Ownership Verified: 2010 Mazda RX-8 R3 - still Wankelin

I'm not sure if the insurance company screwed up or the RMV (leaning towards the former and them trying to defer blame), but they suddenly "found" my paperwork and will have it done today, supposedly. I'm not letting myself get excited but it will be a huge relief.
 
Done and done. The car has plates and is legal to drive for the first time since returning from MI. A wave of fear among road-goers washes over MA :dance::dance::dance::dance:
 
K&N crap off, and wow, what a difference. No more drone, and the engine is smooth again (as it damn well should be). I don't know what kind of fuckwit thought it was a good idea, according to the tech who did the switch, it's a generic Mazda part which explains the terrible vibrations at high RPM....
 
K&N crap off, and wow, what a difference. No more drone, and the engine is smooth again (as it damn well should be). I don't know what kind of fuckwit thought it was a good idea, according to the tech who did the switch, it's a generic Mazda part which explains the terrible vibrations at high RPM....

Yep - sad how many Rx-8's you see with those installed. At least you can sell it and get some bread back, and you get the silky hmmmmmmmm back!
 
yea the only good american dealers of performance rotary parts are racing beat mazdatrix and re-speed
 
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K&N crap off, and wow, what a difference. No more drone, and the engine is smooth again (as it damn well should be). I don't know what kind of fuckwit thought it was a good idea, according to the tech who did the switch, it's a generic Mazda part which explains the terrible vibrations at high RPM....

I had to watch your video again to see what you had for an intake. When you originally complained about the drone, I didn't realize this was what you were referring to. I have one of the AEM CAIs like below, and have no such drone issues. My car is just naturally loud because of the full exhaust it has. But at least the noise is coming from the right end. :p

l_aem-21-485r%5B1%5D.jpg


EDIT: Here's how it looks under my hood:

IMG_20111001_180438.jpg
 
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Yeah, this wasn't a cold air intake, just a drop-in replacement of the intake box. It's not so much the desire to upgrade that baffles me, but why was the part left on when the difference is immediate and detrimental....

Loud is fine, and I admit it sounded good at low RPM before, but above 4000 or so it would start droning, plus you could hear a plasticky vibration sound like something wasn't secured right. So while it sounded ok around town it fell apart on the highway. I haven't taken it up to highway speeds yet so we'll see how it improves, certainly everything is much smoother at high RPMs now. The stock exhaust gives a bit of a deeper voice, but now I can clearly tell it is coming from behind me.
 
I had to watch your video again to see what you had for an intake. When you originally complained about the drone, I didn't realize this was what you were referring to. I have one of the AEM CAIs like below, and have no such drone issues. My car is just naturally loud because of the full exhaust it has. But at least the noise is coming from the right end. :p

l_aem-21-485r%5B1%5D.jpg


EDIT: Here's how it looks under my hood:

IMG_20111001_180438.jpg


That looks logical compared to the K&N filter had. That was just a mess.
 
Hey Victor390,
I found your story of purchasing in MI and driving back to MA interesting, mainly because that's what I'm doing on Friday. Flying one way from Logan to DTW to pick up car and drive back to Boston. The last few days I've been doing the research on the MA 7-day transfer rule and as well, trying to figure out how it all works with MI and their RD-108 filing of title with their government and sending you title later---which then creates a whole lag issue with the 7-days in MA. GRRR

But am happy to hear your story was a success, eventually. How many days was your car off the road once you got it back to MA?
 
Ugh, don't remind me, it was off the road for a little over 2 weeks after I got back. I think my insurance company (apparently the process can only be done by an insurance agent) screwed up. They claimed the RMV lost my paperwork (including the original MI title) but it mysteriously got un-lost. Either way it was very frustrating.

If I may ask, what car is it that is worth the trip? It must be something rather special.
 
Hey there,

The car isn't a RX-8, though I was considering one of those, a very nice car.

On my end, I'm buying a Certified Pre-Owned 2009 Pontiac G8 GT. They are hard to find in New England and the ones that are available are WAY overpriced for the mileage and condition they are offering (currently according to cargurus there are only 3 for sale within a 150 mile radius of Boston, while there are over 30 within a 150 mile radius of Detroit). So for the cost of a $175 plane ticket and a nice road trip, I was able to locate the exact car with the features I want and CPO and all at a more reasonable price than what they're trying to sell them for around here without the pre-owned warranty.

Hopefully it all turns out well, like with you, this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but after searching for 4 months, came to the realization that even if the exact one I wanted did come up for sale nearby, the dealers would try to pork me on it...and since they're not selling them anymore the ones that are out there aren't getting any fresher.

looking forward to Friday/not looking forward to having a new car in my driveway that I can't drive waiting for the MA registration to pan out after the expiration of the 7 days transfer but before MA registration is finalized.
 
As well, kinda funny, while your Michigan Mazda RX-8 is your first manual transmission car, my Michigan Pontiac G8 GT is my first Automatic transmission car (7th car owned/first automatic)

Which then begs..the list of the seven cars I've owned:
'81 escort manual transmission
'71 Volvo 1800e manual transmission
'86 Volvo 240 manual transmission
'99 Subaru Outback wagon manual transmission
'99 Ford Contour SVT manual transmission
'07 Honda Civic manual transmission
'09 Pontiac G8 AUTOMATIC

and yes, I'm really interested in this new technology that automatically selects and changes gears while you drive the car. I mean, what will they think of next?
 
All I can think of is: everyday I'm wanklin'
 
Finally, I got off my lazy ass and took some pictures. Then took me a while to actually get them uploaded. Then I realized they are rather large. So thumbnails for now until I can get around to shrinking.





EDIT: I just noticed my reflection in the interior shot :lol:
 
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Looks great! I love little details in cars, like the seat recliner knob in your car.
 
Drove Victor's R3 on the roads for the first time yesterday. It felt like riding on a cloud compared to my TT - leading me to further believe something is terribly wrong with my suspension.

Also, those seats. I want them.
 
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