My car roots can be traced back to my father. He picked up dirt track racing when he returned from World War II, and kept racing until the late 1950's. Once he retired his racing shoes, he kept his passion for cars alive, which in turn spilled over to the rest of the family. At one point, we had 5 1965 Mustangs (1 convertible), a 1968 Cutlass, 1971 Malibu, and a 1969 Firebird. When I began driving, I was given a 1972 Chevy C10. 21 years later, I'm driving my 2004 RX-8. Sandwiched in between are 22 other cars, trucks, and motorcycles.

When I first began working on cars, it was to repair and restore. Other newer cars in my stable were used as daily drivers and remained stock. I worked with my father on restoring our 1967 Mustang convertible, red on red with a black top. Amazing how much room there was in the engine bay of that car, and most older vehicles in general. I became my own mechanic when I purchased a 1985 Jeep Cherokee, which required constant effort to keep on it in running order. After that, I took on the efforts of restoring a 1969 Bronco, a 1979 MGB, and later a 1985 Dodge Ramcharger. Prior to my 2005 Mazda 6i, I had a 1990 Saab 900 Turbo that was my daily driver. That became the first daily driven car that I would attempt (sometimes succeed, sometimes fail) to make modifications to. Once the transmission died on that car, I decided it was time to move to something of a more recent vintage. And thus began my Mazda ownership.

I purchased my 2005 Lapis Blue (one of the best colors for the car, in my opinion) 6i in April 2006. I made a few minor modifications to the car. I rewired the taillights for better lighting, changed the stock antenna for a CX7 antenna, and removed the side door moldings. After that, I purchased the CP-E MAFci kit for the car, followed by purchasing some Mazdaspeed6 wheels, and wrapping them in Kumho Ecstas. The car was also debadged (except for the Mazda emblem). The final result was this:

I was preparing to install clear corners on the car, when a thought hit me. I was now living with my future wife, and had a very short commute to work. I wanted a car that I could tinker with, and one I knew I would keep for quite a while. I knew the 6i wasn't going to be that car. I debated selling the 6i outright and getting an older project car, or trading it in for a newer sports car that would be reliable. Well, the very day I had begun to install the clear corners, I took the 6 down to Mazda of Lakewood and traded it in for my 2004 RX-8. This is how it looked on day 1.



I've had a lot of fun tinkering and modding the RX-8. The first modifications made to the car were cosmetic, clear corners, piano black B-pillars, tint, a few interior mods. After that, I swapped in some Racing Beat sway bars and endlinks. From there, things kept rolling. New Mazdaspeed suspension (strut bars, springs, shocks) and I was lucky enough to get a few free mods as well. I was a beta tester for Cobb for the RX-8 AccessPORT, and was the engineering car for the Ingalls Stiffy ETD. The last modification I've done at this point is the Black Halo Racing Ignition Kit. Overall, I've done quite a bit to the RX-8, see my garage on the website here.

Ownership hasn't been all fun. I had 11 months of in and out of various dealerships to deal with a transmission issue. The car itself, however, has been exactly what I wanted. Here's hoping to many more years of fun with the RX-8! You can also see the running log of my ownership, and get better detail on my impressions and modifications info, too.

Congrads to Tim for our first Featured user in almost a year. He is the first of many.

Good stuff. Any more pics of the 8?

i don't recall seeing your turn on/offs and full pictorial tim

Thanks, folks. I'll toss more pics of the 8 in the thread a little later, I definitely have more!

Woot Woot Tim.....

Congrats!