benben01

Do it! BTW, I am Delaware now

PyroDave

i was gonna let you do it after you take delivery and get it all clean and everything. i can though if you want me to

benben01

Go for it. It will be a few days before I get it cleaned up and clear bra on it.

WhiteTsxy

Look and sound nice as usual Ben...me liked!,,,by the way...where did you get Megan for 650 shipped...the cheapest I saw was like 699. Compare megan to TEINs and if I can save $130 I would do Megan...please link and thanks in advantage.

benben01

Thanks WhiteT! Got my Megan EZ coils from 1x Racing last winter. Guess prices went back up.. I have used Tein SS in my last 2 Hondas. These Megans were a complete surprise in terms of build quality and performance. So far, no complaints. Height adjustments are much easier than the Tein SS with 15 settings of dampening. I have mine set to 11 clicks up front and 7 clicks in the rear.

Oh Pyro, I picked up the RX8 tonight right before the dealership closed

http://www.1xracing.com/megan_racing.../i-396089.aspx

PyroDave

some teaser pics until ben uploads his

WhiteTsxy

Got it Ben,its $680 shipped.still $20 less than what I saw. I am gonna save $100 and go with Megan Ez, I had TEINs b4 and they good. Thank you...by the way, rotary Ben?are you sure that's wut you really like..hehe...just saying tho...Enjoy the new ride and don't forget to take your kids out for a ride.

KillerG

Pardon my ignorance, but whats the deal with stiffness,

Why not even front and back?

Why stiffer up front?

Which means stiff, 1 or 16?

What if you almost never have rear passengers, what then? OR what if i dont give a shit about my rear passengers, what then?

benben01

Thanks Pyro for posting the teaser pics!

WhiteT, you are very welcome. I've done my research on rotaries and are ready to take on the responsibilities of maintaining his high revving gem. @ 9,000 rpm, it's music to my ears. Kids are already asking me to take them to school in the RX8 tomorrow

Killer: The reason for a stiffer front setting coupled with a softer rear is to allow the rear to rotate better in tight turns and corners. If you run all 4 corns at max stiffness, you will likely end up with understeer which will underperform the OE setup. Hope that makes sense.

WhiteTsxy

^+1 on what he said and a nice set of RSB helps a lot.

ttk5

aww shiet. recaros!

benben01

Yessir! And they are pinch my fat in all the right places

tsxronald

I wonder if those recaros can be modified to fit the TSX, that would be sweet!

benben01

You can.. Just a matter of getting the right seat rails

Puppetmaster

Congrats! That's a nice shiny new toy.

wvtriple

Here's really a dumb question. When you guys use "RSB" I assume your talking about the rear sway bar? Only reason this stumped me is a few posts back Tsexy mentioned something about "a good set of RSB". So do we have a really complex multi-link set up in our rear? Or am I over thinking this?

benben01

Thanks Puppet! WV3, you are over thinking it.. Just a standard RSB nothing too fancy..

ssjoeboe9

I thought typically for consumer cars they purposefully set up the suspension to slightly understeer. Whereas race cars are set to oversteer?

WhiteTsxy

RSB= rear sway bar or anti roll bar. When you lower your car more than one inch,you are basiclly shifting lots of weight toward the center gravity, therefore increase more body roll when taking conners, most people in auto cross use it. The reason I like it on my car because I am doing coil over, if you only lower ring by an inch then no need...my English SUCKs....how was the ride this morning on the new car Ben?

benben01

The ride was awesome this morning.. Open'ed her up a bit and just gotta love the sound of that smooth rotary whine Joe, you are correct that most cars are set up for a slight understeer. However, being a FWD, understeer is inherent its DNA. Our TSX, rotates extremely well for a FWD in its stock form. Had a chance to push it a bit on a auto-x like course when it was stock. All my suspension and wheel mods have taken some of that away since I don't have the body roll to induce some of that rotational transition. However, at high speeds, it's a completely different animal compared to the OEM setup.

ed_423

someone did this already, posted up a teaser pic and never came back i'll try to find it haha

ed_423

lookin good ben! im jelly!

