meaning a new kit.

Although its a new kit, im sure we can work something out for the stage 2/3 owner who wants to upgrade!

 

Ok, i gotcha. Sounds like a good deal

 

I thought moon was talking about stage 3 having different gearing entirely.

 

That's what we like to hear!

Of course, like everyone else I'm interested in driveline longevity, or ways to add parts to ensure it. I don't drag race, but I do go to road courses so the tranny see's a lot of high rpm heel/toe downshifting before corner entry, etc...

 

This should be very interesting when it is finally released. It will make a decision very difficult.

 

Bindon, at what point are you guys recommending the radiator be upgraded? And does the car seeing time at track events affect this?

I'm also inferring from everything that the OEM fuel pump is more than adequate to flow for StageII with no worries, even at extended high rpm track driving?

 

Hey Bindon I would be interested to see the torque curve of the supercharger vs. Turbocharger

Do you still have the dyno graph from your last run at "338 WHP"