Michigan RX-8 Lounge
 

Welcome to State of Michigan RX-8 Lounge. Sit back, relax, and speak anything 8 or Michigan related.

Hey Charles! Did ya get your company up and going?

thought you were moving out west Charles? If you get a job at Ford, my guess is that is not going to be happening?

Hay bud-I left that address at home-can you send it again please. We are all waiting the move too. He will be keeping the airline industry healthy untill the move.

loved the 8" of snow we got sat night :rant:

Snow... snow .... and more snow..... As I was digging my little Toyota Tercel out of the mountain of snow on the curve on my street, I was looking at my beloved 8 parked in my garage and wishing it was warmer out..... I parked it after Thanksgiving, and I'm already wishing I could drive it.... It will probably be parked in my garage until late March or so....
I bought a battery mantainer that I'm planing on using during the winter months....

Charles:... Do you think it is necessary to start up my car every month or so to circulate fluids, etc... or should I leave it until it's time to drive it again??

I start mine once every other week to keep fluids burning and pumping through my cars cardiovascular system. warm engine up entirely.. rock her back and forth a few times to stop wheels from sitting in same spot until end of march.

Hey Charles did you get your business license yet?

Have a Happy Holiday to everybody here and God Bless!!!

Merry Christmas to all. Agree with Jungleagent -- God Bless. Hope you have a great time with family and friends. Kors-jan

Spring 2008 Michigan Meet?
 

Hey all,

I've been considering trying to organize a MEET for this coming Spring 2008 (May?). Would be great to get all 33 RX8's from the Michigan list together and meet everyone.

Here are some other ideas I have.

1. Ask a couple reps to come from BHR, Mazda, Discount Tire, etc to make the rounds and talk with us.

2. Open us the Meet to the public for part of the time we are together. Do a little publicity, like a flyer at all the Mazda dealerships in Michigan. Would be fun to have 33 cars together of all colors to show them off and promote the RX8. Like a RX8 car show.

3. Maybe do a charitable fund raiser in conjunction with the Meet? Designate a group like the Salvation Army or give an automotive scholarship or contribute to the children's hospital? Have the public who come contribute. Send a letter to all the Mazda Dealerships in Michigan for donations. See how much we can raise.

Are you interested? Possible dates?
Any other ideas?

Anyone interested in helping me do the planning?

^^ We can do that any time. Getting 33 cars to do a meet and drive is hard.

Chuck, I agree with the meet. Perhaps we should ask a Mazda Dealer if they would be interested in a RX-7 and RX-8 meet. The dealer can advertise to bring in locals, section off a part of the lot for us and do a couple of tech sessions in the garage. (Have the service guys talk about the TSB for engine flooding and other issues.) We can arrange ahead for a couple volunteer cars to be in for service. (An 8 and a 7). I bet we can talk the dealer into cutting us a 10% discount on parts ordered that day.

We can post this up on the Michigan Rotary Club and RX7club.com to attract other members.

If you'd like to sort out some details and get the idea straight, we can make a proposal package to a dealer together. I'd suggest Sesi Mazda in Ypsilanti first. The service guys have always been nice.

As for timing, I'd recommend end of April or early May. (Stay away from vacation timing)

I started a new thread about the Detroit auto show.

Lets participate!

planning on going sunday.

Out of topic. Im so confused with the way this forum works. It says I only have 10 post but if you click on my name and find more post I have over 30 posts.

huh? any explanations?

So if my ratio 1:4 that means like people with like 5,000 posts in reality have 20,000 posts?

Thanks

https://www.rx8club.com/lounge-4/i-feel-like-being-136383/

Has anyone seen the thread above? UNBELIEVABLE!

Caveney: You don't deserve that.

CRH: Not sure if you want a person to represent your company who will insult car owners that most of your producst are for, just on a whim.

Could someone here help with some damage to the front of my 8? i will post a pic later, but some guy in a pickup backed into my car.

The damage is not that bad but i would still like to have it cleaned up before summer.

Last year, I had a tire retread smacked into the front bumper. Had to replace the whole bumper, emblem, air dam kit and a driver's side fog light. I took it to City Auto in Depot Town of Ypsilanti. These guys did a great job. Paint looks perfect.

Before I said a word to them while dropping it off, they told me they would be careful with it. (Not to start it and shut it off before coming to temperature, etc.) They were fully aware of the woes of RX8s since they do the body work for Sesi Mazda in Ypsi.

