Vanight

Hey guys, Vanight from Oregon here.

OMG ~ I just sent my 22 yr. old wife off in my just purchased new-to-me 04 RX-8 to get a slow tire leak fixed (hopefully free). She kill it trying to back out of the drive way. The couldn't get it into reverse so I had to have let me lean in the passenger side and do it.

Then she drive through the neighborhood in 1st gear at probably 8000 RPM.

Sorry, needed to get that off my chest.

Historically, I have owned Supra's in the past, however I am in this weird stage it seems where the Supra's out there that are reasonably priced and not project cars, are the new/last body style, MKIV I think? They are still still 20K+ even with 50-75K on them. I remember my old childhood buddy had a stock rx-7, same year as my supra or close, 82'ish and we would race. He would typically give me a run for my money, and beat me off the line.

Fast forward to when that RX-8 body style came out. When I saw that car for the first time I was like, you know, maybe I am not stuck on Supra's so much. That was a few years ago, and in that time I started reading about the Moller sky car which uses Rotax engines, and got at least a surface education on the different between them and Piston engines. I was absolutely fascinated with the design, just from an engineering point of view.

So now its 2012, I work from home so gas mileage isn't as much an issue, when I drive, I want to enjoy what I am driving, wife doesn't like her 2006 Corolla S and neither do I, good cars, but gutless and over priced. Luckily, her Mom gave her the car, so when selling a Corolla S, you have the advantage and can get top dollar within 1-2 weeks on CL. She wanted a Honda. We ended up buying 2 cars on Saturday. She says, that looks a lot like my Honda, I said, because it is a Honda. Got her an Acura TL 2001 I think, and the same used dealer on McLaughlin they had 2 RX-8 a Red 2006 I think that looked more stock, and a Blue one that I fell in love with instantly. It has the touring package, the pop nav, all of that fancy ****. Manual 6-speed, and some kind of after market air thing that says, Mazda speed or something. There is a big empty spot that looks like it used to have a big old air filter box, now in its place is a straight pipe that goes clear to the front grill. I assume that is a high performance air system?

52K miles on it, carfax came back clean.

So far I have only noticed 3 things. It has a slow leak in the right rear pirelli tire, getting that fixed as I type, and a wierd smell of gear oil that seems to seep up thru the center console when I put the car thru its paces, and make a lot of sharp turns. If I drive it easy, not so much. What is that? There is not one SPEC of anything where I park, so WTH? It needs a new throw out bearing, (how hard is that to do yourself? I did my Supra, but this car looks like changing an oil filter is going to be difficult. (Totally worth it though)

On that fresh gear oil smell, Anyone? I know what 90 weight smells like because I accidentally allowed a tranny sitting in the back of this old honda civic I drove in highschool leak all over the back. That smell is forever ingrained in my mind.

That's about it, I am here because this is the first car I have felt the same passion for and enjoyed driving as much as a Supra. I want to court her, learned her likes and dislikes, her strengths and weaknesses; I want to learn everything there is to know about her, how to make her the best she can be, etc....

I am also interested in learning what kind of mods people do on these cars to increase horse power, and also I have this mystery cable that is running to the trunk from somewhere. Is it for a sub or something? Its a multi-prong square connector.

Anyway, I feel like I should post a picture of her as I am quite proud, but she is getting that leaky tire fixed. Will post later though...

Anyway, nice to meet everyone, hoping there are some RX-8 groups that actually meet with their cars and hang out and stuff. With food. That would be cool to do.

Also, right now all the fluids are whatever the used dealer used, should I just 86 all that crap and replace it all with fully synthetic everything? Or am I am being a bit over the top?

Oh yeah, am I suppose to do the rev up to 3000 RPM and then turn off the key to shut her down? The manual mentioned that.

Peace+ ~Out!

Vanight

TANKERG

First off... Welcome.

I wouldn't worry about the 3000 rev to shut it down, if you drive it properly... not driving it like a granny and not reving it up you'll be fine.

I'm not sure on the smells.

If you are thinking about taking your 8 to a track, you'll need new tires, you can't track with a repaired tire.

As far as hp improvement goes, read this:

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...t-here-202454/

hornbm

iTrader: (1)

A little bit of gear oil smell is normal. Some brands have a more noticeable smell than others.

Only use synthetic fluids in the differential and transmission.

Reving to 3000 rpm and then shutting down is not necessary. However, never under any circumstances shut the engine down cold.

TANKERG

I've shut mine down cold plenty of times without any problem

hornbm

iTrader: (1)

You are rolling the dice with a rotary if you do that. Good way to flood the engine. You might get lucky and be fine, but there are countless others who haven't been so lucky.

ANIBALRX8

I agree with tanker, I start my Rx8 Gt 04 move it out of my garage to wash it, start the car back up and move it back in without any problem.


All you have to do is maintain it and don't abuse it!!!;-)

Dima_MX6

iTrader: (8)

Welcome!

Do some searching around the site and most of you questions can be answered. I am somewhat new myself and managed to solve a lot of equations just fine

Now, how 'bout some pics?!?!

Vanight

It has some dust. Maybe I should get a cover. Hmmmm....

kompressorlogic

lol ive flooded mine a few times doing that... and i know im not suposed to haha...

TANKERG

I probably just doomed myself to a flood

Vanight

Here are links to pics of my new baby:
https://www.dropbox.com/lightbox/home/Public/RX-8

kompressorlogic

link no worky!?

Vanight

So, I have been reading the new comer area; I really dont like going to the Mazda dealer in my town, because I hate the owner. Does anyone here know where I could take my car to have a compression test done? Obviously whatever mechanic I go to needs to understand Rotary engines. Any recommendations;Beaverton/Hillsboro and PDX-Salem corridor? Also, kind of a stupid question, but my engine is pretty dusty, is it OK to go to the car cleaning place and spray it down with degreaser and then spray the hell out of it? I used to do this with my supra and other cars, but is this no no with rotories? If its a NO, what do you recommend to clean up the engine?

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

Welcome to 8club Where do you live in Oregon? A few of us are in the Beaverton/Portland area.

That would be the Mazdaspeed intake

Cruise through the Aftermarket and Horsepower section to see what people are doing. Many members put a vGarage link in their sigs that will show you their mods. For instance I have a vGarage link in my sig.

Modding the 8 is expensive. Ensuring it is running properly and the maintenance is current is the way to go before adding any mods.

Why do you think you need a compression check?

L8tr

Welcome, and congrats on your new-to-you 8.

Meets in this area are fairly seldom. If you also join MazdasNW.com we usually have monthly meets, and there's often a couple 8's. It's been a little on the slow side lately though.


I haven't had any issues with quickly cleaning the engine area, but I wouldn't over do it. And the 3,000 RPM thing is just for the rare times you may need to move the car and shut it back off when the engine is cold. I wouldn't skip it if you have to move it like that.

Vanight

Hey guys,

I have been reading up on the recalls. Anyone know of a good dealer to go to for recalls if I need to?

Thanks!