eBay Find: A 2010 Mazda RX-8 With A Built LS2 Under The Hood
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This story seems all too familiar. Crazy person buys powerless (sorta), lightweight Japanese car, and inserts one of the best family of V8 engines made underneath the bonnet. But wait – that’s not fast enough. Naturally, this car is in dire need of a full motor build and supporting mods.
If you’ve got just under $70,000 to spend on a properly fast toy, this might be the car for you. It’s got a wheelbase that’s shorter than grandma, 563 horsepower (nearly 2.5x factory numbers), and even a 2-year powertrain warranty.
From the looks of the eBay listing, we can make out that this custom 2010 Mazda RX-8 with its built LS2 Corvette motor features insanity in all gears, a limited-slip differential, Mahle pistons, Eagle rods, a FAST LSX-R intake manifold, Moton coilovers, custom driveshaft, and the list goes on. Side effects may include powerslides, burnouts, and serious injury.
We think that this guy/dealer/whoever has no idea how to price a vehicle, as $69,500 could get you a used Corvette Z06, a new Z51 Stingray in a few months, or a CTS-V of some sort. While this RX-8 might be faster and lighter, near-70 grand is a lot to ask for, and everyone else seems to think so, as there are currently no offers on the car, with bidding ending two days at the time of this writing. But is it justifying in your eyes? Blab in the comments!
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sounds like a sleeper but those rear tires are gonna be expensive at the end
This will find a buyer, I suppose, but I wouldn’t go near it. I don’t believe in cross-brand transplants. Want a car with a Corvette engine? Buy a GM product that came with one.
Richard, agree with everything you say except it will find a buyer. The RX8 is too much of a niche product anyway without the additional niche of the engine swap.
Takes a lot of talent and hard work to do a swap like that but there ain’t no way a Mazda RX8 deserves an LS2!!!
Kinda cool, but no way 70k. When you do stuff like this (believe me I’ve done it) you never recoup all your costs. If this was done professionally they really need to rethink there business plan!
I actually like the idea of placing an LS engine in different make vehicles. It keeps showing how great GM’s push rod engine truly is.
If somebody is going to do this then they need to remove the emblem on the front and back and put a bow tie on it! You don’t use a chevy and not give them credit for doing so!
I love the use of the ls1 but the car itself is a turd!
There is no such thing as a “Chevy small block” anymore.
There is only the GM small block.
No chevy engines? Go asks a Pontiac fan if chevy engines still exist? That’s right you can’t ask them cuz they don’t make them anymore!
The ls1 engines came from a chevy corvette! When people complain about GM using ls1 engines in Cadillacs they call those engines chevys! And say Cadillac needs there own engines!
So yes there is a chevy small block GM is just smart enough to put it in a lot of different kinds of cars and trucks!
No, the Chevy small block is dead and has been dead for more than 20 years. The reason it’s dead is the same reason the Olds, Buick, and Pontiac V8’s are dead; the eliminate powertrain redundancies. GM knew there was no good reason for every brand to have it’s own V8, Chevrolet included.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_small-block_engine
When the mk1 LT arrived in 1992 and GM started using it to power various cars irrespective of what they were badged as. It was one engine for all brands. It saved GM millions on powertrain engineering costs and provided a stable base with which to direct all V8 engineering activities hence forth. The LS, and the new mk2 LT reflect this.
Also, calling the GM small block the “spiritual successor” tot eh Chevy small block is asinine as there is no such thing as a spirit.
Sorry but you are wrong
Gen I SBC – Classic SBC that was introduced in the late fifties and used until early 90s
Gen II SBC – LT1 from mid – late 90s
Gen III SBC – LS1 and Various Vortec and Other LXX engines
Gen IV SBC- New Cylinder Head Design, and New technologies added (cylinder deactivation and the lot)
Gen V SBC- New LT1
It is still a SBC. It still shares fundamental design with the original SBC. Yeah it is the go to GM v8. But just look at wikipedia.
When a engine gets developed for indy car do they put a GM sticker on the side of the race car? No they put a bowtie which stands for chevy! Powered by chevy! Not GM!
The engine designed for the corvette that is passed down to all the other cars starts off as a chevy!
I agree with you sharing engines and platforms is the smartest thing GM has ever decided, they just need to do more of it!
“When a engine gets developed for indy car do they put a GM sticker on the side of the race car? No they put a bowtie which stands for chevy! Powered by chevy! Not GM!”
Stickers do not power cars. Engines do. Chevrolet is just a brand/sales channel, NOT a division. Thus doesn’t have it’s own powertrains, hence it’s powered by the GM small block.
