So am I crazy? V8 RX8

tuna55 wrote: Funny enough, if I were building the ultimate Lemons car, I'd want a rotary. The ultimate street car? LS series, please. The rotary makes an excellent race engine, just a crappy street engine. The packaging of the RX8 is brilliant, four doors and lots of room in the back. Add to that that it handles 100x better than anything else that you could say "the packaging is brilliant..." to, and yes, I want one badly. With the V8, of course.

This! I like the idea of a rotary but the day to day with one is not for me. I can't ignore one the best 4 seat/4 door chassis available because I don't like the motor for DD duty. Therefore, fix it with one of the easiest options (LS). I would probably rather something smaller and lighter because of Fuel efficiency but I don't think that it makes sense if there is an option out there for the car already.

OR!!

I could put an F2T in one and get 30 mpg and make 6000 Horsepowerss!

I instructed a guy in one and I was amazed at the balance of the car. Really a superb handling car that is absolutely gutless...

fidelity101 wrote: lol an LS1 with 10-11krpm tach, thats gotta be dissatisfying.

Why not? Some of our big-blocks spin almost that fast.

tuna55 wrote: The rotary makes an excellent race engine, just a crappy street engine.

No arguments here.

On the flip side, EFI really tames a bridge port or a peripheral port engine. Smooth drivability, no weird bogs or hesitations or anything, just a bit lumpy down at idle and low RPM cruise. Mine's a total Bob Costascat, has a quiet exhaust, still returns ~23-24mpg, and has a strong powerband from about 3k to 8500, limited by the injectors not the engine. It sees 9500 in competition when the tires spin, which happens kind of a lot. So arguably, it has too much torque since it's more than the tires can handle...

Actually, does anyone have any suggestions for a fuel efficient yet powerful motor that would work well in this car? Duratec with a turbo sounds good at the moment.

Any since the miata and rx8 share parts the duratec might even bolt in.

That actually interests me as well. A turbo Duratec would be a riot.

In reply to Nitroracer:

You sir are a got damn genius!

Also, are the motor mounts made INTO the miata subframe? IE I can swap everything from an NC into a RX8 with having to make much of anything?

Knurled wrote: Mine's a total Bob Costascat

I think that may be the most amusing wordfilter yet.

I've been debating an LSx swap for a while now and this thread isn't helping any. Thanks a lot. Jerks.

Well let us know how it goes. And how much Hinson wants for a complete kit.

OHSCrifle wrote:

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: Keith, I'd buy one of your RX8 kits..

I'd even settle for a turn key.. But this is the car I too have craved for several years, since I will never fit in a Miata.

Keith, sign me up for a turn key!

I don't fit in a Miata and I need the back seat.

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: That actually interests me as well. A turbo Duratec would be a riot.

Yes, this would be good. I'm off to find an eBay Mazdaspeed3 or 6 engine, and Craigslist to find an RX-8.

BAMF wrote:

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: That actually interests me as well. A turbo Duratec would be a riot.

Yes, this would be good. I'm off to find an eBay Mazdaspeed3 or 6 engine, and Craigslist to find an RX-8.

Wow - this is a really good idea.

In reply to tuna55:

I think we have a new winner! BTW, your welcome for being your muse.

tuna55 wrote: Wow - this is a really good idea.

I've been doing that google search for a while (hoping to find a build thread) without success. Mazda should've built a RWD car with that motor.

Does anyone know if there AZ6 transmission used in the miata and RX8 have an interchangeable bell housing? I am think that you can grab a duratec out of anything, buy a new or used bell housing from a miata and a miata subframe. Install duratec with a megasquirt and an Eaton M90 off of a super coupe and make 230+ hp and over 200 torques for like 1500 dollars.

Knurled wrote:

fidelity101 wrote: lol an LS1 with 10-11krpm tach, thats gotta be dissatisfying.

Why not? Some of our big-blocks spin almost that fast.

yeah but after some serious modification/upgrades. I imagine 90% of the LS swaps in an RX chassis may involve just headers, and intake.

Can some of you guys get started on these swaps already? I need some renesis internals for the build on the cheap...

fidelity101 wrote:

Knurled wrote:

fidelity101 wrote: lol an LS1 with 10-11krpm tach, thats gotta be dissatisfying.

Why not? Some of our big-blocks spin almost that fast.

yeah but after some serious modification/upgrades. I imagine 90% of the LS swaps in an RX chassis may involve just headers, and intake. Can some of you guys get started on these swaps already? I need some renesis internals for the build on the cheap...

We'll make you a deal. You send me an RX8 and a LS(something) and I'll send you the Resesis for free

In reply to tuna55:

But I want an Rx8 too :(

but DEAL!

Sorry, late reply - I was in CA showing off a V8 Miata.

I doubt we have any interest in developing a swap kit for the RX8. We'll supply the bits we have, but turn-keys and swap kits for a different platform isn't going to work. We simply don't have the manpower, especially with the ND Miata looming.

We'll probably get the gauges working later. Injecting a tach signal into the CAN bus is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Actually, the gauge solution we have looks good enough that I think it's actually going to sell to un-swapped NC owners. We've got a terrible picture of it on our site right now, I'll get a good one this week.

RX-5? Yes, it's been done. Just swap in the subframe and the engine slots right in there. Of course, there's the pesky aspect of making it RUN. CAN bus stuff is fun. If you have a copy of my "How to build a high performance Mazda Miata" book, you know this already as it's discussed there.

Even better, I know of at least one MX-8 - an RX8 with an MZR (aka NC Miata aka Duratec) engine in it. Someone got tired of the rotary's foibles. I can't remember if he turbocharged it or not. It's in the UK. So yeah, if you guys really want a turbo four, that's relatively easy. Well, easy in terms of getting the actual engine into the car. You'll need a different PPF, I think the cars share the same trans or you just slot in the Miata one.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Please tell me you have a build thread bookmarked.

Build thread for the four-cylinder RX8? Nope. I've spoken to the builder when he called for some tech help. Some stuff happens off the internet. I THINK it was a done deal, it's been a couple of years since I spoke to him.

The first rotary NC I know of happened in Oz, but I think it was a time attack car that sidestepped some of the difficult aspects of the swap because racecar. That was the builder that spilled the beans to me about the subframe interchange. There have been some others.

Keith Tanner wrote: ... Some stuff happens off the internet...

This isn't possible.