How well does the RX8 start in winter? (looking to buy 2005 RX8)
 

Hello gentlemen,

I would like to join your fine establishment, but I have a few questions to educate myself about your membership product.

I would like to buy a 2005 RX8 GT manual transmission and have it for my year around car. I live in central Canada where the weather drops to -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees F). How is the Renesis for starting in this weather? Also if I understand the engine design properly, a cold crank without the engine starting will flood the engine correct?

This might be a very silly question, but does the RX8 come stock with a block heater? I’ve read about guys adding an oil dip stick heater in the winter.

Basically my questions all pertain to winter application for the sexy RX8 beast.

Side question: I read the 2004 first revision Renesis did not properly lubricate the center of the apex seals so they would wear out prematurely. Do you know model solved this issue? (did this issue actually exist?)

Thanks!

I live in Michigan so it doesn't get quite as cold as where you live but my 2004 GT hasn't had a problem yet starting. I kinda think my starter is the old version because it seems to crank a little slow at times but she always fires up. I plan on changing to the higher cranking starter in the spring.

To my knowledge the 8 doesn't come with a block heater.

The apex lubrication problem does exist. I'm not quite sure if it'll ever be fully resolved but you can pre-mix your fuel to help the situation. Check out this thread for information about that. https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/gas-oil-premix-thread-99636/

Good luck.

I have seen a photo of an RX8 with a block heater plug hanging out of it once. I'm not sure who made it or installed it, but I live in Texas and I think I was 14 before I realized why people had extension cords hanging from their cars lol.

Hello and welcome

For cold weather you'll want to run synthetic transmission fluid because the standard fluid will turn to molasses in the cold and mess up your shifting. Might as well do the diff as well. Lots of threads here about what to use.

Oil pan heaters are great on the rotary. I never tried a block heater. You could look at a battery warmer as well.

Use an oil temp gauge. You'll have to purchase and install it. You want 80C min before you shut down. You'll have to somewhat block off air flow to the oil coolers to achieve this temp. (Don't let the oil get too hot though). The oil temp at the oil filter is after the oil coolers and before the engine...
In 9 C weather my 8 struggles to keep 75C at 120km/h in 6th

To answer directly, I drove for three winters and never experienced an issue starting. Don't forget winter tires!

Cant he fix the shutoff problem by idling before shutdown? as long as your not moving air through the coolers he should warm up right?

I'm not sure how cool the oil would run at -40 but it can't be good, right?

Well I'm sure if it got to cold the thermostat would close.

never had a problem starting but in cold temps its not uncommon for the car to take a second or two longer to turn over

My oil thermostats never open in cold weather

Remember that all the oil runs through the hoses and across the top of the coolers whether the thermostat are open or closed.

So the thermostats only control whether the oil runs through the fins.
The entire path somewhat cools the oil even if the stats are closed.

No problem starting at -40C (= -40F). It does rev up pretty high in the first minute or so. Heaters do help (and you probably should install them as well as a onboard battery charger), but I have started at -40F without plugging in several time. Yes the shifting is sluggish in the first couple minutes, but it is not too bad even without synthetic. We have been driving RX-8 for 4 years all winter long.

It was 5C this morning when I got off work and the car started without any delay. She was warmed up when I hit home as well which is normally what I see in the summer. So it basically ran exactly the same.

Three things needed.

The revised starter, as it turns faster
The BHR coils, for hotter spark
Larger than stock battery, for CCA

Warmed up by what measurement?
My stock temp gauge shows the engine is fully warmed up when the oil temp gauge has not reached 60C and water temp is under 80C

The engine runs fine and starts well but I have to wonder how much extra wear the low temps cause.

Well I can't speak for driving in 0C weather, because here its an extreme rarity to drop below that. Although in the next week it is supposed to unfortunatly. its a 3 mile drive for me to get home, I usually get in the car, start it, then put my seat belt on and get settled. I don't start driving till the rpms have finished their ups and downs, so I would say 30 seconds when it levels out in cold weather. I did not read the oil and water temp guages, I just took a quick glance at the dash before I shut her off, but Next week when Its below freezing I will give you my exact numbers.

3 miles is not a long enough drive to fully warm up a car. You are building up condesation in your car.

The oil and exhaust system.

Nah thats just the one day I drive to work. I only drive on my half day, the other days they provide transportation. My normal drives are to and from school, and thats plenty of distance to warm her up. its a 20 min drive at 80mph.

If you look in StealthTL's pics he has a photo of his temp sensor reading -36C.https://www.rx8club.com/forum/pictur...pictureid=9644

Last winter there was a week where it got really cold here (high of -30C) and I had no issues all week long other than incredibly long warm up time. Fuel economy suffers from the large amount of idling.

well the other differing factor is that you guys are running the stock insulated hood. I'm running a CF vented hood. So my warm up times in the extreme cold would be a little slower than yours in the same temp. I can tell you what my times to warm up are at maybe -5C at the coldest.

What's up Doc! read in your thread "till the rpms have finished their ups and downs" I thought I was the only experiencing that. their must be thread around here somewhere! Does it vary between 1300rpm and 2000rpm?

Thats normal during start up. Once the vehicle is fully warmed up it goes away. I have seen it jump at high as 2500 rpm but usually 10-15 seconds later it drops to 1500, then once fully warmed drops to the normal.

