The RX-8 in almost every press release has included the same line; "the 8, while quite agile, it lacks power". This statement has been repeated over and over in some shape or form that pretty much the word on the street is that the 8 is slow.

But the sun has set on those days.

With all the new parts and R&D from various tuning shops, club members, and some guys in a garage pushing the 8's envelope with **** music in the background, the 8 has begun what I call is ... it's sleeper years.

Yes sir. No one would exspect a PTP turbo charged 8 putting down 300+whp. No one would exspect a Greddy turbo equipped 8 putting out 275 ft/lbs torque. With the new Interceptor X and XEDE from Vishnu, who knows what will happen in an NA type setup let alone FI. HKS has the Rotrex SC coming soon (that'll probably blow our sleeper cover) and Petit Racing seems to be moving right along with their SC kit.

I guess my question is to everyone: What do you think the next step for the 8 is??? More power, "cleaner" rotary power (making an 11 sec car is easy, making a street legal 11 sec rotary takes butt loads of talent), even BETTER handling???

Silly questions and comments, but just curious as to how everyone feels about how the aftermarket is finally getting somewhere with the 8. :D

 

At least I think it will be somewhat competitive, but at what cost? I think 11's are far away from now. I think the car should be known for what it was made for, road racing. I think FI is ok but I would like to see more N/A power improvements.

 

I think to much :D

 

If you want my idea of a sleeper go look at a Mercedes E55 AMG Wagon. 0-60 in 4.1 sec Faster 0-150 than a corvette. Best of all it is a station wagon!

 

I would like more NA mods myself. Although I wouldn't mind a SC. But I feel the same way about the 8 being a track car. To tell you the truth, if my 8 could do low 13s or high 12s, I think that would be more than sufficient to keep my 8 ahead during the straights (you know the long ones where that EVO and STi start reappearing in your blind spots).

 

Out of budget. But sleeper none the less.

 

First of all the RX-8 has always been a sleeper....on the track that is.

I don't know why you're pulling out the champagne. Let's be realistic here.

The RX-8 has been extremely uncooperative to change.

Bolt-ons like exhausts, intakes, and mid pipes haven't done squat for this car NA.

Canzoomer's piggyback was okay but not much transpired from that front that you could brag about.

The GReddy kit has been out for a while now, yet majority of the RX-8s using that kit barely outperform a stock 350z in a straight line.

The PTP kit, Interceptor X, and XEDE aren't even out yet so what's the point of getting excited when you haven't even heard user feedback on these kits and piggybacks?

Once I see a collective group of numbers with great results, that's when you'll have my attention. That's the attitude you're left with when after you've been **** teased so many times over the past two years.

 

The aftermarket community is slowing starting to come around, the main thing is this engine requires alot more R&D than the others due to the engine design and the possible economic benefit for a company to invest in it, not to mention it has only been out for two years. This car is by no means a dragster but increasing its horsepower to the 300 mark with FI, is not something to scoff at either. Just look at the car it already has a bad *** look to it without the addition of a body kit, handling that is not seen in other vehicles without substantial modifications, smooth controllable power throughout the whole 9,000 RPM powerband.

As far as sleeper status I would not be surprised to see this car achieve over 350hp, once boost, fuel maps, and tuning are fully tested. I would give the aftermarket community approximately another year or so to fully understand the potential of the Renesis.

 

I don't really think it's a sleeper at all. No more than a tuned civic is. I expect people to give these cars more power.

Plus, people always say it looks faster than it is :p

 

Just give me a MS 8 with 275-300 HP and 200-250 torque and I'll be happy.

 

I hate to say it because I love the car but it is all show and no go

 

I always believed in the car just not the ECU and hopefully one day
we will stand a bit prouder. NA or FI driven

 

The Interceptor is going to be interesting to say the least. The tuff part of building a sleeping rotary, is finding a tuner that can work his magic with it. I don't feel like driving 7,000 miles to see Scott. I'm going to take the plunge soon.

