More pics more pics!!

Awesome swap. Even if you can't get the *best* power to weight ratio out of it, it should be a fun car to drive. I liked how the RX-8 I drove felt, pulled nice and smooth everywhere.

"support america" this is why I really dislike people trying to bash Rotary's. They often make it a "well american muscle cars are made like this, and we are american's dammit!" What bull. Some how a type of internal combustion engine is more american than another??
This idea and thinking clearly leads to new developments and better technology right? I mean, as long as we keep improving the pushrod v8?? is that how it works??

Far as I'm concerned I'd really like to see the Rotary come through as a good engine, I think it has plenty of capacity for it. Just need to improve the cooling. On the Renesis the third "shared" exhaust port gets all sorts of rediculous hot, the other two exhaust pipes can be peachy and the third will be red hot.

As for development, I'd also like to see a quasiturbine engine to pull through and make it into cars or buses...whatever the application it'd be pretty cool.

Daytona Rolex 24hr: SpeedSource RX8 wins GT class
 

Read below enough said:

SPEEDSOURCE CASTROL SYNTEC MAZDA RX-8 WINS GT
CLASS AT 2008 ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA

- 22nd Win in Endurance Classic for Mazda since 1975 –

January 27, 2008 (Daytona Beach, Fla). After 24 hours of close competition among 41 cars, the SpeedSource Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8 team won the GT class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona to kick off the 2008 GrandAm season. The SpeedSource driving team of Sylvain Tremblay, David Haskell, Nick Ham, and Raphael Matos started from the pole, and led 323 of 664 laps, on their way to ninth overall and the class win.
The SpeedSource Mazda team beat the runner-up Porsche by over five laps. The win was the 22nd class win at the race for Mazda and a ended a lengthy winning streak by Porsche at the biggest 24 hour race in America. Along the way, the SpeedSource number 70 car beat over two dozen Porsche 911 GT-3s, a handful of Pontiacs, a pair of Ferrari 430 Challenges, a Corvette, and a BMW M6. There were a total of 55 lead changes among 10 cars in the class, but no onecould pass the RX-8 for the final 185 laps.

I disagree with the myth that a 13B is a "1.3L".

Not a rotary hater, but it grinds my gears when people claim that rotaries make "all that horsepower out of 1.3 literzzz!!!"

Read and know:

"While a four-stroke piston engine makes one combustion stroke per cylinder for every two rotations of the crankshaft (that is, one half power stroke per crankshaft rotation per cylinder), each combustion chamber in the Wankel generates one combustion stroke per each driveshaft rotation, i.e. one power stroke per rotor orbital revolution and three power strokes per rotor rotation. Thus, power output of a Wankel engine is generally higher than that of a four-stroke piston engine of similar engine displacement in a similar state of tune and higher than that of a four-stroke piston engine of similar physical dimensions and weight. Wankel engines also generally have a much higher redline than a reciprocating engine of similar size since the strokes are completed with a rotary motion as opposed to a reciprocating engine which must use connecting rods and a crankshaft to convert reciprocating motion into rotary motion.

National agencies that tax automobiles according to displacement and regulatory bodies in automobile racing variously consider the Wankel engine to be equivalent to a four-stroke engine of 1.5 to 2 times the displacement; some racing regulatory agencies ban it altogether."

BTW, I'm loving the reliability comparisons between modded rotaries and stock truck engines... lol. What's that? A V8 that's never been revved past 5.5k RPM or been truly driven hard is still going? Do tell!

I both agree and disagree with the displacement nomer on the 1.3 liters. It does create significantly more power for it's size. However, it's hard to compare. Much like the Quasiturbine which can have like 32 strokes per cycle, all dependent on how many ports and carriers you put on it.

from my understanding its considered a 2.6 liter since its two rotors. Also I love how they get full boost by like 3800 with a big as T78 turbo...always loved em

i just hope those who hate rotaries keep it that way... its getting hard to find a nice condition FC now adays cuz ppl keep crashing or blowing them up..

i have a DD FC btw, bought it in 04 w/ 50k miles... its at 141k now with normal routine maintenance and the only thing that has gone wrong is... well my u-joints failed on me... but thats not engine related.... i think its great for what i do with it (freeway 60+ mile commute) because at that speed *3k* the motor is only spinning at a third that... so its almost idling comparing to a car

the RX8's motor is loads better than the 13bs because its almost to the power levels of the 13bREW but also classfied as a ULEV... and that was the main point of the rx8 was to prove to everyone that it can be emissions friendly too... i'd get one.

and where are the pix??? i wanna see more of the rotary nc not to see a big debate

I think I have owned eight rx7s and never had an engine fail. But they can be a pain, especially compared to the miata. And when I had the choice between my 91 turbo miata and my black 94 FD touring with 47k, I drove the miata. Selling the FD for $7k more than I paid was handy for the family stuff. I am getting some funny feelings about getting another one though. I loved my black 89 turbo, bought as a shell, new most everything, added a back seat and took a vacation with the family. Good times. Only made a little money on that car, though, I through in the labor for free.

I have also driven an 87 turbo that had 199K on the original engine. But one day, my 84 gsl-se just started smoking, still ran great for some time but annoying. Rotaries are very reliable when driven but don't sit well. Then you have to either put atf down the carb, pull it with a truck and pop the clutch in second, or arc the distributor (rubber gloves are good) for some starting power. All fun.

