Hi all

I am new to the rotary engine and I am planning to buy the RX-8 in the near future when I have saved enough moneys.
I have read that rotary consume oil during operation and the RX-8 oil consumption is less compared with earlier rotary engine such as RX-7 I, II & III generation.

I would like everyone to input for the RX-8 its oil consupmtion figure along with milage and mpg as well .

I expect a positive correlation between oil consumption and fuel consumption. Also I expect the oil consupmtion to be high during break-in and lower after break in period.
This small survey should give an idea about the true oil consumption.
Thank

will cross 600 miles today on the way home. just under 16mpg for the first 2 tanks of gas. checked my oil for only the second time yesterday, the first being when i picked up the car 2 weeks ago. it's only about a quarter of the way down from the "full" line to the "add" line. i'll top it off when it reaches the half way point.

It's gonna be hard to make any type of guess as to oil consumption on the '8 right now. New engines use a bit more oil as they're breaking in.

If it's less than the RX-7, oil usage will be negligible. By the time an oil change comes around (3000 miles) it will be about 3/4 of the way low. Big whoop. It's not even anything you have to be worried about - just change the oil reguarly and you're fine.

Hell, there's a low oil sensor that will light if the oil level gets too low - when it lights, you've still got plenty in the oil pan - it's a good early reminder if there's some sort of problem (oil leak or the like).

Dale

My car was 1/2 quart low at 1482 miles (yesterday). I was going to change the oil but it seams that the strongest man in Japan was hired by Mazda to tighten my oil filter. I topped it off and ordered the wrench to remove the filter next weekend.

I'm now a little over 1,800 miles and the oil has only gone down a tad. Not even enough to add.

As for gas mileage I just got 20.6 mpg on the last tank that included 90% hwy miles. Most of that was at 85 mph. My prior, mostly city driving was averaging 19 mpg.

Originally posted by Superfan
I was going to change the oil but it seams that the strongest man in Japan was hired by Mazda to tighten my oil filter.

LOL LOL :D

When this happens on my current car (POS 4-banger) I use a flathead screwdriver and a small hammer... works everytime. But be careful, you WILL puncture the oil filter and then you HAVE to take it out no matter what.

At 600 miles (woo-hoo break-in is over!) I was still at max line.

Just filled it up with 3/4 Qt of oil at the 2k miles mark. Redline occationally, LA traffics, and high speed freeway sometime. Last tank, I got about 17MPG.

Originally posted by Superfan
My car was 1/2 quart low at 1482 miles (yesterday). I was going to change the oil but it seams that the strongest man in Japan was hired by Mazda to tighten my oil filter. I topped it off and ordered the wrench to remove the filter next weekend.

Just an FYI - I had the same issue (on ALL of my Japanese cars) with how tight the filter was. I own the oil filter wrench that Mazda sells (2 previous Miata's) and it doesn't fit!

I questioned the dealership parts man, and he said they are the same part number (oil filter), but they have become smaller diameter than the "old" ones (I still have 5 or 6 of these). I asked to buy the "new" diameter wrench, and it's not available yet (with NO ETA).

I had the dealer remove and replace the OEM filter with an "old style" filter (that my wrench will fit), it's been fine ever since (2 oil changes now). They charged me $4.95 ($3.80 for the filter). If you DO happen to get the "new" filter wrench, would you PM me with the part number?

Originally posted by pelucidor
At 600 miles (woo-hoo break-in is over!) I was still at max line.

I'm just under 600 miles, and we're still at the max line as well.

How does one remove the sort-of vertically mounted oil filter without coating that area of the engine with used oil? If the filter screws onto a mounting plate/bracket, looks to me like there will be a real mess after removing the old filter.

(A repairman {independent garage} told me he would create a hole in the top of the filter with a punch/screwdriver and hammer so any vacuum is broken and after about five minutes the old filter 'self-drains' and then can be removed without any used oil dripping onto the engine or surrounding area. Is this a procedure the Mazda techs at the dealership use??)

Use a couple of shop rags to catch oil drip from oil filter.

Do not let any brainless mechanics, who insists on punching holes, to work on your car.

At roughly 700 miles I checked oil level and it was smack between both hash marks (50%). Checked oil today at 1900 and the level dropped to the first hash. I ended up putting a full quart and now the level is at 65% betweem both hash marks.