Your confusion about the sticker due to being mislead into thinking that the indy car was designed by Chevrolet “in house”. As stated, Chevrolet IS NOT a division and thus cannot exercise autonomy, not even in engines. GM, however, can do in house work and can therefore car put a cheap vinyl sticker on anything they build, but it’s doesn’t reflect autonomy of a brand.
“The engine designed for the corvette that is passed down to all the other cars starts off as a chevy!”
That’s just the first car a new small block winds up in; and the engine isn’t a “chevy” becasue it was engineered by GM powertrain arm, not by a division of GM. Besides, the engine cover can always be changed, just like the vinyl sticker.
You seem to have difficulty knowing the difference between a brand a division, and what powers each have.
They why do people always say Cadillac should have it’s own engines exclusive to Cadillac only?
That would mean GM would be making a Cadillac engine! So yes it can be done!
I am glad GM uses all there engines in every make and model to cut cost!
GM has never stop building a small block chevy!
“hey why do people always say Cadillac should have it’s own engines exclusive to Cadillac only?
That would mean GM would be making a Cadillac engine! So yes it can be done!”
No, it would mean using the common engine architecture (say the HFV6’s) to give Cadillac an engine to use and market as it sees fit. The “Cadillac only” engines you speak of are simply variants: a block that can be milled to 4.5 from 4.2 for example, a small variant of a larger architecture.
Cadillac, if it were a division, would have it’s own V6 architecture with it’s own variants and thus it’s own engines; that’s where you’re getting confused.
“GM has never stop building a small block chevy!”
Wrong. 1955-2003
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_small-block_engine
“Finally superseded by GM’s Generation II LT and Generation III LS V8s in the 1990s and discontinued in 2003”
The Chevy small block is dead. Having it as a crate engine is not a factory production car with said engine.
Sometimes you can’t explain to people who think they’re right. I agree with you, grawdaddy.
I just want to clarify, are cadillac engines exclusive? For example, the Esclade. The 6.2 liter. What is exclusive it that is not in the 6.2 in the 2500 HD and 3500 Silverado/Sierra?
So, the 5.3 liter in the Sierra and Silverado. Then engine isn’t specific to GMC or Chevy, it’s a shared powertrain. It’s not a Chevy small block or a GMC small block. The engine was designed and implemented in 1999.
The rx8 has an incredible chassis, and is it excellent performance car on its own. The engine swap would of upset the weight balance, and upset the handling, however the power increase over double the original car, would make up the difference. I can only imagine how fun it would be to drive that car. Especially pulling up to a stop light next to an unsuspecting Vette or Porsche. If you are lucky enough to have extra money to spend why the hell not. talk about a cheetah in wolfs clothing.
The engine in my 2009 Cadillac CTS-V is the LSA motor – a variation of the LS8 motor in the Corvette ZR1 back in the day. It’s not exclusively a Corvette motor or referred to as a ‘Chevy’ motor, but it does appear in the Camaro ZL1 as well; albeit with more horsepower than the 556 in the CTS-V configuration. So it’s a GM motor. When you open the hood there is a badge left of the radiator that reads “GM Performance Division”. I tend to agree with the comments from Grawdaddy . Just my $0.02.
Have they ever stop selling a small block chevy? No! The first chevy was built in 55 and now we are on the 5th gen chevy!
GM didn’t build two generations and then build 3 generations of the GM small block!
The 5th gen small block is referencing the 5 different versions of the small block chevy! So yes there is still a small block chevy engine still being made!
Your 2 cents needs to be recounted cause you keep coming up short!
“GM didn’t build two generations and then build 3 generations of the GM small block!”
Well they have, actually.
With the demise of the Chevy small block in 1992, the replacement was the first GM small block. Internally, it was the Gen 2 V8 powertrain to support all of GM’s V8 demands sans Northstar; it was known as the Mk1 LT block.
Next was the Gen 3 Mk1 LS
then, the Gen 4 Mk2 LS
now, on Gen 5, the Mk2 LT.
SBC, LT, LS, LS, LT = the GM V8 powertrain history. It’s that simple.
The SBC had it’s place in history, but now it’s out of date and incapable of meeting the demands that the Gen 5 LT can.
If the small block chevy ended in 92 like you say then why do they still refer to the engine as a gen 5?
In your way of thinking it should of been chevy small block gen 1 and 2 then GM’s small block gen 1, 2, 3!
But it’s not the gen 5 engine is referring to the of the small block chevy history which is 60+ years old!
