2010 November Car of the Month

***ZGN*** · 12-23-2010, 01:34 PM

Q: Congratulations Rotr8 for being our November Ride of the Month! Tell us about how you acquired this car?
A: Thanks, I greatly appreciate the recognition. I purchased the car in Tyson’s Corner right outside of Washington DC. It was a dealer demo with six thousand miles on it and was a couple grand cheaper than a lot of other 8s at the time for this reason. I bought it as a college graduation gift to myself and have loved it ever since.

Q: How did you first become interested in modified cars? Have you had any previously?
A: In high school I had owned and started to modify a ’91 MR2, this was my commuter car through college. The plan was to pick up another sporty car as a daily driver and turn the Toyota into a dedicated track car. After picking up the 8 and driving it every day to and from work, I started to fall in love with the characteristics or the Renesis and the balance of the chassis; it was just simply fun to drive. Months passed and the MR2 sat without attention, the Mazda on the other hand was seeing its fair share of shop time being constantly recalled and updated at the dealership. It was in the shop so much during the first year of owning it I tend to tell people that all the recalls and updates were figured out on my car, it was a guinea pig. This led me instead to swap out aftermarket parts that were constantly being replaced anyway, and that’s where it all started. After the several dozen visits and newly installed equipment came to an end, I contemplated what every hobbyist ask themselves, “do I stop here and enjoy what I have?” or “do I plunge in and become obsessive and take it as far as I can?” I chose the latter. The MR2 was sold last spring to a good friend at work who is in the middle of quit an impressive restore/build of the little two seater.

Q: What’s the biggest reason you chose a rotary powered car to modify?
A: I had always wanted a rotary powered car. In high school I read a lot of Sports Compact Car and Turbo mags, and during this time(late 90s) issues were filled with highly modified FD’s, and I wanted one really badly. I once had the opportunity to purchase one during college but the engine needed a rebuild and the turbos were shot, I didn’t want to become distracted with such a large project while I was in school. The week after I graduated I went out and celebrated by purchasing the 8. The rotary was always the most mysterious car among my group of friends that were interested in modified cars, they seems to be powered by a weird black magic or voodoo, I think this was the biggest draw for me to the rotary community. At the time none of us really did any research into how they worked it was more of an attraction to a dark art mentality than anything.

Q: Is this car your daily driver? Do you participate in any form of racing? (Drag, Auto-X, etc)
A: Yup this is my daily driver. I see it as I put all this work into the car, I’d rather drive it as much as possible rather than stare at it in a garage and only drive it in ideal conditions. I’ve only had time to take the car to a single track day at New Jersey Motor sports Park, I had some boost issues as well as a brake caliper failure, it was entirely my fault for not doing a completely extensive inspection of the car. I plan to hit the track more and more as the build starts to wind down.

Q: What do you enjoy most about your car?
A: Two things right off the top of my head first is the whine of the supercharger. The Renesis already has a very unique sound but adding the supercharger on top of that totally transformed the car into something special. Even when at idle people who have never meet me or haven’t seen my car on a forum immediately say, “that’s not normal, what do you have done?”
The second thing I enjoy most about my car is building one off parts for it, I have several already installed on the car and many more in the works. The goal with any of these parts is to create something entirely unique but yet have look like it could have come right off the showroom floor, some don’t even notice that the custom parts are there, which I take as a compliment as well, those that do notice really appreciate the attention to detail, and that gives me even greater satisfaction.

Q: Do you have any future plans for the car, or any car?
A: Yes, some of the parts on my car were designed and built by myself or working with other industry professionals, there are many more parts in the works including custom wide fenders, diffuser, and trunk, as well as some smaller aesthetic pieces. It seems to never end when it comes to customizing this car.

