You coming to Indy this weekend for the Putnam HPDE? I want to see this thing!

 

tasty.

 

It's 5.49AM, the car runs!
After many "disassemblings" of the intake manifold (now a 15 min job) and mysterious resistance to starting, I determined that the engine was severely flooded. Most of this flooding, I imagine, was a direct result of having an entire fuel rail's worth of gasoline poured into the engine while the rail was being removed. 20+ minutes of cranking, following Mazda's incredibly effective (haha) dechoking procedure yielded only broken hearts. However, we would not be defeated by an enemy so familiar to the Mazda rotary engine! We split our ranks into two teams, one would go to McDonald's for much-needed nourishment, the other to the bastion of late night impulse buys, Wal-Mart to procure the finest starting fluid. We reconvened at we planned our attack over a meal fit for kings, kings with no real kingdom, or money to spend on a proper meal for that matter. We determined that one lucky vacuum line would be chosen to ingest the magical Prestone Ether.
As the rotors turned in their housings, you could feel the fuel sloshing about. Every rotation brought only more agonizing questions. When would it start? Will it start? Are my spark plugs fouled? Is this ether going to send me and my car sky-high? Did I forget to change my underwear today? Suddenly, after a donkey-choking amount of ether was sent through the intake manifold, a spark of hope was ignited. From the bowels of the rotary came a most beautiful sound. A sound that could only be described as a diesel engine thrown into a blender, with just a hint of sheer destruction. Immediately following this wonderful cacophony was a sweep of the tachometer's needle and the engine lived again! The plumes of smoke that billowed from the exhaust heralded the coming of a new age of power for the RX-8.
Rejuvenated, I set out to have the first drive and take in all that had happened. All the highs and the lows, the spills, the battles with spaces so tight, a professional spelunker would cringe. But through it all, we persevered and now we can reap the benefits of a turbocharged RX-8.



**DISCLAIMER: It's 6.04AM, I'm pretty sure the lack of sleep and exhaust fumes have made me a bit on the high side of things, but I hope you all enjoyed the story. Updates and video to come!**

 

Sounds like all that ether had it's effect on your writing too!

S

 

I really enjoyed that story thanks Cant wait for pictures and vids.. I want my 8 to be turbo'd... oh how I <3 turbos.

 

How will you be able to track the car with a so low wastegate and the coilovers?

 

The wastegate does sit quite low, however, I may look into a more compact unit that will fit the application. Also, I don't plan on setting my ride height much lower than stock, as I've always thought that Mazda has the suspension geometry down pat - the main drive behind the coilovers is to get a stiffer spring rate, be able to control bump and rebound, and most importantly - corner balancing.

Side note, the car's in good shape now - just needs the fancy-schmancy Mazda fuel pump tool, which I should get a hold of Friday, after all of these God-forsaken exams...

 

You're right, but when on a track there are times where you risk to scrape, even on a stock height. Some turns have higher borders and cutting them etc may be painful for your car. I would put the relocation on top of my priorities mostly because lowering the car a tiny bit (no useless showcar lowness...) will increase handling, and handling comes before power

 

Purdue? More like PurDon't! haha just kidding, I'm a Notre Dame engineer, I couldn't resist.

I'm really excited to see how everything turns out and can't wait for some pics! Keep up the good work.

 

Glad to see you are back in our neck of the woods. Hopefully Ryan and I can meet up with you sometime to check out the car. Sounds like it is a lot of fun. It would be interesting to see the difference with FI.

 

Wait a second... Wheres the fit?

 

I thought all of you guys would be happy to hear I got back into an RX-8! I'll try to make it down to a meet sometime!

Haha... that one's been gone for a while, then I bought a Mustang (fun car, but not a me car - definitely better than the older Mustangs). I had the Mustang for a month and a half to the day, then found myself signing papers on the RX-8 the day after my birthday. I couldn't stay away from it I guess!

 

Oh and pictures of the install will be coming up soon, just been busy with school and such!

 

But the Fit still haunts me......

 

Oh, it haunts many, all across the country. That car crushed so many hopes and dreams haha

 

Really? A mustang? You never took me as the mustang type

 

That's why I bought the Mustang - I wanted to see what life outside the box is like. Clearly I didn't like it and came running back to the RX-8 haha

 

Blah blah blah....where are the pics/vids you keep talking about?

 

got any more pics?

 

Alright, alright - enough delay! I finally got around to photobucket-ing my pictures and here are the choicest of the choice:


Me, with a box of random turbo parts I received in the mail, I've been told that when all of these parts are installed, your car becomes noticeably more badass. I'll be the judge of that one.


The turbo was installed within minutes.


Me, looking surprisingly stoic as I remove the wheel


Poking around in the bumper, looking for a place to put all this boost.


My friend Mike joining me for more stoic posing while removing the bumper support beam.


My dog, and faithful companion, Diesel trying to comprehend the principles of turbocharging. Minutes after the photo was taken, he passed out, as the concept of positive pressure on the intake charge was simply too much for his canine brain to handle.


Having small friends proved to be a boon in the install, as Chris was able to be placed in the engine bay to assist in the removal of the intake manifold. Note my friend Ben, giving the photographer the finger for no apparent reason, other than the jealousy associated with not having a turbocharged RX-8.


A somewhat artistic photo of more working on the RX-8.


Arguably the most enjoyable portion of the install, the intake manifold removal. I can now remove it within 15 minutes. Word of advice to all who want to turbocharge their car - make sure that all of the vacuum lines are secured! You won't want to have any line blow off the manifold due to boost, it really wouldn't prove to be an enjoyable experience.


Test fitting the turbocharger into the engine bay, finding that all pipes lined up perfectly- score!


The semi-finished product, looking extra shiny. Semi- finished as the instructions I received seem to have been missing the section dealing with the reinstallation of the factory air pump. REINSTALL THE AIR PUMP, lest you want to have a good quarter-sized exhaust leak right off the exhaust manifold...


The prerequisite posing, a must have for any install. Note the grabbing of the crotch, signifying the new amounts of manliless bestowed upon my car.


More posing, note the intensity of the adventure beard and exposing of boxers, indicating that much time was invested in the install and less time was invested in personal hygiene.


The stream of photos seemed to dwindle towards the middle of the install, as the photographer decided to get involved with the install, rather than take photos. Hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my install of the turbocharger. Once I get everything fine-tuned, there will be more media to come!

The full photoset can be seen here:http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/d...rbo%20Install/

 

You are a geek. A very mechanical and intelligent person, but a geek non-the-less. Nice pics bud -- now let's get some seat time and post some vids of it!

Any chance of doing some fine tuning and getting some dyno pulls in?

 

I think you're supposed to put on at least 500 miles at 2psi and slowly increase after that.... it's probably going to be a while before that dyno, am I right?

P.S. I hate you.... in a jealous of your turbo kind of way.

 

Its gonna be fast, lol

 

Haha your witty commentary is the best part. Subscribed.

 

Quick update for the day -
Esmeril Racing Ignition kit installed! Haven't had a chance to run the car as of yet - I'm waiting on a couple little toys to come my way - but the install was very easy and the coil set looks to be top notch. Can't wait to try it out and see what it's like to have a more than adequate ignition system on the RX-8. My main concern right now its that winter is just about to rear its arguably-for-automotive-enthusiasts ugly head... 380rwhp in Midwestern snows... this sounds like a perfect setting for some form of automotive hoonage. I promise that there will be videos soon!