jasonusRX8

I want to get faster acceleration out of my AT RX-8. I can't do anything off the line. Please help me out.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

You can't do anything off the line? Just push the gas pedal down and drive in manual mode. Unless you wanna wreck your tranny, by revving in neutral and slamming it into gear.

therm8

Keep an eye on the 4.78 final drive thread in the aftermarket thread. If the install works out, that's one way. Another way would be a higher stall torque converter. This is an unknown, as no one has done it. I was going to look into it, but never got around to it. If the TC is the same one from the FD, aftermarket solutions should be readily available, but that's a big if. If not, a custom converter could be commisioned from the various companies out there, or you could send it off to someone like Level10 to modify (I did check the price of a new converter...$1000+ from Mazda). Beyond that, there's not much else to increase off the line performance. Neither of these will make it launch like a Camaro, but they will help. For the price they'll cost, I'd rather just wait for a supercharger like Hymee's.

cjkim

:\ ill be the first to say, get the 6 speed. Really, no offense to the AT rx8's out there, but thats got to be the best solution.

therm8

Why must you say it at all? It's a stupid comment. Anyone with an AT could have easily purchased the MT, but obviously for some reason, didn't. Our reasons are our own, and peanut gallery commentary on our choice of cars is unnecessary and not beneficial in any way to the question at hand. What if every single time you asked a performance related question, someone told you to buy a Mustang, 350Z or Camaro? Think you'd get a little annoyed at the complete lack of relevancy?

cjkim

geez, i really meant no offense to you or any AT owner, so try not to take it so personally, but it seems as if anyone that complains about the car's power really didn't do a thorough test drive to see if acceleration was up to their standards (AT as well as the MT). I don't see it as a stupid comment at all. You're 100% correct in thinking anyone with an AT probably could have gone with the MT, but anyone who complains about not having enough power obviously didn't do enough research. Regardless of this, the reason I said what I said was not because he shouldn't drive an auto (hell, I drive an auto altima beater right now, I'm in no position to bag on anyone), but simply because the 6 port is superior to the 4 port, period. Now, I guess what I should have said was, wait for the 6 port auto's if an automatic is a must. I apologize if I offended you any way, it's just I don't find it a stupid comment.

therm8

I took no offense. I just get tired of hearing the same crap over and over. More power is what this section of the board is about. By your logic, those wanting more power out of the 6 port should've purchased a different car.

Modding a car for more power/acceleration is independent of how much power/acceleration the car starts with. Hell, there are turbo kits for Civics out there.

My dislike of your (and other's) "buy a 6spd" comments stems from the fact that they have absolutely no bearing on the very specific question asked by the original poster, and only succeeds in taking the thread off track. Much like it has here. With that said, I'll have no other comments on the subject in this thread.

Gomez

You reckon your A/T RX-8's are slow off the line....the Australian ones have a 4.300:1 diff ratio, your US RX-8's have a 4.444:1 ratio.

cjkim

Buy a different car if you want more power out of the 6 port? That really doesn't apply to my logic.. If you want more power out of the 6 port, then do so, it's totally reasonable for someone to crave a little more power, but it's obvious that if you're expecting to be a dyno queen of some sort, the 6 port just won't do at this point in time.
I'm not saying this guy wants ultimate speed, but just by reading what he wrote, "I can't do anything off the line" kind of seems to imply he wants enough power to keep up with some of the other sporty cars on the road. The 6 port just makes more sense. But then again, I'm assuming and you all know what assuming does...

True, there are turbo kits for Civics out there, but again, most people who really want even a mildly quick civic really won't end up sticking to the D-series engines. Going b18, b16, etc just makes much more sense as these engines just have more potential. In the same way, the 6 port just has more potential then the 4 port. Can you make a 4 port quicker then the 6 port? probably, but with the same amount of money and effort, switching to a 6 port would've just made a lot more sense.

