UPDATE : please see page four for photos!!


As some of you have seen in another post, I have started to buy parts for an rx-8 for next year. I recently acquired the new Mazdsspeed wheels (which are *still* in my living room). Somebody wanted to know more about my project, so I thought I would share my story.


My wife and I (see picture below) are planning our second car project which is based the rx-8. my love affair with the rx-8 has been going on since 2003 and with rotary engines since 1993. I am planning to buy a 2007 or 2008 model and it will just depend on the timing of various other projects over the next year.

I went to UT Austin for college from 1991-1996. I was an astronomy major/pre-med and spent alot of time with many other astronomy students who also were into things like anime, cars, girls, etc...my friends at that time would talk about the 2nd generation RX-7 with such joy and passion, using phrases like "turns like it's on rails." I of course had never heard of it or the rotary engine. I went the the local undergraduate library and looked up Felix Wankel and learned about piston engines and the differences between them and a rotary. I also learned about Mazda and their 30+ year development history. I was intrigued by it all, but of course since I was a very poor student, i couldn't ever have hoped to own one.

Then in 1993, the 3rd generation RX-7 came out...and I fell in love. It was beautiful to behold, and sitting in it seemed like strapping yourself into a rocket. It had that strange but fascinating waveguide bose system that wrapped around the back. i also loved how the door handles were different and that the driver cabin was designed to feel like it wrapped around one. I never actually drove one and still to this day have not ridden in one. Never even heard it turned on. As a kid, I sat in it at Roger Beasly Mazda in Austin. It's funny that I have these vivid memories of sitting in a red RX-7 that one time.

In 1994, one of the UT professors bought one (never found out who)...it was black and gorgeous and he always parked it in the same place. I always made a point to plan my daily walk schedule to class so I could see it. When I learned how much it cost (ouch!) I remember thinking how I would never have a rotary car.

Then after 1995, they stopped selling them in the US...and I felt crushed. But i continued to work hard and study; I was still poor and I was in the middle of 12 years of school, but I never forgot that special car with a very special powerplant.

 

I finally graduated from UT Austin in 1996 and went on to medical school...I was so busy with school and getting married that I pretty much stopped thinking about cars for the next six years. In college I drove a 1981 Toyota Cressida which was white in color. Not too bad, but it was no sports car. My dad bought my a used 1992 silver toyota camry for medical school in 1996 which I had until 2003. My marriage didn't last through medical school, and I was single again by the time I graduated in 2000. Even more poor then

I was in a wreck when some asian lady in a sequoia pulled out in front of me. Needless to say, my camry and I didn't stand a chance. my car was totalled. at the time, I thought toyota were the best cars and I was intrigued by the new matrix which had just been introduced. After discussing it with my dad, who helped me negotiate a good price, I was a happy owner of silver 2003 Toyota Matrix...this was back in Mar 2003. I really loved that car, as it was so versatile and pretty. But after several months of driving it, I felt that the car was fairly underpowered and didn't have that pick up and go that my V6 camry did. Funny thing is, Mazda was still not yet on my radar.

By then I had been dating a very nice girl who was four years older than me with two daughters. After I finished my residency, we decided to get married and build a house. It was one of the best moments of our lives, as our wedding was in our new house and set to 30 minutes of music...very romantic and not a dry eye in the house

Then I started my practice, hitting the ground running, and I have not looked back since...

 

Funny thing about line of work is that you get to meet all sorts of intersting people. I was fortunate to save the life of someone who is now dear friends with my family. His name is mike (not his real name, but the name he goes by) and he happenes to own a tire shop about 30 miles from me. Now his shop may not look like much from the outside...not even a paved driveway or entrance! But because of his location, he is *very* busy. He does over $10 million a year in business selling all kinds of tires.

When the time came to buy new tires for my matrix, I told him that I wanted something different...I wanted tires that had raised white letters similar to what racecars had. I thought it would like nice. Now that we had been friends for awhile, he was able to order from Goodyear NASCAR Eagle tires that fit my Matrix. According to my wife, that was the beginning of the end for me when it came to car projects!

About a year later, my parents needed a new car and I had made some money by now that I was thinking about getting something nicer for myself. All my peers drive Porsches, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz cars. I was driving a matrix, but it didn't bother me. I always thought the contrast was amusing. Funny thing is, I received so many compliments from other people about how good my car looked, ever from total strangers at stop lights. My wife was really amused by this also.

