Dr. FrankenRex's RX8 Rotor-O-Spective
Discussion
Having a fairly in-depth thread on the RX8 Owner's Club, I figured I'd dip a toe in to the water with a project thread on PH 
I've had the car(s) a while so I guess I'll start by a bit of a recap - as such sorry for the LONG opening post!
I bought my first RX8 R3 in 2013, an Aurora Blue with 40k on the clock and instantly fell in love. Having had MX5s for a few years it made sense to 'step up' to its bigger brother, so test drove it and put a deposit down (on the first one I saw! Whoops!).
I only had it for 6 months until the great floods of January 2014 claimed another soul... *sniff*
Sufficed to say I moved on to another RX8 (something that would eventually turn in to a habit...). Sadly we were buying a house at the time so I could only afford a standard 192 Series 1 RX8, although it had an R3 rear conversion and R3 wheels on it - something which sold me on this particular car.
You'll notice I haven't yet mentioned 'engine rebuild' in this, a thread about a rotary engine. Well, as luck would have it I covered about 12k in the blue R3 and then I covered 40k in the black one before I wanted to get more from it. The 192 was on 95k when I made the decision to have it rebuilt and it was the original engine (just putting that in there for the nay-sayers). It also didn't *need* a rebuild, the compression on the engine was still 6s across all rotor faces (which is defined as a fairly healthy result). I had it rebuilt as I missed the power of the R3 engine and the high revs they are capable of. So off to Rotary Revs it went for a street port and an upgrade to the bearings to allow an increased rev limit. I also took the opportunity to play with plastidip, going for a satin white finish. Looking back, I would have had it done differently, but I actually liked how it ended up. The spoiler is actually an Irmscher one from a Vauxhall Astra!
Sadly the white/black 192 got up to 140k and was showing its age. The suspension needed replacing, the bushes were starting to go, being JDM it was approximately 38% rust... So, using some man maths, it was time to get myself back in to an R3!
Now some eagle-eyed readers may recognise this particular Grey R3 as it was featured in the PH Carpool back in 2017. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
This one lasted a nice long while, bought at 35k and drove it through to 75k before migrating the engine over (and some other bits) to a new chassis which was in better condition.
Which brings me around to why I'm known as Dr. FrankenRex in the rotary world... I have owned, driven and broken a few RX8s over the past 6 years, and every one of them has at least one part 'leftover' in my current RX8
Skip forward to the latest RX8 R3 I own, which is far more exciting
It's a 2011 '60 plate R3, which looked like this when I picked it up:
I took it along to the Silverstone Sunday Service last year and gave it a good blast around the track which was great. For those who don't know, some of the changes between the Series 1 RX8 and the R3 are Bilstein shocks, stiffer ARBs and a more rigid chassis.
This particular one sits on 30mm lower Eibach springs and, as you can see, sports some rather chunk Maserati 6 pot calipers and discs (380mm).
Then I started doing some tweaks to it. Firstly I installed my refurbished and 'blacked out' headlights, as well as tinting the fogs yellow - Because JDM, yo. It then had a right good thrashing around Silverstone GP circuit in Feb 2018 which was awesome:
Or at least it was... Until the last stint out at about 4pm. Took a hard exit out of stowe and noticed a drop in power and a distinct change in the engine note which signalled one thing... A blown side seal.
It still ran so I limped it home and began saving for the engine rebuild. Upon inspection the side seal failure was actually due to a broken vacuum line on the intake which caused uneven temperatures in the engine itself, creating a hot-spot which - coupled with track day driving - caused the seal to fail
It took a few months to get everything sorted for the build, so I took the opportunity to address some of the cosmetic elements of the car.
Over the summer I swapped out the grilles and bumper lip for gloss black versions. I also acquired a couple of fog surrounds with integrated DRLs for that OEM+ kind of look. I also opened up the taillights and put some custom internals in to it to try and modernise the back end a little. Kinda went for an R35 GTR feel to them without it looking obviously aftermarket.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/AiAtSKvW.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/21cQVQRS" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/21cQVQRS.jpg)
Then the time came to get the engine rebuilt. Off the car went to Rotary Revs (obligatory RX8 on a tow truck image below) for an engine over-haul. However, with the experience I've had with RX8s and the knowledge accrued (as well as the car no longer being a daily driver) I decided to go full bridgeport.
