At the risk of exposing myself as an idiot, I have to ask, does anyone sell a complete turbo kit for a 2007 RX8 that's still in business and can be trusted?

A quick google search shows:
A. Greddy (discontinued) Their web site says they no longer sell the kit, I'm assuming folks are just buying their turbos and piecing together kits themselves, as the turbo seems popular.
B. Esmeril (discontinued)
C. Turblown - Still seems to be selling the kits, but from what I've read on these forums it's best to stay far, far away. I saw a picture of an engine mount that gives me nightmares.
D. Mazfix - Maybe? Don't think I can link it, but they seem to have a kit for sale. Problem is, I know nothing at all about them, and have never seen their name mentioned here or anywhere else.
E. PTP - Seen a couple builds on here where folks have used some parts from this kit, but I don't see a place to buy it.
F. RX8 Performance - Again, seem to be selling kits, but I know nothing about them. Being a supporting vendor seems to be a good sign. Thoughts?

And that's where I hit a dead end. The handful of people here that run boosted RX8's seem to have pieced their kit together, many years ago, and I'm unsure of where to get parts currently. Also, don't really have the knowledge to know exactly what I need to get this done to buy parts individually, even if I knew where I could buy them.

Another issue is tuning, as the Cobb seems to be unavailable for purchase, I've heard of the adaptronic being an option, and perhaps the versa in the near future...luckily I live in AZ so I might be able to get something worked out.

The plan is to pull the engine (original factory engine) it has 70k miles on it, high 7's compression checked recently, then send it off to a builder (BHR possibly?) to get the works done while putting together a kit, getting a new vented hood and body kit painted, radiator, etc. and then put it all together once the engine comes back. If I could have 300 hp at the wheels I think that'd make me happy. I'd like to keep the build within a $25k budget.

Some insight would be great, as I have searched and read and read, and am coming up with next to nothing, and really nothing recent.

Thanks.

 

Alright , from the top

A. There are still Greddy kits out there if you know where to look. The best option is to hang out on the forum and you can buy one from another member who probably went broke / got divorced because his turbocharged RX8 was a huge money pit.
B. I have not read good results from an Esmeril kit, but they seem to still be in production (see mazdaparts.com)
C. Stay away
D. I do not know who Mazfix is
E. PTP - they got a lot of press because their kit was in Car and Driver, but yes that kit is no longer in production. Again, perhaps a used one the previous owner has fixed up would be good.
F. RX8 Performance - in production. A few users have them. Gregs is not shy about posting, check out his build thread.

Tuning - try mazdamaniac.com He is still out there, selling new AccessPorts for the RX8. Another thing to look into is MazdaEdit, its more affordable than the Cobb.

 

Based solely on Gregs build and by the looks of the kit; if I was to start my build today I would be going after the Rx8 Performance kit. There are definitely some users who will disagree based on experiences with the owner of this company from 10 years ago..... but IMO it is the most complete brand new kit you can get for the RX8 right now from one place.

As far a tuning goes there are still a few options. From what I understand Jeff at MazdaManiac still does tuning. There are a couple users on the site that can remotely tune for you as well and are less "busy" meaning you will get much better customer service and won't have to stick to the strict MazdaManiac tuning schedule (Kane and Brettus are the guys I'm thinking of).

If you're in Arizona the best option might be to talk to Charles at Black Halo Racing as he is in Pheonix, www.BlackHaloRacing.com

 

The most complete kit with basically zero results.

 

I don't really want to be "that guy," but $25K will get you a lot of reliable horsepower in a different car.

 

And as far as kits, the PTP (can't remember what it is called now but it's still made) is the best bet for a top mount but requires modifications (as do they all but see slash8's build). So, IMO the PTP and Greddy are the most feasible option since the rx8performance kit or a Turdblown kit would be a huge gamble due to their shady reputations and even if you did get the kit it would likely take the better part of a year or more.

But only go turbo on an RX-8 if you like heart ache and have cash to burn. If it's a better car you seek, then buy a better car.

 

I've read through slash's build, well most of it, interesting stuff. I admit though, once you guys get going I start to get lost. I know the basics, never dealt with turbos though, and after a while it's like reading chinese. I'm learning more every day, though. Looked at your build as well, love the attention to detail in the engine bay. Got a velocity red one myself.

About 10 years ago I had a 2004, ended up trading it in, and I've regretted it. I've driven all sorts of cars, high HP muscle cars, Audi sports cars, Porsche's etc. And really the RX8 was still the most fun out of all of them. I understand the reason why someone can go through three engines and still have a love for the car.

I haven't been able to find where to buy the PTP or Greddy kit, and waiting here on the forums for someone to sell one seems kinda lame...

 

Yeah...that's not a real reliable way to get parts. I mean, I would, but...waiting for used parts to go up for sale isn't ideal.

There are a few esmeril parts for sale on mazdaparts.com, but nothing related to turbos. I only saw a few things, like a shift ****, I think an ignition kit, etc.

 

If you are serious about going turbo and making decent power then you should skip a step and just do a 13B-REW swap or even better yet, buy one that is already finished for peanuts. The REW is not bulletproof either but with a proper rebuild and running at around 350WHP it can be very reliable. The key to a reliable Renny turbo build is tricky. Mine has lasted but once it was properly tuned I left it alone. But I wouldn't call it fast either, it's just quick for a 1.3L.

