Hi there!

I have just bought a brand spanking new RX-8 and am VERY happy with it. It's a 6 speed 231BHP red rx8 and boy does she look sweet The last 24 hours have been a continuous ride of thrills and excitement.

However...
I do have some questions, im not sure if its because the car is new, im paranoid or if its just normal.

1. I'f im in neutral and giving her some "gas"...upon "wind down" the exhaust gives off a few what i would call "splutters"...is that normal?

2. If the rx is just ticking over in neutral, the engine sound tends to be a bit of a high pitched whine. Its not annoying or anything, just kind of a worrying new sound for me...

If you could shed any light on my worries it would be much appreciated, thanks!

Akay

 

Congrats and welcome to the forum. Your life has improved immeasurably what with your beautiful new RX-8 to look at!!! That's normal of course, we've all been where you are now

1) yes
2) Being a rotary, it's sounds are all new to you. Forget your previous piston sounds, there aren't any. Enjoy the new song ( and don't forget after your breakin is done, redline the engine regularly!)

spin

 

Thanks for the reply spin!

For curiosity's sake, what exactly are those splutters then?

 

Honestly don't know....one of life's little mysteries I guess (but I'm sure someone else will chime in!)

 

I'm no rotary expert but if I were to guess what those little "sputtering" sounds were, I think they're the rotors slowing down to a stop...since they spin as opposed to pumping up and down like pistons.

Dunno about the high pitched whine, can you describe further? I know that in the first start up in the morning, the engine gives a slightly higher sound then goes to a lower one after about 10 seconds when it drops from 2k to 1.5k rpm...

 

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, i think the spluttering is normal...at least i hope so!

As for the high pitched whine...well it sound exactly like what you explained. I immagine its just the rotary engine heating up.

Thanks again for your input.

Akay

 

are you hearing that whine when you are in neutral and the clutch is out? if so, that is normal

 

Make sure you do the proper breakin procedure for the motor also

 

the high pitched whine in my RX-8 is caused by the Air pump electric motor.

 

The "splutters" are backfire. Normal, especially for the Renesis.

Proper break-in procedure is to redline the engine on every shift for the first 70000 miles. Then redline every shift for the next 70000 miles and repeat as necessary.

The "whine" is probably actually the transmission. The gears themselves are great, but the synchronyzers are crap, and they aren't helped any by the flywheel. On up shifts, especially in the lower gears, you'll want to be sure the revs come back down before grabbing the next gear. On down shifts, a little heal-and-toe and double clutching will go a long way. Not all necessary all the time, but I certainly wish I'd been a little nicer to the tranny.

As for the engine. Flog it. Flog it hard. If she aint screamin', you aint playin' hard enough.

 

Great, thanks for you input guys.

What do you mean by "redline" the engine on every shift?

 

Look at your tachometer. OK. See the red line on the dial markings up about 8500RPM? That's the 'redline'. People were saying "make the pointer go there, the 'redline' on every shift". But don''t take that advice 100% seriously.... It's simply a figure of speech rotorheads use!

Just do that when you want to, when it's fun and safe, and when you need the extra acceleration. Times like that.

 

Okay, so redlining EVERY shift is probably not necessary. But don't baby the engine either. The last thing you want is carbon build up causing you issues down the road.

 

Great, thanks again guys.

So when people "redline"...do they push that far so the warning sound beeps?

 

Use the beep like the sound from a radar detector, after a bit you never bother to look down, just drive by sound...you know....whiiiirrrrrrrrrr Beep! wurrrrrrrrrr Beep! wiurririiiiiiiiir Beep! (now your going 95mph!) Wasn't that fun?

 

Haha, okay Spin9k, thanks for the input ;-)