One of the main reasons anybody drives a Mazda RX-8 is because they want a sports car with a rotary engine. However, the madmen at Bodge Rides Garage in Ireland bought one and turned it into what they call the RX-Hate ditching the characteristic rotary in favor of a big diesel engine.
Bodge Rides Garage has owned this car for about a year and it took several months to complete the build. It has a 5.9-liter Cummins 6BT 12-valve diesel inline-six that appeared in 1989-1998 Dodge Ram pickups along with various agricultural and commercial applications. It has the same five-speed manual transmission that came in manual diesel Rams that had this engine and the radiator is in the trunk.
They “blew the shit out of” the stock RX-8 differential and will be replacing it with one from a BMW E46 3.0-liter diesel with a 2.28:1 ratio which will give the car “a lot more useable rev range.”
In an in-depth Q&A with one of the guys who built the RX-Hate answered many questions you’re probably wondering about it. It’s not street legal, but it “probably would be in the States” with a couple modifications like adding headlights. It has “300 horsepower, give or take” and as you can probably imagine, “no shortage of torque.” Then there’s the big question on everyone’s mind; why did you do this. “Why?” he laughed, “why not?” That answer is good enough for us.
For more of the fine, technical details on the RX-Hate, check out the full half-hour video below. To just see it drift around while pumping out black smoke, watch the first couple minutes, then skip to the 25:05 mark. Enjoy.
Rx-Hate Update, Q&A, 1st Drift Day @ Tynagh
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