Hi my name is Natalie and am new to the rotary world. I just bought an 08 rx8 grand touring about a month and a half ago and am just reading up on them. I've always been a fan of learning about cars so when I got the chance to own something other than a piston engine I took it.

Lately I've been looking around for different parts, expertise on how to take the body apart, and general maintenance for my car. So if you have any tips I'd be glad to hear them

I first learned about this club at a car meet in May at the Dick's in the Lynnwood, WA area. There I met a group of people from a different Mazda forum and they pointed me to you guys.

Sorry for the long intro, I'm just super excited to have found this club and can't wait to learn more about these awesome cars. I'm also pretty excited to make new friends.

 

Welcome to the club, Clueless.
Read everything here:
RX8Club.com - Announcements in Forum : New Member Forum
Lots 'o' helpful folk here and a wealth of knowledge.
Oh ... and let's see some pix of your new car.

 

Thanks! I'm learning quite a bit of stuff tonight just reading through all the pages

As for pics, it's gonna have to wait till Saturday since I'm visiting my sister in MD. Once I get back I'll pull out my dslr and take some photos though!

 

welcome to the forums, this forum has all the knowledge you will ever need.

 

Welcome to the club!

 

Welcome to the club! I'll try to give you a quick rundown of key items that I follow. Not necessary universally true, but they are good tips to follow. Much more can be found in the newbies guide to modding an rx8 thread.

-Do oil changes every 3k miles, top off oil every 500-1000 miles. I do every 2.5k miles and use about a quart in between changes.
-Try to not push the car below 1/4 tank. I just always fill up at that point.
-Let the car warm up before you drive. When the coolant temp needle starts moving thats when I start driving. I keep it under 3k rpms until the car is at operating temperature.
-Redline it once a day (if possible). Keep that carbon away!
-Let the car cool off before shutting down if you push it. I always let it idle for at least 1 min and then turn on the ac (to kick the fans on) for a bit.
-Personally if I had an 04-08 model, I would use premix.
-"Mineral" vs "synthetic" oil doesn't really matter. Most people don't switch because you risk an oil leak if a seal is in bad shape, however, provided all parts are in good order there is no problem switching. So no need to fret too much on what oil you should be using, but still do research.

That should get you most of the way to keeping the engine longevity up. There are a few things to look up if you have an automatic or high mileage. Have you had a compression test?

 

Welcome

 

welcome

 

Welcome to the forum Clueless, enjoy your time with family but hurry home and post some pics!