For those who don't know the differences in engine porting on a rotary (and who are interested), have a quick look here, it's a great post which explains it all: https://speed.academy/how-rotary-engine-porting-wo...
I went for a bridgeport, however I chatted to Josh up at Rotary Revs (anyone who has watched the 'Living with a Rotary' Car Throttle series will know who I mean!). He discussed the potential experimental porting that he was working on, dubbed 'Race Extension'. Sufficed to say I went for it.
The car is now one of just 2 RX8s in the country running this, and the only R3 running it. It sounds ungodly and the idle is just insane!
The car will be out and about at various shows and track days through 2019 and I'll obviously keep on top of this thread as things change! Next public show will be the Silverstone Sunday Service whenever that gets announced
(Edit to comply with posting rules)
I've had the car(s) a while so I guess I'll start by a bit of a recap - as such sorry for the LONG opening post!
I bought my first RX8 R3 in 2013, an Aurora Blue with 40k on the clock and instantly fell in love. Having had MX5s for a few years it made sense to 'step up' to its bigger brother, so test drove it and put a deposit down (on the first one I saw! Whoops!).
I only had it for 6 months until the great floods of January 2014 claimed another soul... *sniff*
Sufficed to say I moved on to another RX8 (something that would eventually turn in to a habit...). Sadly we were buying a house at the time so I could only afford a standard 192 Series 1 RX8, although it had an R3 rear conversion and R3 wheels on it - something which sold me on this particular car.
You'll notice I haven't yet mentioned 'engine rebuild' in this, a thread about a rotary engine. Well, as luck would have it I covered about 12k in the blue R3 and then I covered 40k in the black one before I wanted to get more from it. The 192 was on 95k when I made the decision to have it rebuilt and it was the original engine (just putting that in there for the nay-sayers). It also didn't *need* a rebuild, the compression on the engine was still 6s across all rotor faces (which is defined as a fairly healthy result). I had it rebuilt as I missed the power of the R3 engine and the high revs they are capable of. So off to Rotary Revs it went for a street port and an upgrade to the bearings to allow an increased rev limit. I also took the opportunity to play with plastidip, going for a satin white finish. Looking back, I would have had it done differently, but I actually liked how it ended up. The spoiler is actually an Irmscher one from a Vauxhall Astra!
Sadly the white/black 192 got up to 140k and was showing its age. The suspension needed replacing, the bushes were starting to go, being JDM it was approximately 38% rust... So, using some man maths, it was time to get myself back in to an R3!
Now some eagle-eyed readers may recognise this particular Grey R3 as it was featured in the PH Carpool back in 2017. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
This one lasted a nice long while, bought at 35k and drove it through to 75k before migrating the engine over (and some other bits) to a new chassis which was in better condition.
Which brings me around to why I'm known as Dr. FrankenRex in the rotary world... I have owned, driven and broken a few RX8s over the past 6 years, and every one of them has at least one part 'leftover' in my current RX8
Skip forward to the latest RX8 R3 I own, which is far more exciting
It's a 2011 '60 plate R3, which looked like this when I picked it up:
I took it along to the Silverstone Sunday Service last year and gave it a good blast around the track which was great. For those who don't know, some of the changes between the Series 1 RX8 and the R3 are Bilstein shocks, stiffer ARBs and a more rigid chassis.
This particular one sits on 30mm lower Eibach springs and, as you can see, sports some rather chunk Maserati 6 pot calipers and discs (380mm).
Then I started doing some tweaks to it. Firstly I installed my refurbished and 'blacked out' headlights, as well as tinting the fogs yellow - Because JDM, yo. It then had a right good thrashing around Silverstone GP circuit in Feb 2018 which was awesome:
Or at least it was... Until the last stint out at about 4pm. Took a hard exit out of stowe and noticed a drop in power and a distinct change in the engine note which signalled one thing... A blown side seal.
It still ran so I limped it home and began saving for the engine rebuild. Upon inspection the side seal failure was actually due to a broken vacuum line on the intake which caused uneven temperatures in the engine itself, creating a hot-spot which - coupled with track day driving - caused the seal to fail
It took a few months to get everything sorted for the build, so I took the opportunity to address some of the cosmetic elements of the car.