No, you’re wrong again. The following is how it went and how I see it:
SBC = Gen 1 – 1955 – 1992
Mk1 LT = Gen 2: 1992 – 1997
Mk1 LS = Gen 3: 1997 – 2007
Mk2 LS = Gen 4: 2005 – present (note the overlap)
Mk2 LT = Gen 5: 2013 – onward
Really, you simply CANNOT make this complicated. I’ve laid it out for you and there is no way you can screw this up.
“the gen 5 engine is referring to the of the small block chevy history which is 60+ years old!”
Incorrect. If it that were true, the heads of a 2013 Lt block would be interchangeable with an SBC from the 50’s. The aren’t, and therefore are 2 separate engine generations.
All different engine’s well tell me what’s the bore spacing on all those different types of engines?
Yea there the same!
At no time did they ever stop selling chevy engines!
Let me ask you this are the bell housing s the same?
Will a transmission bolt on a gen 1 2 3 4 5?
Was the chevy and Pontiac bell housing the same? No
Which bell housing does the small block still use? Yea the chevy bell housing!
Yes it’s a chevy, built for chevy, used by chevy!
One last thing if there are just GM engines now then why did they call the Cadillac north star engine? They also made everybody know the 4.0 olds north star was based of the Cadillac 4.6 north star!
That engine was around for about 20 years as a Cadillac engine! During the same time you say GM stop building engines for a make and only for the company!
So your wrong again and it must really hurt deep down inside to be so wrong all the time!
Chevy rules!
“During the same time you say GM stop building engines for a make and only for the company!”
Of course not. The Northstar existed for marketing and public image building of Cadillac. To some extents, it worked and didn’t work, but it has cemented the role of DOHC vavletrains for use in Cadillacs.
As I’ve said, the GM small block needs to be the “go to” engine. The Northstar was never that engine; it was an engine that was intended to repositron Cadillac’s image as technologically advanced. A cost undertaken at the behest of overlapping powertrains to distance Cadillac from the negitive public image of OHV engines.
OHV engines aren’t, and still aren’t, seen as a mark of technological and engineering superiority. While the Northstar tried to overcome this with DOHC variants, GM ultimately let it languish for years while the competition continued ahead with their own, and better, V8 engines. That’s not to say GM has fallen back to OHV engines. Save for the V-series and the GMT-sourced models, you won’t find any OHV engines in a Cadillac because it would stain the cars as being inferior.
“All different engine’s well tell me what’s the bore spacing on all those different types of engines?”
If you’re going to be obtuse and be one of those people who think that identical bore spacings mean identical displacements and thus identical engines, then you’re in no position to talk. As I’ve said, the RPO codes change with each generation of GM small block and what means LS7 today won’t mean the same should the LS7 come back again in the future.
Of course the bellhousings would be the same, but then again, bell housing isn’t part of any GM small block. Ask Allision or Muncie that one.
It’s not me who’s wrong. You’ve lost support in this thread for your misunderstanding, AND you’ve been wrong since 1992.
You haven’t got leg to stand on, and I have the proof.
“Retroactively referred to as the “Generation I” small-block, it is distinct from subsequent “Generation II” LT and “Generation III/IV” LS, and “Generation V” (LT/EcoTec3) engines.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_small-block_engine
You are in pain, and the more you type, the more it’ll keep on hurting you. You can keep suffering, or your can lick your wounds. No one else will do it for you.
There are parts I agree with you, but you are really gullible cuz I wanted to see how far I could take you on this!
To be honest I dont care what they call any engine coming out of GM as long as it’s going in a GM car or truck!
I think the sharing of engines platforms should be used more and more!
A GM engine should never be allowed in a rx7
The small block Chevy is dead, other than a crate engine. WTF cannot be understood about that? lol
Are you 16 years old and just like to argue logic and plain as day evidence? I bet you’re also a right winger conservative, too. My god. What an oxy moron. I’m sorry, I’m say this with as much respect as possible. But you are wrong in this case.
Google this crap, do the research instead of just pulling crap out of your behind. The small block is DEAD from Chevy. JUST BECAUSE THE SMALL BLOCK STARTED WITH CHEVY DOES NOT MEAN IT IS STILL A CHEVROLET ENGINE TO DATE.
The (6.6 Liter) small block 400 in my 1 ton G Van chassis motor home is a small block V8 (1979). But the small block 5.3 liter in my GMC Sierra is not a flipping Chevrolet small block. It is a GM small block.
