Any mazda rx8 owners? soon to be owner questions.

[preposterous]

Im buying a 2005 shinka within the next week-week and a half. I do know some of the few different things you have to do since the engine. I understand you have to let it heat up for 15 mins b4 driving it, but is that once a day? hopefully not every time..i do alot of going places with my girlfriend and if i were to have to wait for 10+ mins per turn on that would be really annoying

[Skarsguard]

My friend had a 06 I think and the only time he only warmed his up is in the winter I know he didn't warm it up in the summer.

Edit:
I would say though not to rev it up or get crazy on the gas till around 160c

[Ryuukon]

"No offense, but pickmefirstplz clearly hasn't owned a rotary engine.

Here's some things to do:
1) Let the car warm up a bit before driving it, I've never personally felt it has to be at full operating temperature like some people (takes to long), but you do want it to warm up a bit.
2) Let the car cool down a bit after driving it before shutting off, this means that if the temperature is high after some hard driving, let the car idle so it will come back down to operating temperature
3) ONCE THE CAR IS WARMED UP, then redline it from time to time, you shouldn't do this constantly as it will add wear and tear, but due to the rotaries design, you DO want to rev the car kind of hard on a consistent basis so it will keep your valves, rotors, and seals clean
4) ALWAYS check your oil, check it every time you refuel the car, rotary engines regularly burn some oil to lubricate the apex seals"


Stolen shamelessly from yahoo answers.

This is actually pretty accurate.

I don't own a rotary engine vehicle, but my uncle does, and he loves it to death. We've had many talks about it, about how it performs very well at high speeds, how the MPG goes up the faster you go, etc.

But after all those talks, the one single most important aspect of a rotary engine is this: Know your nearest service department that is QUALIFIED to work on the engine.

My uncle drives an RX-7, and loves it to death. He's pushing 60 and it is the top of his favorite cars he's ever owned (and he's owned MANY, everything from a 71 Cuda to a Lamborghini Countach). It is his favorite car, that is, up until the RX-7 required maintenance. There are so very few people who actually understand what it takes to maintain a rotary engine, that just taking it to your local grease monkey is a very bad idea. You will need a specialist, preferably a certified Mazda mechanic. Not a certified Mazda garage, but a certified Mazda MECHANIC. Certified garages usually means shipping the car or engine out to a certified mechanic.

Let's say you have a Ford Focus. The engine blows up. Give the garage a few days, and lots of money, and you're back on the road in no time. Now let's say you have a Mazda with a rotary engine and it blows up. Unless you know the right people to take it to, expect a good couple of months before the car is back on the road.

From all the talks with my uncle, that is probably the most important aspect of owning an RX-7/8 that I can think of.

[Derpyhooves]

Go google an rx8 forum and ask questions there. I mean seriously.

[Deleted]

"No offense, but pickmefirstplz clearly hasn't owned a rotary engine.

Here's some things to do:
1) Let the car warm up a bit before driving it, I've never personally felt it has to be at full operating temperature like some people (takes to long), but you do want it to warm up a bit.
2) Let the car cool down a bit after driving it before shutting off, this means that if the temperature is high after some hard driving, let the car idle so it will come back down to operating temperature
3) ONCE THE CAR IS WARMED UP, then redline it from time to time, you shouldn't do this constantly as it will add wear and tear, but due to the rotaries design, you DO want to rev the car kind of hard on a consistent basis so it will keep your valves, rotors, and seals clean
4) ALWAYS check your oil, check it every time you refuel the car, rotary engines regularly burn some oil to lubricate the apex seals"


Stolen shamelessly from yahoo answers.

That is for ever car, it's not just for rotary engine. And you can't let the car warm up before driving since it takes long. Once you start a car you should be gentle with acceleration/rev's because the car engine hasn't reached it's working temeperature. Check your car dial for when it does get in the middle between blue and red. taht's when the engine works "optimal".

For some old cars you had to warm it up before driving due to hydraulic stearing, to get the fluid going and at temperature, else you had no powerstearing and had to handle the steering wheel. You still have to do that if you own a car with no powersteering, sucks at parking since it has the most friction and it's harder to steer.

At stop, you don't need to do anything, just park it, stop it, leave.

In regards to redline it you should only do that if you have a turbo, or a turbo diesel more to be fair. At higher rev's the turbo kicks in and by doing so you "clean it". If you under-rev it daily it can get "muddy" and in time fail. Same for bi-turbo, but there only the second turbine is used for doing that since the first one kicks in at low revs.

Since RX-7 engine is a rev engine you should be fine. I have drove a Mazda CX-7 SUV with the 2.3l engine and had to work the gearbox to keep the torque going. Do the same and it should reward you.

Once in a while do a "longer" drive and in places where you have some load on the car, like hills and such to clean and help your catalytic converter regenerate. In daily home-to work routine if it's not long chances are your catalytic converter will never reach it's optimal working temperature, it takes longer then the time the engine takes to heat up. By doing this you won't have to change your catalytic converter almost never, since it has the function to autoregenerate in time once it's started.

[Scarlet]

I had an '05 whitewater pearl, 6spd MT. She was the love, and hate, of my life.. Until my mother totaled her

You should always warm up the engine of any car before driving, though I didn't always.

You do need to check oil levels often. DON'T use full synthetic.

Are there service records for the vehicle?? There was a voluntary recall on early RX-8s, '05s included, some of the engines needed to be completely replaced. I would make sure the recall test was done.

The guys and girls over at rx8club.com are a ton of help and there's lots of useful information

[preposterous]

i looked at the carfax and saw this 10/21/2006
Mazda Motor of America, Inc. Manufacturer recall/service bulletin issued
Recall # 4206F
VOLUNTARY EMISSION RECALL
Click here to locate an authorized Mazda dealer near you to obtain more information about this recall

so that means it was recalled for a engine problem? the next carfax post after that one is it being sold at a auction.

http://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory...#DetailSection is the report. it had many checkups after that.

[ultimar235]

Thought the warming was a myth.. My car manual says you don't need to warm up a car. Though this section is under environmental driving. (not a rx8 though)

[Deleted]

Thought the warming was a myth.. My car manual says you don't need to warm up a car. Though this section is under environmental driving. (not a rx8 though)

You warm the engine faster while driving. While engine is cold you just need to watch out and not floor it (rev it) a lot since it's not at it's optimal temperature the friction or motor elements it's more, so the more you rev it at cold, the more "damage" you make as in it will reduce your service time. Like change parts sooner. Apart from that there is no issue.

If you have the money to change parts all day you can drive it like a maniac, if you want to be responsible you do that, slow/normal rev until it's hot and then you can push it as sportly as you or the car can.

[seriouslyshift]

Im buying a 2005 shinka within the next week-week and a half. I do know some of the few different things you have to do since the engine. I understand you have to let it heat up for 15 mins b4 driving it, but is that once a day? hopefully not every time..i do alot of going places with my girlfriend and if i were to have to wait for 10+ mins per turn on that would be really annoying

I owned and 04 rx8 gt 6speed
You don't really half to warm it up before you drive it you just need to let the engine warm up before you shut it back off otherwise you foul you plugs and have hell of time getting it started again and will smoke like a train. And thats everytime you go to turn it off. I made the mistake of shutting it off too soon once never made it again. Also do run Prem fuel in it if you run reg it will spit sputter and die till you add some octane boost. My wife had and 05 when I first met her and her dad made that mistake of running reg in it when he drove her car one day and it died in the middle of a 6lane Hwy lol.