Q: Any other hobbies besides cars?
A: I’m a professional artist, and have many art related hobbies/side projects. Scale model making, both from plastic injection kits as well as scratch builds, some industrial design projects on the side, as well as some automotive design projects. I also collect old Asian artifacts(ink block paintings, samurai armor/weapons etc)

Q: Anyone you'd like to thank?
A: thanks to Cam & Moon from Pettit Racing
Thanks to Jerry and Rob of PJs paint and body and the crew at Wheel Worx
Thanks to Heath, Mike and Sammy from Heritage Mazda, thanks to the crew from VP Auto Body
Also to my all of my car nut friends for the constant car babble and the whole rotary community

Mod List -

Engine and Exhaust
Pettit Racing Super Charger Stg.II CS
SR Altenator Pulley
RP SuperCat highflow(gutted-track)
RB Dual Resonated Midpipe
RB Catback Exhaust
BDC ported and polished Throttle Body
REmedy water pump
Magnecore 8.5mm plug wires
Mazsport cooling upgrade
Greddy oil pan
Optima Yellowtop battery
RMagic grounding wires
Mazsport Clutch Pedal bracket
Cooling mist Water/Meth injection kit
Custom Pettit secondary radiator built in the engine undercover
Fluid Motorsports carbon fiber oil catch can
Oil filter relocation kit
Racing Beat oil cooler hose set
ACT Prolite Flywheel
ACT flywheel counterwieght
ACT 6 puck sprung clutch-dead after 6K miles
-Installing Soon - Pettit Racing 13psi pulley

Suspension, Wheels, Tires and Brakes
Tein Type Flex Coilovers w EDFC
Mazdaspeed fr and rear strut bars
RB fr and rear sway bars
AP front and rear adjustable sway end links
AutoExe undercar bracing
Volk Racing SF Challenge fr 18x9, rear 18x10
Custom painted(one of a kind) 70%Matte Black barrell, Dark Quartz metallic spokes, polished details
Enkie GTC-01s 18x8.5 (track and winter)
Khumo Ecsta SPT 245/40R, 275/35R
Racing Brake 13" big brake kit with 4 pot aluminum calipers(Cutom colored Orange and Black)
RB 2 piece 13" curved open slot rotors front and rear
Stainless lines
Motul RBF 600 fluid
RB ET 500 pads

Interior, Exterior and Electronics
custom AutoExe SE-03c front bumper
AutoExe SE-03 hood
MazdaSpeed Sideskirts
Mazdaspeed rear skirt
KS Auto Burnout CF type2 chin spoiler(track bumper)
CF mirror covers
CF b-pillars
Holden Monaro wing w shaved 3rd brake light
Custom wing lip
AutoExe brake ducts and venturi's
shaved trunk emblems
3M 35% tint
Recaro Sportster CS's
AutoExe black buckskin wheel wrap
AFE Short Shifter
custom liscence plate frame
RB lower dash gauges
AutoExe CF Shift knob
CF dash shrowd
Tein EDFC
RX8Strakes FX Clear Corners
RX8Strakes Super White LED Running Lights
8000K Super White Xenons Headlamp bulbs
Stealth turn signals
Super White LED sidemarker lights
Coming soon custom front fenders
Coming soon APR GTC200 CF wing w/ 2.5 risers
Coming sooncustom pass thru trunk

Miscellaneous
Satin Black Roof panel
Painted TB and alternator semi gloss black
Custom colored RB BBK and 2 piece rotors
Headlight housings painted Semi-gloss Black

FDDandata · 12-23-2010, 08:00 PM

WWWWWOOOOOOOOWW.... Pretty sick man, work of art

Prodigy · 12-24-2010, 12:04 AM

mmmmmm I like your car sir.... that front bumper is awesome...

and I know exactly what you mean about the sound of the supercharger on a rotary, two of the most glorious noises ever created by man, in one harmonic symphony...

J.

pdxhak · 12-24-2010, 07:04 PM

Rotr8, congrats!

RotorDad · 12-25-2010, 11:25 AM

Very nice car man, Congrats! That's one win for the supercharged rotorheads.

MmSadda · 12-27-2010, 03:17 PM

Very nice all the way around!

Please excuse my uneducated self for having to ask, but is that a centrifugal or roots blower you have in there?

Rotr8 · 12-27-2010, 07:29 PM

thanks for all the compliments, its a Lysholm supercharger, twin scrolls. What you primarily see in the pic with Pettit's branding on it is the air-to-water aftercooler.

MmSadda · 12-28-2010, 04:24 PM

Awesome, thanks for the info! Sounds like an awesome car, I bet that's plenty of fun!

