loco4rx8

Maurice, I'd originally planned on getting your mod in the spring, giving my wallet a chance to recover from holiday spending, but now you're talking about a price increase if we don't buy by a certain time.

How much of a price increase are you expecting? I mean, if it's $10 or something, that's not a problem, but if you're going to raise it by $100, it makes a huge difference.

Can you give us at least an idea of how much the price increase will be? Thanks.

RX-Nut

CZ, I'm curious.. have you brought your findings to Mazda? I wonder what they'd think about the juice you've given to the RX-8?

Maybe it'll wise them up and just fix our ECUs. Not that I want you to lose out on your hard earned research or anything, (I salute you!) but I'd love to see someone to 'stick' it to Mazda and say.. "See, this is what you should have done!"

brothervoodoo

CZ's mod does not meet California's Catalytic longevity standard, end of story.. I'm sure Mazda could have done a better job themselves but they rushed it at port to release the first two shipments of 8's that arrived stateside. Mazda is compable enough to tweak their own ECU, but I'm glad we have someone like CZ looking out for the consumer and it doesn't hurt to make a couple bucks off to the side in the process.

Omicron

Mazda refused to acknowledge this whole missing horsepower issue, which is why Maurice started investigating this in the first place. When he did, he discovered the screwed up a/f maps and ignition timing. He tried to get Mazda to make good but got no where, so he decided to do something about it on his own. He's just that kind of guy. :D His research has grown into what you see today as the "Stage I" mod. See this thread for more info: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=11614

So rest assured, Mazda knows all about this already. In fact, I'll be willing to bet that there are quite a few Mazda corporate-types who have been closely following this whole development for some time now. I'll also bet that they will never release an ECU "fix" for existing cars, even if Canzoomer were to hand them the complete maps today. Doing so would be tantamount to admitting to fudging the truth, again, just like they did with the HP issue last time. More likely is that come late 2004 or 2005 they will release an "enhanced" RX-8 that has the fuel maps fixed and maybe a few other performance goodies, and bill it as a "higher performance" model. Manufacturers do this all the time as a model of car matures... why not here too? Of course, all of us on the forum here will know the truth.

RatedRX8

Just curious, as I know next to nothing about this stuff, but if it is true that it is only the US version of the ECU that was modded down, couldn't we just find a non-US RX-8 and burn a copy of its ECU map onto a new chip for use in our cars?

MEGAREDS

I had the same thought.

Also, for those of us who came to the RX-8 late late in the game (like me), could someone give some history here. The rumor I heard (and please correct me if I'm wrong) was that Mazda discovered it couldn't meet U.S. EPA requirements and, in order to do so, changed the fuel maps. If this is right, does this mean that Canzoomer's mod has the drawback of raising emissions? Also, will the mod be safe for ATs (where a HP boost would be really nice).

racerdave

I believe the issue wasn't not meeting emissions standards per se (hooking your car up to a meter and having it pass), rather it was a new regulation that required the original, stock cat to last for 120K miles. (where do these idiots think of this crap!?!)

The previous standard had been 50K, so Mazda had to come up with a last-ditch fix... and that was to richen it up to cool the converter more.

AFAIK...

MEGAREDS

Thanks for your response, racerdave. It makes sense. In Illinois, as I recall, we get our cars tested annually after four years. I know that the older cars account for a huge amount of the crap that gets put in the air, so bad cats would explain why the test is considered unnecessary for newer cars, and why the feds would want to extend the life of the cats that are put on the road. (The air here is not good, but I can't believe it how bad it is in places like AZ on calm days). So...

Canzoomer's mod will shorten the life of the cat in return for a HP gain? If so, sounds like a reasonable trade. The issues for me then are: (1) how will the mod affect the life expectancy of the cat; and (2) how much will it cost to replace the cat when the time comes and I fail my emission test?

Thanks again.

RX-8 friend

As for the coil heatsinks. They are not necessary for stage 1. I don't know about stage 2.

That being said, I'm working on heatsinks for coils anyway, because they get very hot in stock tune. Stage 1 doesn't change that. Hot coils (electronic parts) will have shorter life. The coils are not cheap (they ARE Mazda parts, after all). The heatsinks are simple and inexpensive, and I'm doing them because even in my SUV (2001 Pathfinder) the coils are known to fail, and, sigh, are expensive. So I want them for that application too.

brothervoodoo

CZ's Stage1 brings the car closer to JDM spec so probably 50K miles before the Cat starts going bad. But this is only a guess (CZ's guess) since there's no way to test. The Cat will get hotter for certain, time well reveal how it holds up.

BigAsian

The manufacturer has to warranty those convertors and that is what they were worried about. It is federal law. I think the current law is like 8 years and 50,000mi? I'm not sure of the exact # but I believe it changed for the 2004 model year. I'm uncertain of whether or not it corresponds with the 100k or 120k mile # that I've heard.

BigAsian

WTF, I am not BIG ASIAN! I am a big white dude! Isn't that name a bit of an oxymoron anyway.....LOL, of all the names that could get attached accidentally to my post, I get Big Asian.

BigAsian

I AM BIG ASIAN, ALL OBEY ME!

Doctorr

So, if you're not big, or Asian, WHO are you?

And WHY do you insist your sushi is the smelliest?????
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.
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doc

BigAsian

Because I store it in my ***!!!!

X-SIN-X

Canzoomer.

Please let me know What I have to do to get an order in. I have the funds(no problem) but I am out of the country and I wont return until the last week in Jan. It would be nice to arrive home and have a MOD waiting to be installed on my garaged 8.

Rev It Up

Would someone please tell how to order from Canzoomer. Havn't found his web site yet Thanks

success07

Order by e-mailing canzoomer at maurice@harddata.com - he should respond within 24hrs - he has been great with returning my e-mails promptly

vix8

Hmm, I've e-mailed him twice about wanting to order and I've never received a reply. I just figured he was too busy and that he would back to us when he was ready to ship. Now I'm worried that he didn't get my request... :-(

davefzr

There was a questsion asked of CanZ a few posts ago that I dont think got answered yet. He was saying that the price of the product will go up after the first of the year. Could you please elaborate on how much this will go up? I am one of those who is waiting until others have installed it before I purchase it and am wondering how much it will be going up.

Thankx a lot!

neit_jnf

Another question that comes to mind is for those of us that are buying the car soon or are still in break-in. Should we wait after 600-1000 miles before installing this mod or is it okay for break-in period as well?

RX-8 friend

Canzoomer has it in and is breaking in a new engine.

Floyd

Any word on the website and dyno posts (plus other cool info like new mpg etc)?

SDFLY

Canzoomer/Maurice please come in.....Did you get the dyno done Thursday night? And those of us who have not order as yet are curious about your "increase" in price remark.

Speed-ER doc

I e-mailed Canzoomer and got a response the next day with order form. He has many other mods for sale as well, including Mazdaspeed items. My order for Stage 1 is in, and I am psyched to try it out! I hope installation instructions are included.