When new, my dipstick level measured just over 2/3, (say 70%).
At 1000 kilometres, it was still over half, (55%?)
However, at 2750 k the oil light was coming on occasionally, while the dipstick still read about 1/4, (25%)....I added half a litre, and the light went away, so at least on this dipstick, the warning comes in long before the 'minimum' mark. I will have to mark the metal where the light comes on again.....
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doc

What kind of oil needs to be put in the 8??? I was told by my salesman that I could use 10w-30.. and the oil cap says 5w-20

im off to go wash her :)

Originally posted by brothervoodoo
At roughly 700 miles I checked oil level and it was smack between both hash marks (50%). Checked oil today at 1900 and the level dropped to the first hash. I ended up putting a full quart and now the level is at 65% betweem both hash marks.

Damn, bro -- your burning oil. Is it possible the level was low when you bought the car? Otherwise, you've got a problem.

For me, over 2000 miles now. Oil is down 20% from the high mark to the low mark. Looks like I won't have to fill any between oil changes. I'm starting to shift now at 3000 rpm (used to be higher); i'm getting 17 mpg using regular (87 octane), last tank was actually 17.5, starting to move up.

I believe the owners manual says that the 'full' and 'add' marks are 1.5 or 1.7 litres apart.

On my road trip, the oil level was down to just below halfway between full and add after 3000 miles. I added 1 litre at that time.

Regards,
Gordon

AT 1865 miles, mine was halfway between HI and Low. I put in bout 1/4 quart, and it moved about a 1/4 of the way up, so I put in another 1/4 for a grand total of 1/2 quart. I've been getting between 17-19 mpg - redline a couple few ten times per drive...:D

Well with the 7 the harder you drive the more oil is injected.. so if you drive hard you open up the oil injectors and use a lot more oil.

A normal track day seems to use about a quart of oil.. so that's about 1 tank of gas and a full quart gone.. so if it's anything like the 13b then you will use a lot more at high revs.

I'm very happy that you are learning about the rotary and it's quirks.. so many people know so little about it. "So that's got a rotary engine right? How many pistons does it have?"

So anyone with an 8 disabled the OMP and start premixing yet ;)
I feel so special pouring 2 cycle oil into my gas while everyone watches... "What's he doing?" "Is that motor oil" "He is going to ruin his car!"

*snicker*

Just crossed the 1000 mile mark.. Driving home at about 90mph for a couple minutes and the oil light comes on.. Slowed down to 65, light turns off. Oil was checked and I'm about half way - MPG is roughly 13/15 mostly city driving.

Is it normal at high speeds for a long period of time for the oil light to come on??

You want to check out other posts about the oil light. Yes mine comes on when I exceed 85 mph for extended time and goes off when I decelerate.

As far as consumption goes I am now at 2,300 miles and I just added my first quart.

My auto RX8 just turned 1,300 miles. I checked the oil and it was full, all the way to the top mark on the dipstick. I drive in LA, about 75% freeway and 25% city and my mileage has been awful. I am averaging 15 (low) and 17 (max) and am very disappointed with this consumption. Even though I have read on this forum that this is a sports car and that gss mileage should not be an issue, well I believe that if a car is advertised in the 18-25 range it should get somewhere within that range or close to it. Therefore maybe something is wrong! I have not driven the car fast yet nor redlined it and as I stated am disappointed in the lousy mileage. Otherwise, it is an awesome car.

Anyone else getting lousy mileage?

I am curious about what weight oil everyone will be using. I know the cap says 5W-20 but I seem to remember from my RX-7 days using different weights for different seasons. I think I used to run 20W-50 during the summer on the 7's. Anyway any thoughts?

Low oil light came on at 1700 miles. Not being a prior rotary owner, I was a bit peeved about the knowledge of now owning an oil guzzling car. I'm still on the fence about owning it based on this, the MPG, and the current price of premium fuel. It's almost as "high-maintenance" as my wife.

Originally posted by RotorBoy
I am curious about what weight oil everyone will be using. I know the cap says 5W-20 but I seem to remember from my RX-7 days using different weights for different seasons. I think I used to run 20W-50 during the summer on the 7's. Anyway any thoughts?