With the snow melting away, how did everyone do with the snow this year?

I actually drove the RX through the snow everyday. The Pirelli snow tires were Phreakin awesome. I had to laugh when I passed a G35 stuck on an enterance ramp because he obviously had summer tires. It does make a world of difference.

I even took it to go skiing at Alpine. LOL

(Yes I got everything in the car.) Not pictured was my friend's snowboard that had to go in the back seat.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...ary2008058.jpg

So can anyone tell me the best places to live/rent? I'll be working at teh USCG base in Detroit (it's located right next to the bridge into Windsor). Any help would be great! I'm looking for a condo, townhouse, or house with 2 bedrooms and a garage would be nice. Thanx!

Personally, my choices would not be downtown. I live out by Ann Arbor / Ypsilanti. The area is nice and I have no doubt there are houses for rent. It all depends on what you want to spend. Try starting with Google to find apartment listings for areas. In my area, there is the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University. So there are plenty of places. Add on that the housing market is a bust so many owners who can't sell and don't want to default on loans are renting at prices to cover their mortgage. (Don't be afraid to negotiate. It's a buyer's / renter's market.) Desperate home owners may consider losing a couple hundred a month versus losing their home.

Try this or craig's list.

www.wolverinerent.com

I found this place for $1450 per month. 5 br, 3.5 bath 2200 sqft.

http://www.wolverinerent.com/images/4/436_rosebud.jpg

Thanx all!
Wish I could afford that house or something similar, but we all know how the government loves to pay us millions and millions...;)

Royal Oak and surrounding area
 

Hi Korean,
Noting that you are pretty young and obviously from out of town, I would recommend the Royal Oak area and its immediate surroundings. Royal Oak is central to virtually everything and their downtown area is nice. It is also probably chock full of rental opportunities. There are a lot smaller homes that probably rent at a somewhat reasonable rate. Most importantly your drive to work won't be completely obscene.

Just my two cents. Seems like everyone I talk to has spent some time living in Royal Oak during their younger days (myself included). It's just that kind of town, I guess.

Good luck in your search.

I'm lazy, or just too busy.... I should be a lot more active on this board.

casedogg, I live there as well. if you want to hang out. give me a call 248-730-5261 or AIM me at behindyoumx5.

I know one of those guys that did the movie you posted in Olsztyn, Poland.

Let me know!

I'm living in Auburn Hills but just until I find the right house in Clawson/royal Oak.
Goodbye Rochester. :(

I'd love to get together some afternoon/evening but I'm only getting her out on a nice day.

I think I found some lofts in the Clawson area...:) BTW, sounds like I'll be up there on the 22nd or 23rd depending on if I drive straight there or take my time.

Can you folks recommend a good dealer with good service in the Detroit area?

I used to own an Audi TT, but I sold it because I went to three different dealers and couldn't get good service from ANY of them. :banghead:

I'm now interested in getting an RX8, but I may reconsider if there's no place to get reliable service.


Thanks.

Speaking of Clawson, looks Like I'll be owning a house there in 29 days. It's just south of 14mile. Nice house, great bargain and the best part...

HUGE 2.5 car garage!!!

Hey Michigan crew... nice to see there will be a few people in my neck of the woods soon. Maybe the next meet will be closer!

To the question about dealerships, my experience (now that Sterling Mazda is closed) is that Ferndale Mazda is the best for those in the 696-I-75 area. Much better than Suburban in Troy. My opinion only.

Quite the optimist, eh? This is Michigan, you sure that we won't get one more blast of snow?? I can't wait for spring either but I'm gonna keep my snows on just a little bit longer, just in case.

This was the first time I've had snows on the car, and you really can tell the difference in handling and braking. I just hope I can get one more summer out of my original tires... it'll be close.

I think we're promised another snow dumping.

We really should get together and take some pics of the cars.
Any of us have an accessport? I'd love to see this thing in person and get educated.

Another Idea: I bought a SOHN OMP adapter any of you MI guys done that install?

Sorry Ray
 

Sorry Ray, I actually had already gotten the Sohn Adapter before I saw the OMP adapter on your product list.

Should I sell this one and wait for yours? How much is yours by the way?