So finally the cats out of the bag you have a GMC and you can’t stand the fact that a chevy engine is in your truck!
You don’t like chevy you prefer gmc and you wish chevy trucks would go away!
You are a fraud!
I actually don’t give a crap. I don’t have a hard on for it. I’m not a fraud. While the engine may share architecture because it’s a “push rod” engine, it stops there. There is not a damn thing in common with the old small block engines. With VVT, direct injection, nothing is in common considering it’s an LS block.
Anyway, I’m going to sit back and watch you argue logic with the more informed folks on here.
PS – I do like Chevy. I just perfer the look of the Sierra over the Silverado. If I was to buy a fullsize SUV from the General, I would buy a Tahoe since I prefer the look of that over a Yukon. Under the skin, the vehicles are identical. Now are you going to argue that that Sierra and Silverao are not? The stamping and styling cues between the two may be different, as well as the GMC’s typically being more refined and offering more options when it comes to “luxury options” than the Chevrolet counter part.
Trucks are the same engines are great no matter what you want to call them!
I traded in my 2010 Sierra for a 2014 Sierra. The engine that is in my 2014 has nothing in common with an old school Chevrolet small block other than it’s 8 cylinders and is push rod.
Except for a push rod valve train, a crossplane, and a few bolts (SAE into a soft metric), there is nothing in common with an SBC to today’s LS or tomorrows LT.
@Grawdaddy. I also have a fully restored 1968 GMC 1500 Pick-Up. The appraisal I got when I bought it says it has a 350 cubic inch LT1 motor in it. It’s not the original motor of course, because it orignally had a 327. I can see it is an aluminum block but it looks to my untrained eyes to be iron heads. The LT1 motor was the engine in the Corvette back in the mid-90’s and also installed in the Chevrolet Impala SS 1994-1996 if I recall. But in the Corvette configuration it had different heads, and therefore a higher horsepower rating than the 260 h.p. in the Chevrolet Impala SS. I also believe that the LT1 motor was installed in some Cadillacs because they needed the horsepower. My recollection is that the 305 cubic inch motor was also also installed in the IROC Camaros and my father’s 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass. I don’t know when the 305 cubic inch motor stopped being put in a variety of model cars. I admit I’m not that fluent with the engine designations, but I presume the motor in my restored 1968 GMC is the transplanted Mk1 LT1 you refer to in your comment? I agree with you, from the literature I read it’s no longer referred to as the Chevy Small Block engine. But clearly, that is its heritage correct?
I own a 70 chevy truck sb 2wd had the truck for 40 years and im 40 years old! It has a 600 hp 383 4l80 tranns and a lock right posi 12 bolt!
Getting from street light to street light is no problem at all if you know what I mean
As I understand you, yes, you are correct. You have the Mk1 LT block from the old SS Impala of the 90’s in your 1500.
Also, I’m under the impression that with each generation of small block, the RPO codes change. What was an LT1 back in 1994 probably won’t the same as whatever an LT1 is today (mk1 LT vs. Mk2 LT).
I’ll ask the question again if there’s no chevy small block being made then why does GM call it the gen 5 engine?
They referring to the 5 different versions of the small block chevy!
Here’s the list of V8 powertrains that have served as the primary “go-to” engines used by GM in chronological order:
SBC = Gen 1: 1955 – 1992
Mk1 LT = Gen 2: 1992 – 1997
Mk1 LS = Gen 3: 1997 – 2007
Mk2 LS = Gen 4: 2005 – present (note the overlap)
Mk2 LT = Gen 5: 2013 – onward
That’s 5 generations of small block V8’s spanning 58 years. The present Mk2 LT block is called the Gen V block as it will become the primary “go-to” V8 engine that GM will use until Gen 6 comes around. It exists after 4 other generations of V8 engines that GM has utilized throughout time. As such, interchangeability between each generation is limited to none at all.
That timeline, in case you missed it, goes as so:
SBC = Gen 1: 1955 – 1992
Mk1 LT = Gen 2: 1992 – 1997
Mk1 LS = Gen 3: 1997 – 2007
Mk2 LS = Gen 4: 2005 – present (note the overlap)
Mk2 LT = Gen 5: 2013 – onward
Either in the 80’s or 90’s the small block Chevy was renamed the corporate small block since GM was narrowing down from Buick, Pontiac, Cadillac having individual small V8 engines, most likely for economics and the amount of V8 that were sold through Chevrolet cars and trucks.
