Do some reading and searching on this forum.

You're going to need more info on the Port Campaign. It should have a rework number. Do a search on that number.

Some owners complain of low mpg (mostly those with early build dates). Mine has build date of 6/03 and I get the advertised 18mpg.

 

Also what kind of driving do you do? City/Highway, etc? I've went to 50/50 driving to 90 city driving from 18mpg down to 16mpg.

I suspect it's probably not the updated M flash that solves mpg and also flooding issues.

 

Mine had the M flash (Authorized Modification: MSP04) before I picked it up. I think all the flashes use the same mod#, it's the date that tells the flash level. My 18mpg is mostly city and 22mpg mostly highway.

Here is a pic of the Port Campaign sticker (it's the Rework# that's important).

 

Is this rework number on all cars? Where would I find this on my car?

 

When you fill up your tank are you putting in about 13.5 gallons? And are you getting around 220mi per tank? You're getting around 16+mi/gal.

 

My 8 has almost the identical build date as yours (June 04). Most of my driving is highway with a little city thrown in. I average about 22 mpg and get 24 on long highway drives. The best has been 25.4 on a tank driving about 65 mph. The worst was 19 when my two sons drove it around Detroit. Cold weather drops it to about 20. By the way, I have kept track of every gallon of gas that I have bought and calculate the mileage on each tank. From what I have read, I feel fortunate to do as well.

 

I have thread for improving mileage in the gulf coast thread, these are my impressions for down here in Houston but they may help you. Mine has gotten better with time now that I've got about 7,200 miles.

 

Should be on the under-side of the hood near the latch.

 

with m flash i still get 15 mpg, not complaining I do mostly stop light to stop light driving, and shifting above 4k rpms.

 

well to answer your question. it seems that is about what people are getting more or less. so is it normal? well it is consistant with other people. is it good? not really. I am getting lo 20s pretty regulary city and freeway driving, not sure why, but I only check eery other month or so, I dont check it regulary or really care too. either way I have to buy gas, and if my other choise is driving a different car, then I will just drive the RX8 and enjoy the driving and not worry about the mpg! jmo.

 

Please lets not make this another "I'm getting bad gas milage too" type of thread. I'm just started this thread to let everyone know that I am taking my car to the dealer tomorrow to look at possible reasons why I'm getting 10mpg or less on my fuel economy. Yes I'm at the latest flash. Yes I do drive a bit hard, but I still typically shift at 6k or so.

I do have my mileage log ready to show the service people at Mazda. I also searched and found a few things that could have caused this problem. Some of them include the thermostat being stuck open. And also the vehicle possibly being flooded before I took delivery possibly causing the catalyst to break up if fuel got in there. I took delivery of the car with the K flash and 36 miles on it, so that's a possibility.

Is there anything else that I could possibly bring up to the dealer? Any input you guys/gals have would be extremely helpful. I bought the RX-8 knowing I'd get poor MPG, but 10mpg is a headache Thanks in advance everyone.

 

I sorry to say it may take a few miles being driven to prove your point..

Are you prepared to give the dealership permission to take the car on an extended drive?

Most likely the thermostat would flag a CEL. IE P0128 (04's only)

If I were the service guy I would stick someone in the car and send them down the interstate for at least a 90-100 mile round trip to give them some real numbers to call the tech line with.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Just something to think about...they "may" try to blame some of your problem on "wider tires". The increased rolling resistance will not get you down to 10 mpg. Just food for thought. BTW, I got 18mpg out of the last tank with mostly city driving. Just thought I would put in my .02 as a defense posture.
BTW they are mounting the new tires as a write this.
Good luck..from another Ti.
Paul

 

I did a search for my rework Number. No matches. The rework # is: 04B01
Port Code: 49159
Date: 2/12/04

Thanks,

Terry

 

Yeah, I figured that much. I don't mind them taking it for a drive. Though driving on the interstate is not a very accurate test. I live in NJ and you'll do 75% city driving out here.

I fogot to mention that during the first 5-10 minutes of driving I can smell fuel when I start off from a dead stop. So I think the car is running SUPER RICh. Who knows, maybe they will change out the MAF sensor and wiring. I've heard there is a large degree of seperation between everyone's MAF voltage which is mainly due to poor wires.

 

In my opinion, you are approaching this issue correctly. With your log, which I assume contains mileage, gallons of gas, and so on, is definitely the best you can do to show them that there is a problem. The first thing ya gotta do is convince them that you actually have a problem and your log should do just that. They're not going to be motivated to help if they don't believe you.

I think the mistake that some with this problem make is to not provide some sort of documentation to back up their claim. Sure, as far as the service person knows, it's only some numbers that you wrote down in your log. BUT, that attitude doesn't really matter because if this problem eventually rises to a legal confrontation, you will be in the drivers seat with the documentation and the service guy should realize that.

