Red_X8

I haven't faced any really cold days with my 8 before this past week, and just to be on the safe side I want to make sure I'm allowing it to warm up enough before I drive off. I read somewhere about the aluminum and the cast iron expanding at different temperatures in the rotor housing and that it could cause the engine to lock up. Normally I give it about 5 minutes or just enought time for it to idle down to about 1000 rpms.

Brice-RX8

Let it idle for about 10-15 seconds, then take off trying to keep the rpm's below 4.5k. The longer you idle the more gas you are just wasting.

wisconsinben

I idle until the RPMs drop to 1500 or so (usually about 20 seconds), then, as stated above, drive VERY grandma-like until the engine is fully warm. I normally try to shift at or below 3k for my grandma driving.

Red Devil

^^^
I basically do what you say. When the temp gauge/idiot indicator reaches the warm setting, I then wait an additional five minutes and then consider it ready to go. Very important to let the internals reach their proper size before thrashing the engine.

vectorwolf

I personally let it warm up until the temperature gauge at least starts to move. I don't care how many people swear by it, I refuse to drive my car, gently or not, until I know the fluids are at least marginally warm. Driving at low RPM's is also hard on the drivetrain; this car is NOT made to run properly at those engine speeds, it just bogs the engine... Not to mention, traffic doesn't always safely allow you to do that anyways (I pull onto a highway two blocks from my house... it would be suicide to drive that slowly) Besides, it's nice to be able to actually return after a couple of minutes to a functioning vent and seat heater and stave off hypothermia.

The only thing you need to be careful of is not to let it idle once it's reached operating temperature. Doing so can make things a little TOO warm. At worst, just take off before the needle reaches the point it usually stays at, and you'll be fine.

G8rboy

As long as it's above zero, I let it warm up about 30 seconds at the most, and drive under 4k rpm until it's up to operating temp. I won't really get on it until another 10 minutes after that though. Since my 8 is garage kept overnight, the morning starts are usually in the 40's... it's leaving work in the brutal cold that sucks for me. The lowest I've driven in so far was -18F, which I did let warm up for 2-3 minutes first... the shifter & tranny were very stiff at that temp and difficult to drive until warmed up a bit.

RedSheDevil

^ really dreading those temperatures...

i should move to florida......

G8rboy

Yeah- Feb 2004 had one week where we didn't break zero for 4 or 5 days in a row, and every morning was around -16F. That was a good test of the reliability of the RX8 for me... my battery almost didn't survive that week (and has since been replaced with the cold climate upgraded battery, which I recommend if you're rotary is slow to crank in the cold weather).

As for Florida- after 20 years there, I'm damn glad to be in the midwest. And that was before they were getting bitch-slapped by hurricanes every year... now you couldn't pay me to move back. I do like to visit the Key West though, like I am in 2 weeks! Look out liver!!! 5 straight days of partying ahead!!!

Red Devil

I'll be back in FL for the holidays. This weeks is supposed to be only in 50's where I'm going, though. I just can't escape this horrible weather. But I do always tell people that Chicago, as a city, is well worth enduring the cold for what it offers in return.

G8rboy

This will be my first Christmas up here... the last three years we've driven down for vacation. This year we're hosting 14 of our Florida relatives(!!!) for the holidays... didn't think they would all say yes

I figure it will be about 70 milliseconds before I hear one of them bitch about how cold it is here

dazygirl415

It can get chilly in the mornings here. I sit idle until I'm just under 1500 RPMS, then baby and shift under 4k until I'm just under "warm." This is about when I'm at the highway so I accelerate to get on and then I'm good to go.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

I usually let it sit for about 5 minutes or so in the morning.

By the time I get back out to my car the needle is approaching the halfway mark. It's about a 5 minute drive to the freeway so by the time I get there, the car is usually warmed up quite a bit.

