billypsm

For the first time I hit the redline today..........can only say wow!
I did not hear the chime but probably because I was jammin to a cd.
I have 3500 miles and have been paranoid about driving too hard but not anymore.
I won't be a maniac but when the situation presents itself I will take advantage.
I love this car and the gas mileage sucks and I love it anyway. I am a kid again at 44.
:D

czr

iTrader: (3)

Yes. very fun... let us know when you beep...beep...beep

billypsm

never heard the sound. I thought it was at 8500rpm. I almost hit 9000rpm. But I did have a cd playing. Maybe mines broke!

rx8wannahave

Umm??? I thought 9K was redline????

Captain Amazing

Hehe, I just did that today too. Fun stuff!

Im_DANomite

iTrader: (1)

sometimes you just don't notice it b/c you're having so much fun. kind of like tunnel vision. next time pay close attention and i'm sure you'll hear it.

9K is redline. i guess 9400 is fuel cut. if you hit fuel cut, your car will jerk, won't accelerate, blah blah...don't worry spidey...i know you won't hit fuel cut.

MI_FamilyMan

Mmmm... redline. The beep is really not that loud, so I understand if you didn't hear it if you had the radio playing. I wouldn't say you are hurting anything by visiting this part of the rev range on a regular basis as long as you aren't pegging it and you are driving smoothly. In fact there are threads on here that state that you need to wind up the engine a little to keep things running properly. If it ain't true, I think it's a good excuse to do it anyways!

Shazoom

Have about 2,000 miles on my 8 now. I've revved to 7K a few times but just can't get used to the idea that it can wind higher with no negative results. Do you folks rev to 7 or 8K pretty routinely?? jw Like I say, I've had the car since December, have about 2,000 miles on it and have read up on it and hung out on this forum some but I just can't make myself rev it higher. I have noticed that when I do wind to 7K the engine seems to idle smoother for a day or so after.

MI_FamilyMan

C'mon Shazoom... you can do it!!
Believe me, this is the smoothest car at 9,000 rpms that you will ever experience (at least for the near future). I'm not saying do it in every gear and all the time, but let 'er go once in a while and you will find it's a completely different car up in the portion of the rev range. The car is just so well-behaved even at that rpm.

truemagellen

when you hit the fuel cut off it doesnt really jerk it just slows down down abit until the rpms are around 8200 I've found

but hearing the chime and running it up to the fuel cut off...NOW THAT"S EXCITING!

Shazoom

Thanks for the vote of confidence Family Man
Like I say, the engine seems to idle smoother after a high rpm burst. Probably blows out alot of carbon and such. You're probably right about the engine needing to wind a little to keep things running right. :D I'm used to "old school" small block V8s, where you put a ton of money in them to make them rev high and then you don't really expect them to last all that long when you do.
Well...the weekends here so maybe I'll do some "research" on the subject.

markd

Repeat after me: "I'm Shazoom, and I'm strong enough, smart enough... I drive an RX-8, I can rev it up to 9000rpm, and doggonit, people like me!"

Seriously, Shaz, the rotary engines of our 8's were meant to thrive at higher rpms where most piston engines couldn't even imagine going. Hit it to WOT and let her rip every once and a while. She'll thank you for it

MI_FamilyMan

Good luck Shazoom, I know you will begin to get comfortable with it soon. I am starting to believe that you really need to heat up the engine real good to keep things running smoothly (ie. to prevent flooding, and other odd rotary related mishaps).

But the car's smoothness at these high rpms is really what impresses me the most about the car. I've had a VTEC Prelude that redlined at 8000 rpm and I thought it was the coolest thing, but over time, I stopped revving it over 6000 because the noise and "harshness" became almost annoying. I had a 2.8 VR6 as well, and you would think as a 6-cylinder it would be really smooth, but after a while I also stopped revving this engine.

I seriously doubt if this will ever happen to me with the Renesis... have fun!

