im looking to drop a ls in my 04 rx8 but having trouble making a choice on which one for the power to smile ratio. any help would be GREATLY WELCOME

 

Any of them would be fun but if you can afford new stuff buy a crate engine and be done with it. Not sure what a rx8 weighs but I'm guessing it's pretty light. Any of the ls3's would be super stout.

 

Budget HP level etc.

ANY LS will be awesome given the right cam in a RX8.

 

 

The RX8 was a wonderfully balanced chassis/set-up with the rotary. I'd work hard to try and put an aluminum block LS in it.

 

Any ALUMINUM LS.... RX8's don't need 100# extra on the nose... As Michael Yount said above...

 

Junkyard LS3 or L92 is what I would go for.

 

a custom four rotor and a big *** turbo

 

Settles into a nice, mild 2500 rpm idle.

 

Talk about blowing things out of proportion.....

 

exactly! a super simple, nice mellow daily

 

Most likely this is a beater RX8 that has motor issues (very common) and the owner/buyer wants to bypass the rotary and dump a LS in.

Get a cheap 5.3 or 4.8 and throw that junk in there with a cam and spring upgrade. Save your dollars for all the other associated conversion costs. IF you finish and love the outcome, then consider moving to an aluminum block to save some weight. If not then crush or sell for pennies on the dollar on CL.

 

LOL - by all means. Do the swap twice.

 

You and I both know that the engine is the easiest part of the conversion. I would rather see the OP under $1000 in the engine versus having a $2000 aluminum hunk sitting there tying up all the money that is needed for the remainder of the effort.

All day you can have a 5.3/4.8 ~250-400 and then add cam and springs. Splurge and put some fresh gaskets in there while you are at it. Bingo ~400 HP at the fly for under 1k.

Save the cash for the LS6 manifold and Gen4 accessories that you will need to clear the hood which is roughly another 1k.

OP probably dipped and we are circle jerking this anyway.

 

Yep, he hasn't been back since his first and only post...

 

 

Well, unless there is reason not to, some of us do, and did, AT FIRST. I realize of course you never did because you know so much. Or at least that's what you tell us...

 

Most folks lose sight of the fact that it's not just the OP that benefits from the perspectives put forth in threads....

 

Bingo. I keep up with many threads when folks have issues and many times over the thread dies with no response once they figure it out. I'm always learning and still know next to nothing, lol.

 

Yep, I agree! Plus it's fun to give ol' Lugnut a ration of crap...