I am going to florida to pick up an 05 RX-8 brand new, and i will be driving it back. Its an eight hour drive from the dealership back to my home. Is it good to put so many miles on the car that quickly, and should i avoid opening it up on the interstate so soon?

 

When you pick up the car - Take a minute to read the owners manual about breaking the car in. A long drive is fine, but there are certain rules you will need to adhere to. Also don't forget to pick up a couple of litres of oil to keep in your trunk. Check the oil often. Please read the owner's manual - it can't be stressed enough...

 

big one is don't stay at the same speed for too long. vary your speed. :D

 

So yeah, bring one quart of engine oil just in case, don't rev past 4K, and vary your RPMs. Keeping the same speed is OK I think, just switch between 5th and 6th gears periodically so you don't stay at the same RPM.

 

this is probably the wrong thread for it here, but exactly what the heck bad happens when you're at the same engine speed? I would have thought that regardless of engine speed the rotors travel the same path.

 

Hunter, well at least in a piston engine the pistons actually swing upward at different rates based on rpm's so at 2000rpm's a piston travels to a certain point and at 5000rpm's that same piston will go past that point at the same time cutting grooves into the cylinder walls.

Now on a rotary engine I would think something similar occurs but not quite sure because there is a a wall there that a rotor can't go past, so not sure how that works. Maybe it has to do with seals?

 

I drove my new 8 about 300 miles then took it on the road for a 2500 mile cross country trip. It did fine, no problems. I got the oil changed on the other end. BTW it burned less than a half quart in the first 3000 miles. Got about 19 mpg.

 

I beg to differ, Brice. In a piston engine, the vertical tolerances are limited to the bearings at the top of the connecting rod and the piston, and then the bottom of the connecting rod to the crankshaft. There isn't going to be much extension at the higher RPM.

I would have thought this was more important because in a piston (almost called it a "normal" engine) there are so many more moving parts that need to be bedded in. Maybe it's not just the rotor, but the gearbox and clutch and driveshaft and differential and half shafts. But that wouldn't account for the difference in engine speed, would it?

I'm guessing your guess about the seals is probably it.

Hunter