 

Yeah, I don't know. I can only base my opinion on what others say. I'm not opposed to that kit, but if there's something better that needs to be pieced together, that's ok....I'll just need help.

I looked at MM's site, and it said the cobb accessport is no longer available for sale. I assumed I needed one to get tuned. Could be wrong.

Haven't contacted BHR directly, but as far as I can tell, they do engine builds, sell some cool products that I'll definitely be buying, but turbo kits aren't their thing. Not sure if they are currently doing builds at the moment though, as their web site says they are still in the process of rebuilding their shop.

 

The problem with that is I lose a lot of functionality with the car, including AC, CEL's etc. Or so I've heard.

A lot of custom fabrication involved. 350 whp, would be great. 300, still cool. Hell, slash is making more than 400 on a renesis. IIRC, you were making 300 hp or so as well correct? 300 whp in a 3000 lb car is fast....it's not drag car fast but that's not the type of racing I do.

 

Nah, you can keep AC and all that and there are several kits available for a bolt in affair minus some wiring and minor things.

 

Well I appreciate the honesty. I'll look in to the rew swap, haven't done my homework on that... I gotta ask though, why did you go for a turbo renesis if the rew swap is so much better?

 

Because I like the idea of moving forward with a platform, not backwards. But that idea isn't a good one because the Renesis is just not a good engine to turbocharge when you consider the risk versus reward. Even though my turbocharging experience has been pretty good since my engine and kit are intact some 6 years later, I would not recommend it unless you really know what you are doing and are fully aware of the pitfalls (mainly tuning).

 

I understand. I appreciate the information. More research required...

 

MM got the last box of APs back in january/february and sold out of them shortly thereafter. There will not be any more new APs for the RX8 apparently. I'm assuming Cobb has since moved on from the hardware platform it was based on and it makes no sense to continue manufacturing a separate device.

As far as BHR, I don't want to speak for Charles but I'm 99.9(maybe a couple other 9's) % sure they are not selling any turbo kits. IIRC the kit that was previously sold was an updated greddy kit anyway.

Really at this point you're most likely going to want to just wait for a greddy kit to become available. They pop up fairly often, though I don't think I've seen one in the FS section since the one I bought back in Feb.

As far as the fragility of the engine is concerned. My belief is that you can push 280-300hp without quickly destroying your engine. Now I haven't exactly tested this theory, but it seems to be a common theme. The problem is, nobody wants to stop there. Even though it's close to twice the power it made previously.

I did notice a post on FB from "Stout performance" it looks like they're selling the remaining stock of PTP kits fairly cheap. ($1500). I have no idea what the issues with the PTP kit are, but at that price you could probably fabricate a fair amount of parts and still be under budget.

 

^ Yes, Stout performance, I was driving myself crazy trying to remember. It's the same guy from PTP. the only issue with that kit (I had one recently with plan to upgrade but sold it) is teh wastegate placement and some other issues.

As for HP potential and reliability, well that depends on the engine build, the tuner, and tuning platform. IMO the new Adaptronic Modular ECU looks promising but I have not been impressed with the select a buddy has on his turbo RX-8 and other buddy with an REW swapped RX-8 running it. I also would not recommend remote tuning, I just have never seen a remotely tuned turbo or SC RX-8 that runs really well.

 

This is correct, they made a post on Facebook about the very last NEW one being sold about month ago.

 

The Cobb is **** anyway, it barely gets the job done.

 

Yeah I immediately kicked myself in the ***** for not going with MazdaEdit. Unfortunately I hadn't even heard of it until after I got my AP. One of these days I'll probably grab it anyway.

 

Yeah, I'm not sure how much better Mazdaedit or Verstatuner are but there is support at least and tuners who are familiar with the tuning platform. My cars runs well on the Cobb now but there has always been little weird drivability quirks. But it's all about what you want to do, if it is power you seek, there are better options. .

 

Rx8 performance kit is the way I would go if i had to buy a kit . Sure the vendor has history , but after all these years that seems like ..........well ...........history .

I have used both cobb and Mazdaedit . They both do the same job ok . https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-eng...b-best-252137/

The Adaptronics stand alone ecu sounds great . Then again if the select wasn't great , I imagine the stand alone will have similar issues.

 

Like ?

 

Well I've had my turbo installed for 7 years now, ran 7 psi with no EBC for 5 years (MM remote tune) and running 9psi with EBC on a remote tune from Brettus for the past 2 years. My car runs like stock with alot more power so you've seen at least one that runs really well. I live in Canada, remote tuning on this platform is pretty much my only option.

Much like 9k though I am not pushing any boundaries by any means. I am sitting probably between 260-280whp reliably and absolutely love driving this car. With an upgraded turbo the goal would also be to hit that 300whp mark reliably.

 

This is by far the best one imo, unfortunately I didn't realize it was FS until too late; the latest EFR 8374iwg version starts at post#280 which is really the way to go rather than dicking around with a low mount in too small of a space ...

https://www.rx8club.com/rotary-swaps...rx-8-a-219966/