hi everyone, i just purchased my new 04 rx8, and i'm new to the rotary scene. i just wanted to know what should be my first most, horepower potent parts for my car. how much power to the wheels can i achieve naturally aspirated on this car, and what can i do it with? if someone can break down how much power i can make with each addon it would be an amazing help. thanks a lot.

 

you will not get very far while staying n/a, stock you start at +/- 180whp for the m/t. now nothing you do will get you very far short of FI. you will hopefully get over 200whp with bolt ons.

this car is pretty maxed out from the factory so bolt ons dont get far. search around on here and youll get all the info you need

 

I would suggest search before ask... But I will help you. From N/A mods you won't see huge gains. The best and the fastest way is FI. Not cheap, but fun and risky From N/A mods max you can get is :

Intake - 5hp
Exhaust + catalyst conventer - 10hp ( TurboXS system more than 20hp )
pulleys - 5hp
piggyback with good tuning - few hp with overall

That would be all... Good mod is a flywheel, better accelaration. Also for accelaration, short shifter could be nice... That's it.

 

^ what he said.
though intake 5 hp sounds a little optimistic
midpipe, tune/reflash. that's all i can think of
Everything else will give minimal to no power gain.

 

I'm pretty sure peopel said pulley changes didn't do much, cause the stock one is pretty light.

I believe the numbers are a bit lower:
Intake 2-3hp
Exahust + cat 6-8hp (I don't know about TurboXS)
pulleys 1-2hp

A light weight flywheel is supposed to improve feel a little and maybe give a few extra hp at the low end (where the car could use it most.)

So you might get as low as 9-10 or you might hit 20. Each car is different. (Again I am not including the TurboXS cause I don't know anything about it. Time for some search and read'in)

 

There are a few things that aren't purely hp-related that you can do to free up some performance and better drivability as well. Synthetic fluids in the transmission and rear diff is a big one. Anything that reduces friction. Another good idea would be resisting the urge to put in a massive sound system, as that hundred pounds of weight will counteract the slight performance gains you'd get out of mods. There is also the matter of a grounding kit, though I'm not totally convinced as to its effectiveness.

If you want the quick and dirty "best NA mods" list, here's my opinion:

Things you should do first regardless of the rest of your mods-
1. synthetic fluid in transmission and rear diff
2. AF short shifter (worth every penny)
3. oil cooler and condenser screens (to protect those vulnerable, expensive parts)
4. stainless steel clutch cable (makes a considerable difference in clutch response time)

HP stuff:
5. Lightened flywheel
6. Intake- either Racing Beat or AEM/Mazdaspeed
7. Midpipe or high-flow cat
8. cat-back
9. piggyback ecu

Handling:
10. coilovers and maybe new shocks
11. sway bars
12. front and rear struts

That's all I could think of for now, but I think those are the most effective things, in order, that you can do to your 8 while keeping it NA. I'm sure I'll be corrected in a few minutes by plenty of people

 

Yeah I'm sure you must do your homework with "search" Check also Agency Power pulley, RB intake (RX tuner test ) ... Exhaust 2.5 without cat gives you I think sth about 10-12. Flywheel gives nattin... Just rev faster. More search, less comments...

 

As always I do need to search more. However, I think you took my comment the wrong way.

I also made the mistake that I thought you where using advertised hp gains. My bad.

Through my limited skimming (limited time) I still have only come across one dyno of underdrive pulleys.


I meant maybe 1hp or at the very very most 2hp, but not likely.

Have a good one

 

In the last month I have added MS CAI, MS exhaust, MS flywheel, and Agency pulley. I can say she seems to pull more in 1st and 2nd, a little in 3rd. She sure does rev quicker though mainly due to the flywheel and pulley I believe. I recommend these and maybe a midpipe if you don't mind the sound increase.

 

save all your money that you would spend on worthless NA parts and save for a turbo system.