RXhusker

The popping or burbling seems to have significantly reduced as the exhaust has seasoned -- I have had the Borla on for several months and it doesn't seem to burble nearly as much as it did for the first 500 or so miles -- my wife doesn't mind it at all (and she is a very conservative Volvo driver!)

Sanguine_Dark

Canzoomer,

Here's another question for you.

Will the Stage 1 ECU work with an aftermarket catback exhaust?
How about a midpipe + catback exhaust
lastly what about the various intakes that are out there (such as the Rotary Extreme one).

Thanx for the insights as always.

doccable

CZ-
Haven't had a chance to fully read this entire thread, but I have a question that may not have been asked yet... the modification proposed here involves adjusting the A/F ratio....have you any data, (even theoretical), about what is going to happen when this modification is done to a vehicle that resides and plays at 7200' above sea level? Then again maybe the computer will compensate for it all on its own.
Update: (Now that I have gone back and read the entire thread, a bit daunting with 12+ pages to go through), I realize that I more or less answered my own question, but am still interested in learning what Maurice as well as other forum posters have to say on this subject.....
-Doc

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

Don't be indolent, read the rest of the thread.

canzoomer

Seems to work very well with the Borla catback.
We have one on a car here in Edmonton driven by StealthTL and he likes it.
I have driven it and mine with no catback, and his is definitely stronger.

I have not tested any intakes.
Frankly I am a bit shy of these as i do not think there is that much to be gained on intake side, especially as compred to exhaust, tuning, and so on. Mazda did a pretty decent job on the intake.

canzoomer

7,200 altitude is tough.
You get a lot less power as the air density is so low.

The car has a barometric pressure sensor, and adjusts the mixture based on it, so safety is not problem.

That adjustment is in the base ECU map, and we do not override that except as an increment factor.

Still, you will get a lot less hp than at sea level.


BTW, CanZoomer aka Maurice..

Sanguine_Dark

Canzoomer,

Thanx for patience with my questions (I'm ever so slow sometimes). I haven't seen too much in the way of intake mods that looked very appealing as of yet. My main interest will be in seeing how your ECU will operate with a high flow cat or a test pipe since it works with a aftermarket catback exhaust. As an aside does anyone know what kind of gains StealthTL is getting from the stage 1 with a borla exhaust?

guy321

You have not tested with intakes and dont think they will add any gain. However, do you think they will cause any problems in conjunction with Stage 1 and the Borla exhaust?


I already have both and plan on getting atleast an "after" dyno after Stage I is installed.

DeNile'

MAKE SOMETHING FOR THE AUTO!!!! WE NEED THE D@MN POWER MORE!!!!!!!

mikeb

I agree--but that only makes two of us
the demand isn't high enough

But, I would have it already if auto had one:D

canzoomer

Frankly, I think different intake will have little effect if it incorporates any useful kind of filter.

However that is ONLY my opinion, and I have no test results to back it up.

Once some come on the mrket that look well thought out I may test, but I doubt that will be anytime soon..

Who knows, maybe I am wrong. It certainly would be good news if I am!

As a general rule anything that improves air flow capacity will likely work well with our kits, as we use theairflow sensed by the MAF, and adjust to suit.

canzoomer

OK, in order:
1) I have no access to the ECU tune used on your cars in Germany. I suspect it is similar to over here, where Mazda claims 238hp, but I can not directly verify it.
If somebody could hook up a broadband sensor to their exhaust, before the cat, and log some results of mixture versus rpm at full throttle we could pretty easily tell if it is the same.
If somebodyis interested in doing this email me and I can provide details. In general a kit like this with sensor and metereing device with logging capability costs around $500 USD.

2) In general anything that improves airflow will work well with our kit. We adjust fuel based on the airflow detected by the MAF, so more air will be accounted for.

3) We can ship anywhere Fedex or DHL deliver.

Hope this all makes sense!

JimW

Hello: canzoomer, I am reading this with great interest, and although I do not have and RX8 as of yet, this mod has caused me to consider this car in a different light. what name brand upgrades do you recommend with the ecu trick? and although I like the additional power I cant stand a loud car, can you recommend something that is catless yet is quiet such as a resonator ? Is the car obnoxiously loud without the cat or is it tolerable to the neighbors. also has anyone timed the car with these mods, I'm interested to find out, and last question, I heard that Mazda programed the ECU to run rich for 20,000 miles (break-in) and that it's supposed to lean out thereafter, is there any credibility to this and if so will your ECU trick cause the car to run cautiously lean at that point. sorry about the long post,. Thanks, Jim W.

Omicron

I can field a couple of these questions, Jim.

It's been noted repeatedly throughout the forum that intake and exhaust mods yield minimal gains, 3-5 HP each if that, regardless of what the manufacturers claim. Mazda did a pretty good job with the factory intake and exhaust, so you could just leave them stock and still reap the benefits of Canzoomer's ECU piggyback mod.

That being said, I can tell you that I have both a Borla exhaust and the Rotary Extreme Intake, and neither one make the car appreciably louder. The Borla is much deeper and fuller sounding, and no louder at cruise. At full throttle, it is a bit louder, but mostly deeper. The intake is definitely louder at full throttle, but not otherwise. Neither one of these mods will **** off your neighbors or make you car sound like some rice-mobile and both sound GREAT! :D

Finally, it's been rumored that there is some 20,000 mile "switch" to the ECU a/f mixture, but that's all that is - a rumor. The same rumors have said it kicks in at 2,000 or 5,000 or 7,500 or 10,000 or 15,000 miles. Regardless, even if there is such programming in the ECU, the Canzoomer mod will not be affected, as it intercepts the a/f info from the ECU and sends out it's own a/f info instead.

