Did I do damage?
 

So I found the first true flaw in the RX-8. The red-line beeper thing is HOPELESSLY not loud enough. I was driving along today, on a rather trafficky road that wasn't letting me open it up. So I had the radio on and wasn't worrying about it. At some point I guess the traffic opened up a bit, but I forgot to shift; I must've still been in second. Of course the car is so smooth and quiet that I never noticed, and I never did hear the little redline beep with the radio playing; I didn't notice I had screwed up until I felt the power start to make noticeable little lags, and I looked down at the tach and saw I was doing 9500RPM. No idea how long I'd been doing this for. Of course I instantly got off the gas, and shifted.

Haven't noticed any problems, but I'm still worried that maybe I did some damage? I know nothing about motors.

Krankor
05 Shinka 6MT

Should be fine, the ECU won't really allow you to do any major damage. Unless you were bouncing off the fuel limiter for a LONG time you have nothing to worry about.

^^^ like ike said, just the fuel limiter. you should be fine.

Looks like a warrantee killer... :D :D :D

No offense...but how did you not notice? How high was your radio volume? Even when I have my radio up quite loud, I'll notice the beep, if not the engine screaming.

nothing done. heck I've dropped mine into 2nd instead of fourth at 80 mph and saw the tach go way past 10k ( like 13-14k ) and nothing happened.. better than 5000 miles ago too.

Been there. Kinda freaked me out a little, but no apparent damage. When you hit the rev limiter and fuel cut-off, it gets your attention right away before you can blow something up. Dont sweat it.

On a few of my revs, I didn't hear a beep at redline. Usually I would but I guess if you stomp the gas it moves too fast to beep. :D

you'll be fine, fuel cut off is 9400 engine could rev forever, it's the accessories that limit it. you're fine dude, dont sweat it.

Thanks guys. You make me feel MUCH better. Yeah, what I experienced that caught my attention must've been the fuel cut-off (which I hadn't realized existed). The radio was reasonably loud, but not killer loud. But the beep itself is not very loud; wish they hooked it into the radio, so that it would be as loud as you have the radio set.

Or maybe it just happened to be at a pitch that worked with the music, so it wasn't noticeable. :)

Thanks again, al!

Krankor
05 Shinka 6MT

You will never hear the beep if the radio is on at any volume. A lot of people never hear the beep at all. It is not loud and engine noise, road noise etc at redline are all enough to mask it.

Besides, it's a beep, not a beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. It's only intended as a shift indicator, not to wake up the driver.

if i'm not concentrating on specifically listening for the beep, i almost never hear it. radio on, off makes no difference. the engine noise alone is sufficient to mask it.

i wonder if there's a way to transplant the FB buzzer in the 8 :D

i think someone here did that

Does the AT have a buzzer? Well in tiptronic mode? :confused:

I believe a DIY for a louder buzzer is in order!!! Hahaha

Yes, same beep, just at the auto redline.

No damage. That rev limiter is there for a reason. I've hit it a few times myself. The motor should be fine.

I did that too. The needle went up to 10.5K. Freaked the heck out of me. I was sweating it there for a while. That was about 22K ago. Car is great. I love the rotary.

krankor, provided you don't let this happen too often, no worries, but going to 9.5k rpm without shifting to third is certainly not recommended. My advice is to get a rev meter which will "flash" in your eyes at the rpm you set regardless of the noise around you so you don't forget to shift :)

A guy in a suped up mustang egged me on today for a showdown so I nodded. when we both launched off I had him on the start until I was just slamming it into 2nd the car just shut down just for a second or two ,just enough time to let him slip by but my car regained countiousness and off I go again on his tail but shut it down before the next light to ponder on what had just happened....I must of over reved the motor......Right?

does ne one know how far exactly u can push the rpm safely?? i was always wondering, cuz im too scared i might do damage by pushing it past 9, jus wondering if ne one knows :confused:

If I had a MT RX8 I would find myself constantly wanting to go past 9k. But I wouldnt for warranty's sake.

you can only go to 9500 (unless you miss a shift). once you hit 9.5k, fuel delivery is cut and you feel a huge drop in power. and really, power drops off rapidly after 9000, so there isn't much point in going very far past 9k.

kool, thanks guys, i wuz jus wondering :D

I have only done this once, I could not hear the beep at all, becuase the tires were screaming so much. Donuts on a skidpad. :D