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I've always ran the stock intake on my 8's but on a whim I bought the AEM for my R3. I'm so happy I did. I never really touched the intake as the power increase is negligible at best. But then again so is a catback. We buy those for looks and sound, so why not intakes too right? Anyway wanted to clear some things up for would be buyers.
1. The crash bar doesn't need to come off. You can guide the elbow in easily.
2. The S2 uses 1 less vacuum line by the throttle body than the S1, so it comes with a nipple to plug one of the feeder tubes off.
3. Attach the couplers with the screens outside the car. The screens can only come out 1 side. So get the pipe in there snug, clamp it down, then slide onto pipe in the car, and perfect fitment.
The real performance gain is in the weight savings. The stock box and corresponding hardware weighs a ton. The intake itself weighs barely anything.
The sound is fantastic. At first I noticed very little as I'm running the Racing Beat dual resonated midpipe and Exoticspeed catback, but when the car was hot and ready to be ran hard, the intake came alive. Till about 7k RPM you can kinda hear it, from there till redline however, it's full on rotary race car. Coupled with aforementioned midpipe and exhaust, it's fantastic.
If you look past the limited power gains, and look at the weight savings and fun factor, this is a must have.
I never really bothered with the intake due to the price. This is just not a good value(price vs. what you get in return) IMO, especially for a new one.
Weight saving is pretty minimal honestly, unless you are active shaving off every possible pound off your car I personally wouldn't bother. Linear, sprung mass is also not as effective as shaving off rotational, unsprung mass.
I agree, it's a nice cherry on top of the whole package, but it's hard to justify the price. Under $150 I feel it's reasonable, but at the retail $299 or whatever it is, it starts to be a bit much.
The stock intake is around 13lbs, so even if you remove it entirely you're not saving THAT much. Say the AEM intake is 5lbs, you've shaved 7lbs forward of the front axle. Not bad, but again at what price.
I agree, it's a nice cherry on top of the whole package, but it's hard to justify the price. Under $150 I feel it's reasonable, but at the retail $299 or whatever it is, it starts to be a bit much.
The stock intake is around 13lbs, so even if you remove it entirely you're not saving THAT much. Say the AEM intake is 5lbs, you've shaved 7lbs forward of the front axle. Not bad, but again at what price.
it felt like a lot more than 13 lbs. I'm curious now lol. I'll weigh it when I get home.
As far as price goes, we spend over a $1000 just on sound on a (quality) catback. So imho this is a steal.
Price value judgement is subjective. To some people that's not a significant amount of money to burn on sound, to others it is. I'm sure when these cars were new, the owners who had just spent 30k or whatever, didn't mind adding another 1k to complete the package. Now that a good example is worth 5-7k, spending a lot of intake/exhaust doesn't make sense. People who have the means have moved on to newer, better cars.
Price value judgement is subjective. To some people that's not a significant amount of money to burn on sound, to others it is. I'm sure when these cars were new, the owners who had just spent 30k or whatever, didn't mind adding another 1k to complete the package. Now that a good example is worth 5-7k, spending a lot of intake/exhaust doesn't make sense. People who have the means have moved on to newer, better cars.
It's 18.5 lbs for the entire intake system. From throttle body to the plastic tray underneath the intake snorkel. Everything that came off the car.
I knew it felt heavier than 13 lbs lol.
I recently took delivery of a 2020 Supra. Haven't touched it yet. Still researching all the things. About to pull the trigger on some wheels though because the stock ones are HIDEOUS.
If you're that worried about weight but you haven't relocated the battery to the trunk (and gone with a light-weight AGM or LiFePO4 unit) then you're spending money on the wrong things.
There's much more weight savings to be had at a better weight/dollar ratio than the intake.
I agree, it's a nice cherry on top of the whole package, but it's hard to justify the price. Under $150 I feel it's reasonable, but at the retail $299 or whatever it is, it starts to be a bit much.
The stock intake is around 13lbs, so even if you remove it entirely you're not saving THAT much. Say the AEM intake is 5lbs, you've shaved 7lbs forward of the front axle. Not bad, but again at what price.
And that's US$, so even more for us Canadians by the time you consider exchange rate, shipping, customs. Probably like CAN$500+ all said and done.
The stock intake is also already pretty decent so I didn't see the need to screw with it. Another problem with the AEM intake is the possible water ingestion. Given how much it rains in winter in West Coast of BC, I don't think I will take my chances.
Price value judgement is subjective. To some people that's not a significant amount of money to burn on sound, to others it is. I'm sure when these cars were new, the owners who had just spent 30k or whatever, didn't mind adding another 1k to complete the package. Now that a good example is worth 5-7k, spending a lot of intake/exhaust doesn't make sense. People who have the means have moved on to newer, better cars.
I am a cheap bastard. You can tell by looking at the car I drive now.
In all seriousness I personally just enjoyed the 8 for what it is. Big power just gets expensive for this car.
