well......i saw on a forum for nissan where some 350z'rs were complainnig cuz R&D or soem mag said the s2k was a better roadster than the 350z roadster....there main complaint, some guy has a s2k...and his wife drives a gmc envoy...and she can take him stop light to stop light...so if this thing is like as slow as a s2k...i dunno, lol.

i was in my lancer..at a light by our mazda dealer...and saw a guy who just bought one...fly right at the light..got it a lil sideways and was GONE....i was so jealous...lol but i realized im 18, and got 2 jobs and goto college and couldnt afford it either way. savin up for a camaro nothin beats the old f-bod lol

 

I've seen several in the Japanese tuner mags that are really hot looking...

 

The RX-8 looks TEN TIMES sexier than any mitsubishi. End of story. If the RX-8 had the power of my evo, i would seriously cry, then i would sell my evo and buy a rx-8. If you havnt seen it in person, and sat inside, shut your mouth.

 

the rx-8 is hot. not as sweet looking as an A-Spec Mazdaspeed FD3S but oh well. I'm a big fan of mazda styling. REALLY hyped as to what the 4th gen. 7 will look like.

and that renesis is a beast. if it can get 215bhp NA, i'd like to see what dual turbos could achieve.


heres the only other kit i've seen so far (other than the mazdaspeed)...by AutoExe








details on the kits (ordering) and also badges and such can be found here, yes...shameless free plug for SpecR

cheers!

 

i...kinda prefer it to the mazdaspeed...imo it looks more...together with the lines of the car, more cohesive and tight.

i think HKS is developing one too...(for the rx-8). there were some concept pics in the R&T rx-8 companion booklet thing.

 

I don't like the rear bumper on the AutoExe kit, but then again I think the RX-8 really needs no help lookin beautiful.

 

RX-8 looks pretty nice but it underpowered due to no turbo but does handle very very well in stock form.

Cheers

 

The RX-8 underpowered in the US (and apparently Australia, too) due to Mazda's slapped together ECU coding to meet US emissions, specifically the 5 minute catalyst warmup regulation. In Japan the RX-8 actually makes the 250ps that it was originally slated to have over here, which is why all of the mags got 247hp RX-8s that ran times like a 247hp car should. The current theory on this is that sometime soon before shipping Mazda learned that the RX-8 would not pass one (or more) parts of the US emissions code that they thought it would, so the engineers messed with the ECU to make a quick and dirty fix so that they could release the car on time. They richened the low and top ends, hurting the gas mileage, and leaned out the mid range to oheat up the cats faster so they would pass California emissions. Unfortunately, this killed the 8's power (stock cars are dynoing ~180rwhp, about right for a ~230hp car) and left quite a few owners feeling betrayed. In the end, they were left what is essentially a heavier, hardtop, 4 seater Miata with poor gas mileage, so Mazda offered to buy cars back or offer them rebates, free service, etc.

 

I think its the hottest lookin car on the planet in the ~30k range. Performance is another story =\ I am very interested to see what the powerplant will do once people start modifying it, however. Rotaries rock!

 

Something an aftermarket ECU might be able to fix, right?

 

I had a 1994 Rx-7 and that car rocked, I drove the Rx-8 and it felt like a civic SI, very slow with 0 Tq. Also I would wait and see what this motor does, Mine blew up at 52k and MANY others did the same. Also got 13 MPG and that little car had a 20 gallon gas tank

 

The 13b's apex seal problem was fixed in the post-95 RX-7s that never made it stateside, wasn't it?

 

The RX-8 is a beautiful machine. I just don't like it in silver in stock form, just like the Evolution. It's not an ugly color, but it's just bland, like a color your dad would get. But get a silver 8 and an Evo kitted, now your'e talking. But the most stunning color is sport yellow. I saw one at work, and almost died, it was one of the most beautiful yellow cars I've ever seen.

 

There's a guy over on the RX-8 forum (canzoomer) who's releasing a remapped ECU for the RX-8. It puts the power back to around 247hp, and, IIRC, slightly improves the gas mileage to around the original estimates as well. The only problem is that it runs hotter, meaning that the cats will probably not last the 100k+ miles that they're supposed to, another reason why Mazda may have detuned the RX-8. It can be replaced with the stock ECU for emissions testing or servicing and no one would never know. He also has or is thinking about producing another ECU that raises power even more (260hp+) but this one runs hot enough that it will definitely fry the 8's cats in short order.

 

True, true, and true.
Car feels very weak, and that threw me off. I mean its very fun to drive but you got to be @ high rpm's. The only thing that I like about it is its handling and its looks but either than that its as fast as a rsx-s but drinks like a corvette. If it did had a turbo than that's a different story, but there's no room for it.