 

As it turns out, right around the corner from where I practice now, there is a brand new mazda dealership. So one day I went there to see what they had. Much to my surprise, they had some very nice looking cars! That was in the early fall of 2004. Met some nice salespeople (who would later become my friends and patients!) and they showed me the new RX-8, and Mazda 3. I later brought my wife who fell in love with...the Tribute To this day, she still *loves* that car! She calls it the Catbus which is really funny (it's a reference to My Neighbor Totoro).

I saw the RX-8 and my wife told me that I should test drive it...so I did. Looking back, what happened afterwards was inevitable, but I had no idea what I was in for! I slid into the driver's seat and took the whole thing in...and felt a lot of emotion. I remember this test drive because our salesperson was slightly overweight...about 280lbs! My wife said to him, "I'll sit in the back," but he counters with "that alright, I fit just right in the back." She shrugged her shoulders and sat next to me...and what do you know, he actually did fit back there...he said he was comfortable, but I didn't believe him!

I started the car and was simply amazed by how the motor sounded...had never heard anything like that in my life. After I pulled it out onto the street, I played with it and then speed along with traffic. It felt *so* good, and my wife had a huge smile on her face! I then a U-turn at a traffic light above 20mph...had never done that before but the rx-8 didn't even flinch. I realized at that moment that this was way too much car for me and that I wasn't nearly a good enough driver to own something this magnificient. So I drove it back, parked and said "this car is not for me." I felt that I had just needed to drive it, to get that "rotary bug" out of my system.

 

Unfortunately, I kept thinking about my experience driving the RX-8. I became nearly obessive about it! I later confessed to my wife that I had been having dreams at night about driving it. She simply said to me, "you've worked very hard, you've earned it, and I think you definitely deserve it!" I was finally going to have a rotary powered car! I had already told my wife about the black RX-7 that I admired at UT Austin.

So on November 15, 2004, we both went to the mazda dealership, after a much candid discussion, and bought a 2005 Mazda Tribute for her. Her new car was a Titanium Grey colour. I placed an order for a 2005 Winning Blue RX-8 from the factory. I was really happy that day. My was to be built in December and delieverd by late January or early February 2005. But as many of you already know, my happiness was to be short-lived.

I went home that night and signed on to Google Alerts. I made three alerts that day, one for Mazda Tribute, RX-8, and Ujina. I had read that was the name of the plant in Japan where they made the RX-8, so I thought it might be interesting to have a google alert for it.

Exactly, one month after I placed my order for my WB RX-8, on December 15th, I received a google alert for Ujina -> there had a been a fire in the paint shop and all cars there had stopped production. That same day I went to the Mazda dealership and asked them about it to see if it was true...they hadn't heard a thing and wouldn't for several weeks, but my heart was already sunk. A few weeks later, I received word that my car had not been made and that it wouldn't be made until May or June at the earliest.

 

The bad news was true. Ujina #1 had a pretty bad fire, but thankfully nobody had been hurt. I was so crushed and devastated. So I did the next best thing I could...I bought a new 2005 Mazda 3 (in Winning Blue) on December 30th. It wasn't an RX-8, but it was a much car than my Toyota Matrix which promply paid off and gave to my parents. To this day, my dad still drives it with the NASCAR tires...he says he loves it because he gets a lot of respect on the road!! That makes my wife giggle a lot has he looks like a school bus driver sometimes, has no hair on his head, and is *very* hard of hearing!

Unfortunately, I was still feeling pretty depressed about not having an RX-8. So in February 2005, I gave in and bought a Whitewater Pearl that had been in built in Sept 2004, but had less than 50 miles on it. So now we had three Mazdas in our stable. My oldest learn to drive in the Mazda 3 and I gave it to her when she turned sixteen. But before she did, I would drive the 3 on bad weather days, and the RX-8 on sunny days. Turned out to be a nice thing have two cars like that.

After she turned sixteen I realized that having only an RX-8 as a daily driver was not exactly ideal because of work. It handled okay on wet days, but there are always one or two days that it snowed and iced up here, and there was *no way* I was going to risk my baby that way. I didn't like driving it on rainy days either because it was just get so dirty. She was a summer car for sure!

 

About the time, I got my RX-8, i began reading and visiting the forums here on RX-8 club. I never really posted much as I had nothing really important to say here that hadn't already been said. I did meet the nicest group of rx-8 drivers here in the local area and spent some time with them as well. I loved talking about the car and seeing what other people would do their cars. And thus the obsession deepened...

Even to this day, I am amazed by the variety, imagination and creativity of the folks who own RX-8s. I've never really seen this kind of enthusiasm for a car! So many of the people on this forum have really inspired me to do good things for my car..and I've learned a lot about cars, engines, suspensions, brakes, etc...from reading this forum and *searching*

In any case, I later decided to paint my calipers red and replace the speakers and install a subwoofer in my trunk to improve the sound in my car. Kinda went overboard there with the subwoofer (see photo).

