Back in the rotary world: RX-8

I'm debating just welding in a universal cat. Mazda OEM parts are crazy expensive.

You should be fine with a universal one, if you have to pass emissions. Either way one is going to fail within a few years so might as well save some cash.

How many miles does this car have?

I had my cat replaced for free by the dealership because the car had less than 100K on it. Something about a federal law and emmissions devices...

Rob R.

160k, the dealer won't help me.

I have a factory cat in good condition that I've cut out of the mid-pipe I'm modifying for a track pipe. PM me if you're interested. You'll need to cut out your old cat and weld this one in its place.

Alright. I didn't have a sensor quite connected when I started and one of the coils wasn't firing right. The clutch problem was a slave cylinder.

The car was driven for about 50 miles... and it threw a code. I can't find my ODBII reader, so I'm just going to go get it inspected and find out what is wrong. I am betting it is the busted cat, so I'll have that welded in while it is there.

I am seriously hoping it is road legal next week. I want to race.

Today the car passed inspection and I got my plate. I'll be driving it tomorrow.

Did I mention that it is now also wearing Bilsteins and Racing Beat springs?

Much better than a worn out 160k stock suspension.

The shredded fender liner was replaced and the undertray was put back on it on Friday. I also tightened down the dead pedal, which was a little bit loose.

Now to figure out if I want to drive it with the Hawk pads on it or not. Aside from that, the car is once again a driver, and no modifications will be done. Once I get an engine stand adapter, the tear down on the dead engine will begin.

Nice work, have fun with it!

I threw a blinking CEL near redline. That's almost always a misfire. Considering I have brand new coils, plugs and wires it might be time to change the fuel filter, even though it has less than 5000 miles on it. The car did sit with about a gallon of gasoline in it for 8 months while the engine replacement was happening.

I don't think it's uncommon to get an occasional misfire at high RPMs and load.

Are they Mazda coils? (I know they are new but unfortunately that does not mean much) Do you have anything to data log with?

Which hawk pads are you running? If they are HPS or HP+ you can ride on the street just fine. I've driven my RX8 around with full HT-10s in it before (although not daily and I don't recommend it)...

Did the CEL near readline go away after a few seconds of driving? If your fuel pump is original at 160k miles, I'm betting thats the culprit. The pumps aren't the greatest to begin with and with the pump/filter assembly all in one essentially, just replace the whole thing. If you plan to track the car (not auto-x, but track days) you will want to get rid of the series 1 pumps (subpar unit made by airtex) and drop in a series 2 (much more reliable denso unit) or rig up an aftermarket one. I was plagued by my fuel pump bad at the end of last season and it caused me plenty of time on the track and probably took miles of my engine's life.

An HPDE is on the list of things to do, so a fuel pump it shall be.

Hawk HPS pads are what I was going to put on there.

Go hp+ the hps are barely better than stock. You can still drive them on the street. Make sure you bed them first.

Rob R.

I have HPS pads. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to use them yet.

The HPS need a little more heat then stock when starting cold, but quickly surpass OEM once heated up. The OEM though have amazing initial bite but fade a bit quick on track days from what I've found.

Brett I rolled on HPS's all around for a couple years now. definitely an "OEM+" performance level and perfectly adequete for any spirited stuff around here. i went with Stoptech Street Performance pads up front recently and found them perfect for an HPDE and they still do street duty just fine. i don't think the HPS would have held up on track, in front. As a bonus they're basically the same price as HPS's. Give 'em a look.

I vote HP+ - I've run everything from HPS to DC10s.. I had HPS when I first started doing HPDE events and they lasted well coupled with a slotted rotor, the HP+ I still run in the rear. The HT-10s are what I run now in front for track and DEs, love them but harsh for street use. The HT10s don't work well for auto-x in our areas as they dont get to temp quick enough...

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. I got the Hawk pads for free, I might just dump them and get Stoptech or HP+

Of course it is going to be raining this weekend. I had big plans.

Today the power steering rack stopped being powered. I'm going to clean the connectors and hope I don't have to replace the SOB because that might involve removing half of the car.

You can guarantee that I said some words when it cut out and the light came on.

Power steering rack from the parts car is now in the Driver, but there is still a code being thrown.

If ONE MORE THING goes wrong on this car, I'm selling it and getting a series two.

The power steering rack that was throwing a code would not return to center if you let go of the wheel. It was also easier to turn it right than it was to turn it left.

Rack number THREE is on the way, this one has a warranty. I'm still classifying this under "the rack went bad" but this car is on thin ice to the point I drove a 2008 RX-8 today. I'd heard that the automatic was "pretty good" but I advised the salesman that it was awful when I pulled out of the dealership and the car accelerated like a geriatric sloth that had been swilling NyQuil all day long. I could probably swap in the rear end from my donor car, but that's a lot of work for an untested solution.

I'm also looking seriously looking for a S2 in good shape locally.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/4491535698.html

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/open-classifieds/rx8-6-spd-dd-2500-atl/86377/page1/

And absolute worst case i could be willing to part with my S2......

But then again I am slightly intoxicated at the moment.