as title said

 

Wow...the 3-rotor thing is getting VERY popular....

 

in another thread, they priced it at 15k for just the parts, but that sounds a little high to me, given that a brand new engine doesn't even cost 1/4th that amount.

 

what is the price pf a brand new 20b right now?

 

Just like the old saying goes... "If you have to ask, it's too much..."

 

someone has to ask eventually...

 

I guess I don't see the point... that kind of project would involve such a huge expense and hassle, it would never be worth it for me. I may drop $4k into forced induction in my car down the road... and I think that benefit would be reasonable... but not much more.

But when you start talking about putting $20k into a $30k car, I'd rather put my money into a Vette or a Porsche and have something that was reliable, warranted and would retain more than 10% of my sunk cost when it's all said and done.

A friend of mine at work has an older Audi S4 that had almost $20k dropped into it putting it over 450hp... my friend bought it from the guy that did all the work for far less than the car cost new. He's also had no end of problems because the car is so bastardized-- it's barely the car it was to start with, which I equate to shoehorning a 3 rotor into an RX8.

 

G8rboy....that's why the 3-rotor idea for me is near death, I just don't feel right spending anything over 5K to get more power. It's easier...may my RX8 forgive me, to eventually buy another car.

With that said, I might be satisfied to get the most NA power out of my Renesis and leave the turbo thing or 3-rotor thing alone.

 

yeah ...
what G8rboy and rx8wannahave said

 

mmmmMMM wouldn't it have been nice if it came from the factory that way?!?!?
Or at least with the option to get a 20B??

<evil grin>

 

Don't get me wrong- the 20B is an incredible motor- if I ever get such a wild hair up my bum that I must have one, I'll either buy a beater FD with a blown 13b and build one as a project, or hunt down an imported '92 or '93 Cosmo.

 

I love the idea of having a 20B in a RX8. To me I think is worth putting the 15K (if you do the labor) into the car and having a RX8 that can smoke pretty much anything on the road. But once you reach those HP # is not that much fun, trust me I know. I had a FD with 400 whp and it took the drivability out of it. With the Greedy kit now making over 300 whp I will just go with that. It will keep the car in balance (balance as hp and handling not 50/50 distribution), still have good drivability, and get more respect on the road is worth it. But on the other hand a 20B with 600 whp gets about the same MPG that a Renesis with bolts ons .

 

Its all in how you drive it though. If you put the hammer down every time you stop at a stop light or every time you see an evo or sti etc... you arnt going to get 17/18 mpg. With that much power i can see anyone not really getting good mpg just because the temptation to hammer it would be really big.

 

MMMMmmmMMmmm is this going to turn into another mileage thread .. whoopee!
I luv mileage threads.. I'm addicted!

If I had a 20B I wouldn't give a crap about mileage...... :D
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

or should I say ZOOM ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

You said temptation too hammer it down.
Mine would have 2 modes. Off and ON

<mmmmm dare to dream>

 

lol, most of the people here are blowing their 401k just to own an RX-8,

 

Where the hell are you getting a cost of $20k from? It's much cheaper to do a 20b swap than that... I'd say $10k max, but if you have the knowledge or skill to do some extra stuff yourself, less.

And a 20b would be awesome. Mazda should've put a 20b renesis in the rx8, they failed us. But that being said, use 2nd gen S5 (1989-1991) non-turbo rotors into the 20b, run it without forced induction, do a nice port, and yourself a freaking awesome vehicle. Good torque, good power, and a blast to drive.

 

Just ballparking a $12-15k parts + labor from start to finish. Acosta spent a lot more than that.

And how did Mazda fail us? do you realize how lucky we are to have a rotary in production at all? The Renesis barely made it because of it's emissions and perceived better fuel economy. There's no way Ford would have greenlighted a 3 rotor for the 8... no way in hell.

 

Because a 3 rotor Renesis is what SHOULD be in there, thats why they failed us

The renesis isnt anything new, they had been working on, testing, planning, etc for many years before. I have no doubt the rotary will ever fully leave, it'll continue to be around. I had my 2nd gen rx7 before my rx8, I love rotaries, but Mazda is not the most intelligent of companies. They do a lot of weird stuff that doesn't make sense, though I'm sure that can be true of many car companies.

And what about emissions/fuel economy? In my 2nd gen rx7 using only 1 cat instead of the stock main cat and 2 precats, I passed my emissions testing easily. WAYYY below the limit, and I got 18-19 mpg in it for city in stop-and-go traffic. The only reason people think rotaries get bad emissions is because not many people know how to work on them well. So when they break, they stay broken and get shitty mileage and emissions. Also because the owners think there's no way to fix it, once again from lack of knowledge.

And Ford only owns 30 or 33% of Mazda, they do not have a controling share, so I believe it was up to Mazda as to whether or not the rx8/Renesis would happen. Why would Ford have the final say when they don't even own a controlling share?

 

First, Ford does have a controlling share of Mazda- they have since they bailed Mazda out in the mid 90's. And yes, they very much had final say over the continued development of the Renesis and future of the RX8. The FD's problems were a PR nightmare for the rotary, and Ford was very reluctant to put any money into another rotary production car. Mazda was not in a financial position to do anything as radical as the RX-8 without Ford's backing and funding.

This is why I say we're damn lucky to have the RX-8 at all, and there was zero chance it would have been released as a 3-rotor 20B or even a turbo. The RX-8 is a mass-market sportscar, not a niche racecar like the 3rd gen RX-7, which is how Ford and Mazda intended.