Car is freakin SWEET. Tons of power, extremely comfortable, and every option available.

That being said, is there anything I should know about maintenance with a rotary engine? I don't really know a lot about them, but I do know they guzzle oil. Also, do you all put in premium (93)? I know it's recommended, but I want to know what everyone else does.

 

Yes the Rotary RX-8 is not your regular car. The engine is oil injected. If it is not burning oil then it will fail so check it as often as your Manual says. Please read it and you will have many years of enjoyment. Be easy on it the first 1k, thats in the Manual too......gas recogmendments too......read

 

Well before you get slammed with the "Search" issue,,welcome and enjoy your new car.
Everything you need to know about this car is located in the search box at the top of the page.
Husky fan as in U.W.?

 

Thanks for the advice, guys. I know you're supposed to check the oil every 500 miles.

Easy, not University of Washington. University of Connecticut. Graduated there 2 years ago.

 

I'll bite... What did you trade in for it?

Welcome to the club by the way!

 

welcome

 

welcome. just check the oil every now and then and youll be fine. i use 89 which is midgrade for us in ca.

 

I just bought my car last week and there was a supplement and DVD to my owner's manual that said to check the oil EVERYTIME YOU FILL UP!!!

 

The orientation video on the DVD is a little extreme. Does everything except tell you to enter the numbers every 108 minutes.

You may enjoy checking the oil every fill up the first few times, just for the sake of gazing under the hood. At least I did. :-) By the time the car is broken in, you'll get a feel for how much yours uses. Might be a quart every 1000 to 3000 miles, and it's 1.8 quarts between low and high.

Checking the oil is a lot easier than the video makes it out to be. Look at the following thread:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/houdini-dipstick-maneuver-26497/

If the link doesn't work, it's "Houdini dipstick maneuver" in Tech Garage.

Ken

 

Tons of power? You must be mistaking our car with something else.....maybe something with torque :p

 

Instead of an over-sized engine with plasty wrap around it?

 

if hes coming from a weaker powered car, this car definitely has a ton of power.... so it really depends on the perspective.... welcome to the club

 

Wait does this mean that you never have to change oil?? Or do you just keep adding oil because the car burns it right. In my honda i change filter and replace oil, but in the 8 do you replace oil or just keep adding more???

 

You change the oil.

When I was a kid my Dad owned a '54 Chrysler, where the line to pump jockeys was "Fill the oil and check the gas." He never changed the oil in that. But the RX-8's consumption is nowhere near that kind of thing. Probably a quart every 2000 miles, more if you drive it very hard. But never like an old Chrysler.

Official oil change interval is 7500 miles, or 5000 miles for severe service. Most driving counts as severe. Change every 3000 miles (which I think most car nuts like us do if the official interval is 5000) and you may be adding one quart between changes - or possibly none.

Changes are interesting. The car holds about 6.5 quarts altogether, including the oil coolers. When you change the oil and filter, you replace about 3.5 to 4 quarts. (Unless you do some tricks described in a DIY in the Tech Garage forum.)

IMHO, since you're only replacing about 60% of the total oil, it's worth topping off even if the change is coming soon - increases the percent of old oil that's taken out.

But the bottom line is that you change the oil.

Ken

 

They tell that to be safe.

After checking the oil every fill up you can be the judge as to when to add oil.

Each car is different.


welcome.

 

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo oooooooo!!!!!!

 

Missed this thread. Congrats on the car. What is the color?

I also am a UConn grad (4 years ago, but graduate student [I'm old]) living in Hamden. What dealer did you buy it from and how'd you like 'em?

If you have any questions about the car I can answer (which I probably can't) pm me.

Have fun.