MrOtocinclus

I'd love to see a pic of the engine bay...

krolyat

Ben - very nice car! I may end up using your rear diffuser idea.

benben01

Here you go Mr. O. Spent my lunch hour claying the front end and putting on a nice coat of Jet Seal sealant...

benben01

Thanks! I accept royalties for my ideas BTW, where in MD are you? I am in the Germantown/G'burg area.

krolyat

lol , you're saving me quite a bit of cash. I was considering the sport bumper or the SE however the SE bumper would need to be painted since it can't come from the factory in Vortex Blue. I'm down near Bowie.

benben01

Ba-Ba-Bowie eh? I go to Grace's from time to time in Bowie for dinner. How about the aero bumper from 09/10 model.. I like that much better than the SE. I was going to get it but decided to hold off after all the mods I made on my existing bumper to fit 275s back there.

krolyat

I'll look around for one of those in VBP.

ssjoeboe9

OMG... Im so lost when I look at that engine haha. I have studied inline/V piston engines and very little rotary. I just know the basics. Looks like Im gunna add that to my long list of things to learn in the near future.

benben01

Looks intimidating but very simple to work on though... Just need to add oil on a regular basis and change it at 3K.

PyroDave

hey VBP buddy!! take a look at maiku's build thread, he has the aero/sport bumper on his Vortex

and engine bay? i haz 1

krolyat

Thanks looking him up now.

PyroDave

feel free to look at mine as well, we have a bunch of Vortex's on here actually, its awesome. im gonna start a thread later where we can all add our thread, every color should have that, so new members can look at the entire collection for mod ideas more easily

ed_423

i agree, im so lost when i look at the rotary. i have no idea what im looking at

benben01

It's not that bad Eddie'O. Rotaries are very easy to work on once you understand how it works.. As promised here's my first review of the RX8 after I enthusiastically ran the kids around town today on errands and activities..

This car reminds me why I needed to keep the TSX and not have it exclusively as a daily driver. The Recaros are great but are really meant for competition use. As I mentioned in my previous post, they pinch my fat in all the right places. Having said that, this is one heck of a car to have some fun in. You don't need a lot of power when you have a great chassis and excellent steering and feel. The R-tuned (R3) version is a completely different animal from the standard RX8. The stiff suspension along with the 19" BBS provides flat and stable cornering but at the same time allows you to feel all the imperfection on the road. Compared to my modded TSX, the TSX feels like a luxury car. However, with the RX8, i feel connected with the car. The vibrations and feedback are just right without feeling unrefined. The rotary's willingess to pull to 9K is just simply amazing. Now I understand why people love this car so much. As this is my 4th Mazda (prior Mazdas: Maz 3 sport 5spd, Mazdaspeed 3 Grand Touring, and CX-9 Grand Touring) I can definitely see where the zoom zoom philosophy is best exemplified.

The RX8 is the perfect complement to the TSX. While the TSX is a perfect all around car, the RX8 is the modernized enthusiast sports car with a bit or quirkiness and character.

MoaarLow

Car looks great bro, Enjoy!
I think the Guy who parks 2 spots next to me has a black one?
I see the car move once a week maybe twice, well kept.

that red big body looks sick tho

benben01

Thanks Mo! This car is definitely a keeper. Just got cleaning and clay barring the entire car. Waiting on the sealant to bond to the paint so I can buff rest of the car. Found just a tiny lil ding on the rear door which the stealership will fix tomorrow hopefully. I am thinking these stock BBS on the RX8 is too nice to upgrade for now. Contemplating running 10 and 15mm spacers with wider tires: 235/35/19 and 255/35/19.

FlipRizzi

my goodness Ben! that car is noiceee!! you are making it rain man. hard work does pay off also, i always learn something reading your thread. very informative. it helps a newby like me a lot and im sure a lot of other people too!

wvtriple

That's exactly how I describe my European motorcycles.

This part of thread is bringing back memories of my '89 Turbo II. What a great car, the look on a Mustang GT owners face when he learned he just got smoked by a 1.3 litre with no pistons. Man I miss that car.