20%, wishing I had gone 15%. No issues so far with this car. My daily driver Protege5 has 20% on it and I am doing 21,000+/- on it a year, and never been pulled over. As for the ripsnorts, I try to stay off the loud button in areas it might be bothersome.

 

Make sure your tires are in good kit, or you'll cross the finish line backwards like me.

 

I had to remove all of my tint when I moved to MD... bullshit state inspection. I never did get around to having them retinted, I should do that sometime.

I still have to get my powersteering fixed and now figure out whether I should just replace the strut or do all of them. I guess it would be stupid not to do all of them.

 

What is the rule on tint in MD? How dark can you go before worrying about getting pulled over?

 

Legal is 35%, but you can get away with more depending on where you live or frequent. I had to remove mine because they checked it in the state inspection when I moved to MD. Mine was actually 35% but the windows come with some tint from the factory so it ended up being a little over what it could be.

 

Hmmmm so what you're saying is wait to go to MD then tint my car dark as hell! right?? lol

 

What the hell do you need it so dark for? I just have the factory tint and it's perfect, I still have good visibility at night and it's pretty good about not accumulating too much heat in the summer. Maybe I just have too much trust in Mazda, :-P

 

Any of you guys running coilovers? After starting my new job and I get that first check I'm going to be in the market for coils for the 8 and the RS.l, plan is to only drive the 8 for track days and auto x and just want an idea or opinion from any of you guys

 

Chris B has some and I will be very seriously considering them soon as one of my struts blew out.

 

Whats up Jay?

Yeah, as Jon said, Chris B has a set that he likes. I think Nate drove Chris' and said that he felt a noticeable difference vs. the stock setup. I'm looking into a set of Fat Cats as soon as I can afford them. Although I might cheap out and try to get something sooner. Admittedly I mainly want them for MOAR LOWS YO, but, if I'm going to spend money, I might as well do it right.

Is the new job still as a Mazda tech?

 

Learn about suspensionz!
Autocross to Win (DGs Autocross Secrets) - Buying Shocks

FatCat Elites are the ones to have:
Good info under the Education>Resources>Videos
Automotive Suspension Experts | Fat Cat Motorsports | Serious Engineering, Serious Fun!

but the KW Variant 3's are a well regarded set right out of the box:
KW SUSPENSION VARIANT 3 RX8 Coilover for RX8 2004-2011

Basically if you want to invest less than 3k on suspension those are what you want, if youre without budget restrictions than Ohlins, Penske, and Moton $$$$$

Pretty much everything else out there isnt very consistent, I like the FatCats because theyre custom everything: valving, spring rates, bumpstops material density and progressiveness, ride height adjustability for corner balancing, and Shaikh personally dyno's every shock and makes you a set with matched dynamic response. Dude has fastidious attention to detail.

but yeah, Read all the far north racing stuff and watch Shaikh's videos on youtube and then make a good decision, try not to be disuaded by people saying "x shock worked for me, the car feels great" cause sometimes a car can feel better because you've made it more responsive, but you may just give up some ultimate grip in the process. It depends on what you want out of the car, I like to go fast.

If you need moar low, just get some Koni yellows and a set of eibachs and be dun wit it yo

 

Hmm so the weirdest thing happened today. I havent goten a CEL in about 3 weeks right, then at lunch i went to take my car to grab some food, It starte up normally then as soon as i pull of the Gauges start to go NUTS! the RPM gauge will keep my rps for a second then drop to 0 then back to where i was and same for my MPH reader. the CEL, ABS and Brake light were flashing like crazy and my scanguage stold me i had 2 codes. Strange thing is car drove no differently haha. So i feel like today was a good day :D. Is it bad to consider each day a victory if i make it through without a CEL appearing haha

 

If i had to take a wild stab at this, I'd say you probably have corroded wiring. I base this on absolutely no experience or knowledge other than youre on an island with salt air and a ton of precipitation.

Quick search turned up this:
"Gauge cluster random wierd activity/flickering/jumping/spazing/and-any-other-adjective-you-can-think-of is ALWAYS a grounding problem, and a grounding problem is ALMOST always at the battery connection. Very rarely it can show up elsewhere.

disconnect negative, then positive, then clean the terminals and the clamps completely. Baking soda and water ... or coke-a-cola ... work well for this (acidic content). Then reconnect positive then negative, making sure that you seat them firmly before you tighten them down."
-RIWWP

that guy knows everything :-)

 

Naw I work for Amtrak now, I still have my access and old coworkers to go to if I need anything and I still have a shop I can work out of if need be.

 

Check your battery cables and other related/surrounding grounds.

 

Thanks guys, I'll check it out tomorrow but no problems today at all haha. So i decided that I'm coming home in July for a bit finally after a year and some change of not being home! I was wondering who's closest to the Arbutus area?

 

i go to UMBC there, but were all a stones throw away really. How long you going to be in town?

 

I'm thinking about a week or so, I'll be on leave for about 3 weeks but 2 of them I'll be with a friend in VA. Maybe like the 2nd week of july or so.

 

I'm off of Wilkens/695.

 

Hey everyone I need a good Mazda mechanic. I have a 2006 Mazda RX-8 with get $220,000 miles on the original transmission. Before I kick this car to the curb I want someone to make sure the transmission isnt complete toast yet. It wont shift out of 2nd gear and winds the engine out. The other day took it out and started to smoke and car would not shift past 2nd. I took it back home at 30mph, thinking tranny may be shot, but got to have someone look at it first. Any suggestions for good/honest mechanics in the Maryland area (preferably Southern MD).

 

The Mazda RX-8 is an automatic transmission I meant to put that in my orignal post

 

It could be an electrical problem but if it's the valve body you might as well replace it, you can get a rebuilt one for about 1200 bucks, which kinda sucks. Sorry dude


Anyway ask RJay, he's our local mechanic/guru

 

Just out of curiosity, how many engines has it had?

 

Oh wow your're not far from me at all, I'm right by the 7/11 off Francis.

 

I'm a certified Mazda Tech, (i just recently stopped working at the dealer but still have access to Mazda's intarnet) do you have a CEL on if so have you pulled the DTC's yet? from the sounds of it I would say yea put a fork in it, but I would rather see it and check it out for myself. what area do you live in.

I'm right around the corner from arbutus, Im in Catonsville that's bout 5-10mins.