boowana

You know, I don't think I can handle all of this in one day! I was planning on a "night run" tonight; you know, that's when you go out on a quiet major freeway without the cops around and you fold in your mirrors to make sure you max out the top speed you can achieve in your RX-8 after the break-in period is over... Well I was getting ready for the run tonight when I read about the horsepower thing from Mazda. Oh my God! My night run will be ruined! I am really pissed.
Well, I thought I would take it on the run anyway and then turn the car in Monday and get my money back. I thought, "I'll show these mothers"!
Of course I wasn't expecting the car to perform as advertised. I checked out the road and it was clear no cars, no cops, no bumps and clear weather. After warming it up, I got right after it; first gear, red line, second gear, redline third gear, red line, fourth gear, red line all in a few moments. Holly ****! 122 MPH and two gears to go! Oh my God! I might break the sound barier or at least get a BIG TICKET if I keep this up. Steady Boy, ease off the throttle...
Let me see if I understand this Mazda offer thing... If I give them $500 bucks and do all my own maintenance or pay double for it, I get to keep this fabulous car or I can be a complete idiot and give it back to them and get back what I paid for it. Is this the deal???
If it is, I think I'll pay the $500 and keep it because I wouldn't want anyone else to have the fun I've had so far.
If this is the case, you will have to remove this car form my dead cold hands...:D

Superfan

Uhh these are 2004 RX-8's

Kafka

My modded 1.8T has more power than that(193whp on a 1.8L small turbo)...wtf...

I was dreaming about getting 280hp with 18% drivetrain lost at the wheels...but now...its like 22% on 239hp(and it stated 238hp on
http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/hand...modelYear=2004)

....that really sucks...

anyway...a-spec mazdaspeed is won the race? I am VERY INTERESTED in seeing the dyno graph of THAT car.

theres NO WAY a 180rwhp car with 3000pounds kick a S2000 *** on the best motoring favorite track...
________
Honda CMX450C

Elevation8

Does anyone else get the feeling they initially lied about numbers?

The Automotive press seemed to hint that, it wasn't feeling as strong as: "250/hp?"

My guess is the number was exaggerated just to draw interest and put the rotary back on the market, hoping owners will love the car enough not to get rid of it.

Mazda should at least offer a discount to first year owners for Mazdaspeed parts as well.

Skyline Maniac

How about a free Mazdaspeed exhaust upgrade to raise the power to the 247hp claim?

pelucidor

Now that suggestion I like.

astrlsrfr

First off - kudos to this forum and its members - who can prolly take a large part of the credit for causing Mazda to buckle.

For me, this could work out nicely. I prefer to do all my own maintenance & I regret not getting the NAV installed. But, the car is a phreak on wheels & I can't imagine NOT having an RX-8. So, I'll likely opt for the buyback, then repurchase a new one w/ NAV. I might even change colors. Hell by the time Mazda is done with their screwups I might can cycle through all the colors.

Now, I wonder when they will fess up on their other major false claim: MPG

antman_x

I really don't see what all the fuss is about. SOOO WHAT!!!

All you cry babies return your car! Go buy an S2000 or that SRT-4 or a used camero.

BFD . Even if the horses were there the car would still be bested by the z350, S2000, WRX STi, EVO, and other pure race cars in a drag race.

I'm for sure going to keep mine take my 5 bills and 4 yrs maint and keep smiling. Don't know why I even considered returning the car.

'Nuff said out of me. Let the whining continue...

loco4rx8

EDIT: sorry for the double post :o

loco4rx8

This is not a false claim. There are people on this forum, including myself, who are getting the EPA estimate. Seems to me that it is either driving-style related or there was an early batch of cars that have a problem.

If there are individual cars with a problem, the owners need to take them to the dealer and have them work on it.

For what it's worth, I have ALWAYS gotten above the EPA highway estimate on my cars. After admittedly only two fillups, I'm optimistic that I will at least be able to achieve 24 mpg when I want to.

RX-8 Zoomster

First I don't think that Mazda lied or misformed no one.

Pure and simple is that the whole fiasco was caused by a stricter US emissions standard. That had to inform the consumer that the HP's changed, which they did. I do believe that Mazda engineers DID have an accurate HP rating at the flywheel BEFORE this car had to enter the U.S. It's my belief that because of emissions, the ECU had to be remapped (Euro3 ECU) to meet the stricter U.S. emissions. There was a rumor that the cars were held up at port for something dealing with emissions. That looks now to be true.

The original HP (247) is there and always will be, it is just de-throttled by a detuned ECU or other emissions related crap.

As a matter of fact, I think the original 280HP is there from the RX-EVOLV concept car. It is just being harnessed and, IMO, will eventually be unleashed by after-factory mods.

RX-8 Zoomster

You called this one right! :D

astrlsrfr

From my perspective (15 MPG avg, 1100 miles total) - the MPG claim is MOST DEFINITELY false. I drive as sane as anyone, my friend. I'm pretty sure that the 18-24 claim was supposed to apply to ALL RX-8s, including mine.

Having said that, there's yet another reason for me to take the buyback & get a new one - assuming your theory about a "bad batch" is right and the probelm has now been contained.

Skyline Maniac

Eh~ factory stock VQ35DE engine from the 350Z... some Japanese company took out the engine, hooked it up to a dyno with radiator, wide open exhaust and intake and the thing made well over 320hp. Does that mean Nissan should go around advertising the Nissan Altima at 320hp and simply 'detuned' to 245 because of emission? It's the same engine, you know~

TJRX8

What???!!??

