this may sound kinda dumb but....i dont understand how rotary engines work and i want an rx-8 so i need to learn....can rotary engines be modified the same as any other engine?does a rotary engine have pistons?how do rotary engines run?

I don't know alot about them just that they are built by the Ford Motor Company. This site may enlighten you though.
http://www.rotaryengineillustrated.com/

A rotary engine is very different then a piston engine in how it compresses and combusts a mixture of air and fuel. As far as modding them goes, porting, forced compression and bolt ons (ie exhaust, intake, pullies) are the standard. Occassionally people choose to go with higher compression rotors, but this is pretty rare overall. Rotary engines (at least those in the RX seriess) are built in Japan by Mazda, the Hiroshima plant as I recall. Modding the RX-8 has come along slowly since it's introduction, but there are supercharger kits availible, a fair amount of bolt ons, suspension, aesthetic and misc. stuff as well. I'm not sure if a turbocharger kit is availible on the US market yet or not, but one will be out in the future. Go to www.rx8club.com, register and use the search function to find what you need. There are a ton of websites dedicated to this car and making it faster. Go to: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm to learn how the engine itself works. Good luck, the RX community is a very close knit and fanatical group of gear heads so its a great one to join. Josh

The rotary is pretty much an opposite of your regular piston engine. I personally wouldnt buy an RX8, but w/e floats your boat.

A RX-8 is a Twin-Rotor 1.3 liter that pruduces 238 hp at 8500 rpm. and yes there are lots of mods for this car. Rotary engines are like a triangle that spins around in a circle fireing 3 times instead of 1 like a piston in a revulaction.

Your right it did sound pretty dumb