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Dorito Fun
I bought an '09 RX-8 R3 back in the beginning of July. It had lots of weird issues... and apparently a blown engine. Spun bearings, so I can't even make funny apex seal jokes.
It had a pretty long list of mods, so not a total waste. While I was replacing the engine with a friend, I did Hotchkis swaybars and fixed a LOT of other nonsense. Replaced the stupid spherical bearing Megan Racing lower control arms in the rear. https://i.postimg.cc/bJxKJ8t6/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/qRT5WY52/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/yxrn6rvQ/image.png Typical rotary, visiting gas stations often :lol: https://i.postimg.cc/8kyZbjNR/image.png About a week after purchase the damn door handle broke. The fix involved trapping myself inside the car among other stupid things. https://i.postimg.cc/SsSG6pP1/image.png Oil pan full of copper https://i.postimg.cc/6Q50RXgj/image.png Pulling the engine a week and a half later http://https://i.postimg.cc/c4RMbCNk/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/FHhg5vrr/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/vTRfPF2d/image.png |
Hotchkis swaybar:
https://i.postimg.cc/htCmk7Zs/image.png Wrapped the stock header: https://i.postimg.cc/k4StRYJY/image.png More swaybar goodness: https://i.postimg.cc/hPc7h0HM/image.png Reman Mazda engine arrived! https://i.postimg.cc/Dz9ShQrr/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/L87Xkk0c/image.png Quickly turned it into this: https://i.postimg.cc/3NKJrtdv/image.png Then this happened the next day: https://i.postimg.cc/8kHzXg0B/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/QxdxRnLL/image.png I got the injectors cleaned and flow tested, when they arrived I quickly did this... https://i.postimg.cc/D0yn3mMQ/image.png https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZScG2DmjFg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOcdxvfIBLE I've been breaking it in since! https://i.postimg.cc/xC6BH56H/image.png |
I LOVE RX-8's!!
MAN this is going to be a fun thread to follow!! Congratulations!! |
My interest in this is significant. I've been contemplating selling the miata and moving to one of these. Since they have a chance of fitting a child in the back seat and are basically a hardtop NC. The reliability makes me nervous.
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I love these cars, reliability factor not as much... but then again, i like subaru's sooooo....
LSX swap? :devil: Looking forward to the build |
Glad to see you guys are interested too :) I've always wanted an RX-8 R3, so this was a nice find.
Dropping the car off for alignment and inspection tomorrow, it currently has like 1.5" of rear toe in, it's pretty sketchy to drive haha. Definitely no ****ty LS swaps, that's the one thing that I hate most in the world lol |
Nice!! What are your plans?
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On that note... Went to get it aligned and a vast majority of the adjusters were seized, so there will be updates to come on that front. It did get to a "decent street alignment" but nothing special. Offset upper arm bushings for more front camber were in the plans anyway, but now I'm doing a delrin/OEM lower arm build up front and replacing the arms with the stuck adjusters in the rear (everything back there is super crusty so not overly surprised) I've had a tune on the car, but it was set with stock dwell times even though I have upgraded LS2/D585 coils on the car. I tweaked the dwell table to "known good" values and holy crap the car is way smoother, faster, and more responsive. I'm still only part way through the break-in process so I'm only able to rev to ~7k RPM and it feels great. |
Sweet!! Looking forward to the progress.
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Did new brakes the other day :)
https://i.postimg.cc/KjfSRpXj/image.png Tweaked the tune to better match the ignition coil dwell times to what the upgraded coils on my car want and it's *so* much smoother, more responsive, and feels more powerful too. Huge difference in performance from such a simple thing. |
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Aren't these super sensitive to detonation? |
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*super* sensitive, so knock is definitely a "must avoid" thing. Not as bad as the turbo engines, but still horrible. |
Ok, since my last post I got the tuned pretty well dialed in. Should be ~190whp now on 93 octane.
