I haven't started tuning the rx-8 yet so take this info with a grain of salt and please don't make any changes based on what I say:
Desired engine torque on my Saab was basically a power request which was then met with an air mass request which would then generate whatever turbo boost was required to meet that air mass goal if possible. Basically the simplest way to explain the way I tuned my my Saab was I would pick my desired AFR, then slowly raise desired torque until I saw knock retard and then back off (I never messed with timing). It can be a bit confusing since some cells in my tables has 200% torque which doesn't make sense. You can also destroy your engine by requesting too much torque (at least on my turbo Saab).
I am not sure if this is helpful or not but I didn't like this thread sitting empty and I do not know if you can just slowly raise desired torque in the same way without damaging things, pistons are a lot more resilient to knock than apex seals.