Still in MI?

we need a meet-n-greet for spring... mid-june? start planning around 3 months in advance and get a better turnout.

other than the dealership is there any shops that are familiar with rotary? Also anyone here familiar with turboing a 8. Im getting back into the car scene and want to buy an 09 and go forced induction turbo style but im not familar with these cars that arent factory boosted. Ive been a turbo talon guy myself. Also this might sound stupid but will boosting it void warranty? If so couldnt i just swap it back to stock and then take it in?

I've heard that Sesi is good--anyone have any experience with them?

I have been taking my car exclusively to SESI in Ypsi.............their service is great and they have treated me like a king even though I didn't even buy the 8 from them in the first place.

I bought my 8 from Rick at SESI, can't recommend them enough. Getting a loaner car while my car was having warranty work done has always been pretty easy. I've only had one issue when I was having some work done -- I showed up a few minutes before closing to pick the car up (had to work late), but their service department decided to close early (or maybe they were closing right on time and my clock was slow). I managed to find Rick roaming the sales area, and after I asked nicely he knocked on the service door and got me my keys so I could drive it home. He just asked that I phone in the next morning to pay for the work (oil change) with a credit card. They could have just said "Sorry, come back tomorrow" but it's nice they went the extra little mile.

However, I would still like to have another shop as a "second option" for rotary-specific work. The dealership is fine for things like brakes and oil and suspension, but it might be nice to have a specialty shop for any major engine work. I'm in the Ann Arbor area, anyone like that here? I've driven by Japanese Auto on Main St. a few times, but I don't know about their rotary experience.

And a new topic, now that spring is on its way: What are some of your favorite Michigan driving roads? Sadly, SE Michigan is kind of crap for fun weekend driving. Huron River Drive west of Ann Arbor can be fun, but there's usually too many cyclists, runners, slow drivers, and cops to make it fun. The vast majority of the roads are just straight, flat, and heavy-traffic, and boring. I'd have to say the best road in the nation I've driven so far (besides Deal's Gap of course) is Route M-119 in Northern Michigan. Like Deal's Gap, it's got a low speed limit (45 MPH most of the way I think) but because it's so twisty, you'll have a hard time exceeding that except in a few rare straightaways. One advantage it has over Deal's Gap is the much lower traffic volume. There are quite a few residences along the route though, so you do have to be aware of pedestrians and cars potentially pulling out in front of you.

http://www.msu.edu/%7Ecresscas/michigan/m119.htm


http://www.msu.edu/%7Ecresscas/michi...3-2361_IMG.JPG
http://archives.record-eagle.com/2002/jun/09trees.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-119_(Michigan_highway)

Anyone else been there lately, or have any other good recommendations closer to SE Michigan? Sometimes you just have to get out and drive and block the rest of the world out. I drove 4 hours out of my way on a trip up north last summer just for the fun of it.

But not yet, because my winter tires are staying on until the low temps are out of the 20's =P

new to my 8 just got 2 days ago have had a 83 7 before but traded my 00 convertible ws6 for this and am very pleased. Any westsiders on here. Lower grand rapids for me.

CNOCK and PARAGONPERFORMANCE, welcome to the club. Read as many of the "Stickies" as you can. Great info in there. The best "Shop" in the Detroit area is actually just one dude. Our forum's own "Charles R. Hill". He sells a lot of special Rotory parts as well as doing custom installs and motor rebuilds.

Meetup Needed. I say END OF APRIL

ah man!!! I'm out of town!!! Dang.

Ray, I was just making a joke about that thread topic, sorry.

So did you guys get together?
Will there be a next time soon?

ok-what??
 

holy crap, what did you do?

sorry I missed out on all the tom foolery. Everybody ok?

yes sir.

Though, should I buy new parts from you or save it to cover bail for when we hang out?

Are we going to get to hear what happened? WHere you were, who was doing donuts... etc...

Gasp. 3 Tuned 8's and they didn't pull anybody over? (Massive Sigh)

Besides the 40 in a 25 ticket I got the week I got my 8, I've been pulled over several times for "Looking like I was speeding, or Sounding like I was speeding" but just given warnings.

Ray, who did the porting?

If anyone is planning any get togethers or meets for this Saturday - you SW michigan guys might be interested in this:

https://www.rx8club.com/mw-rx-8-forum-31/anyone-near-south-bend-want-go-karting-saturday-141351/