https://i.postimg.cc/zGQX3KX1/image.png Got the midpipe with HFC done up with my buddy Jeff! He has quite a collection of Mazdas, haha. https://i.postimg.cc/659QPB1F/image.png Got the car inspected and an alignment was attempted... Unfortunately 6 of 8 adjusters were stuck so that turned into an adventure with the sawzall and new bushings and new arms where needed. Unfortunately I got the front control arms out fine but they exploded trying to press out the camber bushings... so Jeff volunteered up his spare control arms. I did Mazdaspeed offset bushings in the front upper control arms for more camber while it was apart. https://i.postimg.cc/ZRtbxmd7/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/MKPzrVBj/image.png Alignment specs now are pretty nice! https://i.postimg.cc/ydvmSLJN/image.png Pretty low when the bushings are properly clocked (loosen them and torque everything at ride height) https://i.postimg.cc/zfW5BQcn/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/pTJHQFxr/image.png |
How does it handle now with the new changes compared to the Miata? I'm imagining a bit stiffer?
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I remember driving my friends R3 about 6 years ago. Fell in love with it, except for the lack of power. Everything else was so dialed in for a street car, I really, really loved driving that thing. Of course everything on it was still relatively factory fresh. |
At this point it's definitely an older car but not terribly far off the mark. It doesn't do anything badly, just needs some refinement and you can definitely tell it was still designed to be more usable as a normal car. I'm taking it camping this weekend and it's stuffed with camp chairs, a tent, etc... and I'm barely using the cargo space.
The power delivery is really unique, with the tune it's a lot better feeling but it definitely needs to be revved. It's smooth so revving it out doesn't feel aggressive like in a normal car, but it still needs to be worked which is pretty fun! |
It rained a bunch, I only did two sessions, the truck broke, I spun the RX8 through the grass violently and avoided any sort of damage! Unfortunately the GoPro cut off literally 2 seconds before crossing the line on my fastest lap (1:54.7, nothing impressive if it was dry) and it missed my spin too.
Here's my first session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysPl1rCwvO4 Here's my second session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf3pt149H1E https://i.postimg.cc/dt4kRBJ9/image.png |
https://i.postimg.cc/ncw5bPxq/image.png
New wheels are on, used takeoff tires from my Miata. Coilovers ordered... |
Love a set of perfect spec RPs
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I ran the RX-8 for the first time today. Pulled off second in PAX and won STX! It's kind of a hot mess suspension wise, lowering springs on blown stock shocks, but if you drive it like an H Street Civic it's kinda ok? It does sweepers really well but transitions like crap.
My fastest clean run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5XhY2jbvk My fastest dirty run (a few tenths faster but mostly got luckier with the car doing what I wanted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4izsWk7jLh0 |
RX8 Performance motor mounts! My girlfriend bought these and helped install them. Essentially no NVH increase and way less flop from the engine. Even with new OEM mounts the engine was pretty floppy and that's all gone now! I still need to do diff mount bushings but that's quite a messy install so maybe down the road.
https://i.postimg.cc/qvcxSCGZ/image.png Also, picked up some sweet JDM goodness thanks to Mazda Motorsports offloading wheels from their stillborn TCR project. These are 18x10 so they'll just be my nice street wheels. https://i.postimg.cc/XYv9HDpX/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/5N4zyk5p/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/BnyPhSrw/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/gjYxwnhr/image.png |
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Oh, forgot I did this mod! I upgraded to lower temperature thermostats in the oil coolers. Stock oil temperature at the coolers is 220-240F when they open which is absurdly high for oil temperatures on the street/autocross/even track use so I installed these lower temperature thermostats that are 165-175F. Much safer oil temperatures!