Ben nice swap keep us informed.

And for everyone arguing about engines; do some research and come back with data. This is probably the most m.net argument i have ever seen.

nice, keep us updated.

I can probably source a renesis hp block for a decent price so I'm certainly interested :)

looks like a cool project.

good luck finishing it all.

reminds me of this one i saw two years ago even though this one is a NA

one engine for each wheel please

It's considered a 2.6 liter by many, but because it has more firing cycles per crankshaft revolution than a 4-cycle piston engine, not because there are two rotors. Loki - instead of saying to do more research, why not do your own and then prove me wrong? :magna:

Not meaning to crap on your thread, Ben. That's a kickass project you have there and I wish you much luck with it, that's got to be a helluva lot of work and dedication.

Cause theres no point. I already know which engine is better for my needs.

It comes down to the theories of the engines and execution. I don't have to prove you wrong, you don't know what you're talking about.

ugh.. Why??

Whatever you say. :cool:

It always is ;)

damn- check out the suspension in that last photo.

m2cupcar, ya the rear was set up the same way but i don't have any pictures that show it clearly

thats what i was looking at. screw all this bickering, i need some more information on that suspension...and if those added shocks are even worth a damn..and whats that huge hepa filter thingy?

Im pretty sure those arent added shocks. Those are the shocks.

so whats under the car then? ive seen that kind of setup before but never understood the point. what forces are those things helping with

if anyone has more knowledge on this subject feel free to correct me.

From my understanding, the purpose of this rocker arm type suspension is to reduce unsprung mass by moving the shocks and springs on to the chassis. And it looks like this person went further and provided extra mounting points for the end of the shock absorber to change the angle at which it is reacting to the rocker arm. Pretty sweet setup.

Must work well too, since this is very similar to what F1 and most other open wheel race cars use.

anywho... sorry for the interruption from from the rotary discussion.

in case you are interested this is the back end.

that thing is the sex

ya japan has some cool stuff after all, huh :)

Exactly, and I've got one (13b) in the attict.:)

Great build btw!

It also allows for shorter shocks and smaller packaing. Inboard mounting. But with miatas im not sure the increased damping is an improvment

Ha! All that says is the only dumbshits who like rotaries are drivers, not engineers. :-)

You're absolutely right, that's the best answer yet. And if people are going to piss about the "effective" displacement, what about two strokes?

There's only three practical things to compare to, it's HP & TQ vs: 1) Weight 2) Size 3) Fuel Consumption
With things like 4) Cost and 5) Reliability
It could be a charmed magic boot that you pour fuel into and the output shaft turns other than that.

Yeah, to me it looks like you're saving weight as well... Certainly sprung weight. Certainly it allows more travel for a short throw shock, but... it seems there's a lot of overhead in translating the motion up there.

Either way, I want one. :-)

ice chest maybe?

No one goes around comparing the output of a two-stroke to any automotive engine, like they do with rotaries. Your argument is valid though.

Looks to be an airbox. If they'd left the carbs open, the exhaust is beneath them...

Because they aren't allowed on anything useful.... Rotoaries are still legal.

Since it's NC day here on MT.net, thought I'd share a couple other pictures of the MX-8. We're gonna get hard core on the electrical next week, and hopefully have a running car by end of next month. Also just got the AutoExe body panels (last pic, for reference)

It's good to see some nice progress. Woah, a body kit that I actually like!

Not too hot on the front

I have a raging hard-on right now.

I want a bigger pic but a bit more zoomed out! Any chance of getting one? Wouldn't want anyone's pants to start fitting right so soon, would you?

Sorry you don't like it, but it was chosen for a few reasons. The NC from the factory is seriously lacking in the radiator department. We want this car trackable, so on top of the custom radiator, this bumper has a huge opening to get the fresh air to the cooler. Also, it has the twin fog lamp holes which will be used to duct fresh air to the oil coolers, one cooler on each side.

More pics... I dunno, as I feel like taking em. ;)

form follows function

That thing is the sex!

Too much arguing, not enough rotary mx5.

This argument is stupid guys, post up facts when talking shit.

In a word, beautiful.

Why MX-8, though? Why not RX-5? It's been my understanding that most Mazda cars with a rotary engine were prefixed with "R" - The R100, R130, RX-2, RX-3, RX-4, RX-5, RX-7, and RX-8 come to mind. Heck, there's not been an RX-5 in over 10 years... I think it's fair game to adopt the name :)

R-5X, for experimental

Cause I believe there was an Rx5 made so people are stupid and would get confused.

MX-5 Type R


Problem solved.

I like the body kit, should provide alot of air for the rad too!

Every fast rotary I've seen barely ran.

pics of the hood?

aggressive port work means lumpy idle and no balls until high rpms. unless the builder is super talented, then there are some tricks to gain power without the extreme port work.

one of the co-owners of mazmart is one of the (if not the) top rotary rebuilders in the world. our engines run well.

Holly big brakes batman. Is that wheel full, or is that wheel full? RX-8 brakes FTW.

Wider angle shot included as well

Now I see why you are looking for a front bumper.

sorry i don't have any


Keep up the great work on that rotary. I want to see some driving footage when it is finished.