12-23-2010, 01:34 PM	#1
*ZGN* I fly drones & film crap. Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Birmingham, AL iTrader: (6) Posts: 2,262 Rep Power: 10	2010 November Car of the Month Q: Congratulations Rotr8 for being our November Ride of the Month! Tell us about how you acquired this car? A: Thanks, I greatly appreciate the recognition. I purchased the car in Tyson’s Corner right outside of Washington DC. It was a dealer demo with six thousand miles on it and was a couple grand cheaper than a lot of other 8s at the time for this reason. I bought it as a college graduation gift to myself and have loved it ever since. Q: How did you first become interested in modified cars? Have you had any previously? A: In high school I had owned and started to modify a ’91 MR2, this was my commuter car through college. The plan was to pick up another sporty car as a daily driver and turn the Toyota into a dedicated track car. After picking up the 8 and driving it every day to and from work, I started to fall in love with the characteristics or the Renesis and the balance of the chassis; it was just simply fun to drive. Months passed and the MR2 sat without attention, the Mazda on the other hand was seeing its fair share of shop time being constantly recalled and updated at the dealership. It was in the shop so much during the first year of owning it I tend to tell people that all the recalls and updates were figured out on my car, it was a guinea pig. This led me instead to swap out aftermarket parts that were constantly being replaced anyway, and that’s where it all started. After the several dozen visits and newly installed equipment came to an end, I contemplated what every hobbyist ask themselves, “do I stop here and enjoy what I have?” or “do I plunge in and become obsessive and take it as far as I can?” I chose the latter. The MR2 was sold last spring to a good friend at work who is in the middle of quit an impressive restore/build of the little two seater. Q: What’s the biggest reason you chose a rotary powered car to modify? A: I had always wanted a rotary powered car. In high school I read a lot of Sports Compact Car and Turbo mags, and during this time(late 90s) issues were filled with highly modified FD’s, and I wanted one really badly. I once had the opportunity to purchase one during college but the engine needed a rebuild and the turbos were shot, I didn’t want to become distracted with such a large project while I was in school. The week after I graduated I went out and celebrated by purchasing the 8. The rotary was always the most mysterious car among my group of friends that were interested in modified cars, they seems to be powered by a weird black magic or voodoo, I think this was the biggest draw for me to the rotary community. At the time none of us really did any research into how they worked it was more of an attraction to a dark art mentality than anything. Q: Is this car your daily driver? Do you participate in any form of racing? (Drag, Auto-X, etc) A: Yup this is my daily driver. I see it as I put all this work into the car, I’d rather drive it as much as possible rather than stare at it in a garage and only drive it in ideal conditions. I’ve only had time to take the car to a single track day at New Jersey Motor sports Park, I had some boost issues as well as a brake caliper failure, it was entirely my fault for not doing a completely extensive inspection of the car. I plan to hit the track more and more as the build starts to wind down. Q: What do you enjoy most about your car? A: Two things right off the top of my head first is the whine of the supercharger. The Renesis already has a very unique sound but adding the supercharger on top of that totally transformed the car into something special. Even when at idle people who have never meet me or haven’t seen my car on a forum immediately say, “that’s not normal, what do you have done?” The second thing I enjoy most about my car is building one off parts for it, I have several already installed on the car and many more in the works. The goal with any of these parts is to create something entirely unique but yet have look like it could have come right off the showroom floor, some don’t even notice that the custom parts are there, which I take as a compliment as well, those that do notice really appreciate the attention to detail, and that gives me even greater satisfaction. Q: Do you have any future plans for the car, or any car? A: Yes, some of the parts on my car were designed and built by myself or working with other industry professionals, there are many more parts in the works including custom wide fenders, diffuser, and trunk, as well as some smaller aesthetic pieces. It seems to never end when it comes to customizing this car. Q: Any other hobbies besides cars? A: I’m a professional artist, and have many art related hobbies/side projects. Scale model making, both from plastic injection kits as well as scratch builds, some industrial design projects on the side, as well as some automotive design projects. I also collect old Asian artifacts(ink block paintings, samurai armor/weapons etc) Q: Anyone you'd like to thank? A: thanks to Cam & Moon from Pettit Racing Thanks to Jerry and Rob of PJs paint and body and the crew at Wheel Worx Thanks to Heath, Mike and Sammy from Heritage Mazda, thanks to the crew from VP Auto Body Also to my all of my car nut friends for the constant car babble and the whole rotary community Mod List - Engine and Exhaust Pettit Racing Super Charger Stg.II CS SR Altenator Pulley RP SuperCat highflow(gutted-track) RB Dual Resonated Midpipe RB Catback Exhaust BDC ported and polished Throttle Body REmedy water pump Magnecore 8.5mm plug wires Mazsport cooling upgrade Greddy oil pan Optima Yellowtop battery RMagic grounding wires Mazsport Clutch Pedal bracket Cooling mist Water/Meth injection kit Custom Pettit secondary radiator built in the engine undercover Fluid Motorsports carbon fiber oil catch can Oil filter relocation kit Racing Beat oil cooler hose set ACT Prolite Flywheel ACT flywheel counterwieght ACT 6 puck sprung clutch-dead after 6K miles -Installing Soon - Pettit Racing 13psi pulley Suspension, Wheels, Tires and Brakes Tein Type Flex Coilovers w EDFC Mazdaspeed fr and rear strut bars RB fr and rear sway bars AP front and rear adjustable sway end links AutoExe undercar bracing Volk Racing SF Challenge fr 18x9, rear 18x10 Custom painted(one of a kind) 70%Matte Black barrell, Dark Quartz metallic spokes, polished details Enkie GTC-01s 18x8.5 (track and winter) Khumo Ecsta SPT 245/40R, 275/35R Racing Brake 13" big brake kit with 4 pot aluminum calipers(Cutom colored Orange and Black) RB 2 piece 13" curved open slot rotors front and rear Stainless lines Motul RBF 600 fluid RB ET 500 pads Interior, Exterior and Electronics custom AutoExe SE-03c front bumper AutoExe SE-03 hood MazdaSpeed Sideskirts Mazdaspeed rear skirt KS Auto Burnout CF type2 chin spoiler(track bumper) CF mirror covers CF b-pillars Holden Monaro wing w shaved 3rd brake light Custom wing lip AutoExe brake ducts and venturi's shaved trunk emblems 3M 35% tint Recaro Sportster CS's AutoExe black buckskin wheel wrap AFE Short Shifter custom liscence plate frame RB lower dash gauges AutoExe CF Shift knob CF dash shrowd Tein EDFC RX8Strakes FX Clear Corners RX8Strakes Super White LED Running Lights 8000K Super White Xenons Headlamp bulbs Stealth turn signals Super White LED sidemarker lights Coming soon custom front fenders Coming soon APR GTC200 CF wing w/ 2.5 risers Coming sooncustom pass thru trunk Miscellaneous Satin Black Roof panel Painted TB and alternator semi gloss black Custom colored RB BBK and 2 piece rotors Headlight housings painted Semi-gloss Black __________________ Kevin

