(Nearly) New Airtrek Owner

stutzedward

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
May 27, 2009
3,416
561
1,713
KL
Hi bro it's been awhile, you're modding rotary now? I remember you told me you were going to sell it a year ago when I was enquiring your Airtrek hehehe :burnout:
Hi Bro,

Yes! Exactly a year ago, I was wanting to sell both cars and leave the Car World. In fact I almost sold the RX-8 to my friend's friend whose also a car enthusiast. However, my son and wife stopped me. My son wanted the car for his university days (coming in 2 years) and my wife said I should not buy 2 new cars at the same time, considering the depreciation running the same time. Not to mention another fresh loan installment. They were right, I would regret if I sold it last year.

So since I still have the car and my wife has hers (she stopped bugging me about some of the aging issues in my old Airtrek), I can start working on the 13B.

RX-8 is not a straight line car. It doesn't have sudden kick of torque to push you to the seat during acceleration. The power delivery is linear and peak power & torque can be felt only around 6500rpm. In gear acceleration is not fast due to lack of torque. 0-100 is around 8 secs. However it shines when it comes to corner. The 50:50 weight distribution and precise steering makes me grin ear to ear during corners. The only worry is my tires not up to par with the handling.

My Project 8 will focus on handling and cosmetic look. Engine will retain stock for reliability. I have already upgraded the cooling system (thicker aluminium radiator + earlier cooling fan activation). I have also re-mapped the ECU to 'squirt' more lube to the apex seal during high rev...

Of course I will share the progress here. It will take at least 3 months to complete and target completion by Xmas. More to come!
 

s.marz

Known Member
Aug 10, 2016
261
18
28
Kuala Lumpur
Hi Bro,

Yes! Exactly a year ago, I was wanting to sell both cars and leave the Car World. In fact I almost sold the RX-8 to my friend's friend whose also a car enthusiast. However, my son and wife stopped me. My son wanted the car for his university days (coming in 2 years) and my wife said I should not buy 2 new cars at the same time, considering the depreciation running the same time. Not to mention another fresh loan installment. They were right, I would regret if I sold it last year.

So since I still have the car and my wife has hers (she stopped bugging me about some of the aging issues in my old Airtrek), I can start working on the 13B.

RX-8 is not a straight line car. It doesn't have sudden kick of torque to push you to the seat during acceleration. The power delivery is linear and peak power & torque can be felt only around 6500rpm. In gear acceleration is not fast due to lack of torque. 0-100 is around 8 secs. However it shines when it comes to corner. The 50:50 weight distribution and precise steering makes me grin ear to ear during corners. The only worry is my tires not up to par with the handling.

My Project 8 will focus on handling and cosmetic look. Engine will retain stock for reliability. I have already upgraded the cooling system (thicker aluminium radiator + earlier cooling fan activation). I have also re-mapped the ECU to 'squirt' more lube to the apex seal during high rev...

Of course I will share the progress here. It will take at least 3 months to complete and target completion by Xmas. More to come!
Depreciation sure hits the RX8 pretty hard such a shame tho since it is a good car, altho it's not exactly getting the same appreciation as it's elder brother the RX-7.

Yes you are totally right bout the RX8, its no straight line performer but take it up to Ulu Yam and there you will feel its true performance. :driver:

I was told that these rotary engines have to be driven above 3k everyday to actually maintain its condition. I mean not always above 3k but at some point of the day, it has to be driven hard. Is that true? Due to carbon build up or something.

Oh btw I sold my Santa Fe, got something more engaging instead :driver:
 

stutzedward

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
May 27, 2009
3,416
561
1,713
KL
Depreciation sure hits the RX8 pretty hard such a shame tho since it is a good car, altho it's not exactly getting the same appreciation as it's elder brother the RX-7.

Yes you are totally right bout the RX8, its no straight line performer but take it up to Ulu Yam and there you will feel its true performance. :driver:

I was told that these rotary engines have to be driven above 3k everyday to actually maintain its condition. I mean not always above 3k but at some point of the day, it has to be driven hard. Is that true? Due to carbon build up or something.

Oh btw I sold my Santa Fe, got something more engaging instead :driver:
RX-7 is a legend, especially the FD series. I believed RX-8 is at the lowest price now. If I do keep it another 5 years, I guess the price will stabilize.