GRT8

Mazda RX8 - $34k

Monthly payment - $576

First through third gear runs to 9000 RPM - Priceless

Shamblerock

If it adds any comfort for y'all, I shift between 9000 - 9500 very often and at around 7500 the motor really kicks in and a sudden burst of energy till about 8800. In an week, the car sees redline a minimum of 20-30 times. Never had any issues and it seems to easily handle it. Hit fuel cut off once or twice since I bought the car and now it has about 8,000 miles.

boconnor

I can tell you from experience with a 1991 RX-7 I had for about 3 years (bought it in 1992 with 10K miles on it). I would rev it to 9K quite a bit (it also had a buzzer, very hard to hear when the engine is reving). I would tell people that was the up-shift indicator! Later sold it to a friend of mine. She had it for another 6 years and a couple years ago told me that it was one of the most reliable cars she ever had. Never had any engine problems. In fact she drove it in Montana for 4 years - cold as hell there.

Think about it this way. The rotors have very little mass compared to a piston engine. The rotors are "naturally" balanced compared to a piston engine which needs counter-weights on the crankshaft. No valve-train backlash to worry about, no timing belt. The perfect engine? Well not quite, they have a limitation - More about that later.

Now I have a new 2005. I always say "once you go rotary, you never go back"

Enjoy your 8 and rev as you feel.

MI_FamilyMan

I agree, boconnor. The rotary engine sure is something amazing, I don't care what the HP or fuel economy is. It's just one smoooth piece of machinery. I would seriously contemplate a rotary engine offering in virtually any type of vehicle, assuming the power-to-weight ratio was adequate. In my opinion, on the 8 it is just fine.

dazygirl415

Finally! People who don't care about the stupid gas mileage and love the car for what it is--an amazing and thrilling ride for both the driver and passenger that begs to be driven again.

jenkins-crew

I love the Zooooom...BEEP...Zoooom...BEEP...Zoooom...BEEP.. Get up in the morning just to hear it. :D

GRT8

Finally! People who don't care about the stupid gas mileage and love the car for what it is--an amazing and thrilling ride for both the driver and passenger that begs to be driven again.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vertigo-1

iTrader: (3)

I guess I'll be the skeptical one. I have the AT and I used to run it to redline whenever I could through tiptronic control. But knowing the AT already has a transmission that ain't that great, I worry about just how much the transmission can take. Sure the rotary engine can take the RPMs, but can the same be said for the transmission? I've limited my high RPM runs to 5k at most and rarely all the way to redline because of this. Maybe someone else can convince me otherwise. It may be "fun" but there is definitely more stress being placed on the car at higher RPMs. I would imagine there needs to be a balance between blowing out the carbon vs. keeping the component stress level down...at least if you intend to keep the car long term.

mike0615

I have run my engine at 8k plus rpm for 30 min sessions at a time in 3rd gear for the whole day. car runs as smooth as the day i bought it. got 12k miles on it right now, but the car is so fun to drive i don't think it'll be long before the miles start racking up. :p the redline beep thing is real soft, i can hardly hear it when i have the radio off. keep up the good work guys, this was a car that was meant to be driven, but make sure u guys are in a safe place when u guys are doing it though. as far as gas milage goes, i have a 92 4 door accord, and thats what thats for. bought me this RX8 with gas milage NOT in mind, just pure fun. :D

09Factor

Dude, don't worry about the auto trans failing. I have 15k's on mine and buzzer and fuel cut get use at least one time per trip. :D Also the pwr band for the auto starts to pick up at 4000 rpms. I used to think the same way, keep the rpms low and save gas. Aw screw that. I found I get better mpg's w/ 91, making sure the beep still works and keeping the tach needle parked between 3500 and 4000 rpm's.

REV ON !

mike0615

Plus auto engines don't redline at 9. if i remmember right they only go up to 7.5 even though the engine can go up to 9. i think i remmember it was because of some kind of heat issue with the auto RX8's but i think even if ur driving auto u should still be able to put the pedal to the metal without to much worry about breaking stuff. correct me if i'm wrong.

Vertigo-1

iTrader: (3)

Yes, and this is the basis for my worries. Mazda cut corners and released the AT RX-8 with a subpar 4 gear slushbox and had to detune the engine so the trasmission could survive at redline. Given that, it makes me wonder how the AT transmission would do long term with constant redlining even despite the detuning. Although 09Factor's testimony does give me a little more confidence with his RX-8 having seen some miles.