With that said, Sorry for thread jacking. Best advice I can give you is wait for the 6 port auto's. Probably your best bet in any circumstance if you can't give up having an auto. You'll have a lot more room to mod if you ever feel you want more power again in the future.

therm8

RULES for this section (please see the sticky and either say something useful or stop continuing the threadjack), ty.

cjkim

That rule will probably have to slightly change soon, as the 6 port autos are coming. Okay, again, I apologize for bringing up the 6 spd stuff. I never said, "Don't drive an automatic, that's dumb blah blah blah"... like I said before, I'm in NO position to flame or be rude to any owner on this forum, but the 6 port stuff still stands. Trade the car in when the 6 port comes out. That in itself will have MUCH closer and plausible gear ratios. Not only that, but you'll gain two more gears, a bit more power, and a lot more potential. I haven't experienced the auto 8's myself, but from what I've heard and read on threads, 1st and 2nd gear are horrendously tall. Hymee seems to be busy working on the 6 port s/c, so no one really knows when the 4 port version will come out. Sure, if the final drive situation works out, that'll give you a little boost, but you'll still be limited to pretty tall gears and even worse gas mileage.

This isn't thread jacking anymore IMO. I'm trying to give the guy advice just as you are. If any moderators are reading this and disagree with what I'm saying, please tell me so, but I find the 6 port automatic reference is just as relevant to the topic as any other recommendations made.

JonnyBoy

I was wondering, do you guys think that the 'slowness' of our 4AT, esp off the line, is due to the awful transmission? I mean the difference of 40hp between the 4 ports and the 6 ports doesnt seem to explain why we are so much slower off the line. when the new 6sp auto tranny is out, how complicated woudl a tranny swap be? anyone has anything on the blitz supercharger? cause they make a unit for the autos...

therm8

The slowness is due to the fact that the car doesn't get into the power band until around 3500rpm. The flash stall speed on the converter appears to be around 2200-2300rpm. So we must wait for the powerband to get some kick out of the car.

The 6port auto will have a 3.538 1st gear ratio, while the 4port auto has a 2.79 1st gear. So the 6port will be noticeably quicker off the line, but will still "lag" until it gets in the power band (which will be slightly higher due to it being tuned more for high rpm operation). As for swapping in the 6spd, I don't think it's going to be very easy. I'm not sure how integrated the tcu is in the ecu, and the CAN bus won't like changing out components. There'd probably be wiring harnesses and a new gauge cluster needed. All in all I don't think it'd be economically feasible even if it is possilbe.

It would be nice though, and I think the 4port would hold its own with the 6port if it had the same transmission, 15 more hp included. The only reason they went with the 6port motor was streamlining production, the 4 port motor is superior sub 7000rpm due to intake tuning.

Launch the 6spd from 2500rpm and you'll see that it's not all that faster (under this specific scenario). The huge advantage of being able to launch immediately into the power band, and shorter 1st gear (3.76), makes it considerably quicker even if you only took it to 7500rpm.


Edit: I just noticed the 6port will have a 4.3 final drive vice 4.444 for some reason, though it won't really affect what I said above.

JonnyBoy

Thanks for the detailed reply therm8! Hopefully the 4.78 final drive will prove to be of benefit. fingers crossed!

dtorre

I don't know i've owned a auto and 6 spd manual WB 8 .....8 feels a tad bit faster but nothing lighting....

definately feel the manual pull past 60 where as the auto dies ((this is where the manual shines runs way faster from 60-100 than auto)) ....but the difference doesn't really seem that apparant off the line...your gonna run 7's with one car and 6's with the other....its just the higher rev in my opinion....I just love having gained the extra rpm =)...really makes the car scream...

but honestly to make it faster...there is a greddy option for the auto...with the inter-x you should be able to put low 200's into view ....faster than a stock 6 spd

DOMINION

Yes the AT RX-8 is slow IMO due to the Transmission. As with all non-Turbo cars. Just look into 1987 (AT's only) Turbo Buick Grand National's .
One publishing supervisor to SuperStreet purchased a AT Lexus did a Turbo and Transmission up grade to hang with the 400+HP he was pushing. One more publishing supervisor from Modified purchased a AT Infiniti then installed a SC that was pushing 350+ he too went with a Transmission up grade. They sent there Transmission in to Level10 had them re-maped re-built then re-installed. Yea they layed down some good cash I think it was like around $4,000 in the articles, but in the end they where smoking the wheels. Not bad for a daily-driver.

