I should have taken a pic of the screen. All of the descriptions were airbag and seat sensor related. Then I have one that is air flow related, but I'm assuming it has to do with what the cat looks like. It's running as well as I can diagnose, so I'm not chasing idiot lights right now.

Fluid cycle I described above. 125 octane aircraft fuel and 3oz/gal of premix for 2 gallons. Then 93 octane with 2oz/gal of premix for half a tank. Finally I was running with another half tank of straight gas added when the test was done. So about 1oz/gal.

I should also mention FWIW, that the guys at the shop said it was the cleanest running RX8 they've seen in years. When we took it around the block to make sure everything was back in tight, one of their friends drove past us and texted them like "damn that RX8 run good!"

 

The compression readings should be taken with a rotary compression tester and the engine should be at normal operating temperature and the throttle open. You will get three readings for each rotor and they can be measured in PSI or BAR. The engine does sound like its in great shape and running very well though. I just dont want you to have a false sense of security with what could have been a false test. The results should look like this (but with much better numbers) when presented to you:





Or if it were measured in psi it would look like this:



As far as normal driving, these cars are very well behaved. They have a great ride and when stock, are extremely quiet and comfortable to drive. Its incredible how well they behave in normal driving and how well they can flip to be a great car on the track.

 

mine were not quiet at all

 

@200.mph Yeah mine's not quiet at all. Might as well be playing "X Gon' Give it to Ya" at max volume everywhere I go.
@mazdaverx7 Wish I had you yesterday


I fully believe my test may not have been perfect. The 25 year old redneck was the one pushing the tube in while myself and another old deaf redneck yelled at him. Besides operator error, it should have been pretty reliable. I like to joke a bit, but after a couple attempts we got consistent readings in PSI.

I'm not driving this thing to work, so there's really only "does it need cracked open now or not?" It rips, it screams, it doesn't smoke much. Smells good. Goes fast. That's good enough for me to drive it until it breaks. Besides running higher premix ratio, not sure what I would even do until it needs rebuilding anyway.

Went for another drive this morning on my last dry day before rain/snow. This car loves to drift and so do I. It does exactly what I tell it to. I did one of the most reckless things I never do and it was fine. I gave it full throttle from a stop turning left onto a road with the wheel turned, to slide sideways out onto a road. It slid perfectly sideways, then I dropped it into second right before I hit the white line and it went forward. Stupid I know, but it just WENT. This car and I are made for each other.

 

I'm getting used to this clutch. Trying to figure out if it's stock. Is the stock clutch a dual-engage? Feels like I have an actuation at the top, that lifts exactly enough for rev-matching. Then there's a super deep throw for double-clutching. Does not like to granny-shift. Like it does one or the other happily, like a dual-stage.

 

Sounds like it probably has an aftermarket clutch in it. I have a stock Exedy clutch hydraulic in mine and its smooth and progressive.

 

This may sound weird to some, but I don't like it when I get a car and it's "finished" to someone else's standard. I'm starting to lean towards cleaning the car up cosmetically (haven't even washed it yet), working out the kinks so it doesn't throw as many codes and selling it. It's a lot of fun to drive, but a car that needs to have working parts taken off it and replaced with other aftermarket parts kind of galls me on principle. This car has already been modified for the same thing I want to do, just with a lot of corners cut on some things I don't like and some things done I think are pointless. Like I would just rebuild the engine to take boost, rather than do a redneck "street port," even though I am a huge redneck. Trying to get NA power out of these is like throwing more gas and oil in a hole. The car is mostly limited to autocross by modern standards, so the value of more power at high rpms is very debatable anyway. I think it's best used as "the car you practice in so someone else will put you in a Porsche."

On another funny note, since I haven't even bothered to wash it, I only just noticed the paint is pearl. I thought it was just white.