You are right, they say "A Redline A Day Keeps The Mechanics Away". It's true. I redline everytime I drive it. Usually there's a buzzer that notify me to shift around 8K. You ought to drive hard to clear the carbons, so it's not good to drive rotaries on traffic jams areas every day.

What did you get?
 

s.marz

Known Member
Aug 10, 2016
261
18
28
Kuala Lumpur
RX-7 is a legend, especially the FD series. I believed RX-8 is at the lowest price now. If I do keep it another 5 years, I guess the price will stabilize.

You are right, they say "A Redline A Day Keeps The Mechanics Away". It's true. I redline everytime I drive it. Usually there's a buzzer that notify me to shift around 8K. You ought to drive hard to clear the carbons, so it's not good to drive rotaries on traffic jams areas every day.

What did you get?
Yea, keep it and let your son drive it. Inherit the love of cars to your children. :biggrin::driver:

I feel this applies to most cars too I mean traffic jam is the recipe for carbon build so the only remedy that does not involve walnut shell blasting is driving it hard. :driver:
I daily my car so I drive my car hard weekly for this reason, mostly on weekends tho.

I drive an E60 now, 530i to be exact. I was craving so badly for some disposable power and good handling. Whenever I drove the SantaFe, it felt ridiculously sluggish considering that it weighs 2tons + 155hp & 350NM. Just not engaging enough and never felt confident when I was trying to overtake at high speed. Right now tho... driving to petrol station very often hahahaha :rofl::driver:

Have done some cosmetics and handling mods to it, overall pretty satisfied for what it is now but I feel like I need replace the current tint... It has good heat rejection but it's very transparent :banghead:
More mods are coming but gotta save first.
 

stutzedward

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
May 27, 2009
3,416
561
1,713
KL
Rotary engine very free revving one, if boost lagi fast.......lol
There's a standard bolt-on turbo from Greedy ready made for RX-8. The boost is only 0.5 bar and pushes an additional 50-80hp more above the standard engine output. (We'll see around 250-300whp) With the standard 1300kgs weight, it's adequately fast. Not to mention the additional torque. A brand new set will set back around RM18K without installation. So including installation and dyno-tuning, we can see around RM20K.

The pre-requisite is to have a healthy engine for sure. If the engine is close to 100K mileage, so it's wiser to rebuild the engine before installing the bolt-on turbo. That will set back around RM8-15K depending on the engine condition. Let's say be more conservative at RM12K.

So all in all, it's RM20K + RM12K, hey that is already the price of used 2003 RX-8 (in not-so-good condition). Hahaha... unless you really want to keep the car permanently as a serious toy, else it does not makes sense, at least to me.

I will keep my car stock (engine) at the moment for reliability.
 

stutzedward

3,000 RPM
Senior Member
May 27, 2009
3,416
561
1,713
KL
Yea, keep it and let your son drive it. Inherit the love of cars to your children. :biggrin::driver:

I feel this applies to most cars too I mean traffic jam is the recipe for carbon build so the only remedy that does not involve walnut shell blasting is driving it hard. :driver:
I daily my car so I drive my car hard weekly for this reason, mostly on weekends tho.

I drive an E60 now, 530i to be exact. I was craving so badly for some disposable power and good handling. Whenever I drove the SantaFe, it felt ridiculously sluggish considering that it weighs 2tons + 155hp & 350NM. Just not engaging enough and never felt confident when I was trying to overtake at high speed. Right now tho... driving to petrol station very often hahahaha :rofl::driver:

Have done some cosmetics and handling mods to it, overall pretty satisfied for what it is now but I feel like I need replace the current tint... It has good heat rejection but it's very transparent :banghead:
More mods are coming but gotta save first.
Share pics?
 

Random Post Every 5 Minutes

let me start a thread
to all Brothers and Sisters

what we should upgrade for our engine and become a more power. U all can give ur solution or opinion of how to make a car faster with low budget or more expert modification. It is better we suggest for the NA engine, this is because turbo engine is too power already.... :tee:

Let me start for the 1st stage modification of the NA engine

1. ) Changing the ekzos system. (It will be cost u about 300-800) depend on the brand we choose...
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