****SOLD*** - Mazda RX8 V8 Drift Car with Lexus LS400 1UZ-FE Engine and subframes. I bought this car in Feb 2017 as a standard vehicle and drove it for about 6 months until the engine started to show signs of low compression as all these Wankel engines do, so I decided to fit a v8, as these are excellent cars, and have a good chassis, they are just fitted with the wrong engine as standard which really lets them down, and although people do put various v8's in these cars, the mod doesn't seem too common, as they are not the easiest cars to fit v8's in to. I did some research at first and found that the 1UZ-FE engine from the Lexus LS400 was a popular choice among drifters and racers because it is extremely well built and reliable, and also because it is one of the more highly developed v8's in terms of it's performance and tuning potential. I chose to buy a Lexus LS400 as a donor car, and the model chosen was the 1997 era which had the more powerful version of the 1UZ-FE engine, but without the complication of the Variable Valve Timing. The plan was to use as much of the Lexus as possible. I was a little concerned that the standard torsen dif in the RX8 would not take the torque from the 1UZ-FE, and there would have to be mods to the torque beam used on the RX8. This coupled with the fact that the standard rear subframe on the Lexus including the wheel sensor signals and diff gearing was designed to work with the Lexus, was the deciding factor in me saying I would fit the Lexus subframes, diff, wiring harness, engine and instrument cluster to the RX8. The track of the Lexus was also 1 inch wider than the RX8, ( which means the wheels would sit flush to the arches ), and the wheel PCD was exactly the same ( the only difference being the centre bore which meant I had to buy some spigot rings to be able to fit the RX8 wheels on the Lexus hubs). The work began by removing the Wankel engine and full wiring harness from the RX8 including both front and rear subframes. I then chopped out the original front suspension tops and welded the lexus ones in, and fitted the front subframe from the Lexus. The engine was then installed on to the Lexus subframe, and the top wishbone suspension mounts were also installed. The steering shaft of course had to be modified as the original steering shaft from the RX8 now had to be coupled to the Lexus steering rack. The Lexus rear subframe was then positioned, and new mounts fabricated in to the RX8 shell to fasten it. The propeller shaft was then professionally made to the required length. The complete Lexus wiring harness was then installed, and plugged in to every electrical item taken from the Lexus that was required to make the engine run, Instrument cluster work, lights and indicators work ( Note:- there is some more work required to install the lexus lamps in to the RX8 clusters if you want the lights to properly work). I will try to add some pictures during the build to help explain what I have tried to describe. Once built, I took it to a drift event Teesside Autodrome in middlesbrough for testing, and was able to drift the full National circuit with it. Although, being very honest, the car would really benefit from a set of coilovers, as the rear suspension is too soft, and the front ride height a little high. Lexus LS400 coilovers will fit straight on ( as don't forget, this car is basically a LS400 underneath ). Pictures below {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} {} £4600 O.B.O.
It has the original auto box from the LS400. The plan was to fit a manual box later, but I have too many other things going on at the moment to do that. However, the car does drift of course ( see pics ) using the manual mode which holds in whatever gear you select. And fitting a manual box is the easy part, as the manual conversion is very common with these engines, and you can buy the parts needed to just bolt on. All of the hard work is already done on this car, so I will leave it to the new owner to decide whether to change to manual.
The price is shown at the end of the first post mate, although admittedly, it is easily missed. £4600 O.B.O. I also forgot to say in the ad, that this car comes with 5 standard Lexus LS400 alloy wheels with tires ( two have been drifted), the other 3 have good tread. Some of the pictures show the car with the Lexus wheels on.
