Owner: Randall Edwards
Location: Austin, TX., USA
Vehicle: 2004 Mazda RX-8
Car Club: Texas Rxs
Horsepower: 200
Website: Personal
This 2004 Mazda RX-8, owned by Randall Edwards, started in the Summer of 2009 with just a minor upgraded car audio system and lowering springs. Randall had a terrible experience during 1 of the weeks of this build - he lost an engine in the car, lost his rental to hail damage and lost his job the next day! He then got a call to be at SEMA in Las Vegas, NV a week later, and with the help of a 401k and meager unemployment checks to live on, Randall bought paint, fiberglass, sandpaper, and other materials and built a SEMA car out of a small shop with just volunteers and sheer determination.
Randall got the idea for the crazy interior from a YouTube video of a computer in a fishtank, along with Mazda concept cars. He got the idea for the exterior from his hero, Chip Foose; Randall kept it as clean and flowing as possible. This was a total grassroots, friends-getting-together-to-help-out, genuine build. Randall always dreamed of just visiting SEMA. So, when the opportunity to participate came, he leaped at it!
His friend's business, who helped with the build, went under about 2 years later but they still have the car as proof of what can be done with a lot of hard work and not a whole lot of money!
Photos By: Randall Edwards
ENGINE & PERFORMANCE
Cold air intake
Borla exhaust
Upgraded BHR ls2 coils ignition system
Custom 200amp alternator powder coated yellow
Huge shuriken battery mounted on custom made battery tray that also mounts a decorative trim panel and 250amp fuse holder
Sampco hoses
Titanium hardware throughout
Weapon R catch can
Rotary themed aluminum filler caps and blue led's mounted throughout to light it all up at shows/meets
The underside of the hood and core support have been painted and Tein hood dampers help to show everything off
One detail worth mentioning is all open threads are capped with vacuum caps and all hardware is rust free and matching etc.
WHEELS & TIRES
19x8.5 Work Meister s1 3pc Wheels (front)
19x9.5 Work Meister s1 3pc wheels (rear)
235/35-19 BFG KDW Tires (front)
265/30-19 BFG KDW Tires (rear)
SUSPENSION
Stance GR+ coilovers with custom weighted springs
Hotchkis sway bars front and rear
Whiteline endlinks aligned to spec
EXTERIOR
Mazdaspeed front and sides custom painted to match black/yellow color scheme
Carbon fiber b-pillar accents
Carbign carbon fiber license plate surround
Shaved door handles
Shaved emblems
Aftermarket fender vents
JDM Mazda clear corners
LED bulbs specially picked to go with space theme of car
INTERIOR
One of a kind full custom interior featuring hand made and hand painted fiberglass pieces
Amplifiers submerged in mineral oil
Sony PS3 that raises out of deck-lid (hidden when not in view)
LED lighting throughout and led edge lighting along back deck-lid
Custom door panels front and back
Custom tuned floor mounted speaker pods in front foot-wells to compliment 8" mid-bass in each door
Rotating sub enclosure
Full fiberglass trunk fully hand-painted and has fiber optic lighting showing through to simulate twinkling stars for space theme
There are a total of 4 video screens and a double din pioneer head unit to run everything
AUDIO & MULTIMEDIA
Pioneer AVIC Z110 head unit mounted using Metra dash kit we helped devise years ago. (our scratch built dash piece was used in prototyping)
Vibe Audio UK Space 3d 3 way 6.5 inch components mounted in precisely tuned floor mounted speaker enclosures in each front foot-well
Vibe Audio UK Space 3d 8" mid-bass in each door
Vibe Audio UK "Lite Air" amplifiers, 2 mono amps used on each voice coil of 12" Vibe sub, 1 4 channel used to drive front stage.
Sony PS3 mounted on linear actuator that raises up and down, fully functional and has 2 controllers mounted on a charging station that was built into the rear display
4 video screens total, 2 10" in rear of car, 2 7" in trunk.
Shuriken BT100 battery
Tsunami 0 gauge power and ground wire
Top grade Tsunami signal cables, remote wire, speaker wire
Tsunami fuse and distribution blocks, all connections soldered and use heat shrink, no connectors etc.
Entire vehicle sound deadened with Ballistic deadener
Crimestopper alarm system with auto start and door poppers on both doors etc.
SPONSORS
Partially sponsored by Metra
Tsunami
Shuriken Batteries
Vibe Audio
Varad LEDs
