My 2004 Rx8

[djmtsu]

Excellent. Kevin does good work. Did you do anything special, or just a standard rebuild?

[rx865]

Yeah kevin did an excellent job and alerted me of anything I should know and gave me a small list of things to watch out for in the future as well. It was just a standard rebuild. New coolant seals and rotor housings along with bearings because they showed some signs of wear and my rotor housings were in piss pour shape so I got some new ones off atkins rotary. I thought about some small porting but decided against it. Ive read rx8's dont respond as well to porting as previous rx's did.

[diabolical1]

glad to hear that your car is coming along the way you want it. that, in itself, is an accomplishment. just out of curiosity, how worn were your bearings? too bad you guys did not decide on any oiling upgrades with the rebuild. however, i'm sure all will be fine. you drove that thing to 108,000+ miles and from what i understand, that's not a small feat. good luck with the rest of your project.

Originally Posted by rx865

I thought about some small porting but decided against it. Ive read rx8's dont respond as well to porting as previous rx's did.

i'm not picking on you because i know this is YOUR car, and all that really matters at the end of the day is that you are satisfied with it. i get that. however, it just seems to me that that's a weak excuse to not port the engine. if it's a matter of money or possible issues with emissions, then that's one thing. however, the incessant need to compare old rotaries to the NEW is just crazy - at least, that's my take on it. the gains are still, regardless of if they are comparable to the older engines. they are different engines and direct comparisons should be avoided with things like this. at any rate, the engine is back together and running already, so saying, "you should have ..." is pointless. i just wanted to comment. everything else is looking good. enjoy.

1

[djmtsu]

Originally Posted by diabolical1

you drove that thing to 108,000+ miles and from what i understand, that's not a small feat.

Pfft!

My original engine died at 36,000 and the replacement is pushing 160,000.

Easy cheesy.

[diabolical1]

Originally Posted by rx865

flywheel and short throw came in today. The flywheel feels super light compared to the stock flywheel and the short throw should feel incredible when I get it installed as well as everything else.

please be sure to report your thoughts on the new flywheel.

Originally Posted by djmtsu

Pfft!

My original engine died at 36,000 and the replacement is pushing 160,000.

well, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. out of curiosity, what year did you get yours replaced? i'm still on my original engine and i'm somewhere in the mid-70s right now. i wouldn't want to speculate how much longer i have - in fact, i may have said too much already.

at any rate, i think i have a solid plan when the time comes for me to rebuild. after that, i'll let time determine the rest.

[rx865]

Originally Posted by diabolical1

please be sure to report your thoughts on the new flywheel.

Ive noticed the flywheel has definately helped out acceleration greatly. Especially from around 4k up to redline. Before I got the flywheel the car wasn't sluggish by any means, but it felt like there should be a little better acceleration and this flywheel has really made a huge difference. The rpms just seem to climb alot faster than when I had my stock flywheel. I really don't have any problems with it at all. Only thing is it requires more throttle to go from a stop. This is to be expected with a lighter flywheel, but I also replaced the clutch and it's a little bit stiffer than the previous clutch so it took me a little while to get use to the new clutch/flywheel combo. I think it has been the best mod i've done so far to the car besides the af sts. It just feels sportier and more healthy ( this could be due to the rebuild as well) but the improved response and acceleration from the flywheel is just amazing. I recommend this to anyone looking for a lightweight flywheel. It is a little expensive but well worth the cash. I had originally planned on the ACT flywheel and when I went to order it from BHR the counterweight required for the flywheel was out of stock. Charles sent me an email and gave me the option to wait on the counterweight and if I did they would upgrade my flywheel to the BHR flywheel for the price of the ACT flywheel( a difference of $100 between the ACT and BHR) or he would refund my money completely. I chose to upgrade and have been very happy with it so far.

[My5ABaby]

Originally Posted by diabolical1

i'm not picking on you because i know this is YOUR car, and all that really matters at the end of the day is that you are satisfied with it. i get that. however, it just seems to me that that's a weak excuse to not port the engine. if it's a matter of money or possible issues with emissions, then that's one thing. however, the incessant need to compare old rotaries to the NEW is just crazy - at least, that's my take on it. the gains are still, regardless of if they are comparable to the older engines. they are different engines and direct comparisons should be avoided with things like this. at any rate, the engine is back together and running already, so saying, "you should have ..." is pointless. i just wanted to comment. everything else is looking good. enjoy.

It's my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) streetporting adds top end but also reduces low end torque and fuel economy. As such, if it's just for a daily driver/weekend fun car, it's not necessarily a good thing.

[diabolical1]

Originally Posted by My5ABaby

It's my understanding (please correct me if I'm wrong) streetporting adds top end but also reduces low end torque and fuel economy. As such, if it's just for a daily driver/weekend fun car, it's not necessarily a good thing.

well, generally speaking, if you go ape-shit with the port, then you're right. what i mean is there was a time when you could adjust both open timing and duration significantly. each has their own effect on the powerband, and of course, another effect when used in tandem. for the record, i haven't had the chance to work with a Renesis firsthand yet, and until my Rx-8 engine needs to be pulled, i probably won't get the chance.

with that said, from what i understand (from the few people that have worked with Renesis engines) there's virtually nothing to be done with open timing, so that leaves some duration changes on the primaries and a little on the secondaries. it doesn't sound like going ape-shit is an option any more. i also think the Rx-8 is somewhat unique in how the intake is setup, in that, i believe the engine would retain it's response on the low end, while gaining on the top. if i recall, i think that's what Charles Hill had reported when his car got ported years ago. at any rate, i don't want to go too far off topic on this, but i think a streetport will give you more benefits than drawbacks.

however, just for the record, i was simply saying the logic behind saying the gains are not on par with the old engines was not something i saw as a valid reason not to port. the engines are different. yes, they are both rotaries, but they are not the same, and i just think one can get in one's own way by trying (or not trying) something based on how that "thing" worked on the old engines. that's all.