Over the summer I swapped out the grilles and bumper lip for gloss black versions. I also acquired a couple of fog surrounds with integrated DRLs for that OEM+ kind of look. I also opened up the taillights and put some custom internals in to it to try and modernise the back end a little. Kinda went for an R35 GTR feel to them without it looking obviously aftermarket.
Then the time came to get the engine rebuilt. Off the car went to Rotary Revs (obligatory RX8 on a tow truck image below) for an engine over-haul. However, with the experience I've had with RX8s and the knowledge accrued (as well as the car no longer being a daily driver) I decided to go full bridgeport.
For those who don't know the differences in engine porting on a rotary (and who are interested), have a quick look here, it's a great post which explains it all: https://speed.academy/how-rotary-engine-porting-wo...
I went for a bridgeport, however I chatted to Josh up at Rotary Revs (anyone who has watched the 'Living with a Rotary' Car Throttle series will know who I mean!). He discussed the potential experimental porting that he was working on, dubbed 'Race Extension'. Sufficed to say I went for it.
The car is now one of just 2 RX8s in the country running this, and the only R3 running it. It sounds ungodly and the idle is just insane!
The car will be out and about at various shows and track days through 2019 and I'll obviously keep on top of this thread as things change! Next public show will be the Silverstone Sunday Service whenever that gets announced
Edited by NJ72 on Monday 21st January 10:32
(Edit to comply with posting rules)
Edited by Scrump on Monday 21st January 11:04
Edited by NJ72 on Monday 21st January 11:16
R3 RX8s are lovely... Really wanted a bog standard 231 model in my student days because they were so cheap to buy and insure, glad I didn't however!
Would you consider doing a rebuild yourself if you weren't going for the extra porting? The guy on carthrottles videos makes it look fairly DIYable.
Would you consider doing a rebuild yourself if you weren't going for the extra porting? The guy on carthrottles videos makes it look fairly DIYable.
Darren93 said:
R3 RX8s are lovely... Really wanted a bog standard 231 model in my student days because they were so cheap to buy and insure, glad I didn't however!
Would you consider doing a rebuild yourself if you weren't going for the extra porting? The guy on carthrottles videos makes it look fairly DIYable.
Was going to mention those, really good guide on assembling a 13B, not something I will probably ever do but it was interesting.Would you consider doing a rebuild yourself if you weren't going for the extra porting? The guy on carthrottles videos makes it look fairly DIYable.
I have indeed thought about it, but with neither the time nor the patience to ensure everything is specc'd within tolerance I think I'd balls it up - even though they are much more simple to assemble than their piston counterparts! Likewise, whilst it was a rebuild out of necessity, it was also being done to make it a unique piece of machinery on the road, something I could achieve myself - but for the wrong reasons!
Talking of the CT videos, mine (and me) were in one of the videos (automotive misfits) and I'm filming for an episode of the current series soon so keep em peeled on that side of things.
For those interested, the pics of my build are below:
As you can see, the level of precision and work on the porting is incredibly impressive. I also had the internal assemblies lightened and balanced to allow a safe 10k rev limit for track work (and noise generation... For.. Reasons )
Talking of the CT videos, mine (and me) were in one of the videos (automotive misfits) and I'm filming for an episode of the current series soon so keep em peeled on that side of things.
For those interested, the pics of my build are below:
As you can see, the level of precision and work on the porting is incredibly impressive. I also had the internal assemblies lightened and balanced to allow a safe 10k rev limit for track work (and noise generation... For.. Reasons
)wst said:
Found them! Links below
Revving
Idling
I think I'd slow down excessively for corners with that, just to hear it build revs up again on the exit. And the idle sounds purposeful as well. There is no way I can justify following you down this route and I need to remember this
Sounds lovely. Great read and makes me miss the RX-8 I had....said it before, though I don't miss the MPG for the power output. Revving
Idling
I think I'd slow down excessively for corners with that, just to hear it build revs up again on the exit. And the idle sounds purposeful as well. There is no way I can justify following you down this route and I need to remember this
wst said:
Found them! Links below
Revving
Idling
I think I'd slow down excessively for corners with that, just to hear it build revs up again on the exit. And the idle sounds purposeful as well. There is no way I can justify following you down this route and I need to remember this
Just needs more rotors now for the full 787B experience. Revving
Idling
I think I'd slow down excessively for corners with that, just to hear it build revs up again on the exit. And the idle sounds purposeful as well. There is no way I can justify following you down this route and I need to remember this
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