Mine starts at 2500, moves down to 1500, blips itself up to 2000, goes back down to 1500, then steadily drops until it idles at 750 when fully warm.

Check the link below! :) I dont know what happened to the sound in the video i think my blackberry is just gay and didnt record it properly since the engine sound is wayyy louder! it happened today after leaving the car at the train station for like 10 hours and not using the oil pan heater. Yeah this car comes with an oil pan heater not blocker heater. The car always starts like a champ! I also got new sparkplugs before the winter just to be on the safe side. I recorded this video just for you op so you better watch it! haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyRQ3Mo58_0

that up and down I heard is a throttle position sensor, but Ive never started mine that cold so I have no idea.

those up and down happened to me once in a while...cant find answer and I used to it now..at least the car do the revving for me...lol

I live in alberta canada and this is my first winter with the rx8. We've had some -35 nights so far and ive never had a problem starting it whatsoever. I dont have any heaters for it ( i live in an apartment and I wouldnt have access to a plug in anyways)..when its really cold it fires up just fine but it does that idle jumping for a couple of minutes until it warms up then it drops down to regular idle. I do have the updated ECU flash and updated starter/battery. I think if you get all those done then you'll be fine. GET SOME WINTER TIRES THOUGH!!!!

P.S mine is an 05 as well with 41xxx KMS on it.

I noticed it happends everytime its -15C or 5F outside. It could be also a bit warmer than that just depending on how long your car is outside. Im pretty sure thats a set up on the ECU to warm the car a bit faster while staying on the safe side. My friends turbo civic does the same and its just the way they tune it. Of course i could be wrong. Any thoughts?

Exact same thing here. It seems to be ok above -15C (ie it doesn't oscillate like that).

You know it's cold when the display lags.

My 8 wasn't started at all for a week recently, sitting outside in 5-35 degree (F) weather (and snow) the whole time. And it started just fine after all that time :)

2004 model, but I think they replaced the starter and battery with stronger versions when I flooded it years ago.

Every year I spend a few days in New Hampshire with temps often around 5º - 15ºF. Car starts right up every time after sitting out all night. That said, I've never had the 8 in places that cold — or colder — for weeks or months at a time.

it gets around 0F in Chicago during the winter and I have problems starting it. Mine's an 04 with no battery upgrades. Doesn't fire up straight away but doesn't crank too long either.

mine starts wonderfully and its parked outside all the time. will get the jump up in revs when it gets pretty cold, but thats normal for several cars.

I wanted to let you know I did watch it!! Thanks. Thanks to everyone. I'm still trying to hunt down a 2005 rx8 GT locally here (small city). I want to buy this car just to be part of this awesome community!

If you can't find one in your town i would seriously consider making a drive to find one thats just right. They are defiantly not an extremely common car around here so i made a road trip to denver (about 10 hours) and looked at several and bought the best deal :) Defiantly dont regret it, plus if you buy it you have a nice long road trip home with it.

FWIW (keep the oil piss war out of this please) my car starts better using RP 5w-30 than PennzoilYB 5w-30 after sitting outside of work in 10*F weather for 9 hours. Not to say that it didn't start well with the PYB, but the RP makes the start up a lot smoother and the idle less rough

on a similar note...

does anyone have a remote starter??
are the made/recomended for rotary motors?

its cold here in Canada (-25 our temp) and always had a remote starter.........

Starting is no big deal, but I wonder if anyone has any tips on warming the transmission? On some days it takes forever for it to warm up even a bit. I've tried to go before it's warmed up and it just doesn't happen. When I put it in gear, the transmission fluid is so cold it prevents me reversing down the hill on my driveway without giving it a bunch of gas.

I am debating buying one of those generic "block" heaters and using it on my transmission.

When I had my 8 in for scheduled service a few years ago, I think they replaced the transmission oil with with synthetic? Whatever they did, it was like day and night. It was SO hard to shift when cold before, then after the switch it's been fine, even in -2 degree weather.

my 04 started no problem at -28, but had some trouble starting it in -35 weather without being driven for 2 days. my car is not equiped with any sort of block heater.

Hey a fellow Edmontonian! For the engine, I would definitely suggest an engine heater. As for the transmission heater... not sure about the engine pad heater

sweet more locals!! I've only had my car for 3 weeks, but a good engine heater and good winter tires will be coming before next winter.

I'm assuming you mean -2 Fahrenheit. You definitely just confirmed my suspicion. It's no big deal to change oil weights depending on the season, but transmission fluid is a bit more involved. Are you planning on chaning fluid again when it warms up? What could happen if you don't and it gets hot in the summer?

Edmonton types: I go to Weber mazda and so far so good. Avoid Park Mazda! No word on any of the other dealers

Same here. Starting is quite reliable. I think the small displacement of the engine makes it fairly easy for the starter as long as you have decent oil.

I bought my car 3 weeks ago from go auto weber mazda, and my car has 152,000km and i got an extended warranty for 2 yrs/40,000km covers everything. so far i'm very pleased with weber mazda and my rx8

I bought my '05 at Park Mazda and the gf's Tribute at Weber. No complaints about either. Got T-Boned in the Tribute and sold the 8 so we don't deal with Mazda anymore.

I would defintely recommend a engine heater pad even if your engine is starting strong in -35. It only takes once to realize what a PITA it is when you can't get your 8 to start.