Hi I am a newbie with a bit of a project on my hands and need some help

Richard Mccartney · December 02, 2015, 07:09:22 PM

I somehow have managed to purchase a wide bodied rear wheel drive ford ka body shell (I am never again going on to ebay late at night) And yes you have guessed it. I also own an 04 231 rx8 which is my donor vehicle. The engine is fitted and exhaust etc, but now I have to look about wiring. This car is going to be used as a rallycross car so no need for creature comforts etc. I had been thinking of running something like an omex ecu as I have experience with these in a mazda mx5 I used to have but I think I will struggle to control everything I need with the current omex available. Anyone any suggestions on an ecu set up that is suited to an RX8. I plan to eventually turbo this but probably with an RX7 plant at a later date. Any help much appreciated.

clive · December 02, 2015, 07:38:07 PM

First up, welcome to Mazdarotaryclub

Good to talk to you earlier and I look forward to seeing your new toy, also it would be great to see some pictures of the other guys cars who has the 4WD Rotary and a tripple

Our resident electrician will be along shortly to help if you need it; Jon, Jon, come on, don't be shy

.

I know its Rallycross your into but here's a couple of pictures of the car I told you about

boosted · December 02, 2015, 07:50:16 PM

Hi mate.
Best option is to use the rx8 ecu. It will do everything you need. Ive successfully cut a car loom down removing abs tc.instrument cluster etc and left with just the ecu and relay box. Car utilises key start with immboliser.
Your donor has everything you need . And this way the electronic throttle and omp will work. The electrical drawings are here under rx8 technical. Ive retained the obd port for diag.
I can assist you if required as i have the drawings from my conversion.

re japi · December 02, 2015, 07:54:08 PM

Aah fellow rallycrosser!

So, you plan is, keep it N/A and rwd?

Dunno about electric and ecu stuff but Jon(Boosted) is the man

re japi · December 02, 2015, 07:58:07 PM

Jon, did you say something like for ecu to work it needs throttle pedal and steering wheel and some other components...? Can you make ecu work without them?

boosted · December 02, 2015, 08:03:15 PM

Yes you need throttle pedal. But not steering wheel. No traction control. No abs . No.airbags. No ac. No. Ew. No. Cl...just the engine being controlled....i retained the rx8 relay box for the indicators.
The mx5 i helped the abs was retained.
Need key. Kas. Coil and antenna. And ecu. Throttle pedal. Fuel pot main relay box. Rest snippety snip.

re japi · December 02, 2015, 09:09:09 PM

Yes, I would love to see some pics from you project.

Did Clive said something about 4wd rotary and triple?

clive · December 02, 2015, 09:12:03 PM

Hi Jon,

Looks like Richard will go with the Adaptronic which amongst other things this would let him have programmable traction control hopefully just wired in via the ABS sensors etc.

Richard has dumped the OMP due to exhaust fitting reasons so I am thinking he will be better with the hard wired Adaptronic version taking the stock ECU out of the equation but this would still let the fly by wire RX-8 throttle body operate initially with the RX-8 engine then later with the T11 engine when MORE power is asked for.

It it can be kept out of limp mode without the OMP then it may be better to stick with the piggy back Adaptronic,

It will be interesting to see what you think Jon.

re japi · December 02, 2015, 09:21:32 PM

Can he run Sohn adaptor?

Hmm, our rules wont allow fly by wire. And I think that this rule is universal because of safety reasons...

Traction control? What group/class is that? Also, abs arent alloved here...

But if plann is to swao different engine to it later, I would choose aftermarket ecu too...

boosted · December 02, 2015, 09:22:40 PM

If its standalone then yes not sure about the omp though....adaptronic will need to be asked. As your aware its part of the start up checks on a standard pcm. If its not required by the standalone adaptronic then happy days.

clive · December 02, 2015, 09:39:34 PM

Stand alone should be fine Jon.

Hi Japi,

The ABS wheel sensors would only be kept in place to give the ECU a signal to operate the traction control.

Wouldn't have thoght the ABS could work on real slippery stuff anyway as the wheels have to see some grip to make it kick in

re japi · December 03, 2015, 05:41:46 AM

Dunno about rules there but I would imagine that abs and traction control is not alloved...

And dunno anything about Rennys ecu or any ecus

But I need pics and info about that car, this waiting is killing me

Richard Mccartney · December 03, 2015, 08:25:05 AM

Thanks for the comments. I don't want to run abs but as each wheel has a wheels speed sensor or abs sensor I feel no reason why I cant make use of it at a sprint or hillclimb as this is probably where I am going to use the car most.
My main aim was to strip as much as possible out of the car in relation to electrics and I am even going as far as to hopefully remove the power steering rack and fit a non power rack. What I need is a fools manual on how to sort the wiring. If the standard loom will work then that will save me a lot of expense but I seem to get the impression that it will hold me back if I want to go turbo'd in the future.

boosted · December 03, 2015, 09:57:57 AM

Im getting confused here.
so RX8 engine conversion then turbo it or go FC t2 engine?

Richard Mccartney · December 03, 2015, 12:27:04 PM

Hi my plan is to get this project up and running as cheaply as possible as it may not work. We are building a ford ka with mazda rx8 suspension and engine. If it is successful, and I need more power then the plan is either to run a turbo at low boost on the current engine or try and locate an rx7 turbo engine.