How to test drive YOUR Rx-8??
 

I was thinking today (scary)about my test drive of MY RX-8 with all the talk about "my decision will be made on the test drive". I understand that you want to "baby" the rotary for the first 500-1000 miles. So, I do not want to "test" the capability of the RX-8 on MY RX8. Have any of you thought about this delima? I assume we will all be getting OUR RX-8 and there will not be a extra RX-8 to test drive "hard"....

What are the thoughts??

Roachman

yea i was having the same thoughts. you are not supposed to redline it for like a thousand miles miles and an oil change right? so how is anyone going to get a good test drive? maybe they will float some of those ones at laguna seca for test drives?

I fail to see how keeping a rotary under XXX RPMs will help to break it in.. The only added thing I'm doing as part of my 'break in' period is to get an oil change at 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 miles. From there on out it will be every 3000.

I will be hitting redline the first day out the lot. I'm leasing so I'm not worried about it breaking.. it's under warranty and that's why redline is AT 9000.

Edit: i should mention that my dealer will let me take the car out on my own for about a half hour, so I'm not concerned with getting a good drive out of it. He let me take the Mazda6 for a spin for a good half hour and told me just not to smash it :)

New engine tips from Rotary Performance (rx7.com):

The important thing to remember with a fresh rotary engine is that its compression, as in how strong the motor will be, is largely determined in the first few hundred miles. As the new seals break in, the engine can actually become stronger leading to a longer lasting motor and better performance. This is why it is very important to treat your new investment right so you can get good service from it for years to come.

If you had a new or rebuilt engine installed, observe the "break-in" rules. Negligence will be costly since the warranty will be voided and the engine may sustain irreparable damage in extreme cases. Be easy on the motor for the first 500 miles. This means, a) no heavy load hauling, b) do not exceed 4000rpm, c) do not exceed 70 mph in top gear, and d) do not drag race.

This all makes sense to me except for the “c) do not exceed 70 mph in top gear” statement. What would the engine RPM be at 70 MPH in sixth gear? That cannot be right.

Don't exceed 4000rpms? Are you mad?

There's a 9000 RPM limit.. there's power at 4000, but once you get out of 4th or 3rd gear, the car will automatically be above 4000RPMs.

I figure if you want to play it safe.. keep it under 7500. That's max torque area anyway. I might do that for 300 miles or so, but otherwise... :)

Going from 169 horsepower to 250 well.. I'm not going to say I'll take it easy when I know I probably won't :)

I would think they are referring to previous generation rotaries with lower redlines...extrapolating that to the renesis..I'd say that would equate to something like 5500-6000 rpm?

Sounds like a pretty standard break-in period...most piston engines that I have seen..have similar protocols.

I know I will baby my next car's engine..big time during the break-in period...but..depending on the vehicle it may only last a day or two before I exceed the mileage requirement! :D

I will baby my renesis. Makes no sense to disregard the manufacturers warnings. Unless you want to be in the shop a lot, add to the un-reliability picture of the rotary, and want to run the chances of not getting a certified rotary mechanic, as I'm sure Mazda will not be on the ball enough to train mechanics on the 8 before they come out.

I guess its your guy's choice on break-in but doesn't it just make sense to do it right the first time than to have problems with the engine later even if it is a leased car. I'm sure your not gonna get another 8 as a loaner. Plus if it is possible to prove you disregarded your break in I have a bet that you can get nailed for that too in the fine print of your lease.

Everybody has an opinion on this one.

The most sound, basic advice I've found, is to keep the max. rev's fairly low, even and smooth application of throttle pedal, (especially when the engine is cold) try to vary engine speeds within the break-in rpm range, (i.e. - not all sustained same RPM freeway driving) and first oil change at 800~1000 miles.

Typically, I would try to keep RPM's below 3000, but being the 6-speed has a 9000 rpm redline, 4000 sounds more realistic, after the engine is warm anyway. I don't want to be lugging the motor either!

I think it's important to take it easy, and let the engine parts find where they want to be, not force them to be somewhere else.

As far as performance, I think magazine tests and reviews will give us a pretty good idea, I think patience is going to be important for long engine life. It's probably best to get a good feel for the car under normal driving before pushing it hard anyway. At higher RPM's it will probably feel a lot like it does at lower RPM,s only faster!

this is true in every motor or mating part. same with clutches, brakepads, etc. as the contacting metal surfaces "mate" or wear to each other, there is a need for the forces not to be too high or they will chip, groove, etc. of course most all of this is microscopic. but if broken in properly, the engine will become more powerful.

