Maybe some of you local guys can help me
 

I am having a problem with my 8, no CEL, nothing that would lead someone to think there is something wrong with the car, but in the last few weeks my car seems to have lost all pep to it, it doesn't quite take off as fast as it used to and it even sounds slightly different. The gas mileage has been horrible, I mean I live about 5 minutes from where I work and beyond that I rarely drive over 40 miles a day, but I am still filling up my tank every 3 days. I took it to the dealer about a month ago to get the updated starter due to hard starting, and the dealer (Schaumburg Mazda) told me they wouldn't give me the updated started because I have the RevI intake and its changing the way the engine runs (which if it was truly the case, how the hell does that affect the starter). So from my observations in this forum I am thinking most likely I have a bad CAT, I am also thinking that the hard starts have lead to fouled spark plugs which is causing unburned fuel to be passed through the exhaust killing the CAT. Sooo, does anyone have an aftermarket intake and if so what dealer do you go to? I don't want my warranty to be voided because of a well known problem, and I don't want to have to spend half a day taking off my intake when I don't even have the original air box anymore. So, does anyone know of a dealer a little easier to work with getting this fixed. Thanks in advance.
Adam

They can't void your warrenty, due to the intake, unless that part caused the problem. There is a federal law covering this. I don't remember the exact name of the act, but it can be found on this site with a search. Come down to my dealer, Wilkins in Villa Park on Roosevelt Rd. I have had a lot of problems with mine and they have always worked with me to correct the problems.
I have had 3 cats replaced under warrenty. Each time there was a CEL being thrown by the computer.

Those would be my two thoughts for what your problem is. If it is the cat, and you have the money, now wouldn't be a bad time to go to a high flow unit...either the RX7.com or RX8store.net are good options...as for a good dealer to work with, I haven't had any real problems with my 8 (knocks on wood) so I can't help you out there.

try cleaning your MAF first.

just fyi, to force a CEL you can drive a few miles with the gas cap loose ... but you didn't hear that from me ....

That would give the CEL, but it would point to his gas cap. It wouldn't give the right code to point to his original problem.

Usually the CEL from a loose gas cap just reads as an evaporative emmission system leak, which often is the gas cap, but it could also be other things in the emissions system as it is a closed system.

magnusson-moss act

What is your MAF?

its a wire that runs thru the intake, tells the computer how much air is coming, so the computer can throw in a approiate amount of fuel