I'm gonna use the factor recommended 5w-20. In my younger days, I thought the thicker 20w-50 would be better for my high revving engines, too (motorcycles, RX-7). But I think that way of thinking about which oil to use is rather old. I don't see the point in making your engine push around any thicker oil than necessary. Looks like to me over the long run it could cause undue stress on the engine if it wasn't designed for it. I think the process of oil refinement has probably raised the quality of the final product over what it used to be, too, so thicker oil is not necessarily better oil for your engine. If Mazda specifies a particular weight, then the engine was probably designed to run with that. So I'm sticking with the recommended 5w-20.

Just my opinion. I'm by no means an authority on it.

Mine is an earlier VIN (2178) that probably doesn't have the newer baffles in the oil pan, so I get an oil level light at high speeds when it's down a bit.

I put in 1/2 quart at 1300 miles, and the other half at 2600 miles to keep the light from flashing.

Originally posted by ATL RX-8
I'm still on the fence about owning it based on this, the MPG, and the current price of premium fuel. It's almost as "high-maintenance" as my wife. But you can "RIDE" your RX-8 whenever you want and it never has a "headache."

I happened onto this thread while looking for something else and thought I'd chime in.

All rotarys use oil. But not in the way it other internal combustion engines do. It's part of the process and completelty normal. The amount you use particularly with the 12a-20b rotary's depended on how much throttle and specifically how much gas you put through the carb/fuel injectors. I'm out of the loop now and have little first hand knowledge of the Rx 8 but I suspect it is th same.

In my case I put about a quart in a week not beacuse it wasn't running well but because it was. I ran a 600 cfm holley 4 bbl on a heavily ported 12a. I noticed the consumption was particularly high when it was run over 8,000 rpm. Mileage was generally 18-20 but could drop to 14.

Have fun!

Michael Strunk
Director of Racing Operations
Rotary Performance Center
(formerly of Napa Ca)

- Added 1 quart at 2000 miles
- Added 2/3 quart at 3300 miles

Approx 85% city, 15% highway. Mostly spirited driving, but nothing abusive.

on track i burnt oil from slightly below the high mark to the low mark after 2 30min sessions... during these times the rpm was always between 6-9k. Filled it to the high mark before the 3rd session and about 1/3 was gone after that session.

daily driving, i dun recall, i just know i gotta check and fill it every 2000-2500 miles...

Oh,

The other thing about the rotary is you need not run preimum. early rotary development was done on low 80's octane 82-85. If you are running super you are wasting your money. I would still avoid Oxygenates (mtbe in particular) as they are not good for the seals and are robbing you of mileage.

Here's how mazda explaines the oil injection process...

Cooling and lubrication are vitally important to an engine producing the power of the 13B REW. Both rotors are kept cool by splashing them internally with oil. Internal lubrication is via an electronically controlled metering system that reduces oil consumption by 25-50 percent compared to the previous method of supply to the intake and trochoid chamber combined.

Lubrication is fed under high pressure to the eccentric shaft bearings via a high-efficiency multi port rotary pump. The heated oil is then sent through two oil-coolers (one in each of the nose vents) before being reused. A lightweight aluminum and plastic radiator, fully shrouded and slanted sharply to lower the Mazda RX-7's nose was fitted up front. Maintaining the correct temperature is a pair of three stage thermo fans and keeping the flow is a lightweight aluminum water pump.

At delivery, my car was at the 3/4 mark. Since that time, I've checked oil every 300-500 miles. At 1500 miles it was down to the bottom tick mark, so I added a quart based upon the owners manual description of the top and bottom tick marks being 1.5/1.7 (quarts, liters, whatever). Ha. In reality, per my experience and other posts, the indicators seem to be about 1 quart apart. Adding the quart of oil brought me from the bottom mark to the top mark.

I enjoy the revs in my car so the consumption doesn't seem out of line based upon other experiences. I keep a quart of oil in the trunk in a rubberized nylon "shaving" bag along with a rag and a screw-on spout. A small consideration for this much fun.

I've had to add a quart at 2100 miles and just passed 4000 and had to add another quart. My driving is 90% city. Somewhat hard driving.

Originally posted by LTAGFERN
How does one remove the sort-of vertically mounted oil filter without coating that area of the engine with used oil? If the filter screws onto a mounting plate/bracket, looks to me like there will be a real mess after removing the old filter.

