RX8 Tuning ?
Posted by Rare-Ocelot1479@reddit | projectcar | View on Reddit | 18 comments
Hey Guys i know most of you dont like the RX 8 (Valid) but i love this car it was like a Dream Since i was a kid Playing need for speed And now im 17 got a bit of money (enough for the car in good condition ) and a Buffer But to my question what can you tune without blowing the engine up Thankss guyss
Isamu29@reddit
Don’t do it. Rotary’s cost a lot of money to keep running. I have owned a 94 rx7 since 2002. But I know how to work on cars. Do yourself a favor and get a decent, used daily driver and learn how to work on cars first. Then buy an rx8 later when you have money to play with a rotary.
RPE10Ben@reddit
A full rebuild for a rotary is monumentally more expensive than a piston engine. The overwhelming conclusion from every hardcore rotard I’ve talked to who built and drive these things is they’re not worth it. The RX8 chassis is incredible and swapping the engine makes it an infinitely better vehicle.
Butt_bird@reddit
When tuning a rotary engine you have to be very conservative about spark advance. Slow it down too much and you’ll blow the engine up.
ItchyMcHotspot@reddit
It’s important to know some of the idiosyncrasies of the Renesis engine. Check the oil every other fill-up and always let the engine warm up before shutting it off. I had an RX-8 for 5 years and 80k miles and the only issue l had was the ignition coils burning up, which is easy preventative maintenance. Hold out for one that was well maintained with documented service history.
SD_CA@reddit
I came here to mention this. I would love to have an RX8. But it gets nearly the same MPG as my lincoln Navigator. And I can't afford or have the patience for the upkeep. But they're beautiful fun cars.
Utter_Rube@reddit
People think a "tune" is just fiddling with the computer and magically unlocking dozens or hundreds of horsepower. No. All you're doing is tweaking fuel and ignition advance to match up to physical modifications. Unless your car is turbocharged with an electronically controlled wastegate, you're unlikely to get more than five or ten more HP from just a tune.
If you want to get a significant increase in power from a rotary engine, you can get it ported (roughly same concept as heads+cam on a 4 stroke) or you can add forced induction or nitrous, then get it tuned.
Ancient-Street-3318@reddit
Not much to win, the Renesis has been pushed near it's limit by Mazda. The exhaust ports constitue the main restriction. The 8 is plenty enjoyable with a stock powertrain. Look for suspension upgrades stock brakes are already oversized :-)
Look up Versatuner, there are a few tunes for a stock engine but they are mostly reliability-oriented tunes that mostly up lubrication (OMP) values, up the idle to 1000 so it idles smoother, put a rev limiter when cold, etc. This isn't a 1.9 TDI that can endure crazy tunes on stock internals.
And all the classic bolt-ons don't do much:
Headers are not useful because of no exhaust overlap (hence no braps)
Intake: the Racing Beat REVi and the AEM ones are the only ones that increase HP. Less than 10 hp gain with a tune though. I wouldn't bother. The stock intake is a huge pain to deal with but it's been carefully engineered and won't sound like a vacuum cleaner.
Catless midpipe is where you can gain a bit. Catback for sound and weight.
The only way to significantly up HP would be to go turbo, but you won't build much boost without having to build the engine for it.
Lurk r/RX8 and RX8 forums, everything has already been covered countless times.
fiero-fire@reddit
Before you put a tune and more power through that engine you need to rebuild it and upgrade the rotor seals. They died with stick seal after sixty thousand miles. I made good money rebuild those fuckers back in the day
Practice-Potential@reddit
This! And look up 'Sohn OMP" once you've got a healthy engine there. Divorcing the supply to your oil metering pump from the engine oil so you can supply it with something designed to combust, like AMSOIL Saber or the like will go a long way toward helping the engine to last longer as well.
AdjunctFunktopus@reddit
I love my RX8. I didn’t love the fuel economy, the rust or the needing an engine replacement (plan for 60-100k miles, which is a long time for a project car, not so much for a daily).
2009 and up are slightly better. They have an extra oil injector, which might help. A little.
They’re pretty highly tuned from the factory. Intake/Headers/Exhaust/Chip might make you a few more horsepower, but we’re talking like 15, not 50. If, at some point you need a rebuild, then you can port the exhaust. That will get you a few more. Not much for cheap basic add-ons.
There are turbo kits out there. And people swap to the older 13b-rew to make bigger power. The LS swap is pretty well documented by this point.
Good cars. But probably best if you can live with stock-ish power or have big dollars.
theuautumnwind@reddit
As a toy for a second vehicle sure it’s a cool car.
I would NOT recommend that you own it as your only form of transportation. Especially if you are inexperienced at wrenching which it sounds like that is the case here.
This is true of most project vehicles though. The solution? Own two projects! Then you are more likely to have one in a running state…
Alxwood48@reddit
Look up RadPotential on YouTube. He’s a big proponent of the Rx8 and rotary’s in general being reliable and tunable. He has a lot of good info and a discord where he answers specific questions.
Skvora@reddit
AFAIK you'll want to triple or quadruple on the cooling setup, and then do all other consumables quirks others mentioned.
Heat is the primary killer, like for most cars, but espe such a tiny hot dorito stack.
IMightDeleteMe@reddit
All the used RX8s I've ever seen for sale had their engines rebuilt at least once. So I guess the good thing is, the knowhow of fixing these engines up is out there, but the bad thing is, they frequently need rebuilding. If you're gonna tune it, it's not gonna be more reliable than stock.
If you don't need a reliable car and you don't mind throwing away money, go for it.
amg-rx7@reddit
Racing Beat has a few good tunes
YousureWannaknow@reddit
Tuning? Oh Boy! Unlimited possibilities in matter of mechanical mods. Still I recommend starting from engine investigation (before you buy, find out about issues, problems, construction and how to get parts in your area). Join local (countrywide is enough) forums/communities, to get better support in that area.. In case of mods.. depends from what you start and what you want to achieve.. I seen RX8 with V6, with TDI and many other construction except Wankel engine, if you want Wankel, you can run it with rebuilds and turbo, supercharger and engine expanding as well..😉
EC_CO@reddit
I really loved the looks and performance of my rx8, but I hated that it went through three engines within 100,000 miles. If you want to get serious about one, join a dedicated forum that likes and knows these vehicles very well.
emotionaI_cabbage@reddit
Don't do it lol
The engine is a time bomb as is. Just leave it alone.