Hey guys I'm hoping I can get some help. I want to see if I have a problem or not, Is it normal for an 8 not to pull very good at the lower RPMs of first gear? mainly probably 1-4k ish? then it starts picking up, it's automatic/tiptron. Also..rough idle while it's in park..nowhere else. AND since I'm already typing I might as well ask, I am looking for a nice high performance exhaust, any suggestions?

when I first bought my 8 the engine was misfiring, the cat was burnt to and uhm the battery had bad cells in it, all have been replaced/fixed. the misfiring was causing rough idle in drive but I checked and no CEL code anymore so I'm hoping to god it's not engine mounts or anything as to why its shaking a bit in park.

I own a 2005 shenka RX8

 

Have you checked your compression? I had a similar problem with my 05 AT. I had a rough idle in park where the rpms were jumping up and down. Eventually led to losing power coming to stops and needing a new engine. Try searching as it is a fairly well covered area here. I read the forums and stickys before purchasing or posting and it answered 99 % of my questions and concerns.

As for it not pulling, most of the power is in the hi end of the rpms. Not known for extreme acceleration off the hop. I'm sure there's more technical answers to this that I just don't know.

You won't find much HP gain from any exhaust as the stock exhaust was great out of the door. For sound I personally like the Borla

 

thank you for that, I'm sorry to say though that i don't know who could check my compression and borla sounds pretty nice to me as well. Thank you for the help.

 

A rotary mechanic in your area or a Mazda dealership can perform a compression test. What's the mileage and history for your Shinka? Was regular maintenance done? Has the engine already been replaced? Are you doing regular maintenance?

 

Read this thread first:

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

In particular, #8. It sounds like you just bought the car; it's a little after-the-fact. But a common recommendation is a compression test BEFORE you buy an RX-8.

Before you do anything to the car, read this first:
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...rx-8-a-233937/

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If it's not shaking in drive, I doubt it's the motor mounts (per the TSB). More like a dirty MAF, ESS, or Throttle Body. SEARCH for the DIY's (along with the 20-brake pedal stomp) and get cracking.

And unless the car can't get out of it's own way (or you feel you could get out and push it to make it go faster), moderate power from 1-4K is normal. If it revs smooth, no sputtering or lurching, you're fine. The engine doesn't start making use of open intake valves until you reach 5K. It's a rotary, not a V8.

 

thanks for the help guys, exhaust smells terrible, has a sputtering noise and im also getting apex seals and compression looked at this thursday by a mazda dealer. Like I said I already had to get cat replaced, tune up and new battery, hoping it's nothing major but i will get back with everyone after diagnosis thursday.

and as a reply to Toronto, honestly I don't know. it came off the dealer lot I bought it from with misfires, bad cat and bad battery so who knows. carfax showed everything was clean I didn't get too in depth though

 

We're ignition coils replaced? They should have been.

 

yeah they were, plugs coils and wires.

 

I'f you are still having problems. Look into SSV threads. From the sound of it, it seems the previous owner didn't take that great of care of your car if you needed to replace the cat/plugs/wires/coils. The SSV is prone to carbon buildup and sometimes will NOT throw a CEL. This will cause your idle to be rough and will make you feel the loss of power. That would be my next move after you check the compression. Seafoam could also help.

 

thanks for all the help guys, I took it to a mazda dealership and they said the compression readings are in the 6's or the 5's or 4's i forgot which and also provided me the paper with outcomes and what not. then the dealer i bought it from said to drop it off there so i did and they had one mechanic check it who said it's perfectly fine..? so now they have it at another one who's suppose to be checking it today..they've had it since Thursday and I've gotten absolutely nowhere with it so far. i miss my 8 and what's going to happen if they don't replace the engine, is probably legal actions so i can get a full refund and just go get one form the mazda dealer.

 

Post the actual numbers from the paper here.

If the dealer you bought it from isn't using a Mazda Rotary Engine Compression Tester, then they CAN NOT achieve accurate results. See the new owner's thread compression score section for details. They are just trying to avoid paying for a new engine. MAKE SURE YOU FIGHT THEM ON THIS.

If they insist the engine is fine, make them produce the actual test paperwork, make them produce the testing procedure that they use. You have rights, don't let them walk all over you.

