(serene music)
- It all started after I sold my Eclipse.
My Mitsubishi Eclipse, was one of my childhood dream cars
back in the day.
It was something that really, truly got me involved
in the car scene.
And eventually, has led me to where I am today.
That car introduced me to a lot.
I had a lot of firsts with that car
I guess you could say.
First time I saw an exhaust.
First time doing electrical work.
First time doing an engine swap, of all things.
And even though there was a lot of frustrations
and moments where I was thinking,
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
It was really all worth it in the end.
(serene music)
It was a bittersweet moment, seeing that car go.
I personally was at the end of my journey with that car.
I was done having experiences with it
and I was glad to see it going to a new home
and a new owner, that would have their own experiences
with it and start their own journey with that car.
And when I did that, it left me with the FRS.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love the FRS.
It's been a fantastic car for me.
It's something I've really enjoyed,
but there was just that feeling you know, in my gut
that I couldn't shake.
I needed another project car.
I needed something that I could experience
some new firsts with.
Something that could teach me something new
and for some reason, I kept coming back to a Mazda RX-8.
♪ Let you go ♪
♪ But have you really gone ♪
♪ Time moves slow ♪
♪ What are we waiting on ♪
♪ I keep your (mumbles) on my shelf ♪
♪ Lay it, run ♪
♪ I worship the ground you're on ♪
♪ Now that you're gone ♪
♪ And we've fallen out ♪
♪ I can't stop thinking, you're all I go on about ♪
♪ These are the colors ♪
♪ They're gone ♪
♪ These are the colors ♪
♪ They're gone ♪
♪ These are the colors ♪
♪ They're gone ♪
♪ These are the colors ♪
I think it was all the Need for Speed, like Underground,
I played as a kid.
I remember specifically writing down on a worksheet
that we did in elementary school, of what our dreams were
and what the dream car was
and I wrote of all the choices, a Mazda RX-8,
while other people are writing Lamborghinis and Ferraris.
Now, at the time I knew nothing about RX-8s
or any cars in general and for that fact...
And I thought they were just cool and they looked cool
and it was in a video game, so it must've been really fast.
Now, obviously there are a lot of doubts and distaste
for the RX-8, in the community.
You know, it's pretty notorious.
The RENESIS engine, is notoriously known for being...
Like blowing its apex seals
and constantly needing to be rebuilt
and for like 60,000 miles,
along with other issues and all that sort of fun stuff.
And I guess, you know for most people,
that would kind of scare them away
from something like an RX-8, but for me,
it kinda drew me in closer.
I was intrigued by the engine platform.
I saw the passion that the RX-8 community had,
to keep these cars on the road,
because they just absolutely love them
and I just had to know why?
So, I started searching around for one,
with a few key things in mind: it had to have low miles.
It had to be a manual and it had to be under $10,000.
And sure enough, you know a few weeks into my search,
one popped up down in Illinois.
It's about two hours from here.
I messaged the owner, got a bunch of info on it
and went and picked it up that weekend.
Took it for a test drive and I instantly fell in love
with the car.
It's unlike anything else I've ever driven before.
It's smooth, is like the best word
that I can use to describe it.
Everything is just smooth.
The car right now, is completely bone stock,
besides an aftermarket mid pipe that the previous owner
just threw in before I picked it up.
So, thank you for that.
But this will be the last time this car looks like this.
The RX-8 purists, I'm really sorry
for what I'm about to do to this car,
but don't worry, I'm not ever swapping it.
I'm keeping that RENESIS engine.
I know what I've gotten myself into.
My intentions were to do everything
that I haven't done before.
I've never owned a car on air,
so I decided why not put it on there?
I've never owned a wide body car,
so I picked up an over fender kit for it.
And I've never had a car, even with like a wing on it,
so I literally went and snagged the biggest possible wing
I could find and here we are.
(serene music)
And I was gathering all these parts,
Nicoda and Alex were like, "Hey, why don't we cover
the transformation of the car on the channel?"
And I was like, "All right, let's do it."
(serene music)
So, it puts some pressure on me to gather
the rest of the parts I needed and hopefully,
I have everything.
I mean, I guess we'll find out in the near future here,
but by judging by the pile of parts
that's sitting back there, I would hope so.
The plans for the car as of right now include:
putting the car in air suspension.
Like I said, we're getting help from Airlift Performance
and D2 Racing Suspension.
I'm super fortunate to have both of these companies
on board, as part of the build.
After that, we're going to be installing
the LION'S KIT Rocket Vanya V1 Over Fender Kit,
going on paired with some side skirts, a SEIBON Carbon lip
and some Artisa wheels, of course, some Hankook tires
and a massive Big Country Labs Wing.
Right now, I have a set of our Artisa (mumbles),
kind of sitting over in the corner here,
which I'll be running for the time being,
while we work on getting some multi-piece wheels
made up for this car.
The car will be wrapped.
Still kind of deciding on the color yet,
but I've narrowed down to a few options.
I'd you know, love to see your guys' input on it as well.
And then of course, we'll be throwing some other,
I guess maintenance things, added as well.
Starting off with the Sohn Adapter kit on this car,
which will make sure that the engine is always getting
some fresh oil to it and it will allow us
to swap out the oil that's in the oil pan,
for something that's a little better for the (mumbles).
And of course, you know we might have some other stuff
showing up here and there too.
It all depends on what we decide, as we kind of
start ripping into this thing.
I'd love to get an exhaust and maybe,
some other interior bits, like seats or something like that,
but I think this will be a great first start for this car.
It's a massive change. It's a lot of stuff going on.
(upbeat music)
It's going to be a huge learning curve
and I hope, like a good experience.
However, you know luckily I am surrounded
by car enthusiasts every day, that are willing
and able to help out, in one way or another.
I can't be more grateful for that.
The hope is, to bring this car to multiple events across
the country this summer and have it showcased,
not only at the Artisa wheel's booth,
but the FI booth and to whatever event
that we are attending this summer.
We have a bunch planned across the country.
So, if we want to see this car, come out and see us.
I mean, I'm excited to start working on this thing
and I've been itching to dive into it, since day one,
when I picked it up in November.
It's been sitting in the garage,
just kind of collecting parts.
And I hope you guys are just as excited to join us
on this journey, as we begin documenting this full build
on the Fitment Industries' channel.
So, we're going to get to work on this car.
We're going to be uploading weekly here,
throughout April and May.
So, we really appreciate you guys.
If you can just hop in, check it out, give us some insight.
If there's any rotary guys out there,
that could provide some insight,
on how you know, to maybe do stuff for this car,
to make it last a little bit longer
or if I'm just doing something completely wrong.
Just let me know.
Seriously, I'm open to any constructive criticism,
all right? (chuckles)
We're ready to get diving into this car.
Don't forget (mumbles) fitmentindustries.com
and of course, don't forget to subscribe.
I'm going to go grab an angle grinder
and start cutting some fenders.
We'll see you guys.
(upbeat music)
♪ We're driving down the boulevard ♪
♪ Cruising with the windows down ♪
♪ Feeling like we run this town ♪
♪ Your song is on the radio ♪
♪ The one you always liked ♪
♪ The one that always gets you psyched ♪
♪ Drinking all the cheap wine, all night ♪
♪ Acting stupid, but it feels so right ♪
♪ I know that we will all be just fine ♪