Hope this helps.

RX-8 friend

Also, as posted by doc, the Borla and ECU mod combination seem to give a bonus in output HP, according to the butt dyno (which is why we feel the need to make further measurements - we need to understand why). Perhaps the stock ECU is somehow "holding back" the aftermarket exhausts. Once the data is in, we can speculate further.

QuantumTheory08

.....that took some time to read.

canzoomer: I am patiently waiting to order....just as you have been very patient in this thread - impressive.

...this reminds me of gold being refined by fire! Heat it up til it melts, then remove the sleg from the top and view the beautiful mirror qualities of pure gold; you'd have to see it to understand what I'm talking about.

Thank you, canzoomer and the rest of you for all your input and thoroughness.

-jcs-

tommy12g

Update?

JimW

Thank You, Omicron. I was afraid to say rice-mobile without offending anybody, and it's O.K. that kids do this, it's just not my thing, to have a car (pardon the expression), sound like a bad fart! Do you have a cat on your Borla system, and if you keep a cat on will the mod still produce the same output with stage 2, I know it will already shorten the lifespan to 1/2 from the earlier posts, but it might still be worth it so you won't get hit with a fine if your caught catless. Thanks and I'm pretty much dead set on this car, just for the sheer fun factor alone!

success07

Holy crap that was alot reading! I don't think I read anything that long the whole 9 years I was in college! It just took me over an hour and a half to go through this whole thing! (including my response) Some things I had to read more than once due to the advanced technical jargon you smart guys were throwing down. "Hooked on Phonics" didn't work as well for me as my parents might have hoped it would. I feel that I need to replenish my electrolites with some Gatorade. iye corumba!

Just a little humor for an otherwise intense thread. Though it did tend to settle down toward the end.

I'm really glad to see that this kind of discussion can be held here because there is alot of knowledge out there the be shared through alot of experienced individuals. Those of us that don't have that knowledge but are enthusiasts, share in your passion to really see what this renesis rotary engine can do when tweaked a little bit. I personally want to learn more. Of course that means I'll have to take the time to read everything; BUT in the end I will truely be the one who benefits here. Along with all the others in my same boat.

So I say thank you to all of you that take the time to put this stuff together. Good stuff though from all parties envolved. 'Canzoomer' I applaud your tenacity in trying to provide all of us as well as yourself with better performance. I believe that I will look into ordering the Stage 1 very soon, if in fact there are some still available.

I look forward to future threads. Time to turn in, it's 1:43am and the little lady has been asleep for a few hours. Quitely I sneak myself back into the bedroom..........ooops, kicked the cat, damn, now shes awake!

Omicron

Happy to help.

Right now, I have the Borla and the stock cat. I will be adding the Stage I mod to this, which is safe for the stock cat. When Maurice comes out with the Stage II kit, I will be replacing the stock cat with one from Random Technologies that will handle the extra heat. It's still in development but will be out soon. Stage II with the stock cat will produce close to the same HP gain, but will burn out the stock cat prematurely. I'm not willing to do this, as I may need it again to pass emissions when my car is due to be tested in 4 years. (In my state, new cars are emissions exempt for 4 years :D ) I suspect my car will pass emissions even then with the Stage II and Random cat, but if it doesn't I can just unplug the ECU mod and put the stock cat back on.

The RX-8's an awesome car, even without mods.

RX-8 friend

Was riding in Canzoomer's last night (to car wash, then to garage for more work on stage 1 mounting details). With him driving, it can get a little scary . Heavy foot, if you know what I mean. It's close to my 3rd gen with the stage 1. Got to go back over there now, to do more work. Don't want you guys to lynch me .

loco4rx8

This thread really has me drooling. :D

JimW

First of all I just have to say that all of you are great bunch of people, this is the best forum I have been associated with due to the friendly and helpful nature of it's members. Secondly: due to canzoomers hard work and dedication and also his willingness to share his mod for and exceptional price, has helped me decide to purchase this car, I ordered a titanium GT with aero, Thankfully at the S plan price. Omnicrom: I will be ordering soon, and although my state" Florida", discontinued emissions testing, I like the idea of the random tech cat, I don't want the cat to fail eventually causing a blockadge of exhaust ( not good), this is when things can really start to heat up, + I don't want to contribute to the destruction of the environment. Anyway I can't wait, this is the most fun of all the cars that I considered, G35 6 M.T. sedan, Acura Tl ( to much $) and Saab 93 aero. The other cars were more practical for room, but none matched the price ( S Plan) and sheer fun factor. I will keep in touch soon. Take care, Jim W.

Omicron

Hey Jim - CONGRATS!!!!!!! :D :D :D When do you take delivery?

I'm an S-plan kinda guy too. Well, sorta... when I got my '8 in early October, no dealerships were offering the S-plan, so I split the diff with the dealership and got about $1400 off MSRP.

Oh, and if you ARE planning on getting the Random cat, you might as well get the Stage II mod as well - it's good for more like +40 WHP. :D