February 13, 2008

Japanese Clear Corners

Picked up from RX8strakes.com these sweet clear corners. They were definitely needed for the exterior as the stock American corners were just too orange and stood out. These not only blend in nicely, they're essentially "stock". I really enjoy of most JDM stock cars as opposed to the modifications that the American market makes to cars. Example, the Lancer Evolution, they swap the headlights and rear lights for something more American and crappy, and the rear bumper is bulky and just...Doesn't flow with the car at all. Makes no sense. These corners flow just right with the car, wouldn't you say?

February 9, 2008

K&N Drop In Filter

(DIY is seen here)

So thanks to Greenblurr for getting the hookup for the cheap and quick delivery of this fine little piece right here.

We got together at his place, and after some fine sushi, we went ahead and installed this. Now I'll be honest, this was NOT as easy as the video makes it look. Granted, you CAN do it that fast after numerous practices (and hand scrapes- yeeoch), but it took us almost 30 minutes to finally pull it apart and slip this bad boy in. My filter that came with the car looked almost as black as my car, showing that it was definitely overdue.

Performance? It's an air filter. It honestly probably gave me 1 or 2 HP extra over the stock filter, but since mine was old and used and terrible, probably 4 HP? "Butt Dyno" says more, but doesn't it always?

The fact I even felt a slight something tells me that this was a great buy for only $50 (autozone quoted me $58). The recharge kit for this (which will be used in 20,000 miles) is only $16 at autozone, so the fact I can save money and save the filter is a sure winner right there. Knowing me, I may try another filter just to see the difference in feel, and keep my K&N or sell it to someone I know locally.

The sound of the intake did change as it added a sort of deeper sound, but not much. In a previous post, you'll notice I did the airbox modification, which helps flow as much air as possible into the intake manifold, so coupling the modified airbox with a high flow filter is a match made in heaven.

February 3, 2008

Modified Airbox And Fog Lights

(DIY for Airbox is here , thanks a million Renesis SE3P! DIY for Fogs is here, thanks Mazda Maniac!)

Got together with Greenblurr for some fun. We decided to take a hack at modifying our Airboxes to what we've read, makes the OEM box the equivilent of an aftermarket air intake. The downside? Slight vibration when idling for the next 100 miles most RX-8's experience (I didn't). Since we were under the hood we also wanted to try and get the fog lights to go on when we actually ONLY want fog lights on and not both lights and fogs. It's stupid that Mazda and most car companies now are setting it so that fogs can only go on when you have your driving lights on.

Once we figured it out, the foglight modification literally took no more then 5-10 minutes. It was a simple game of putting one wire where another belonged, and eletrical taping it together. The end result is quite impressive.

The Airbox modification is self explanitory, as seen in the DIY. The only tough part was opening the airbox which took us much too long. But once done, the screens were gone, and more air flowed in. I felt a bit of "something", but the filter was much too dirty to really benefit from this modification. Stayed tuned to when I change the filter.

February 1, 2008

Hot Version - Battles At 10,000 RPM

This months Best Motoring is actually a Hot Version DVD. Hot Version has the same racers (which is always Keichi Tsuchiya, and usually Orido and someone else) as Best Motoring, only it's focused more on the tuning world as opposed to stock car testing.

This episode, "Battles at 10,000 RPM" started off great with a NA only battle. They had various tuner cars, such as J's Racing S2000, to the RE Amemiya RX-7 Super G, to the Spirits MR-S and more. As usual, most of their battles are done at Tsukuba Circuit, with a total of 7 cars this time. Great to sit back and see all the setups of these track cars and what actually goes into making a stock car into a track beast. The RE-Amemiya RX-7 featured a 20B three rotor that was peripheral ported. It sounded so different compared to a normal rotary, as it was deeper but still with that high pitched exhaust note. I really can't say much about this car as I'm impressed with everything about it. The looks, the power, the handling. Only thing Tsuchiya didn't approve of was the suspension setting for the track, as he said the car "wanders around" during the S curves, thinking the dampers might be too soft. Still won the race with no problems.

After that, they featured a great comparision between a 2003 S2000, and a 2004 face lifted S2000 (unfortunately in America, the 2004 also featured the 2.2 engine with lower rev limit, but more torque). After a few comparisions in terms of handling charateristics and wheels, they had a short battle between the two, and a tuned S2000, to show the differences overall.

They then had a tuned S2000 battle with top notch brand names; Spoon, J's Racing, and C-Ken S2000. This battle as well as the previous S2000 comparisions were done on Maze Circuit. I'd say my favorite part is when they explain how to drive the circuit and what to look out for in the turns. They go over simple steps going about when turning, and how to always keep the traction in the rear. Really helps when thinking of the dynamics of track racing. The end of this race was "HOT" to say the least... You'll know what I mean if you see it.

They had a great segment on some of the top Japanese racers right now, Jyuchi Wakisaka, and Orido Mandabu. Small interviews with them with various questions, then descriptions of their careers as of 2004-2005 at the moment. Wakisaka is participating in not only formula, but also JGTC 500 class. Orido is currently (in the video time frame) doing Super Taikyu for team Advan and doing JGTC 500 class as well. It was great to get a glimpse of what it's like to be professional, something I wish to achieve at some point.

The next segment had a small show called "My Car Challenge" in which viewers of BMI/Hot Version are picked out, and get to bring their car out to the track. Once they do, they do a time attack against a professional racer of their choice, using the viewer's car. The viewer will get to do a practice lap or two, then do a full on time attack lap. Then, the professional gets their practice lap with the viewer's car, before doing their time attack. This time they had a 180 SX, and a EG6 Civic.

Lastly, they had a Touge Showdown Special Class episode. It was originally supposed to be the Amuse S2000 against Subaru's STI WRC rally car, but due to the heavy snow and conditions on the course, this was simply turned into a time attack done by none other then, Tommi Makkinen. Tommi really impressed everyone at the level of not only the WRC car, but his driving abilities with being able to control the car in such conditions.

Great video, especially the various different episodes from a huge NA battle, to some battles with the S2000, then about the racers, then back to the small racing shows of my car and touge showdown. Feel I definitely got my moneys worth with this video here.