JeRKy 8 Owner

Hey everybody I just got my Rx8 a few days ago and the dealer guys did not explain a few things to me that clearly since I was so excited. I dont think they knew too much this stuff either so I have a string of questions after reading through a lotta the posts on here. The answers are probably on other posts but I dont have time to read throught them all and if someone could put them all into here to make it concise Id be very grateful. The FAQ on here is kind of crappy and too old and doesnt answer a single one of my questions.

1. Do you really need to leave the car running for 5 minutes after you turn it on all the time? What happens to the rotary engine when you just turn on the and just drive it without letting it idle? Im too impatient for that tedious stuff so I may not be following this rule very much. I also live in a condo and I doubt the valet staff will care enough to follow those directions anyway. If someone could tell me the exact procedure for this idling stuff Id be very happy.

2. What brand of oil are most of you guys using and which do you recommend? Also is it true about adding oil every two times you fillup for gas? In general I like to stop for gas when the gauge is at the halfway mark. So does that mean I have to add oil more frequently than people that get gas in when its almost empty?

3. It was raining last night very hard and my shoes got some water on the driver floor mat. The mat on the driver side wont come off though like theres some pin that is preventing me from lifting it up and I dont have a portable vacuum cleaner. Is there a way to take off the mat?

4. The 91+ Premium grade gas is getting very expensive lately almost at $2 a pop and I want to know the ramifications of using the medium 89 grade instead or even regular 87. Will that hurt the rotary engine a lot?

5. Is there supposed to be a wheel nut lug in that white packaging or is it in that black case in the trunk? I dont understand why we have to pay extra for a spare tire. Does it really add that much weight and affect the speed that badly? Right now when I drive around I keep thinking if I ever get a flat tire I am in very deep ****.

6. I turned the car off today and for the very first time this fan contraption stayed on and it was very loud. It wasnt that surprising because I know lots of cars do this like BMWs but for some reason I walked away and then I came back to the car 5 minutes later to get something out of the trunk and the fan was still on! I thought the car was still on by accident and something was wrong with the ignition. It ended up turning off 2 minutes later and I was in complete relief. How come the car only does this sometimes? And why does it stay on so long? Is it really that hot in there?

7. I usually put the car in neutral instead of holding the brake pedal with my foot when Im at a stop light. This is just something I do with all cars to reduce brake wear even though it probably doesnt help at all. But I noticed the rx8 engine noise changes when I put the car into neutral. Why is this? A few times while I was driving the car and it was in motion, I changed to neutral and revved the car two or three times to get the attention of some gorgeous babes on the street. Is this a very stupid thing to do with a rotary engine? I did this all the time with other sports cars but I have a feeling this is not the type of car you should mess around with in that case.

8. Is there any other general odd stuff or requirements I should know about my Rx8?

To anyone who answers all 8 questions: thank you very very much for your time.

bureau13

OK, I'll take a swing at a couple of these. Keep in mind that, while I'm a third time rotary owner (current car is a '93 RX-7, previous cars were '87 Turbo II and '85 GSL) I am not an RX-8 owner. So, your mileage may vary, but I doubt it :-)

1) Don't worry about it. I THINK what they're trying to tell you is don't start it up and then immediately shut it off, because you might flood it. That's probably not horrible advice, but I've done it before with no ill effects other than on my TII which had a problem and flooded all the time anyway. You CERTAINLY do not have to idle for 5 minutes before you drive it! Of course, you probably shouldn't go nuts until the car is warmed up, but that's no different than with any other car.

2) Add oil when the car needs it. Check it frequently so you KNOW when it needs it. Its not going to need more or less oil depending on how often you fill up with gas. As for the brand, don't use crap, and use the recommended weight. I personally use Royal Purple 10W30 synthetic, so I'm already anti Mazda on this one....I'm neither recommending nor discouraging you from going synthetic. If you're tempted, do some research and draw your own conclusions. This is a holy war debate in its own right, so no reason to dredge it up here any further.

3) The floor mats are welded to the frame and cannot be removed. Ever.

(Just kidding there, I have no idea)

4) Don't be a cheap bastard! :-)

Seriously, I don't know here. Detonation is an issue with turbo rotaries, and since higher octane means more resistant to detonation, I alwasy use the good stuff. However, I remember reading something from...maybe Jim Downing...someone who knows their stuff...and the position there was they used lower octane fuel. However, whatever they were using, they were tuning for it. If Mazda says use the good stuff, then do it.

5-6) No comment

7) Not sure how you can put the car in neutral and not still have to use the brakes...or is this an automatic transmission thing? Anyway, you're not saving any wear on your brakes...how can they wear when you're not moving? That said, the car is not going to spontaneously combust because you're reving the engine in neutral.. if its really that fragile then...well, it had better not be.

Napboy

about the fan, it's totally normal. there are plenty of threads and in the manual that states it can run up to 10 minutes after you shut off the car. after the 1st week or so, the fan runs less and less.

IWANTMYRX8

As far as I know, I thought the idle at start-up, and especially at shut down, was mainly for the turbo's (like on a 3rd gen rx7)...since te 8 doen't have turbos (yet...hehehe), then I don't this idling really applies.
just a guess though...not sure :-)

mikeb

wheel lug should be next to the jack in trunk. The black case is your fill a flat stuff and the floor mat can be removed look under driver seat or passenger and you will see one screw holding it in

spdspappy

When I spoke w/ the dealer about the 5-minute thing, they said that it deals w/ efficiency on the engine. He said that one thing you can do if you're in a hurry is to rev the engine up to 7k RPM's for about 10 seconds.

Zaphod

You need to let the car warm up before you shut it off to avoid flooding. Sometimes it might flood, sometimes it might not, but why risk it?

The manual recommends against gunning the engine in the manner you speak for the first 600 miles.

The floor mat is hooked in place by a pin. It can be removed.

RX8-U-UP

Read the post people, this is nothing more than aniother troll taking problems they know nothing about and turning them into question. Both of jerky 8 owners post are nothing more than potshot at the 8. This is one of those a-holes who were recently told to stop their flamming, and entered under a different name. Read the post these are not innocent question, they are loaded (with troll crap) question. Don't feed the fire.

Elara

These have all been discussed. And links for all of this, WITH the search terms I used.

1.https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ve+minute+idle
(search: five minute idle)

2.https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ight=oil+brand , https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ight=oil+brand (search: oil brand)


3.
, https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ight=floor+mat https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ight=floor+mat
(search: floor mat)

4.https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=octane , https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ghlight=octane
(search: octane)

5.https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...light=lug+nuts ,
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=spare+tire , https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=spare+tire
(search: lug nut, spare tire)

6.https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=engine+fan , https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=engine+fan
(search: engine fan)

7.Try asking in general automotive.

8.https://www.rx8club.com/violations-53/little-things-9437/

Closing.