Comparing the RX-8 to the legendary RX-7 is likened to comparing Megan Fox with Jamie Foxx. It's enough to make Nads' back hair turn even whiter. It was some marketing guy's "great" idea turned rotary purist's worst nightmare. The lack of a turbocharger on the Renesis engine equates to a SLOW 8. You may want to think twice about using that word around Dave Gibson of Speed Machine Performance, though. The 619 wheel hp and 530 lb-ft of torque at 26psi he helped to produce out of the Falken Mazda RX-8 is anything but slow.
Based in Vista, CA, Speed Machine focuses on building nearly-invincible rotary motors. Drift fans may also know that this RX-8 isn't the first time Gibson and Falken have crossed paths. They began their motorsports partnership with the last-generation RX-7, driven by Tony Angelo-built from scratch in less than 12 days-and the 8 is the natural progression of the rotary project. While the 7 was already rock solid, Dave and the crew felt the project didn't have the time they would have liked to devote. Falken's main man, Nick Fousekis, is infinitely confident in Gibson's abilities: "I knew Dave was going to do it. Aside from hiccups in first year builds, I know that it's only a matter of time before [the RX-8] is a contender and really hard to beat. It's just getting over that hurdle."
Work on the 8 began in late '06, with preparation of the engine and chassis. While Dave worked on the 13B and his team did their magic on the chassis, parts that would eventually make their way onto the RX-8 started to trickle in and litter the shop. And by parts, we mean two of everything, literally. Falken and Speed Machine took no chances and spared no expense to make this car as competitive as possible. We'll put it into perspective for you: If someone walked in off the street and asked Speed Machine to build this same exact RX-8, it'd cost in excess of $250,000. That's not a number we came up through arcane magic; that's a number quoted from Dave. A quarter million dollars, more than the combined salary of the entire Super Street staff over the course of 10 years. Just the amount of Wiggins clamps on the car cost in the range of a few grand.
Six digits was enough to build the sickest, wildest, meanest, most powerful twin-turbo 13B we've ever experienced, outputting roughly 476 horses per liter. Speed Machine accomplished this incredible feat with a 13B, but not the usual kind you'd expect. Dave sourced a JDM Cosmo rotary, chosen for its improved breathing potential. The motor was torn apart only to be streetported, cryo-treated and designed to produce instant response, the widest powerband and most power possible out of a twin-turbo two-rotor.