Hello/Wankel wisdom
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Hello/Wankel wisdom
Hello all. I am very new to the forum here and would just like to say hi. I have a 2004 Lightning Yellow RX-8 and love every second of it. Thats about it. You can go back to enjoying your day.
"The wankel engine represents everything that is good in society in that it serves the same purpose as every other engine, but is totally different." - My boss
"The wankel engine represents everything that is good in society in that it serves the same purpose as every other engine, but is totally different." - My boss
Insanely Yellow
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,093
Likes: 3
From: Buffalo Grove IL
Because you are a new member of the brotherhood of the Lightning Yellow, I bestow upon thee the Stew's Twin Top 10 lists for new RX-8 owners:
Here's what I'd give you as a quick top 10 things to know:
1) Oil - it consumes oil by design - nothing wrong with that. Check your oil at every other fill up, or do like I do and spend an hour puttering around the garage every other weekend, and adjust the tire pressures, check the oil, give it a wash, etc. A little RX-8 love time.
2) While it says "premium recommended" you can safely burn '87 in most climates and areas. If you feel guilty, pop the extra cost.
3) Change the oil every 5000 miles at least, more frequently if you'd like to. Pay attention to the maintenance schedule in the book and do those items.
4) Beware, Mazda dealers charge through the nose for everything, and they will try to sell you extra crap during scheduled maintenance stops. Don't let them do it.
5) You can safely upsize the tires to 245/40-18s - they are fatter, fill the wheel wells more, and look **** hot.
6) The summer tires work like crap when the temp falls below 45F. All-season performance radials are an acceptable compromise. Snow tires are a must if you commute in snow.
7) Visit your redline often to keep you happy and keep the buzzer from getting lonely.
8) Keep your car shiny and sparkling clean for best crowd pleasing.
9) Watch out for idiots in Civics who will rev on you.
10) This car is NOT a straight-line speed car - don't get disappointed when you realize that LOTS of cars can beat you at the strip.
Enjoy - post pics when you can!
And search and read:
- The little things
and all the other stickies in all the other forums - DIY - Show & Shine, and more.
Here's a few other goodies - let's call them "unique features":
1) Drive by wire throttle with adaptive learning - the engine computer "reads" your driving habits and can flatten or steepen the throttle response curve to match. Drive hard for a few days and find "new" horsepower (it's always there, just visiting at different times). Baby it and it becomes a rental car ... weird.
2) The weird Bose adaptive radio will boost the volume automatically while you drive - you'l turn it down and minute later you say to yourself "I swear I just turned the radio down".
3) The Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) will flash a warning on the dash when any tire is about 4 to 5 lbs down on pressure from the factory setpoint which is 32 PSI. If you get a TPMS warning, stop, do a walk around to make sure you don't have a tire going down, once you're sure, head to a gas station and fill the tire.
4) Never but NEVER use the fix-a-flat kit. It ruins the tire and clogs the TPMS.
5) Feel free to experiment with driving with the DSC off, but understand that there is a stern little Japanese guy hiding the in the works with his finger on the "I think not!" button when it's enabled, and it WILL save your ***! It saved mine once today when I hit a patch of oily pavement in the rain.
6) Don't bother trying to understand or explain the abject ergonomic failure represented by the sunvisors. Just accept that every hot supermodel has a knarly wart somewhere ...
7) Did I mention that the summer tires that come stock on it suck? Oh, yeah, I did. Well it bears mentioning again. If you stick with summers, at least upgrade to a better tire. If you live in a climate where the temp visits sub-40 ranges then consider all-season high performance radials - visit TireRack.com for good reccos, but can heartily reccommend the Pirelli PZero-Nero M+S.
8) You can buy used snows on eBay if you want to go that way. But if you don't use Mazda wheels with TPMS sensors, the light will be on all the time.
9) You can't make love in an RX8. I tried. Doesn't work. Either that or my wife and I both need to lose 7" in height and 75 lbs each (Ok, I could stand to lose 40 lbs ...).
10) Find twisty roads and drive them. Smile.
And, my ride:
Here's what I'd give you as a quick top 10 things to know:
1) Oil - it consumes oil by design - nothing wrong with that. Check your oil at every other fill up, or do like I do and spend an hour puttering around the garage every other weekend, and adjust the tire pressures, check the oil, give it a wash, etc. A little RX-8 love time.
2) While it says "premium recommended" you can safely burn '87 in most climates and areas. If you feel guilty, pop the extra cost.
3) Change the oil every 5000 miles at least, more frequently if you'd like to. Pay attention to the maintenance schedule in the book and do those items.
4) Beware, Mazda dealers charge through the nose for everything, and they will try to sell you extra crap during scheduled maintenance stops. Don't let them do it.
5) You can safely upsize the tires to 245/40-18s - they are fatter, fill the wheel wells more, and look **** hot.
6) The summer tires work like crap when the temp falls below 45F. All-season performance radials are an acceptable compromise. Snow tires are a must if you commute in snow.
7) Visit your redline often to keep you happy and keep the buzzer from getting lonely.
8) Keep your car shiny and sparkling clean for best crowd pleasing.
9) Watch out for idiots in Civics who will rev on you.
10) This car is NOT a straight-line speed car - don't get disappointed when you realize that LOTS of cars can beat you at the strip.
Enjoy - post pics when you can!
And search and read:
- The little things
and all the other stickies in all the other forums - DIY - Show & Shine, and more.
Here's a few other goodies - let's call them "unique features":
1) Drive by wire throttle with adaptive learning - the engine computer "reads" your driving habits and can flatten or steepen the throttle response curve to match. Drive hard for a few days and find "new" horsepower (it's always there, just visiting at different times). Baby it and it becomes a rental car ... weird.
2) The weird Bose adaptive radio will boost the volume automatically while you drive - you'l turn it down and minute later you say to yourself "I swear I just turned the radio down".
3) The Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) will flash a warning on the dash when any tire is about 4 to 5 lbs down on pressure from the factory setpoint which is 32 PSI. If you get a TPMS warning, stop, do a walk around to make sure you don't have a tire going down, once you're sure, head to a gas station and fill the tire.
4) Never but NEVER use the fix-a-flat kit. It ruins the tire and clogs the TPMS.
5) Feel free to experiment with driving with the DSC off, but understand that there is a stern little Japanese guy hiding the in the works with his finger on the "I think not!" button when it's enabled, and it WILL save your ***! It saved mine once today when I hit a patch of oily pavement in the rain.
6) Don't bother trying to understand or explain the abject ergonomic failure represented by the sunvisors. Just accept that every hot supermodel has a knarly wart somewhere ...
7) Did I mention that the summer tires that come stock on it suck? Oh, yeah, I did. Well it bears mentioning again. If you stick with summers, at least upgrade to a better tire. If you live in a climate where the temp visits sub-40 ranges then consider all-season high performance radials - visit TireRack.com for good reccos, but can heartily reccommend the Pirelli PZero-Nero M+S.
8) You can buy used snows on eBay if you want to go that way. But if you don't use Mazda wheels with TPMS sensors, the light will be on all the time.
9) You can't make love in an RX8. I tried. Doesn't work. Either that or my wife and I both need to lose 7" in height and 75 lbs each (Ok, I could stand to lose 40 lbs ...).
10) Find twisty roads and drive them. Smile.
And, my ride:
Last edited by StewC625; Nov 18, 2007 at 08:24 PM.
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