(....and this is yet another example of why we tell people to get the compression test FIRST)

 

I'll go ahead and post them once I get the paperwork back, left it with the dealer i got it from as their reference. and believe me I am going to fight on this. I'm going through college right now and I've been overly stressed about my car since the day I got it. I'm 18 and was able to pay 11 grand out of my pocket. no financing and it's just unbelievable that I'd get treated like this. If they don't call today then I am meeting with a family friend who's a lawyer on Friday.

 

Holy hell, $11,000 for a 2004 Automatic!!?! They are worth about $5,000-$6,000 in GOOD condition! I sold my 2005 Manual (with 40hp more) with a brand new engine, cooling system, ignition, and several other recent maintenance items for several thousand less than that to another forum member and we both believe we got a fair deal. For $11,000, you could have had a 2007+ in good condition with a solid motor, or buy that car that you did PLUS a new motor.

With the problems you have, that car was worth about $1,500 TOPS. IF, and only IF, you get the dealer to cover fixing everything you have already mentioned, you MIGHT have a car that was worth $11,000. MAYBE. I expect these aren't the only problems you will have. I would expect cooling system failure and possible steering rack failure as well. They tend to be lurking failures when a car is neglected like that.

Read up on the laws of Virginia, read over the purchase transaction paperwork. Check to see if they were even legally allowed to sell you a car that couldn't pass emissions. Check to see if there was any warranty at all, no matter how small. Check to see if the major problems fall under your state's lemon law.

Hopefully you can get your money back, or at least get a new (reman) engine out of it.

 

I feel really bad for this guy.
He totally got ripped off.

FWIW 5-6k for a 2004 automatic IMO, half of that, seriously.

Anyone that knows anything about these cars wouldn't pay over 5k for a 2004 Manual in perfect condition.

 

A pro-tip for the future:
If you can't afford to cover repairs, you sure as hell can't afford to skip the pre-purchase inspections and research. This goes for EVERYTHING you might purchase. A car, a house, a lawn mower, a cell phone, or a bag of groceries.

 

05 Shinka tiptronic, dunno if that makes a huge difference but whatever, what's done is done

 

Oh, 05, misread that. Still, only adds 500-1000. 'Tiptronic' is from another brand and is constantly misused. The paddle shifters aren't anything special, it's still a basic slushbox. The paddle shifters are just fot gear change requests, that may be ignored.

Is it at least black cherry mica in color?

 

I feel sorry for you bud. I got an 05 6 speed, 18k miles, garage kept, yearly oil changes, not driven during normal weather, perfect shape with everything but navigation and Shinka package with the red interior for $12k.

 

MEboy: You aren't helping the case 2005 Shinkas only had Sand Parchment leather interior. No 2005 Shinka had a red interior. All 2005 Shinkas were Black Cherry Mica exteriors.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multime...shinkas-56131/


If you have the right exterior, then someone swapped in a red interior from a non-Shinka.

 

I said everything but navigation and the Shinka package.

 

Ah, I misunderstood "Shinka" wasn't a package though, it was a full trim level. You couldn't "add Shinka" to an non-Shinka, hence the Shinka production number list.

 

No one is perfect right? What are the trim levels in order? I'm assuming that 2 of them are grand touring and Shinka.

I feel sorry for you rx8kid. I hope you get it all worked out.

 

For 2004 and 2005, there were only 2 trims:
- Base
- Shinka

You could add the Sport, Touring, or Grand Touring packages to Base.

For 2006+, the option packages were converted to trim levels:
- Sport
- Touring
- Grand Touring
- Anything else (Shinka, 40th AE, R3, etc...)

This is US only, they go by different names in other countries, and often completely different mixes of features. Like in the UK it was based on the engine (4-port vs 6 port) and transmission (5 speed manual vs 6 speed manual, no AT), and all of the interior features were package options outside of these trims.


For the US, this convention is the same across all Mazda models. Sport is the base trim, Touring is the intermediate, and Grand Touring is the top. Our Mazda6 and now Mazda2 were examples of models which didn't have a Grand Touring trim (i.e, no leather), only Sport and Touring. The 2009+ RX-8 had Touring dropped I think, as they decided everyone was going to either want the Sport for weight/track/price/etc... reasons, or the GT for features. Then added the R3 for the extra spice bit

 

Thank you!

 

Still no word on it yet guys I'll keep ya posted if you like