Every time a new Gen small block comes out it will debut on the Corvette first, then it will be spread to other models and companies. It will not be the first time they have done this. Since the 50’s Chevy used to make some wild experimental cars, including in the 70’s a Corvette with a Wankel engine inside. The cars were called CERV for Chevrolet Experimental Vehicles, but eventually it was renamed Corporate Experimental Vehicles. So my humble opinion the new Gen V8’s are Chevy’s. It would not sound good to say the Cadillac CTS-V has a supercharged small block Chevy.
I guess we can agree to disagree whether it’s a Chevy motor or a GM motor with Chevy genes. All I know is that there is a lot of prestige having one under the hood – whether it is in my CTS-V or transplanted in my 68′ GMC. I see a lot of hot rod Fords at car shows with the Chevy small block under the hood. I can’t recall ever seeing a hot rod Chevy with a 289 Ford motor under the hood.
I know we got away from the article showing a Mazda with an LS in it, but all I am going to say it is the best engine ever and that the other OHV engine made by Chrysler has not gotten 1/10th the popularity of the LS engine family, even other niche car makers overseas are using it. So, “Long Live the King”, and hot rodders who keep it alive in whatever variation it comes in.
At the risk of stirring the pot and prompting more debate I offer the following for your consideration….
I also own an older (2003) GMC Yukon Denali in addition to my restored 1968 GMC Pick-Up. In the Denali it has the 6.0L (Vortec 6000) motor that was only offered in the Cadillac Escalade and the Denali; back in the day. I have a friend who has a later model Chevy Silverado SS with the same 6.0L motor. So does this suggest that GM planted a Cadillac or GMC 6.0L motor in the Chevy? OMG!
Also, I see a new term emerging. It’s called “Chevy Envy” and I thought it was a disorder common amongst Ford and Mopar enthusiasts. One of the writers in this thread suggested that the disorder may exist amongst GMC owners as well. I’m just content to have a GM small block motor under the hood; albeit if it has Chevy heritage in its genes.
“So does this suggest that GM planted a Cadillac or GMC 6.0L motor in the Chevy? OMG!”
Exactly. You can sit there and split hairs forever trying to guess whether or not the engine is “A Chev” or “A GMC” or “A Cadillac” if it’ll make you feel better at the end of the day, and you’ll go crazy doing it. I just call it “A GM” engine and don’t make it anymore complicated than it needs to be.
It’s all the same engine anyway designed by the same engineers under the same roof on the same day. Some engines just have their ECU flashed to run a bit slower or a bit harder, and some get a more aggressive cam, lighter valves, better springs and so on. Boom! That’s how we get different flavours of LS engine.
I think the Cadillac engines did have some exclusivity to them. Mainly, it was the horsepower and torque. The 6.0/6.2 in the Denali and Esclades were higher than those in other vehicles.
Same with the 3.6L. The Cadillacs are tuned different than say the ones in the Traverse or the 2008-2012 Malibu’s. Most of the time it’s using a different cam or different ecm flashing.
If you’re brand loyal to General Motors, it shouldn’t matter what is in your garage. If it’s a well engineered vehicle and not a POS and it comes from GM and I LIKE IT, I’ll buy it. I have a 2014 GMC Sierra SLT with the new 5.3 liter EcoTec “small block V8”. There is no Chevy heritage in that engine what so ever, it’s a brand new engine, but is based off the LS line of engines.
Now, I also own a 1979 Shasta 32′ 3500 G-Van chassis motor home with a small block 400 (6.6L). That is a small block Chevrolet, indisputable. There is no comparison between that engine and my 2014 Sierra other than it uses push rods to open and close the valves. Now, with that said, my mom owns a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country that is also a pushrod engine. Because it’s push rod, does it mean it has Chevy heritage in it? No, absolutely not.
When GM started using the the LS block, starting in 1998 with the 5.7 Liter in the Camaro/Firebirds, they were a new breed of engines coming from a completely different casting. So, what I want to hear from brian ritter is what the hell do these new engines have in common with the old school chevy small block? My answer, absolutely nothing.
I currently own an Rx8 and all I can say is if you have never driven one then you can’t really talk crap about them, because you truly don’t understand the beauty of them. They are very fun and powerful cars. nA little 1.3 liter engine that is full of power, every time I tell someone that it only has a 1.3 they don’t believe me. They get a bad rap because people do not properly maintain them. This is my second Rx8 that I have owned, both ’04 models, and never had any problems out of either one of them even after they hit 100k miles. I am planning on doing a ls1 swap on mine in the very near future because I think it would be awesome to feel that much power inside of this car. No one will expect it at all when you pull up on them at a red light.