https://i.postimg.cc/0Q60k3XF/image.png I also finally have a working airbag light. I had the light on in the cluster because this indicator didn't work properly. Ridiculous to have the airbag light on because of this mostly pointless indicator, but whatever. Laws are laws. https://i.postimg.cc/W3RhZHbQ/image.png |
Shaftworks USA dampers. Never had shocks with my name on them before :)
https://i.postimg.cc/FHWNCmDz/image.png Raceseng Circuit Sphere knob thanks to Black Friday sale! I have one on my ND and it just feels nicer in the hand and looks cool on that car but on my RX-8 it shifts a LOT nicer too. Huge benefit that I wasn't really expecting. https://i.postimg.cc/XvCmK0PT/image.png |
I got the new coilovers on this afternoon/evening and it rides better than the stock Bilsteins/Tein lowering springs (considering it was likely riding on bumpstops this is no surprise) while still being stiff and responsive while hooning it a little. Looking forward to actually getting to use them, though it seems like that will be in the spring.
Ignore the crusty rear suspension, haha. The only rust on the car is the rear control arms/subframe. I've been replacing arms here and there. Everything has come apart ok (except for the alignment eccentrics front & rear) https://i.postimg.cc/NjQpRkLT/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/dtj9QZn0/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/MHxjgtCm/image.png |
Finally got the Rays wheels on! 18x10 ET40 with 265/35R18 Continental DWS06 tires.
https://i.postimg.cc/KcKqQPN0/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/9XvxkDgC/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/50X37JwX/image.png https://i.postimg.cc/4xGWJrT0/image.png |
Daaaang those look so good!
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dang, those wheels are gorgeous!
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Thanks guys, super freaking happy with them. Gorgeous and amazing fitment... and cheap (ish)
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New xforce catback arrived today. Threw it on after work! Pretty happy with it, only one sorta silly fitment issue, the stock orientation of the camber bolts is now "backwards" and I won't be able to get a socket & torque wrench on so the bolts will get flipped during my next alignment.
Seems way quieter in the cabin but a nice volume increase outside without too much terrible noise. Love it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEFMmysBWj8 https://i.postimg.cc/X7m5kLnR/PXL-20...-223338884.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/sXjGg0Jh/PXL-20...-223352503.jpg https://i.postimg.cc/xdSbWdJg/PXL-20...-223406980.jpg New exhaust weight (with about half a pound of bubble wrap and cardboard): https://i.postimg.cc/hPfxm6R8/PXL-20...-170854495.jpg Stock exhaust: https://i.postimg.cc/x1mzxmCc/PXL-20...-232737684.jpg The weird fitment issue I mentioned. https://i.postimg.cc/HL47HCbm/PXL-20...-223245497.jpg |
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I did my first time trials event this weekend, it was a two day event but I only did Saturday. Whoever had the best lap of the weekend in my class (SCCA Tuner 4) could win and with a little better conditions on Sunday it was up for grabs. I ended up winning by 1.6 seconds or so while setting a new track record! Here's my fastest lap, unfortunately no audio as GoPro's mic adapter needs to be reconnected every time you power cycle the camera and I forgot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEiZnov9TQ |
Looks like a blast. Congrats on the win/record. I guess the cars working pretty well.
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Thanks! Yeah, shocked how good it was right out of the box, tbh. Didn't touch a damn thing on the car all day. Checked pressures and went "yep that's fine" lol
Used a quart of oil, a little over a half tank of gas, and a bit of tire. Amazing |
Ran a 2:11.2 this weekend at VIR. Unofficially though as SCCA was using the back straight S/F line and I caught the Camaro at the end of this video as he sputtered out of fuel on what was on pace to be a 2:10.9 officially... Ugh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoMMEMF5g9E Had a bit of an off in South Bend too! Whoops... No real damage, some scrapes on the S2 factory metal undertray thing and it tore the exhaust wrapping off of my catback. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orM6Y5bT6KE Working audio this time too ;) |
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Car looks great.
Side note, Im joining the party: https://i.ibb.co/zmVZ60s/IMG-20210320-065536154.jpg |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXsytqDpMKw
Not my fastest run but the GoPro burped and locked up. My girlfriend Amy drove as well, she's planning on driving the RX-8 all year :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9tiu3zYhI8 |
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