Performance Parts Zone

For those that don’t know me, I love the rotary motor, ive owned 2, a Mazda RX7 and a Mazda RX8.  There is just something about them that makes you fall in love with it as soon as you get behind the wheel.  With my RX8, there was never a dull moment in the car, every second behind the wheel was fun.  These cars handle unbelievably well, and while a little underpowered, they still feel quick. 

Todays Ride of the Day owner, Justin Terramagra, took care of the underpowered aspect of the car with a host of performance parts, including the Greddy Turbo Kit.  In addition to the Turbo kit, a Greddy Type RS BOV, Mazdaspeed Exhaust, Greddy Oil Pan and Catch tank were added to round things out.  An Interceptor EMS and Greddy Profec E01 was employed to fine tune everything and get the most out of the turbo setup. 

The outside of the car remains mostly stock to suprise unsuspecting kids that think they are fast.  The addition of clear side markers and some window tint give the car subtle touches that take an already great looking car and make it that much better.

“I wanted this car ever since i saw the concept. I then graduated police academy and bought my (realistic) dream car. I plan to add bigger wheels (19″) and possibly the Mazdaspeed body kit.”
Alucard - Michael Mariaschin
My 2004 Ti Grey RX8 with Red/Black Leather
So far only mods are:
Tinted windows 15% Rear 25% Front
Painted calipers (red)
Clear sidemarkers
PIAA Super White LED Parking Lights
Hood Dampers
Eibach Lowering Springs (1.4″ Front, 1.2″ Rear Drop)
Racing Beat Revi Intake
Mazdaspeed Rear Wing
Racingbrake.com Brake Upgrade Kit
Mazda Aero Kit
Mazdaspeed Sport Exhaust Ver.2

We have been debating over the last few weeks as to what kind of wheel we want to use on our Mazda RX8 project car and i think we have finally selected on.  The Volk TE37 in the Titanium Black finish.  The car is Lightning yellow and i believe a black wheel is just what it needs.  We have definitely decided on  Volk Wheels for the car, but if you have any suggestions on which wheels we should put on the car, please let us know and we will take it into consideration.

It just came in.  The Stoptech Stage 2 Brake Upgrade Kit.  We decided to go with this kit over the Stoptech Big Brake Kit because the car will be mostly street driven and we felt the big brakes may be overkill, despite their better performance.  The Stage 2 Upgrade will give us 4 new Brake Rotors, 4 Stainless steel brake lines, high performance brake pads, and better brake fluid.  Should be a noticeable difference between these and the stock braking system of the Mazda RX8. For the money, we couldnt go wrong.  If you were to buy these as OE parts from a dealership, they cost almost as much as the Stoptech Upgrade kit.  This is truly one of the most cost efficient upgrades we have planned and the RX8 should be a great example of what any tuner out there could build and have great performance on the street as well as be competitive on the track.  Ill let you know how they do once we get them installed.

While we dont have a definitive plan for the RX8 just yet, we went ahead and ordered some of the parts we know we will need during this build. Today we focused on ordering parts to help keep the car running cool no matter the circumstances or performance modifications, i.e. Turbo or Nitrous.  

Its common knowledge that the Rotary motors found in the Mazda RX line of cars, run hotter than most any car on the market.  To keep heat from becoming a factor while tuning we ordered some necessary updgrades to the cooling system today. 

  We started by ordering a Koyo Radiator to keep the coolant temps down.  Not only is the Koyo Radiator built to OE specs, but the all aluminum radiator should be easy to install and reduce engine temps by 20 ro 30 percent.   Next we ordered a set of Agency Power Silicone Radiatior Hoses, not that they reduce heat, but they do increase coolant flow and we dont have to worry about busting a radiatior hose during tuning if we boost the 13B.  To top off the cooling parts list, we ordered the Greddy Air Diffuser Panel and Greddy Oil Pan.  The Air Diffuser Panel should help the cooling process by diverting air directly across the radiator core.  The Greddy Oil Pan not only increases cooling by holding another qt of oil, but its aluminum construction has cooling fins built around the entire oil pan.  Any air coming across the bottom of the car should keep the oil cool.

  I think with the above modifications, we will not run hot not matter what we decide to do to the Mazda.  Hopefully ill have all these parts in stock and on the car with in the next week or two and ill update you then. Im going to avg the cars running temp now for the next two weeks and then avg it again after the parts are installed.  I may even do a before and after run on the dyno to see if the decreased temperatures had any effect on performance at all.

We are about to start the buildup of an 04 Mazda RX8.  I figured i’d let you guys in on it from the beginning, so feel free to subscribe and check back for updates and pictures as we build this car with the ultimate goal of a magazine feature.
We want this car to have a clean look with a hint of race car attitude, but we also want the car to have some power to back up its styling.  The car came to us with a set of 20” HPD MSR wheels, Mazdaspeed replica body kit, a Seibon Carbon Fiber Hood, and a Magnaflow Exhaust already installed on it.  We may leave the hood, and even the body kit, but the wheels have to go because they just don’t work with our theme for the car.  We have yet to decide what performance parts we want to use and that’s where we would love to hear from you.  Let us know what you think we should use in the build-up of this car. Give us your thoughts on exterior styling, performance parts, and suspension pieces.  For the next month or so we will be sourcing parts, so send us your suggestions soon. 
More to come soon….