What RPM to run
 

Just learning my R3. Have read a lot, at least peripheral to the subject. I have not been able to dervie a clear conclusion.

I've seen many folks write to run it to redline once a day or once a week. Others say drive it like you stole it all the time. All for best longevity.

My experience so far (a couple of days) is that the car likes it most when your foot is not fully it. It really likes modest throttle from a stop where it winds up and seems to be enthusiastic to pull itself through up to 8500 rpm while it sings. I get the sense this is not stressful on the engine. I also have a Miata NB 1, and it too likes to rev, but no like the 8. So far with the eight I find it is easy to be on the freeway, and running 7000rpm, even at modest speed.

So my further questions are related to longevity.

1) Is it a good idea to run the Series II engine freely at high rpm for longer periods, in a non-stressful way, fuel efficiency not withstanding?

2) Or do we want to cruise at lower rpm from a wear and tear stand point?

3) Is is OK to repeatedly put your foot into it up to 8000 rpm (more than a dozen times daily) to get up to speed, and then cruise (at high or low rpm) with less stress?

4) Or is it better to let the car pull itself through to high rpm (not have your foot in it) and then cruise at high or low rpm?, or;

5) Not utilize high rpm during acceleration to cruising speed and thereafter?

Thanks for your thoughts.

1) The engine doesn't care.

2) The engine really doesn't care.

3) Yes, but the engine doesn't really care.

4) It's not better on fuel consumption, but the engine doesn't care.

5) High load+low engine speed=low combustion temperature, so carbon can build up more readily by doing this. It's not recommended. The same goes for any higher load, lower rpm driving (don't putt around town in 6th).

Generally speaking, every 50 miles on the highway I blow it out. Drop it down a gear or two and give it the beans (while obviously following legal speed limits and such) cough cough. Beyond that, car likes it more when it gets to do lots of high speed cornering. It's a slow car that's a hell of a lot of fun to drive fast, so that's how I handle it. I don't use cruise control, or rarely. I prefer to keep the RPM varying slightly during driving, and really these cars cruise pretty easily. Did 1600 miles home from MD to CO with my mechanic. Made it entertaining as we'd go from state to state to state, checking the oil at every stop. Was hilarious as people were asking us what it was, had never seen one before, never even heard of a rotary. Good times...


Anyway, TL;DR - Drive it in any gear but 6th in town. On the highway cruise as you like. I like to "blow it out" every 50mi. It's also obnoxiously loud so if I just happen to be next to a highway wall or something that's a bonus.

You're way overthinking this, drive the car like you would any other. Not sure what you mean by "the car likes it most", but partial throttle isn't going accomplish anything meaningful. You want high load, high pressure, open throttle, for a sustained period, to self-clean the engine. That's best accomplished at a race track :)

(Or very curvy mountain roads! Without endangering people! If possible! coughcough.) Pretty much what Loki said. I tend to drive it like I stole it when I'm outside of the city where I can be loud without any real complaints. and so my wife doesn't have to hear it.

Higher RPMs paired with smooth driving usually results in better fuel economy with this car.

Is that a joke? I don't get it...

In the gas mileage thread (stickies) people have reported seeing higher fuel economy from increased RPMs.

^ Totally contradictory but okay.

Lol, that almost impossible. In 2nd, on the freeway, I could be pulled over for speeding lol

It's not necessarily wrong, it takes a fixed amount of power to propel a car at a fixed speed. You can make that power with more throttle and low rpm or low throttle and high rpm. Since we are a high-strung motor, it could be more efficient at 5k than 3k, for example.

I have been cruising higher than usual, about 4500 to test this theory, but results are not significantly better so far. It started with a tank at 23mpg though, which is among my best ever, going 80mph for hours on a long trip.

Thanks for the replies. So the hypothesis from some is that higher rpm does not put greater longterm wear and tear on the engine, all things considered?

Separately, regarding RX N8, I'd like to see some data on higher rpm and fuel efficiency based on part of the discussion above, at the same vehicle speed.

The best thing you can do to get data is install a scangauge or similar OBD2 reader. It can show instantaneous and period fuel consumption while you drive.

Yeah, and bald tires have better traction.

Best thing you can do with this car is forget about fuel efficiency.
"Drive it like you stole it" is very good advice.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...0da4c74f55.jpg

On second thought, that's not entirely true.
If you're getting less than around 14 MPG, then something isn't right.

My original comment is more along the lines of 'driving this car the way it should be driven does not lend itself to efficient fuel consumption.'
I average 14-16 MPG, and I drive VERY enthusiastically.:)

Average MPH in CO for highways is 75. So, yaknow.

just drive it. so many over thinkers and opinions here. enjoy the car as you wish. the most important thing is to pay attention to the oil.

I am all for that, however I would drive differently if taking the car up to or near redline every other shift reduced longevity by 50%. This question is the essence of the thread.

Driving it hard all the time and redlining the engine frequently will cause increased wear on the engine. The engine can rev to redline in between every shift, but doing so will cause unnecessary wear on the engine. Yes, take it to redline here and there. Once a day if you want, but don't drive it full throttle all the time. Drive the car with respect and it will return the favor. People say to drive the shit out of these cars and that word spreads like wildfire and people think they are supposed to beat the snot out of the engine and low and behold we get a ton of threads about engine failure.

The best thing you can do is to maintain the entire car. Routine fluid changes, oil every 3000 miles, coolant and spark plugs every two years, gear oil every 60k, belts every 50k, coil checks every 6 months if they aren't new, air filter every 25k, tire rotation with every oil chenge etc.

A well maintained car will give you many years of service and will take a beating every now and again and still be a reliable car. I have owned, maintained and restored RX-7's for the last 18 years and the 8's really aren't that much different. I've owned three and they are wonderful cars if maintained properly.

61k, original engine, drive it like I stole it almost every day, and still running like a bat outta Hell.

I maintain it properly, premix, and no cat.

Thanks for the response. My question less is related to full throttle/maximum load, but rather partial throttle, redline or near redline.

The car can get to redline without maximum acceleration and stress - so the question is more whether take it to very high rpms at modest load consistently, or keep rpms in the lower range in regular non-high load, modest acceleration situations.

My NB Miata(s) loves high rpm and so far doing quite well.

What tires and what kind of tire life BC when you drive it like you stole it? I have the Nexen that the previous owner installed.

Potenza AS.
Maybe 30k on them, almost time to replace. Good tread left, but not a lot.

Do realize that when folks say "drive you like you stole it" they don't mean rev it to red line every time. No! That line is a response to the millions of Americans used to babying their torquey piston engines. People who've been driving gently for decades because their piston engines don't require a lot of RPM to generate power. People who've been taught that redlining is a major stress on the engine and something to generally avoid. Driving your 8 like that hurts the engine, contrary to what most people know and to, well, intuitive common sense (i.e. running a motor harder is rougher on it than running it slow and easy).

Feel free to rev your Renesis high whenever you like. Once a day or several times a day. But no, you won't be helping engine longevity by constantly shifting at 8,500 RPM!