I finally decided to take the plunge into the world of FI. Now I've been a member of these forums long enough to know the two things that the experienced guys expect from anyone asking a question: Search and Research your question. So Naturally I started going through the major horsepower section and the FI for Dummies thread to start getting a feel for what I want. I decided to look for a turbo that can get me into the lower-mid 300s HP-wise as this will be my first FI'd car and I don't want to overdo it.
After going over threads for about a week now these are the conclusions, in general, that I'm finding and I'd like some input or confirmations from some of our resident experts (mySQL, MazdaManiac, Brettus, etc).

Greddy kit: Pretty much a crappy kit right out of the box but if you know what you're doing and can spend the money to upgrade then it can be made into something amazing
MazdaManiac Greddy Upgrade: Awesome. Takes a long while from purchase to delivery but worth the wait. some complaints registered but overall happy customers. no longer taking orders?
Esmeril: Proven to work up to 400+ HP but reliability is an issue as is the quality of parts. 400+ out of the box(w/ only upgraded ignition system) has yet to be confirmed.
Custom Turbo Builds: Mixed bag. Experienced tuners have had some awesome results but also some resounding failures.

Now again, this is just the extremely general impression that I have gotten after a week of forum browsing. Now the intent of this thread is not to bash or praise any particular turbo. In the last few days there have been a couple questions along the lines of "what is the best turbo?" Naturally the OP was flamed to death by our overly courteous experienced folks and told to search.

Well as someone who hates to be flamed I'm going to state what I imagine a few of the other FI-curious 8 owners are thinking. Trying to sift through FI threads and put fact from opinion and flame is frustrating as hell.

Is MazdaManiac still selling his turbo? no idea. I've found posts hinting at him stopping but not one stating that he is not going to take anymore orders ever. So is he still taking orders??
Esmeril turbo kit: has anyone else actually managed to get 400+ HP w/ only their ignition and turbo upgrade? And how stable and reliable is the setup and quality of parts?
Greddy kit: ok so the kit is whimpy. I want to make it beefier which will require customization. How do I go about doing that without either 1. blowing my engine due to experimentation or 2. spending $XX,XXX in parts that i'm not sure will work?

These are just a few of the more frustrating questions I've yet to find answers to. Flame away but at least answer the questions while you do it.

 

Greddy kit with a BNR turbo upgrade.

 

^true

 

If you're worried about blowing your engine, you just need to make sure you have a good tune and gauges to tell you if something is wrong.

In today's FI RX8 market, you can pretty much slap on the accessport with a MazdaManiac map and enjoy it.

GReddy kit does have issues, but they're not insurmountable.

The biggest thing with going FI is having plenty of $$ to make it through the process. Too many times people go half way, then cheap out on gauges or tuning. Small wonder they end up doing an engine rebuild a few weeks later.

I had a turbo kit on my car for 2 years, and that was back when half of this stuff was still being figured out. We have a much better idea of how to tune and operate the car with FI, so I have no qualms with recommending FI as an option to anyone who asks. Just ask police34 how he's doing with pretty much a drop in kit.

 

Yeah, the FI options for the car have come so far from the first release of the GReddy kit with the eManage. My recommendations for anybody going for a turbo setup is to look only at options that allow factory ECU flash tuning. They are so much more reliable and less trouble I wouldn't consider anything else personally. That limits the options but a used GReddy kit with a BNR upgrade and AccessPORT tuning is probably the best bet. I am very happy with my 3071R MM upgrade but expect to wait at least 4 months from the time you order and Jeff has been a bit sketchy on the availability. The turbo upgrade is still listed on his website however. The best thing to do is to contact him directly via email if you are interested in that upgrade. For the cost though its hard to disagree with the BNR upgrade as it fits in the low mount location, costs less than the MM upgrade and will hit the same target HP. That upgrade also resolves the caking issues that kill the stock GReddy turbo.

I would recommend going to the Overboosted Overlords sticky and checking out some of the build threads to get an idea of the challenges and additional parts used by a lot of us to get a reliable turbocharged 8. If you isolate more specific questions you will find the Major Horsepower Upgrades forum is VERY helpful. Don't hesitate to research and send PMs asking questions, and don't skimp on the quality of the parts and tuning. Anybody planning to thow a used GReddy kit on and roll is in for trouble... but if you take the time and also look at ignition, tuning, aux. injection and most of all a professional tune you will have a really nice result.

 

MM: don't know about availability but the greddy upgrade performs just as well and is cheaper . What I really like about that turbo is that it will in all probability last heaps longer than an upgraded Greddy.

Esmeril : no dynos from members on here except the one Esmeril did and that power band (although over 400whp) sucks for a daily driver.

Upgraded Greddy :
Great way to go if you are happy to do all the upgrades .