12-25-2010, 11:25 AM	#5
RotorDad Big Ugly Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Fredericksburg, Va iTrader: (1) Posts: 591 Rep Power: 16	Very nice car man, Congrats! That's one win for the supercharged rotorheads. __________________ *Boosted Big Body On 335's* PS3 ID: Rotordad 1986 Mazda RX7 GXL - Street ported 13BT, Haltech, 62mm, ect. 2006 MazdaSpeed 6 - Eagle, Wiseco, Cobb, ect.

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12-23-2010, 08:00 PM	#2
FDDandata The Newbie Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Brooklyn, NY iTrader: (0) Posts: 27 Rep Power: 0	WWWWWOOOOOOOOWW.... Pretty sick man, work of art

12-24-2010, 07:04 PM	#4
pdxhak The Newbie Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: orygun iTrader: (0) Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	Rotr8, congrats!

12-27-2010, 03:17 PM	#6
MmSadda BOOSTED COLON Join Date: Feb 2008 iTrader: (0) Posts: 88 Rep Power: 17	Very nice all the way around! Please excuse my uneducated self for having to ask, but is that a centrifugal or roots blower you have in there?

12-27-2010, 07:29 PM	#7
Rotr8 The Newbie Join Date: Dec 2009 iTrader: (0) Posts: 18 Rep Power: 0	thanks for all the compliments, its a Lysholm supercharger, twin scrolls. What you primarily see in the pic with Pettit's branding on it is the air-to-water aftercooler.

12-28-2010, 04:24 PM	#8
MmSadda BOOSTED COLON Join Date: Feb 2008 iTrader: (0) Posts: 88 Rep Power: 17	Awesome, thanks for the info! Sounds like an awesome car, I bet that's plenty of fun!