 

Painting the calipers was fun and added so much to the car in terms of looks and sportiness. Definitely a good mod to do. See attached photos. The owner of the shop is in that first photo, and my wife in the second one. We also ended up painting the calipers yellow on the mazda 3 too!

 

I began thinking about doing a real car project around January 2006...one that was designed from the ground up for a specific purpose. I actually ended not being happy with the sound system in the RX-8 even with the subwoofer, new Infinity speakers and Kicker amps. Despite that, it never sounded quite right to my ears. So I decided to sell my RX-8, do a car project based around a great all weather car that would double as a daily driver. My gas mileage in the RX-8 was not so good, only 21mpg, and it took premium gas. At the time, gas prices were over $3/gallon too.

So in Feb 2006, I sold my RX-8 and bought a 2006 Grand Touring Velocity Red Mica Mazda 3. I then promptly began modding it. In terms of a daily driver, it's better suited than an RX-8 because of all the little perks, like four cupholders in the front, rain-sensing wipers, a rear-wiper, and a sound-system with a nice built-in subwoofer. I really love the sound in my Mazda 3.

I then asked my tire friend the following question: "I want to buy a tire that will never hydroplane." So got me a set of Federal Motorsport tires with incredible tread. See photos. These tires are so sticky and stiff, that I drive my Mazda 3 like it is an RX-8! A truly amazing little car.

I should point out here that despite not having an RX-8 for almost all year now, I still read RX8club on a daily basis...that and the wall street journal. this club is endlessly fascinating to me. After reading about cold air intakes and understanding what it is, I decided to test one out on my Mazda 3. I bought a Fujuta F5 intake and had my friend install it...wow! Sounds great, better acceleration, and am getting 30 miles more to each tank of gas. I paid $185 for the intake and gave my mechanic $100 to install it. Well worth the money!

 

I told my wife in July of this year that I really missed my rx-8. I love my Mazda 3, but it simply isn't the same. So she says to me, "let's get another rx-8, but design it on paper first, every detail, and then let's buy the parts for next year." i love my wife because she is a very smart person,and she knows me and by designing the new car on paper, any changes made are not expensive. So since July, I've been researching (searching as says mugato ) on rx8club one or two hours a night different features and options that I want on my new rx8.

We were looking at different photos of rx8s when I came across the x-men rx-8. My wife said that she really loved the colour..that dark blue. I told her that Mazda had just come out with a new Stormy Blue Mica...I showed her a photo of a car with that colour...and she just loved it...of course, I just loved it too.

"Let's call it Nightstorm." wow, she's great and thus our new car project begun in earnest. I have over four pages of typed notes of what I want to do with this car. I especially have studied posts by rotarygod, brillo, 4 years to supercharge, and others with great interest, especially the technical articles.

So in a sense, the nightstorm project is child of the rx8club and it's many fine vendors because it is my intention for her to be spectacular and beautiful, inside and out. It's about balancing looks and functionality, weight vs speed and power. Inspiration taken from a whole generation of other rotary cars (and a Ferrari or two). Ultimately it will be a car that I will be proud to park next to my peers' Porsches, BMW, M-W, and Lexus cars...and outdrive them all

To be continued...next up...my parts list!

 

Your wife sounds awesome! Never knew women could be so enthusiastic about helping in a car project!

 

t-run/8, she indeed is awesome! I feel very fortunate to have her in my life...not to mention she's nine kinds of hot too!! She teases me saying that she wants to take suggestive photos of her and the nightstorm for me


EXILE

 

Here is my complete list...because of it's length, I will post it in pieces. Constructive criticism is always welcome as well as healthy discussion. Not everything is set in stone either. The parts in bold are ones that are sitting in my rx8 closet underneath the stairs. The basic categories are as follows:


Engine & Oil
Electronics
Exterior Trim [ Stormy Blue Mica ]
Interior Trim [ Black Leather | Carbon Fiber | Piano Black ]
Exhaust
Suspension
Brakes
Wheels
Miscellaneous

 

First your Wife is awsome tell her that please! lol.. my goal in life is to find a wife that like hehe. "Sure hunny you can buy that sports car and mod it to holy high heaven!"

Since you've owned so far 3 Mazda's you getting any sort of loyalty bonus for buying another 8?

Cant wait to see the parts lists, you plan on putting a explantion of why on each part or group of parts?

