Melkor

Hey! I've been surfing this board for the past week, ever since I started falling in love with the RX8. This board has made me obsessive over every little detail of the car. I bet my dealer was annoyed, cuz I knew the car better than most of the salesmen. So after dealing with all the annoyances of dealerships and financing, I have a brand new 2004 AT Rx8 in Titanium Grey with sport and appearance packages. I picked it up last night and already drove the first tank of gas halfway out. Its sitting outside in the parking lot now, and I really need/want to get a cover for it. I just graduated from college, so this is the first car I've ever bought and what an experience it was. I've learned you have to ask for everything from the dealer and lookout for yourself, cuz the dealer doesn't.

Questions like:
"Wheres the floormats?"
"Has this car had the passenger side airbag recall upgrade?"
"Has this car had the M-flash?"

Half the time the salespeople have no clue. I wish the service guys were the ones selling the cars.

Well, I think I got everything without too much damage. Ended up getting it for 26,850 for everything, taxes, tags, etc. Car had 50 miles on it from test drives.

This weekend I'm going to try to give it its first wax and wash and hopefully I'll be able to keep it nice and shiny for as long as possible.

Okay, so I'm rambling.. its what I do... Heres some questions for my fellow Rx8 owners. I'm still trying to learn what all I need to do to keep this car in tip top shape. What are the main points of maintenance that I need to be aware of for this car? I will probably fill up the tank for the first time in a few days. Any certain brand of 5w-20 oil I should put in it? And does the M flash really give you better gas mileage? I'm logging all my mileage right now, trying to figure out the way to get the best gas mileage, since I commute to work in this car everyday.


Also, should I fork over the 250+ for the car cover or go buy a generic car cover to put over it while I'm in my office 10+ hours a day?

Meowloud

#1 Skip the RX-8 car cover. It's been mentioned that it doesn't feel as nice as a nice 3-ply cover.

#2 I prefer Castrol. You'll get different answers on this one, which means there is no overall best. The main point.. check the oil every few fill-ups.

#3 After using premium octane gas (93) for months, I've switched to mid-grade 89 and find I've gained an average 25 miles per fill-up. This may be due to the mid-grade's flashpoint and not as much is being spent as liquid out of my tailpipes.

#4 Jon has 'M' flash and I have 'L' flash. I can feel a difference at lower RPMs. Not a big mileage difference, BUT he drives more aggressive than I do. I'm going to have mine updated next week to the 'M'.

#5 DRIVE CAREFUL. Out of the members here, this car seems to get a lot of weird attention and accidents. *knock on wood*

Most importantly.... CONGRATS!!! :D :D

Melkor

two questions:

1) where are these three ply covers found/sold and what is the approx cost?
2) I just took my 8 for a late night spin and for the first time played a CD in it. When speeding up sort of fast I noticed that the volume of the music dropped for a while, but then it returned to the loud volume. Is this normal? Is the music volume of the sound system supposed to vary like that?

EatMyBanana

Welcome and conrgats on your car and your college degree. i think Meowloud answered your questions right on. IMO unless you have the audiopilot, your system should not have done that. Even with it , it should not have been noticeable.

Meowloud

1. I went to Pep Boys, spent $111 w/ tax. Some are finding good deals on eBay.

2. First things first, come to the RX8Club.com and do a search if you have any quirks that occur. What you are describing sounds exactly like the AudioPilot. It is a BOSE feature. If you depress the bottom, right **** you can turn it off and on. What this is: look a little below and to your left of your ignition. You'll see a tiny vent. That is actually a microphone. It evaluates the cabin noise every few seconds and auto-adjusts the treble, bass, etc. You can turn it off, I do. I find it annoying.

Any questions? :D

EatMyBanana

I have the Boise with audiopilot and i leave it on. The sound to me is Great and sounds the same with the windows down are up? Meowloud , you can hear it changing? I can not hear it change! It just seems to adjust its self as fast as I put the windows down and open the sunroof.I can have the windows open and not even hear the car that is right at my window.I guess it would be hard to tell if this system is not working right.