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I have been thinking lately that Mazda is going to have to provide it's dealer's mechanics & techs training on the operation, diagnosis and repair of the Renissis engine. I wonder if they have started to plan for it, or if they are already in the process of training? Asking the service department might be a good way to glean some info.
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If it ain't a rotor, it ain't a motor!
I just checked an authorized dealer in Colorado Springs and their mechanics have not begun any training yet for the Renesis engine. However, they assured me they would be completely trained on it by the time the RX-8 goes up for sale (yeah, right). It's starting to worry me because if Mazda is changing the mechanicals of the RX-8 at the last minute before production (perhaps the reason why no one has begun training) then the first buyers will be getting a less-than-fully-tested car. I dunno.
Also, the dealer told me the RX-8 wont be for sale until Spring 2003. Old news, but I had to ask. We all know how much dealers know anyway :p .
i'm no mechanic, but wouldn't there be other things besides the engine they might need training on?? like what about the 5 point multi-link suspension in the back?? isn't that something new for mazda?? (from what i recall, the last 7 didn't have multilink...)
the rear suspension is barrowed from the Ford Focus
Sounds stupid, but I believe that's what the article from Road and Track said. It is said to work quite well. So maybe some of these Ford guys are cross-training. They can work on Mustangs, Focii and Mazda RX-8's!!!
I used to work for Mazda myself, and when a new car came out the mechanics would do some basic training on it to familiarise themselves with it.
With things like engines, they were rarely ever rebuilt, usually a brand new motor was ordered and installed.
As for the suspension, there is very little to actually adjust, it's basically in good condition or needs replacing. Even a monkey could undo a few nuts and bolts to replace a lower arm or such.
These days it's not like the old days with carby's, points ignition etc. There is basically nothing to adjust or go out of tune with new cars. Mechanics have almost been reduced to changing oil, air and fuel filters and rotating the tyres these days.
I guess for people who haven't actually built cars themselves there is a bit of mystery about how it all works, that there is some special intelligence needed to pull apart and put back together. But I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.
Im with Dazz, the people who are going to need the special education for the RX-8 are the workers at the shops who people are going to pay big bucks to supe up their cars. The engine is obviously the most obscure piece of machinery on the car, and the only reason it would need to completely well understood is if it were being taken apart and put back together. And saddly (or perhaps luckily) no Mazda Dealer service center does this type of work. If you want your rotary rebuilt, or somehow extremely modified, then its not the service center who would know (for they dont need to know) but rather the specialty speed shops. And my best guess is that these guys will end up doing a lot of learning by doing (ie. take it apart, figure it out, try to make it better, hope it doesnt explode when you start it up again).
Also, I just happen to work for Ford at a plant that just happens to be making the Focus, so I'll try to find out about the complexity of its suspension and see if its the same as the RX-8 as the rumor says. Oh and lastly, I've been hunting for insider info on when the RX-8 is to be released, and that info is as well protected from the employees as it is from the rest of the public. I even have access to the Mazda intranet and every document I could find that had to do with the RX-8 was just as vague as the articles we find online and in magazines (or else in Japanese, which I can't read). grrrr. The best info I could come across is that production starts late this year and the car goes on sale starting early next year. Nothing we haven't all heard. At least it combats teh rumor that we'll have to wait until 2004.
i think the rumor of it not coming out 'til 2004 is because they are going to call it a 2004 model,same as they did with the mpv, bring it out after the new year starts for the rest of the line uo and badge it for the following year. makes it look like they launced next years car really early!
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