 

Engine management seems to have been (or BE???) the biggest hurdle for 8. Now that the XEDE and Interceptor are out, I guess we can see how far the Renesis can go. It's a refined 13B engine. I'm sure Mazda made it WAY more durable this time round.

 

the whole argument of a sleeper RX8 is heresay. no one has proven anything beyond that. turbos, NOS, ECU upgrades....all barely get the car into the 13s...BARELY.

Besides the fact that a sleeper is car that on the outisde looks slow but in reality is fast. the RX8 looks fast as hell but isn't. A better sleeper car would be a Hyundai Elantra that could do 12s in the 1/4 mile.

 

True the 8 may look fast as hell, but it's gotten the reputation that it is anything but how it looks. For the initial few out there that have the full ECU control and FI they will be sleepers. After that, the 8 will start drawing more repect and that will fade.

Then again, with what appears to be the advent of substantially more power in our cars, it remains to be seen how durable all the other components will be under the increased strain.

 

I've had more than one mechanic tell me that pushing FI to get significant horsepower gains dramatically reduces the lifespan of the engine and supporting components.

I don't know about you guys, but as much as I want more power, I daily drive this car. I don't need parts failing because I wanted more push on my abdomen when I slam the gas pedal.

The short answer is this: for the amount in headache, sacrificed warranty, cost in upgrades and aftermarket labor, and reduced reliability.....go buy yourself a used crotch rocket which will likely out accelerate any car on the street.

 

you guys sound as if the 8 is actually "slow". The car stock with abuse can break 6 seconds to 60. And most can break 15 sec quarter.....yes it's not face distorting speed but hardly slow. In fact a older guy in a strange blue/purple color Mustang Mach1 wanted a go and I stayed with him much better than I thought, we only got to 65-70ish. C&D managed 5.9 also with a new 300hp 350Z, my old SE-R spec-v kinda quick but much slower than a 8 and that was still not "slow" I guess my interpratation of slow is much diffrent than most, but "fast" to me is sub 5 sec 60, sub 14 quarter. Really subjective I suppose.

 

I was just about to post the same thing. I guess in the day and age of sub 5 second rally cars for 30k we would expect more for our money. One thing that those competing cars will never be able to do is compete with the chassis balance and the weight of the car.

In the coming years we'll be able to add HP easily i'm sure, but those 350z will always be stuck with their weight. Sure they can take out seats and put on CF hoods, remove a/c etc, but then they have a light uncomfortable car to drive around.

We're in good shape.

 

the RX-8 engine is capable of 232 whp maybe more ( i have seen it on a race car running a stand alone computer full exhaust no porting), but the engine, exhaust, intake are parts without the tunning they are parts and nothing more, its all in the ecu.

 

I recall Speedsource saying they were around 240whp in their cars. I'm interested in where we'll be after porting. A daily driver NA that can get near 250whp would be great.

 

None of this discussion will matter if gasoline prices go much higher, especially if they ever hit $5/gallon. If that ever happens, the RX-8 is dead. No one will want to have a car that a good portion of drivers are getting 11-15 mpg (seems to be hit or miss), and if they do, they'll want something that has some punch to justify the crappy fuel efficiency. Plus, I would think (being a non-mechanic) that any power improvements would be at the further cost of fuel economy.

 

I agree! I'm one of the 10 to 11mpg victims and as much as I'd love more power,
I'm not about to invest in something that'll actually make my mpg worse.
It's that Love-Hate Relationship and if fuel prices increase much more,
I'll be a SRT owner (and have more torque)

 

surprisingly enough, one of the possible benefits of tuning the ECU for more HP would be better gas mileage. The current ECU is tuned to dump too much gas in order to "protect" the catalytic converter, which in turn depresses performance. Leaning out the gas mixture will result in better mileage and increased power. But then again I'll be tempted to floor it too often which will negate any fuel mileage gained. :D

 

which is tremendously ironic since my cat failed at 7k miles due to manufacturing defect....yep, that ECU tweak to compromise performance and gas milage was definitely worth it.