I am an RC modeler and I can definetly tell the difference in performance between a broken in engine and one that is not. The same goes for any type of mechanical system. Break-in is always needed to correctly "seat" parts.

My experience will be the reverse: Going from a turbo w/300+ to an NA w/250, I'll be missing the punch my 7 has; but I too will try to take it easy during break-in. It'll be the hardest 500 miles since breaking in my last engine, but I'll try...

Only 500? Last year, when I had my 13B replaced, I was told roughly the same, but with 1000 miles as the rule. It was okay wih me, better to err on the safe side and stuff, but I tell you, it was the longest 4 tanks of gas in the 4 years I've owned FDs.

Maybe I'll just let mine idle overnight the first night or two that I have it.

Great Idea...

This is a mass-market car, not a Ferrari (or even an S2000). Between 20,000 and 30,000 will be sold in the USA in the first 12 months (hopefully) so I am sure every dealership will have a vehicle set aside for test-drives from June onwards. For comparison < 3000 6MT Infiniti G35 Coupes will be made each year (out of 12,000 total) and you can get test-drives on those...

I will drive that dealership RX-8 as hard as I am allowed and conditions permit. When my own car arrives in July/August I will pick it up with close to zero miles on it (hopefully still in plastic) and baby it as per the manual.

In June you won't find a dealer show car on the lot. The first dealer show cars will show up after all the pre-order cars come in. Which will probably be around what October. Then maybe at major dealerships. There won't be enough supply to entertain a dealer show car the first months the pre-order cars come in.

How about we all read the "Owners Manual" when they finally get here and see what Mazda recommends..

:D

Exactly. If the dealer lets you drive it hard, then chances are that he already has ragged on that car. Or everyone after you will anyway. So just make sure you aren't buying that one. There's a reason that demo cars are always cheaper.

In this case, I wouldn't need to know how fast it "felt" in a straight line. The "butt-dyno" isn't a good measure of performance anyway, especially in comparing other vehicles that you're driving for the first time. There are a couple of things that you might want to feel, like how it accelerates at WOT, but if you are deciding between similar cars, with all that you have to consider, will that one thing really change your mind as to which car you will buy?

You just aren't really going to be able to get a good feel for a car until you live with it.

Instead, I would be focusing on how comfortable it is (remember, sometimes you have to get used to a car), how the fit-and-finish is on the car, things like that. At the same time I would check how it goes around corners, handles poor road surfaces, shifts, brakes, and things like that more to make sure that it doesn't immediately exhibit bad characteristics. The absolute WOT feel of the car is not so important to me that I would want to abuse the engine while it is breaking in.

---jps

THE ANSWER
 

Go and redline your car as soon as you put the keys in, then go flying through the dealership window and straight into a tree, killing yourself and the tree that was saved by you ewating a beaver.

"Sore about not getting the moonroof on the Australian model"

Thanks for all the inputs! I will probably read the mags for performance and just make sure I like the car. As long as 0-60 is <6.5 I will be happy. Hell, I just read C&D amount the new Nissan FX4 that is 0-60 in 6.4 in a SUV!!

I have a '99 Boxster that is slow compared to that but it is so cool and fun. If the RX-8 is cool, fun, lets me put my daughters in the back and puts a smile on my face when I drive it. I will buy it!

Roachman

Where did you get these numbers? I was told by the dealer there would be a lot less then the 30,000+ 350Z's produced. I was hoping it would be closer to the S2000 production numbers. Or at least in-line with the G35 (my second choice).

I did some searches just now to remind myself where that 20k-30k production number came from.

Basically a huge range of production numbers have been thrown out by dealers, magazines and advertising - typically 40,000 to 80,000 vehicles WORLDWIDE are expected each year. Several articles (e.g. Wards) said 5000 per month (i.e. 60,000 per year).

Also several sources said that a third or up to half of production would come to North America, hence my guess of 20,000 - 30,000 sold in the USA. For comparison every year Honda sells between 6,000 and 10,000 ('limited') S2000s in the USA, and Infiniti will sell about 12,000 G35 Coupes (and maybe double that many G35 Sedans). Even Lexus sells over 25,000 IS300s, so a USA target of 20,000 or more RX-8s is not that many at all.

the italian article i posted says half of the production coming to north america. at least i think thats what it says, it is hard to understand the babelfish. and since the canadiens are getting under 1,000 this year( apost here somewhere says 700) that leaves @ 29,000. but then you have to subtract the half of the 5,000/month that they aren't producing for jan,feb and march and some from april depending on when they start production. so take off @8,000 from the US figure and you are down to 21,000. and i'm betting not more than 20,000 make it here this year. any thoughts?:)