Boy, since the temp dropped the 8 really likes to warm up fully. I had it warming up for a few minutes, took off and man the whole car started pulling/jerking big time and felt like she was gonna quit!! I have the automatic.....is this quite normal? I know the rotaries don't like a cold start and performance is not great when she is not fully warm but is that normal for it?......heck, I waited at least 3 minutes or so before I started out. I guess one more thing to get used with a car like this. Makes me worried though.

Don't baby the car , start the engine, buckle up and by the time you sit nicely it's time to go. Just don't over rev a cold renesis just like you wouldn't any other engine and it will warm up pretty fast. Then you'll love the fact that there's heat coming from the central console. :-)

if i dont warm mine up fully i dont get the symptoms you mention although i have the 6 speed. i would get it checked out just to be on the safe side.

Originally posted by cruzdreamer
Boy, since the temp dropped the 8 really likes to warm up fully.

No kidding, it's dropped to like the low 60s here in San Diego. BRRRR, where can I get a good block heater? :p

cruzdreamer, I have the exact same problem. If I didn't drive the car for more than about a day, and/or the temp. is very cold outside, the car would start, but idles very lumpy, and would rev up and down between 2-3k.

If I drive off before the engine settles down (after about 1-2 mins.), the car would surge and slow, and when I press the gas, no power would come from the engine (feels like the gas pedal was disconnected from the engine).

Thankfully this does not happen everytime, but I am sure it would occur more when temps drop and stay dropped.

I hope the dealer has a fix.

BTW, my car had the CEL problem, but the light has stayed off after being at the dealer twice. Service person told me Mazda Canada is looking into it and will let me know when a fix is available.

So, sounds like I need to have her looked at..not just a typical rotary cold engine? Thanks you guys.....I love this car and I hope things get better. My gas mileage is still bad....now appears that it may be less than 12-13!!!

mine was getting 15-16 mpg (I have the auto also) when i first got it :(

Turning off the DSC/LSD by holding it about 10 sec or so. My mpg usually run better with it off, about 3-4 mpg better. Mpg also seems to improve after 1st oil change.

I guess i'm one of the lucky one. Haven't flood engine yet even thought cold start it a few times moving in and out of garrage to wash car. Not jerky running cold either, but then iI usually try to keep low rpm driving until engine warm up. :D

Now going to knock on wood 100x times :D :cool:

34 this morning in Philadelphia. Car was very cold, and certainly did not feel good for the first 5 mins. Starting it up was very 'wheezy' sounds like the battery is dead, but perhaps this is just how the cars react in such low temps.

pyro...I have to hold the DSC for 10 secs to turn off? Isn't it completely off with just the push of the button....light comes on and says it's off. She drove beautifully today.....though it got up to 40 degrees. Yesterday it was 18 degrees.

cruzdreamer,

Pushing the button quickly, will "reduce" the DSC functionality, but not completely disable it... to turn it completely off, you must hold in the button until the "traction loss" light comes on as well. At this point DSC is completely off and the only way to turn it back on it to reboot your car (turn off and back on).

At least, that's the way I understood it.

Cheers

You are correct, sir.

Ok thanks "Wank" will try that!!

Originally posted by cruzdreamer
Boy, since the temp dropped the 8 really likes to warm up fully. I had it warming up for a few minutes, took off and man the whole car started pulling/jerking big time and felt like she was gonna quit!! I have the automatic.....is this quite normal? I know the rotaries don't like a cold start and performance is not great when she is not fully warm but is that normal for it?......heck, I waited at least 3 minutes or so before I started out. I guess one more thing to get used with a car like this. Makes me worried though.

with mine 6 speed I usually start it up, pull it out of the garage and plop it in neutral - the revs will bounce around between 2-3k for about 20-30 sec, then will steady out and go down to around 1500 RPMs. When it settles down to 1500 rpms it works fine.

Before I learned the 8's little morning stretching exercise, it would buck and almost stall pulling out of my driveway.


BTW - anyone's MPG drop like 2 mpg since it got cound out??? Mine suddenly went from ~19.5 to 17.5!?!? I realize lower MPG is normal in colder weather, but not this much :eek:

I thought this cold weather thing was only in Rx-7's but I guess it's a rotary thing since my 8 does it too...my 2nd and 3rd gen turbo 7's both did this...actually it was kinda cool because first thing in the morning if you punched it good that turbo would kick in and darn near snap your neck it had so much power...the 8 acts up a little at first but doesn't take but a couple min to warm up...i don't think we have anything to worry about...after driving rotaries for so long this seems very normal to me

yup, my mpg dropped when weather got cold, from 22-24 mpg down to like 17 mpg. recently came back to 22 again. I guess take a few tanks for the ECU to relearn.

PS: and cruz, the "traction loss" light will come on after about 5- 10 sec holding the DSC button, it's the light indicator in the middle of the RPM gauge (pic of a car swirling on road?

I have the same problem on cold startup. It seems like it is dead and doesn't want to start. I get scared for like 4-5 secs and then with a little gas it rolls over. It is VERY unsettled when cold, but I don't have the time nor the patience to sit for 5 mins in the car before going. I just keep the revs below 4.5K and she warms up VERY quickly (3 mins maybe).

I'm curious. How cold is cold? Its been in the teens here at night. It turns over just as well as it did when it was 70. I've actually been very impressed, so I was suprised when I saw this thread.

I'm going to ND, for Thanksgiving. That will be the true test. My car will be outside and the temperature will probably get close to zero. I'll let you know how well it starts in those conditions.

PS - while my car turns over and starts just fine, it does take a little bit longer for the car to idle down(warm up) when its this cold. I usually start the car, turn on the heated seats, and run back in the house for my cup of coffee. Not a big deal in my book.