I would take the original log in with you and also make a copy of it for them to attach to the work order. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

Thanks a lot for the comments. I started my log the minute I drove off the dealers lot So I am hoping that it carries some sort of weight.

 

You claim you drive it hard. Of course, that's difficult to quantify. As a point of reference, I would suggest making a "mileage run" with an attempt to optimize. I'd do a freeway drive at a steady 65mph, and run through at least 1/2 tank of gas, preferably closer to a full tank, and see what kind of mileage you get.

Of course, you may have a problem that affects city driving and doesn't show up during highway cruise, but I think the test is worth it. If you get bad mileage with this test, then you've eliminated "driving style" from even being an issue.

 

Mine has that port campaign sticker. I'm pretty sure it was for the airbag wiring harness recall.

EDIT: yeah, that's it. This was a recall from Feb2004. Cars in port or arriving at port during that time had the repair done at the port. Mine was done on 2/20/04, work # 04b01, port code 49159.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...bag_recall.htm

The L and M flashes didn't come out until after I'd taken delivery. I finally got the M flash in June.

 

The last road trip I made was 180 miles round trip. I averaged 15.1 mpg for that trip. My average speed was 70mph in 6th gear.

The first road trip I made was 225 miles round trip. I averaged 18.9mpg. My average speed was 85mph in 6th gear

 

The guy that said that milage was normal was full of crap (unless you drive it 10/10s all the time). Normal, for a normal driver, should be 18+ MPG really. 260+ miles to a tankfull.

If they can't get that milage up there closer to those numbers then you need to talk to Mazda USA and mention the word 'lemon' during the conversation.

 

Yeah I know, but they have been very carefull to not put the actual words "poor mileage" on any tickets that get sent to Mazda NA. Instead they say "poor performance" or "flooding" or completely leave it off and just say that it is normal.

The actual performance has picked up just a bit since they changed the gas cap, but the mileage is no different. Of course the tires aren't as sticky in this cold weather either.

 

As I mentioned in my now infamous "spoke to a mazda engineer" post, I followed the recommendation of using a certain type of gas. He recommended using any gas that uses less than 10% or no ethanol or any of the "nols". Specifically, Sunoco Ultra 94. However, as many of you know, or have read that most gas in the MW and NE is 10% ethanol throughout the winter months, and it may be that way all over....I dont know.

Typically premium gas is 92 in Michigan, Sunoco was the only station to offer 94, unless it racing fuel....So that is what I have been running on since. I am on my 2nd tank and I have noticed a marked improvement.

With the 1st tank, I drove 120 miles of mixed driving, however, curious whether or not the extra octane would yield more power, I beat on it pretty hard.... I filled up again at the same gas station as my guage was reading 3 ticks below 1/2 a tank. When I filled up, it only too 8 gallons. The guage as we all know was way off. I know that this is only 15mpg, but I was very hard on the car. Typically if I was driving this hard, I would expect 10mpg. Now since this did not really offer me any base for comparison, after I filled up...I vowed not to drive the car so hard. In mixed driving, I have currently 155 miles on my trip meter and the "always accurate" guage is at 1/2. Let's just say the guage is right.....I am on track for getting 280 miles out of this tank.....which is huge considering that I have never gotten more than 220 at the onset of the fuel light. I plan on buying gas again today to confirm the mileage and will post again.

Sorry for the long post.....Happy New Year.

 

The only port campaign I know about was the original PCM reflash to meet EPA2 standards.

All 8's at port were stopped for this reason. So any that were sitting at the port without this flash should have this port campaign sticker. Any cars shipped after that would have been reflashed at the factory.

 

Thanks for the comments, though I don't suspect that it's the type of gas I'm using since I go to Sunoco for gas too

On another note, I dropped it off this morning to the dealer. They were rather surprised I had a mileage log and knew what I was talking about. I let them know to check the thermostat and catalyst to see if those are the culprits. They said they have to call Mazda North America and talk to their engineers to troubleshoot the problem. They also said they may have to do a MPG test. Hope they don't destroy my 8 in the process


I also let them know that I smell unspent fuel during the first 5-10 minutes of driving when I'm in 1st and 2nd gear. This is intermittant and only happens at WOT. I think something is making the car run very very rich. But we'll see what happens.

In the mean time, the dealer gave me a loaner car, a Mazda 6 with a V6 engine in it. Not too shabby. This car only has 75 miles on it Time to beat the hell out of it. Should be fun in the snow

I'll keep everyone interested up to date on the latest and greatest that I find about this issue. Thanks to everyone for the comments!