hi power or lo power

[Spectre26]

I was thinking over the past few days about a conversation i had with Blueadept at JAE. He mentioned that the only differences between the lo power & hi power is the ECU, intake & transmission. Are those the only differences between them or are there other differences? Not that i dont trust Blueadept\'s words but even the best of us can forget stuff. Also would be good to get info from the community as a whole and give me a piece of mind when it finally comes to spending that £££.

If those are the only real differences. Then if i end up turboing the 8 in the future (with a stand alone ECU) the ECU and intake on the lo power version would not matter. And from what i have read from various members reviews on the 8 you dont really use all 6 gears on the high power version so a 5 speed transmission is no big deal. SO if i get the lo power 8 and save myself around £3k or so... then spend the money on say a turbo n some other nice stuff I would have a more powerful car while only payin a lil more than if i bought the hi power RX8...

Well that is how it goes in my lil head... Is my plan flawed? Please point it out if it is. The above is just an idea i am bouncing around my head till i confirm the buy with my dealer later this year.

[clive]

Hi Spectre,

Personaly l feel you have answered your own questions, so your just down to trim level .

Its worth noteing for other people reading this thread though that if you use the ECU e-manage system that comes with the Greddy turbo kit that it is only sutable for the HiPo car,

[Spectre26]

Hi Spectre,

Personaly l feel you have answered your own questions, so your just down to trim level .

Its worth noteing for other people reading this thread though that if you use the ECU e-manage system that comes with the Greddy turbo kit that it is only sutable for the HiPo car,

Just wanted 2 confirm that those are the only real differences between the hi & lo power versions. And that my idea was a workable one.

Thanks Clive for the info on the e-manage sys . Good info to know. I\'m just trying to get all the info i can on the different versions of the RX8 b4 i commit myself n drive off the forecourt with it.

Basically the bottom line for me here is I would love to have an RX8 but i would also love to modify it. Being the RX8 is expensive for me as it is (but still obtainable) I was thinking of "saving" money by maybe gettin a 2nd hand lo power version and spending the money saved on various mods (still undecided). Sound like a sensiable idea? Comments any1?

[mullins]

I was under the impression the high power version had 6 ports and the low power 4?

[nikp]

ECU e-manage system that comes with the Greddy turbo kit that it is only sutable for the HiPo car

If that\'s the case, then surely there\'s more differences than just gearbox, ECU and intake. Cos you\'re replacing the standard ECU with an uprated one - but it is only applicable to HiPower 8\'s - then there must be something more significant than just a difference in ECU.

Right?

[Spectre26]

If that\'s the case, then surely there\'s more differences than just gearbox, ECU and intake. Cos you\'re replacing the standard ECU with an uprated one - but it is only applicable to HiPower 8\'s - then there must be something more significant than just a difference in ECU.

Right?

Good point raised. Precisely the kinda stuff i wanna know before i make my final decision. Anyone able to address the above point?

[webrx8]

The high power has 6 inlet ports and the low has 4. The high power redlines at 9.5k and the low at 7.5k. In the states they have applied the greddy turbo to the low power but with less results than the high power. There is no replacement ecu available yet only piggyback systems. This is due to the shear complexity of the oem ecu. This link will tell you all you need to know about the two engines. http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8387&highlight=technical+highlights

Chris.

[Spectre26]

Great link thanks webrx8

Looks like its back to doing plenty of over time to afford those extra goodies i want on my RX8... no short cuts... sigh :o

[webrx8]

Glad to be of assistance. If you would like a car that revs and revs all the way to 9.5k then it has to be the high power. You also get zenon lights and "pop out" headlamp washers that really do wash the headlamps and not just spray them with a measly amount of fluid.

Chris.

[mullins]

Glad to be of assistance. If you would like a car that revs and revs all the way to 9.5k then it has to be the high power.

or get a non side port 13B :evillaugh

[zevans]

As people are so fond of reminding me, if you want a project car it\'s insanity to buy an RX8 and then immediately invalidate the warranty and so on. Why not buy a blinding example of an FD for less than 10k and start well ahead of the game?

I like the naturally aspirated nature of the RX8, but if the first thing you\'re planning to do is put a turbo on, you may as well get an RX7.

That said:

You DO use 6th, and it unquestionably saves you a lot of fuel on the motorway. You don\'t use it in attack mode, admittedly, but it does mean the rest of your gears can be closer together. AND you have 2k more revs to play with in any given gear. Finally (and rather amusingly), lo-power 5th is longer than the hi-power\'s 6th - so actually "I bought lo-power because I didn\'t think I\'d use 6th" is a total fallacy.

I should imagine the difference between a hi-power and a lo-power second hand is only about 10% of the price anyway, so ultimately it\'s only 3 months or so of extra loan payments. Or looked at another way, the price of a decent intercooler...

A final point on gearing - the gearing in the hi-power is short and so that torque is multiplied a lot more than you might expect. Lack of engine torque does not mean lack of performance, as any Elise owner will tell you.

[webrx8]

I totally agree, There is only 6 ftlbs difference in torque between the two which would be hardly noticeable, plus it is cancelled out by the gearing anyway. Not trying to dis anyone who has the standard power as there isn\'t much between them. I regularly drive around at 40 - 50 mph in 6th gear and the car is totally drivable at this, You just have to drop it down 3 cogs if you want to get spirited. I bought the hi power purely because I didn\'t want to regret it later. Plus I lurv that long rev limit  :cool