Off Topic: Forget Florida! You need to come out to California.
Real Time Weather update-
84 degrees today. Talk about a nice sunny Thanksgiving this year...
Wind = 8 mph
humidity only 11%

G8rboy

That's a lot of idling for such moderate temperatures... it's not good for modern engines to sit and idle cold like that, and rotaries eat a lot of fuel during cold idle. I assume you're not waiting for the seat heaters to kick in

jenkins-crew

Well when I have it I let it idle for 2-3 mins. I have remote start so I just start it finish what I am doing inside and then take off.

Columbus

I wait until the RPM's drop from about 2k down to 1.5k and then take off...rather slowly and keep it under 4k until the engine reaches optimum temp.

RX8_Buckeye

This has been discussed before, and it's not necessarily high RPMs that can hurt an engine when it is cold, but rather the load. If you are keeping the engine speed extremely low and are close to bogging the engine, you are putting a lot more stress on the engine components than if you drive at higher RPMs with light throttle application. I try to drive with as little throttle input as possible when the car is very cold, while keeping the RPMs reasonably low (4-5k is fine).

jaedcem

Also, those really cold days are when the little plastic "thingy" around the parking brake lever breaks. If you use the parking brake in winter, be careful not to push it all the way down when releasing it. Let it go down below the last notch and it won't be "on" but the dash light may stay on. As the interior warms up, the light will go off. (You may end up breaking that stupid plastic thing anyway.)

RedSheDevil

sowwy to sound stupid, but uh ... what little plastic thingy we talkin bout here?

this is my first winter with the shedevil and i dont wanna break anything because of my ignorance ....

glassetcher

I've also noticed this phenomenon with the parking brake light staying on when the brake is released normally. However, I've been pushing it down to make the light go off! Oops!! I'll try not doing that and see if the light goes off by itself next time. What is the "plastic thingy"?

Zoom, Zoom!

RedSheDevil

yea yea, what he said that i said and then we said ....

what is the plastic thingy?

also, i dont use my ebrake in the winter at all now, i just put it in gear ...

G8rboy

RSD-

I think they're referring to the rubbery tab below the parking brake lever which becomes stiff when the temp is below freezing. On mine, when the temp gets around 0 or below, that thing is so rigid the parking brake sticks up a few degrees higher than normal, triggering the "e-brake is engaged" light. I just ignore it... as the cabin temp goes up the tab thingy returns to it's rubbery state and allows the brake to fully seat itself. What I don't understand is how that tab thingy could break... mine has seen -18F and survived no problem- unless they changed the material, I don't see how that rubber would snap off.

PS- I recommend using the e-brake even in the winter if you're on any kind of incline... unlike piston engines, rotaries can spin much easier with just the force of gravity pulling on the car in gear. I know it's unnerving to break loose the ice between the rotors and pads on the rear when you get started in the morning, but it doesn't hurt anything.

RedSheDevil

damn, for real? someone just told me the manual said dont use the ebrake in the winter.

ok off to read the manual! i will report on my findings!!! (its really no biggie, im prolly one of the few who has actually read almost all of it already!)

G8rboy

I can't remember seeing it in there (being the dork that I am, I read it before I even bought the car... I downloaded the manual in PDF format from Mazda). That said, I've been using it for the last three winters... and after seeing 1st gen RX7 roll down a hill in gear, I'm gonna keep using it . I remember someone on this site finding this out for themselves first hand as well... can't remember who though.

glassetcher

So why is it the pads freeze up with the parking brake on? I've noticed the same thing after a wash in the Summer or overnight with wet/snowy roads this winter. (I should probably be able to figure this out, but after a couple of manhattans while I'm waiting for the Packers game, I'm just too lazy to think about it (we need a Manhattan Smile!)

Zoom, Zoom!

G8rboy

I'll drink to that!

In the summer after a car wash, the pads stick from the surface rust forming on the rotors... in the winter the thin layer of water between the pad and rotor freezes. There have been times I had to rev it up a bit and really gun it to pop them loose in the winter.