New here, with an RX8 of course
 

Hi there,

Picking my shiny new 09 RX8 today or tomorrow after I finalize the papers. Was browsing through the net trying to find more information about maintenance, any quirks to look out for, and especially, good places to take it in for check-ups and repairs and stuff.

Don't have any pics as of yet, but it's a Touring model with the premium package. Doing a 36month lease on it for 400$/mo flat.

Looking forward to enjoying my RX8 and learning more about them :)

Congrats on the purchase. What color is it?

Thanks :)

Ah yes, sorry, forgot to say, silly me :p

I got the red one, had a choice between white or red, so I picked red, I don't really like how it looks in white.

After the lease I'll probably buy it though and repaint it a metallic/dark orange of some sort

Hello and Welcome ..............

You have a lease , so any issues you'll take it to the dealership. The oil is one thing to keep an eye out for . The rotary drinks more than your piston engine. There is also a brake in period on a new RX8. Check your handy booklet for that .

Yea I kinda figured that for the dealership, but once I get off the lease is what I meant :p

I've read through quite a few threads while waiting to get activated, anything I should be particular about when signing for the keys? It's a brand-new 09 mind you, so I shouldn't think I need to check for anything, but ya never know :)

I'm going to look into what's the best choice in oil for the RX8 as soon as I get it as well, thanks

Ah yes, it's also a manual trans, and it's my first stick car :p

Should be fairly interesting, during the test drive I was fairly capable of switching gears once I got going.. only problem I had was starting and ended up stalling some 20+ times :p

Practice makes perfect

There is really only a couple of things to look out for. One is check your oil every other fill up ,and don't start the car and immediately shut it off , you could flood the engine. Let it warm for a few mins first. Read you owners manual. If you get the manual ,don't lug it around at a low rpm. Do the break in correctly. Remember that rotaries like rpms but you don't have to drive around at the redline. Like I said before, don't lug your engine. Choose the right gear when you mash the pedal down. Enjoy the RX8 driving experience!

Well I meant when I go pick it up :p

I did take the time to read through a great deal of threads about the oil, the flooding, and how the engine behaves

On the '09 you don't have to worry too much about flooding though as Mazda have improved that area.

Congrats and welcome.

Thanks for the welcomes guys and girls.

Finally got the keys to my car today after many delays and steam blowing, took it for a spin., man, what a blast!

I need to learn how to use a manual trans better but I'm getting the hang of it a bit, still stall 1 out of 2 times at a stop/light. I just love it when the guy behind me gets pissed off, drives by and flicks me off, and then I get it into gear and just whiz past him. :D

The guys at the dealership were pretty cool and gave me a free tank of premium and made sure the oil was topped off as well.

Been digesting the manual and going through it very thoroughly, lots of interesting info.

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Miami with it so I can see how it does on the highway and how the cruise system works and everything.

So far though, I love the car, it's sexy, it handles really well, hugs the ground, I had a blast taking the turns in my neighborhood at 35mph (they're slightly banked).

Did have a few miss-shifts where I rev'ed and put it into gear though, was on the highway for a short while and shifted really hard, made the wheels spin before the DSC kicked in.

A LOT of looks this car gets though, makes me a bit worried about people potentially scratching it on purpose or something :(

LOL with a red '09 you're bound to snap a bunch of necks! Hopefully there's enough respect in PB to not key your baby

Hey Dark, I've been driving sticks for nearly all of my 48 years. One day, some smarta$$ on a motorcycle got within an inch of my bumper on an steep uphill red light. There was no room for a rollback, because this guy was evidently looking for a lawsuit. That's when I discovered that the 8 has an awesome parking brake handle for uphill starts. (Engage first. Hold the parking brake with your hand. Gas-in. Clutch out. Let go of the brake.)

Frankly, I think that parking brake handle is one of the best features on the car. Give it a try. It may help you out on a few of those uphill starts. Enjoy!

For those of you who haven't been uphill challenged yet, see how great that parking brake handle is for this. I think you'll agree.

the best way to break in your engine is to drive it REALLY HARD for the first 3000 miles.

oil change at 500 miles, 1000 miles, 3000 miles.

this will give you the best compression possible.

Drive it really hard during break in? Not sure about that.

I've been noticing all the people starring at it. Really starting to make me worry, though I don't think it'll get into trouble as long as I stay in the nicer neighborhoods. (I hope)

That's a good tip, thanks! Thankfully, there aren't many hills/slopes in Florida, so this shouldn't be much of a problem for me.

Hmm, the manual says to avoid being rough with it for the first 3,000 miles.


I noticed something rather annoying about the car today when I went out, it had giant water spots all over. I guess the water sprinklers did this, or maybe it rained. Either way, it's rather annoying to see the red paint dirtied by it.

Sucks to have to wash the car on the first day :(


Also noticed my windscreen water jet thingies don't work, even though the tank for it is full and the pump works, it barely puts out any water. :(

Clay bar the car to get rid of the water spots. They're usually from the washing that the dealer does on it's lot every couple of days. You'll see pickups with big water tanks on them, these guys spray off the cars and then wipe them down... needless to say it's not the best way and water spots can result. A nice clay bar treatment should get rid of them all. Follow this up with a good waxing.

Take it back to the dealer for the windshield cleaner. Sounds like a kinked line or bad pump... might even be a loose connector.

Break it in the way the manual says. Drive gently, vary your speed, and gradually raise the rev limit.

There was a thread here not long ago about breaking in piston motorcycle engines by running hard. I also remember debates in my youth about how to break in model airplane engines so that the bronze crankshaft bearing would get the right shape. I'm not convinced about the "break it in hard" theory for either of those, but in any event the Renesis isn't a piston motorcyle or model airplane engine.

Ken

Called the dealer, told me to swing by on Monday for the cleaner.

I've never waxed a car actually, so I'll look into a clay bar and how to wax my car, thanks :)

Waxing the car can be a few hours of zen if you prepare right. Lots of threads here about which to use, find the one you like best... Zaino is one of my favorites.

1. Make sure you have a shady spot to do it
2. Have all your supplies ready
3. Any alcoholic beverage of your choice with refilling materials nearby
4. Profit

Also, if you park your car outside at night you might look into getting a car cover.

Welcome to the addiction and pics or it didnt happen haha....

Hehe thanks, I'll get pics as soon as Dad comes back with the camera today


Ooh, alright, great, thanks :)

Now I need to find a shady spot... Kinda hard to do in Florida :P

I'll definitely look into a car cover though as Mom's car gets the garage. I'm assuming they're waterproof?

I'll take a gander through the forums and see what stores people have used as well since I'm completely clueless about good stores.. I hope there's some sort of Newegg but for cars :P

Thanks a lot guys, very helpful :)

Pics are here :)

http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1399/img4295nf3.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7816/img4296wq0.jpg

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/2520/img4301ik2.jpg