Originally Posted by NotAPreppie
If you're that worried about weight but you haven't relocated the battery to the trunk (and gone with a light-weight AGM or LiFePO4 unit) then you're spending money on the wrong things.
There's much more weight savings to be had at a better weight/dollar ratio than the intake.
And that's better for the battery life as well since it won't be stuck in a hot engine bay all day.
If you're that worried about weight but you haven't relocated the battery to the trunk (and gone with a light-weight AGM or LiFePO4 unit) then you're spending money on the wrong things.
There's much more weight savings to be had at a better weight/dollar ratio than the intake.
I'm not worried about the weight. Merely said that's where the real performance gain is.
Originally Posted by UnknownJinX
And that's US$, so even more for us Canadians by the time you consider exchange rate, shipping, customs. Probably like CAN$500+ all said and done.
The stock intake is also already pretty decent so I didn't see the need to screw with it. Another problem with the AEM intake is the possible water ingestion. Given how much it rains in winter in West Coast of BC, I don't think I will take my chances.
I am a cheap bastard. You can tell by looking at the car I drive now.
In all seriousness I personally just enjoyed the 8 for what it is. Big power just gets expensive for this car.
And that's better for the battery life as well since it won't be stuck in a hot engine bay all day.
Water ingestion from rain is a non issue. Especially with the sock on. Unless you submerge the intake driving through standing water, you'll be just fine.
There's a cool video of a guy sticking a running garden hose into an intake (I think it was a Miata) and the car kept running lol.
My car is a weekend toy. It doesn't see snow. It barely sees rain. Most water it sees is when it's getting washed.
IIRC RX-8 is around 3000 lbs so even if you lose 15 lbs with the intake, that's just 0.5% of the car, which is not really enough for anyone to perceive a difference. Again, linear, sprung mass reduction doesn't do nearly as much as rotational, unsprung mass reduction like lighter wheels and tires.
But heh if it sounds good and can help with under hood airflow, there are still benefits.
As for the water ingestion, I did say it's a possibility and won't necessarily happen, and if you have some water proofing in place and don't even go through deepish water then you are probably fine.
Yeah, dump the tall/heavy 19” wheel & tire package will gain you a much better response factor. I didn’t bother responding to all the numbskull commentary in the other discussion thread on that point.
Yes, dropping rotational mass is better than dropping static mass.
yes, there's better weight reduction gains to be made elsewhere.
yes, the performance increase is minimal at best.
Notice the performance in parentheses in the title?
sometimes I feel like people on car forums just want to argue, just to argue lol.
All I said was, "the weight reduction is where the performance increase is, rather than the claimed horsepower gain" and it turned into "lighter wheels is a better place to save weight" and "relocating the battery is better" in 5 comments.
Yeah, no ****. If I was targeting weight savings, I'd have bought a set of 17 inch RPF1 like every other person and not a set of 19 inch Work Emotion Kiwami's.
I think you are taking it too personally... It's all just discussion, we are just saying things as they are.
We understand the points we make, but not everyone does, though. If someone new comes around, I think it's good they see all sides of the story.
Like I said if it makes you happy then it's worth the money, just like Loki was saying value is subjective to everyone. I am a cheap bastard so you know, not for me.
Lol no not taking it personally. Just find it funny how derailed a thread can get lol.
I'm definitely not new here. Had an RX-8 since 2010. Just when I bought my R3 and came back, I couldn't get into my old account.
crazy to think the 8 is considered old. My car is turning 10 this year which means it's averaged 1200 miles a year.
As far as opinion goes, it's the same on the STI, Supra, Lotus and GTI forums... well, not the GTI forums. They're mostly idiots. Love the car, it's my daily, but goddamn the community is awful.
My only point is that he’d see more of a performance response on that than the very thing he claimed had none other than weight. Actually the intake matters more than supposed, but only when paired with other changes that support it.
most of engine cooling is done by coolant and oil. coolant dissipates engine heat in the radiator. where that snorkel sits it looks like it blocks a lot of direct air flow to the radiator.
most of engine cooling is done by coolant and oil. coolant dissipates engine heat in the radiator. where that snorkel sits it looks like it blocks a lot of direct air flow to the radiator.
It does not, in front of the radiator is a high pressure area at speed, air will find its way around.
Said another way, any air that's in front of the snorkle has nowhere to go except into the radiator, or into the intake -- and the stock intake takes an equivalent amount of air from the same airstream.
It seems like Mazda did a really good job on the OEM box. Very similar to my old S2k. The factory air box is pretty good. I built a custom cold air intake and noticed these changes.
Perceived increase in engine response.
Increased noise under acceleration
More stable IAT on track.
Never dyno'd it but would expect zero gain over the factory box. I assume the RX8 would be the same.
OP, if you perceive a benefit and like the change then more power to you. Modding is subjective and part of being an enthusiast.
01-26-2020, 08:47 PM
which means it's averaged 1200 miles a year. 
