My 8 Runs Better on 87 octane

05-29-2015, 08:35 AM

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gofurself

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My 8 Runs Better on 87 octane

So I bought a 2005 Rx8 about three years ago. Had no idea I was buying the most high maintenance car ever built by anyone anywhere. Figured out about three months after I bought it that the first gen engine had compression problems. Turns out I bought it just out of 80000 mile warranty. The owner knew it had issues and was trying to unload it. Not a huge deal, I love the car and was willing to deal with issues. Last year I finally got tired of it flooding and took it in for a compression test and found out my compression is low. I found if I replace the plugs in the spring, it will run ok until i put it away in the fall. Not a huge deal, I'm willing to spend the $100 for new plugs once a year to put off the $4000 engine for as long as possible. Even with the new plugs I was having issues with cold starts. At the end of last summer I put Boostane in and boosted premium up to about 105 octane thinking this would make it run better. Wrong idea. I toasted the plugs with one tank of fuel. This season it's been out for about a month so far. I replaced the plugs, bought a optima red top and thought I would go from there. I was still having trouble with cold starts even with brand new plugs and the optima. Last night I decided I'm tired of paying for premium and since the engine is toast anyway what do I have to loose? My tank was nearly empty and I filled with 87 octane. Within 30 miles I had more power, the car was idling better and no misfires at high rpm's. Started it this morning, and it fired quicker than it has ever before.

Has anyone else found that 8's run better on 87 octane? Also I live in MI, is there anyone that rebuilds rotaries around here? Sorry for the long post, but it's been a long road.

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