GTcarz - Automotive forums for cars & trucks. - Pic's & Info

Engine

- 20B 3-rotor
- Acosta Racing ported and polished
- Acosta Racing custom stainless steel turbo manifold
- Acosta Racing intercooler
- Acosta Racing downpipe
- Acosta Racing fuel rails
- Aluminum intercooler piping
- Internal fuel pumps (2)
- Magnaflow fuel regulator
- Unorthodox Racing pulley
- RPS Clutch
- RPS Flywheel
- 3MM apex seals
- Tial 46 mm Wastegate
- Tial Blowoff valve
- Microtech engine management

Chassis/Suspension

- JIC coilovers
- Carbon Fiber front strut tower bar

Tires/Wheels/Brakes

- Hankook Ventus (275-35/19 rear, 245-30/19 front)
- 19” PIAA Superrozza (19x9 front, 19x10 rear)
- Racing Brake rotors

Exterior

- MAZDASPEED front bumper cover custom modified with inlet
- Carbon Fiber headlight eyelids
- Spirt R badging

Interior

- Custom upholstered seats and door inserts

The buzz started even before the curtain came up on 2003's SevenStock 6, the 6th annual gathering of rotary fans at the Mazda R&D Center. The rumors were of a 900hp street terror masquerading around as a stock-appearing Mazda RX-8. Many visitors to the event too caught up inspecting the vintage and historic rotary race machines on display walked by the innocuous looking sunlight silver metallic RX-8. But those with a keen eye were quick to notice something different under the hood of Marcos Acosta, Jr.'s 2004 RX-8.

A closer look would have revealed the raised lettering that explains it all - "3 Rotor". Look a little further and you would have spotted the polished turbocharger nestled alongside the engine. Yes, if you were at the Mazda R&D Center in Irvine, CA. at Sevenstock 6, you too could have seen the first known turbocharged 3-rotor powered RX-8. The Acosta Racing turbocharged 20B-powered 3-rotor RX-8 is the brainchild of the son of a rotary drag racer Marcos Acosta, Sr as a way to promote the family tuning business and a good way to let off some steam on long stretches of open road. The elder Acosta campaigned a rotary powered Mazda MX-3-bodied tube chassis drag racer in the late nineties and had success in a few championship runs in the import drag racing circuit. His success has helped their import performance tuning business - Acosta Racing - gain notoriety as a Mazda aftermarket performance and racing specialist. Marcos Jr. had been involved in running the day-to-day operations of the Wallington, NJ business and firmly caught up in the family’s predilection for Mazda rotary power for a few years when the RX-8 bowed to the cheers of rotary fans everywhere.

It wasn’t long before Marcos Jr. walked into his local Mazda dealership and put down a deposit for the RX-8. But besides being a nice new daily driver for himself, Marcos Jr. had other plans already in mind. With over a decade worth of experience in tuning the 3-rotor 20B powerplant, the Acostas decided that it would be a way to showcase their tuning abilities and gain a little notoriety to be the first to swap a 3-rotor powerplant in place of the factory Renesis 2-rotor. They were right. Within weeks of the event, rotary forums across the country were filled with whispers about a 20B RX-8 and the car followed up its debut with an appearance at the annual SEMA aftermarket supershow in Las Vegas and caught the eyes of tens of thousands more people. In fact, Modified Magazine spotted it and shot it for their next cover feature on the spot. Hankook tires saw the car and was impressed enough to offer one of the first prototype sets of their Ventus

The attention was apt reward for the 30+ days of labor that went into creating the unique RX-8. While the 3-rotor 20B was going to be the new heart of the RX-8, a Garrett T76 dual ball bearing turbocharger was going to really change the character of the RX-8 personality from a sporty 4-door road carver to a Godzilla on wheels. With a target of 900+ hp, the Acostas reached deep into their tuning pockets and came out with a slew of modifications to the basic 20B powerplant. An Acosta Racing port job was executed; water jacks were implemented for better cooling; extra down pins were installed for high boost safety; and 3 mm apex seals were installed. Sitting on an Acosta stainless steel turbo manifold, the turbo is plumbed to a 46 mm Tial wastegate, a Tial blowoff valve, aluminum intercooler pipes, custom down pipes, and a custom Acosta-designed front mount intercooler. An Accufab 90 mm throttle body was installed to handle the increased air requirements and Acosta-designed fuel rails were paired to two internal fuel pumps and a high performance Magnaflow fuel regulator to accommodate the higher fuel requirements of 900 horses. Managing the spark, air/fuel delivery, and timing of such a high output engine is critical for performance and survival - and the task is entrusted to a laptop programmable Microtech management system.

Outside, the goal from the onset was to keep the car as stock-appearing as possible. That didn’t rule out a few key pieces to add function and a bit more aggressive form. The main addition that lets people know that this is no ordinary RX-8 is the custom MAZDASPEED front bumper cover that has been modified with a custom turbo inlet opening – complete with a rotary shaped bezel. The large front mount intercooler nicely fills the front bumper’s gaping grille area and the deeper profile of the bumper cover aids the cars aerodynamics at speed. The car has already gone through a few sets of different wheel combinations while making various appearances at shows across the country, but the current set of wheels is Marcos Jr.’s personal favorite. The 19” (19x9 front and 19x10 rear) Superrozza wheels from PIAA Racing are a custom set that were modified to fit the RX-8’s lowered stance and fitted with prototype Hankook Ventus performance tires. The almost three inch drop was accomplished easily through a set of JIC adjustable coilovers, that also improve handling qualities at the limits – which on this car, are understandably quite high. A set of Racing Brake performance brake rotors, carbon fiber headlight eyelids, and cabon fiber “Spirit R” badges cap off the rest of the exterior cues.

Once all the parts were bolted together and screws tightened and double checked, the Acosta Racing crew set out for the automotive equivalent of the lie detector test – the dyno. With the turbo boost restricted to a mild 12 psi, the rollers on the dyno spun to a reported 640 hp. According to Acosta Jr., it didn’t take long before Acosta Sr. had the 3 rotors humming along to the tune of 950 hp on VP C16 race fuel and at 28 lbs of boost. While the car has not yet seen the track, Marcos Acosta Jr. has been enjoying the Mr. Hyde-like personality change that the RX-8 has been put through and is confident that the car would turn some eye-opening numbers. But he reminds us that a track car wasn’t the goal – as evidence, he points out that the car still has its air conditioning system and traction control systems still intact. So if you hear about the rumor of a turbo 3-rotor RX-8 or see a menacing looking silver RX-8 with a big front mount intercooler in your rearview sometime in the future, you’ll know that it’s the special RX-8 from the Acosta Racing stable.