(A repairman {independent garage} told me he would create a hole in the top of the filter with a punch/screwdriver and hammer so any vacuum is broken and after about five minutes the old filter 'self-drains' and then can be removed without any used oil dripping onto the engine or surrounding area. Is this a procedure the Mazda techs at the dealership use??)

I used to own an 80 RX7 and its manual recommended that you prick the top of the oil filter with an awl prior to removing it. If doing so makes you uncomfortable, you can contact your service advisor or Mazda directly. The only harm to the car that I can see that you can do if you started it up after you pricked the hole.

2100 miles- a tad above the first hash mark

2200 miles. I finished my first quart of oil today to top it off.

I do about a 1 litre every 750 miles or so. get about 22 MPG when the sun is out.

This is on par with almost any other high performance car ou there. Just do it!

Hmmm....maybe it's just because I drive my car hard or I have a problem because I use about a half quart of oil every two fuel fill ups which would be around every 360 to 400 miles give or take. and I have about 2700 miles on it. I use Valvoline Energy Efficient II 5w-20.

Added: And I don't think you would want to use any heavier oil unless you live in really hot climates because of the oil injectors and what not, and the fact that this engine mixes a small amount of oil with the fuel.

Ive driven mine for 8000 miles, been through two oil changes, the dealer said that they did not have to add additional oil. When I check myoil every other tank, it is always at the half way mark! I just stopped checking after doing this for 6000 miles. My milage is 19 mpg mixed city/highway, and I go up to 90+ mph on a daily basis on a highway stretch to and from work. Oil light has never come on with hard driving.

I don't drive very hard, RPM-wise. I occasionally send the engine into the higher RPMs both for the fun factor and because I think it's probably good for cleaning out the chambers (according to a lot of info I've gotten here and elsewhere...)

When I got the car, the dealer had it full to the top line (maybe a little higher), and I didn't add anything until I changed the oil at 3K, adding in about 4qts. About 1K later, I had added almost another qt. I was curious, but then it dawned on me: I had jacked up the driver's side in an attempt to get a greater drain from the system and put in a fresh, larger (M1-110) filter, so I wondered if I hadn't ADDED ENOUGH during the actual oil change.

Sure enough, I just changed the oil again yesterday at 5K, and added about 4.25qts. Switched back to the spec-sized (although more filter area) filter (this time a PureOne PL14612), and then I ran the engine for about 5 minutes. Let it cool a bit and then checked again: I added another 0.75 qts.

Conclusion: I can't really say that I've used an appreciable amount of oil, over and above what's been changed out. Finally, after changing the oil, I highly recommend the above "extra step" of running the engine to let the new oil circulate in the system, then checking to top off.

Ciao!

6 spd manual 2500 miles 21 - 22 mpg. 6/10 of a quart of oil to fill to upper level. I drive 35 miles to and from work on country roads, cross two small 1500 ft. mountais windy and rolling hills averaging about 60 - 65 mph unless traffic slows me down.:)

MT, avg. 19 mpg mixed driving. 1 qt of oil in 3000 miles.

The best gas milage I ever have gotten out of my car was 16.7 miles to the gallon on an average of two tanks of gas. So, my question is, Is my car screwed up or are you guys with the better milage driving like grandpas? (Sorry, no offense to Grandfathers out there.)

I just can't see how people are getting 22mpg out of these things.

Forgto to post some mileage figures earlier. In fairly mixed driving, she's averaging ~19.5 mpg currently. Early on, she was getting ~18. Haven't gotten the newest "L" or "M" computer updates yet -- apparently they improve low-end response as well as mileage. Build date was early Dec.

just added 1/2 quart of oil this weekend. 2000 miles.

I get 16-18 MPG and I don't drive like a grandpa....

Forgot to post some mileage figures earlier. In fairly mixed driving, she's averaging ~19.5 mpg currently. Early on, she was getting ~18.

I normally use 3500 rpm as a "cruisin' 'round town" shift point. I take it close to rev limit at least once a day (usually on ramps). Half my commute is interstate driving at ~80 mph.

Haven't gotten the newest "L" or "M" computer updates yet -- apparently they improve low-end response as well as mileage. Build date was early Dec.

At 1,700 miles, the oil level has dropped only a bit -- not nearly enough to justify adding oil. I'll be going in for an oil change soon (I've had the car almost six months and will change as a factor of time rather than mileage), so adding oil will probably not be an issue for me.

Last three tanks have averaged just under 22 mpg.