OliGeorgs

Well I have a four port manual 5spd. It´s rated 7.2 sec. 0-100 km/h as opposed to 6.4 sec. for the six port 6spd. So there you can see the differnce between the engines w/manual. By the way 100 km/h = 62 mph. For an auto car a higher stall would deffinately make for a big improvement out of the hole, but your milage would suffer.

yiksing

You know, you could actually launch an AT faster by revving the engine in D while holding the brake, sort of like spooling the torque converter fluid.

therm8

True, but there's just not enough umph down there to make much of a difference. Stall speed's too low.

Terrance26

That doesn't work. I tried it, all it does is the rpm goes to 3000 rpms and no further. And when you release the brake the rpms drop down then it rises.

yiksing

Oh, didn't know they have a limiter on the auto RX-8

barondidit

yea ive done the same. dont work. i wonder how fucked up the tranny would get by reving in neutral then slamming drive. probably enough to have it replaced during the waranty. 50,000 miles right?. dont even know if that works. has any one tried.
on a diff note. i would have bought the 6spd of course, but im recently paraplegic. dont get shot mother *******. so i have to drive with hand controls. its kinda like a motercycle throttle. i love the tip tronic on the wheel tooo. closest thing to shifting i can do. ,plus the suicide doors make it easy for my wheel chair to go in the backseat. ITs a super nice car. my first car was 86 rx7, also dope, yea it needs more power off the line thats why we are here, but it handles the same as 6 spd. which is awesome, and the best reason to by the car, besides the looks, the bitches love it. plus i have done some pretty sick spin outs, doughnuts, and high speed drifts in the mall parking lots. Guess i have to greddy supercharge soon. anyway sorry for rambling this is my first post. flame all you wanted as i have read many many posts and it seams some like to do it . Ill be ripping **** up in my pearl white auto[still the only one in gainesville florida go gators}

yiksing

Revving in neutral and shift into D, your trans say bye bye straight away.

sgrenesis

someone over here in sing has done it and didnt have any issues. (PLEASE READ---> AT THE MOMENT NO PROBLEMS) i dont know if it will have any in the future.

Btw we have done some runs before and i hope i am not bull shitting and if anyone has any opinions or doubts please feel free to advise me further so that i may learn more in the future. Thanx.

I tried quite a few runs and think that there are a few ways to launch your 8 better, i am referring to the "step on D and brake method"

(While stepping brake) I tried flooring the accelerator all the way versus stepping until you hear the brakes start to creak. Take note the max that the tacho will go for both go is still around 2500rpm.
What i observed is that if you press down all the way and then release the brake, your rpm will drop more and hence take a slightly longer time to pick up.
I cant say that it will be much faster but there is slight improvement. Did a few runs just to confirm this.

Another thing which i think is logical is damping. I have the flex and EDFC so testing again with the softest and hardest setting will also affect your pick up by almost half a sec which my friends feel makes quite a big diff.
A harder damper setting will allow the tires to have better grip and also not sit down too much when you launch.

My 2 cents.

p.s. i hope my english is not to atrocious or maybe i just cant explain things in a easier way. hehehe.....

jasonusRX8

I have decided to sell the AT and buy an MT. Getting a supercharger or any other mods would be pointless on the AT. I would rather buy a MT and put the mods on it. Plus, manuals are much more fun to drive.