What??!??!

Complete idiot for enjoying a car for 2 months or more putting 2000 plus miles on it and selling it back for the same amount I paid...hmmm sounds like something an idiot would do.

loco4rx8

I didn't make the point I was trying to make -- if there are some cars that have a fuel economy problem, then they need to be fixed. But that is not the same as saying that ALL cars have lower horsepower than advertised. That is a false claim. The MPG issue is a problem with some cars, not all of them. I don't know if there's a bad batch or not, just an idea.

I'm sorry you're having the problem and hope it's resolved, or that you get what you want if you decide to sell the car back.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

gas mileage DOES improve as engine gets more mileage on them.

my Protege (yeah i know it's not a rotary, but bear with me) got consistently crappy mileage (22mpg when it should be between 24-29mpg) for the good part of the 1st year I owned the car. But around 10,000 miles, just all of a sudden, gas mileage jumped to about 25mpg in mixed city/hwy driving, and I have yet to dip below 24mpg since (24mpg when I have A/C on most of the time in a tank).

so I wouldn't hold a knife to Mazda demanding an explanation to gas mileage just yet.

also, gasoline composition can greatly affect mileage as well. Winter gas tends to get worse gas mileage than summer gas, and sometimes gas in big cities get worse mileage than something you get in the suburbs.

ok i'm done with my non-rotary rant :D

RX-8 Zoomster

I totally agree with you here.

I relayed this news, of the lower HP to my wife, and asked her, just out of curiosity since she is the only one to drive our car, which option would she take - keep the car with the free service and $500 or sell it back. Her response was "no way would we return the car". "This car is freakin fast already". "Since the car is almost perfect, the free schedule maintenance is icing on the cake"

I think quite a few that already own the car would agree with her statements.

On a related note, did anyone notice all the new posters (5 posts or less) that suddenly "joined" this club, and surprising have nothing good to say, except to flame Mazda and the car we own. A good reason why this club requires one to join. I can't imagine being part of an owner's forum that would have unbridled control of who could post. That would be an open invitation to all the flamers. Definately more than we see now.

canzoomer

I assume by this statement that you have never owned a car and added an aftermarket cold air intake unit then?
I have.
They DO add power.
Often a LOT of power.
And they are LOUD.
VERY LOUD.
An intake howl sounds kind of neat, but not what a new car manufacturer considers to be acceptable form the noise level point of view.
At least not what most makers feel is acceptable (unless they are Ferrari, perhaps!)

The typical air intake assembly is a marvelous piece of work designed to tune out resonance, noise and objectionable rasp, while not removing TOO much power.

IF you are willing to live with a substantial amount of noise at full throttle, by all means change the air intake.

Skyline Maniac

The last large fiasco was conducted by Ford motor on their Mustang Cobras. The one before that was Miata. Kind of interesting how Ford is now Mazda's parent company and they seem to stick to the same cook book. The new Altima also has a problem with power rating, seems that the car exceeds the 240hp claim and routinely puts down dyno numbers that would suggest a 250hp engine. This enabled Nissan to raise the power claim on the 2003 Altima to 245hp without having to do anything~ Sweet deal if you ask me.

partovi

Do you guys think that Mazda will try to get the HP back up to 248 when they realease the 2005 model. Or do you think they will just stick with the RX-8 only putting out 239HP. What happend with the Miata? Did they keep it the same the next year or fix it.

Skyline Maniac

I think they will attempt to recover the 250hp rating by 2004, either through ECU tuning or more likely intake/exhaust efficiency. Mazda is going to NEED that number to compete in the US market. Remember, Accord and Altimas are already making 240+hp, and the Legacy will be 250hp. This is the second coming of the muscle car, and for better or worse people look at the power ratings and take it into serious consideration when they buy a new performance oriented car.

RX-8 Zoomster

Don't be ridiculous. No they shouldn't.

Obviously something happened at import, that caused Mazda to detune this engine. And I think it is nothing but emissions, as I stated earlier. Whether it was a more recent and stricter emissions standard that had to be met, looks like Mazda had to use a different ECU (Euro3 ECU perhaps?) among other things. Do I still find some fault in Mazda for not knowing the expected emission standards earlier? Yes, but I'm satisfied with the performance of this vehicle already, and as I stated before, I am not overly disappointed because I didn't buy my car based on the HP number. As a matter of fact, my trust in Mazda is strengthened because of their amends to the current owners.

All manufacturers advertised ratings are subject to change, usually an asterick to a fine print. Mazda revised the rating noted the change on their website. With present owners, they are making amends. I applaude the on that fact.

I really appreciated your more recent and sincere posts, before you found out Mazda revised the HP numbers. I know you are providing a point to argue or debate wanting but don't start making posts to flame or provoke an altercation.

iamcanadian

Yes, I am a new poster to the board but I have been following the discussions for months and am an avid Mazda fan, and remain so even after all of this. Everyone buys cars for different reasons. If you bought this car for power or fuel efficiency you should have spent your money elsewhere. If power was one of the reasons I can emphathize. Bottom line to me is that you still have a fantastic looking car, that is functional, more than adequately quick, handles great and is unique.

On a slightly different note, I have noticed some comments regarding Mazda Canada not having changed their website, which still says 247hp. I am wondering whether, if this is a US emissions problem, the Canadian models did not have their mapping changed and are still at 247hp? Possible I guess. Comments?

canzoomer

As of 4:00 p.m. today, Mazda Canada still was claiming there is no problem.
I know because I called them and asked.