 

Agency Power Silicone Radiator Hose Kit
Greddy Engine Oil Pan
Mazsport Cooling Fan Control Kit

Racing Beat AC & Oil Cooler Screens
Racing Beat REVi Intake System
Racing Beat Ram Air Duct

RX-8 Strakes Fuel Cap Holder

Agency Power Pulley
WIX Oil Filter

 

Because so many of the employees at mazda are my patients now, and that I've bought a lot of mazdas, let's just say I don't need to negotiate on price

As far as an explantion, it will be mostly obvious why I picked the parts that I did. Just do a search on any part name and the club will it explain it for you.


EXILE

 

derwankel productions Gauge Pod with Autometer Nexus Gauges
Ignited Performance Illuminated Engine Start Button [ Blue ]

Racing Beat RX-8 Gauge Panel Kit


(13.nov.2006 update:derwankel announced that he won't be making his gauge pod, so I guess racing beat it is. I wish the best for derwankel and his family. Now I need to figure what I'm going to do with that start button ; update:will probably now just skip the start button altogether. not really necessary with keyless start on the grand touring model.)

 

Autobahn Side Skirts
ings+1 FRP Rears

derwankel productions Puddle Lamps

mazda Front Air Dam
mazda Multi-Tint Fog Lights
mazda Rear Rotary Accent
mazdaspeed carbon fiber B-Pillar Trim Set
mazda JDM Clear Corners with Stealth Bulbs

mazdaspeed license plate frame [ Carbon Fiber ]

Rotary13B1 Rotary Shaped Tire Valve Stem Caps ( x4 )

RX-8 Accessories Stainless Steel Front Rotary Accent
RX-8 Accessories Stainless Steel Fender Strakes ( x4 )

RX-8 Strakes Rear Rotary LED Light [ Red Lens ]

 

EXILE, it seems that you have great plans. I wish you the very best of luck in your quest for Rotary Perfection.
Lets us know when you finally get the 8. Would love to see what a Stormy Blue looks like.

 

mazda France Aluminum Driver's Side Footrest (different from US/JDM models)
mazda France Aluminum Passenger Footrest (for LHD car)

was unable to obtain the two above parts

mazda Rotary Logo Door Sill Plates ( x2 )

mazdaspeed Console Kit ( Carbon Fiber )
mazdaspeed Inner Handle Bezel ( Carbon Fiber )

zetaproducts Console Cushion Pad

 

Thank you for the encouragement...I plan to post lots of photos...during delivery, adding the mods, and of course the finished result. The process of designing, planning and then building is all enjoyable to me.


EXILE

 

mazdaspeed Dual Muffler Sport Exhaust
mazdaspeed Shocks & Springs [ Front + Rear ]
mazdaspeed Sway Bars [ Front + Rear ]

(note: thank you brillo for a great write up and your springs & shocks experiences elsewhere on the club...it helped me learn quite a bit)

 

Motul 5.1 Brake Fluid
Stoptech Steel Brake Lines ( x4 )

Racing Brake Two Piece Curved Open Slot Rotors ( x4 )
Hawk Performance Ceramic Brake Pads ( x4 )



note: still have a lot to learn about braking systems, so the above list is tentative at best. What I want is lower weight rotors that look great...drilled & slotted. I also want the rotor hats painted to match and maybe even paint the calipers. I'm not sure yet what direction to go. I have no intention of taking this car onto the race track. So I know that I don't need a big brake kit.

Been reading more about brakes and I think that I will leave the RX-8 brake rotors untouched for now. May upgrade the brake pads to Mazdaspeed or Project Mu down the road, but I can't get a clear sense of whether to try obtain slotted/drilled rotors. I like the two piece rotors that Racing Brake makes, but they are expensive for all four.

update: decided to go with the racing brake rotors after all. I called them and they gave me a great deal; $200 off the whole package.

 

McGard Two Piece Spline Drive Lugnuts [ Black Chrome ] ( x20 )

mazdaspeed (by enkei) 18" Wheels [ 18.0 x 8.0J + 50 ] ( Dark Silver ) ( x4 )
see the following
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/jdm-mazdaspeed-18-wheels-enkei-102569/


update: wheels put on car; they look great!

 

Evans Cooling Systems Coolant (need to learn more about this too)

evo-r RX-8 Spirit R Badges

Idemitsu Racing Rotary Fuel Lube (Premix)

mazda JDM Aluminum Fuel Door [ Paint Matched to Stormy Blue Mica ]




(note:this section will be for parts that I think are interesting, but may or may not make it to the final car. I saw a yellow rx-8 with a japanese kanji symbol on the fuel door too...I liked that, sorta like a car tattoo , and found the kanji for "storm" online."