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Summer mods round 1
Since the automotive world hasn't thrown much at me this week, I thought I'd give everyone an update as to what's happening with the RX8 this summer.
While the rest of you are all enjoying your outdoor BBQs, or swimming in 6 feet of water in the midwest, it's 112 degrees in Phoenix! Fortunatly after two years of building a cooling system for the RX8 I am far from overheating even when temperatures on the highway are 120+ degrees.
I'm hopefully going to be purchasing a few mods as the summer rolls on, but I've tried to take care of important stuff first!
img src="http://rotaryinsider.com/userpix/2_3_5.jpg" alt="Sohn Adapter" />
Say hello to the Richard Sohn adapter! As you may or may not know, the rotary engine works much like a 2 stroke motor which mixes oil and gas together. In this case, oil is injected by a metered oil pump into the combustion chamber to lubricate the rotors and internal parts. The primary issue is Mazda designed this to pull dirty engine oil to inject into the motor. There are two major problems with this method.
1. The oil you run in the car must be able to burn with as little carbon deposits as possible. People who baby their rotary motors tend to blow them because the carbon deposits form and damage the internal seals. Your oil choices are very limited.
2. The oil being injected is dirty engine oil. This means you face carbon buildup along with any deposits in the oil being mixed in there.
The sohn adapter takes care of all of this. It blocks off the oil flow from the motor and instead allows you to attach a tank in the engine compartment that contains oil of your choice. In this case, I'll be running Idemitsu pre-mix which is the best choice.
There will be more parts to this project than just the adapter. I also have to come up with a scheme to install a tank which will hold the oil. Since the motor burns approx 1 quart for every 3,000 miles it's not necessary I check it every day. Still, I'm under my hood often enough checking stuff it won't be an issue.
I have also decided to rebadge my vehicle. (Flames welcome). I debadged the trunk of the car as soon as I bought it. I don't have ANY pictures with badges on the rear of my car. I was faced with either rebadging the vehicle in a scheme which fits the car or spending hundreds of dollars having the holes in the trunk welded shut and the lid repainted.
Funds are tight for upgrades, so I'm punting this time to badging the rear and covering up the holes. I'll be replacing the front badge as well. I've considered going with a flat black color but I might come up with something more unique.
Future mods are looking to be tires and the Cobb accessport. While tires are not an "upgrade" of sorts, they are necessary.
More to come!
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