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Should I leave the engine alone or push it?

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Old 12-13-2007, 04:57 PM
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Should I leave the engine alone or push it?

I understand that the rotary engines are a bit fussy and upgrading it could heavily annoy the motor. So when I see a turbo kit that claims to have dyno'd at 326whp, I wonder how long will my 8 last? But at the same time I read about how many people put on a bolt on turbo and have absolutely no problems. (maybe an engine check light, but it'll still run.)

I am planning to do a major overhaul on the vehicle. while adding in a turbo charger, I was thinking about adding more components as well.

poly-urethane motor mounts
Amemia coilover suspension upgrade
light-weight flywheel from Mazdaspeed
6 puck clutch from ACT
bigger brake kit from brembo
light weight pulley system
larger tires

is there anything else i should consider adding?
Old 12-13-2007, 05:03 PM
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if you are going to be doing all that i would add the afe short shifter, catless midpipe, and light weight wheels
Old 12-13-2007, 05:16 PM
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now i've been thinking about how much all of this would cost and i ask myself another question. should i just forget about all this and use it for a down payment on the skyline gtr? but unfortunately i'll have to wait for it to come out. where as I could do this in a matter of months.
Old 12-13-2007, 05:40 PM
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You seem to be going in a lot of different directions. Why don't yoiu state your actual tuning budget and desired effect and I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable in the forum could assits you better.

For example, If the car is your Daily Driver, you don't autocross, you are mainly looking for looks and power and you have $10k for mods. I think in that case most would tell you to get springs, dampers, lightweight wheels, a highflow cat, flywheel and cltuch, short shift, and save the rest for install and some minor appearance items.
Old 12-13-2007, 05:45 PM
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I wouldn't even heavily mod an rx8 that's a dd, mine has enough problems stock! Just my opinion. Ps- i got my flame suit on
Old 12-13-2007, 05:48 PM
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That depends on who you ask.

There are a few folks with turbos that get downright upset trying to defend the concept that a turbo will reduce the life. Its pretty comical. One point they do make, and rightly so, is a poor quality of tune will probably cause more harm then the turbo itself.

Typically if you compare the life of the Gen II NA Vrs the turbo one might be able to feel better about some accelerated aging factor. Even then people will argue.
Old 12-13-2007, 06:04 PM
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dont turn this into another mods vs new GTR thread. FIRST, decide if you want to keep the 8, or get the new GTR. do not bring mods into it. if you do decide to keep the 8, which we all would like you to, then tell us what you want to do with it. do you want to track it (autocross), or just make it for show. i can say that if you get the right mods, install them to the best that you can, and take care of the 8, it wont effect its life span much at all. i cant say personally how a turbo will effect the 8's lifespan, but i can say that i owned a 1983 Volvo 760 turbo, and it went through hell and back with me, and it still started up on the first crank. it all depends on how well you take care of the car. decide then come back and let us know
Old 12-13-2007, 06:32 PM
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Anything that's turbo will be unreliable.
Old 12-13-2007, 06:35 PM
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hey john, what about semi's?
Old 12-13-2007, 06:37 PM
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Good Point, I don't remember too many Diesels without turbo's, or diesels that don't make it over a half million miles either...
Old 12-13-2007, 06:42 PM
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exactly. turbo's can be reliable. you just have to make sure they are tuned right and taken care of
Old 12-13-2007, 07:16 PM
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I'd say it isn't worth the money to mod the 8 at this point. You can drop a LOT of money on power upgrades and you still won't make it over 335-340whp. Fixing the ignition problems may change my mind in the future.
Old 12-13-2007, 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by chetrickerman
hey john, what about semi's?
Semi's are diesel; they're impossible to break.
Old 12-13-2007, 07:21 PM
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Get the gtr, get gtr, gtr, gtr GTR definitely.
But I need your advice, too: Should I mod my fiat punto or buy an evo X?
Old 12-13-2007, 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by SlayerRX8
I'd say it isn't worth the money to mod the 8 at this point. You can drop a LOT of money on power upgrades and you still won't make it over 335-340whp. Fixing the ignition problems may change my mind in the future.
dont be so quick to say. esmeril is on that
Old 12-13-2007, 07:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Renesis SE3P
Semi's are diesel; they're impossible to break.
still have a turbo.
Old 12-13-2007, 07:23 PM
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Originally Posted by chetrickerman
still have a turbo.
Bah!
Old 12-13-2007, 07:27 PM
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hahaha. i right. you know that turbo's can be reliable. i know you know
Old 12-13-2007, 08:25 PM
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I guess that my mind is on a lot of things. One in particularly which is defeating an S2000 and a turbo'd civic. now i know most people would say that i'm immature for spending so much money for such a insignificant cause. i just hate honda guys dis'n mazda. so i challenged them down my hill a few times, got close but still got beat . So now it was time to challenge them uphill. I was hoping that civic was going to do terribly due to its turbo lag, but i was wrong. the rx8 was struggling going up hill. i don't know why, but it was. so i took on the s2k hoping to get even closer since it was a non-turbo and the specs were similar to the 8's. but due to its light weight chasis i lost yet again....and i mean lost .

So after doing some research I figured that right now I have a little over 7K saved up, but I may need a bit more to get what i need to power the 8.

Thank you all for your feedback.
Old 12-13-2007, 08:27 PM
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Hey Chetrickerman is it possible to make the rotary motor diesel? I know that they're trying to make a hydrogen powered rotary motor, but a diesel one would be interesting.
Old 12-13-2007, 08:31 PM
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would it?
Old 12-13-2007, 08:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Noble Wolf
Get the gtr, get gtr, gtr, gtr GTR definitely.
But I need your advice, too: Should I mod my fiat punto or buy an evo X?
I think that the evo X is a better buy. A friend of mine just picked up the evo IX and that car is remarkable. If you have the money, then I'd say just buy the vehicle that is designed with a more powerful engine rather than trying to beef up one that was never meant to handle that kind of power.
Old 12-13-2007, 08:35 PM
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Threads like this make Jesus Cry.

You only have access to $7k and you are going to try to bid (and you will have to bid) on 1 of maybe, MAYBE, 20 GT-R on your Islands? They are going to go for over $100k. Don't kid you self. You dont have the bank for that. STFU

Turbos don't make cars unreliable, its asshats that dont know what the **** they are doing that makes an engine pop.

RX-8s suck. Honduz are the shiznit. Looks like you need another car to put a massivly useless wing on.
Old 12-13-2007, 08:40 PM
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Originally Posted by legendkurado
would it?
I think it wouldn't hurt testing something like that. Diesel vehicles are some of the longest living. There are mercedes that are 10 years older than me and still run. Not only that, but you could drive for miles and not have to stop for a refill. like how i do every three days possibly four.
Old 12-13-2007, 08:56 PM
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well first of all take that wing to the scrap yard and see if they can melt the plastic for a few bucks... second if you have 7k you might be able to get the turbo setup properly and no more. If you just wanna beat a civic, put that wing on his car and you gain 30lbs to his car and off yours! But moreso if thats just the case, get a short shifter, good intake/exhaust/midpipe combo, pulleys, and zex nitrous 55shot kit. All you need and it will cost roughly 2500 for all of that and your at a good range over those POS cars.. oh.. and buy some driving lessons with the money left over.


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