New RX-8!
 

I picked up a new car! Just bought a 2009 R3, 40,000 km on it with snow tires and rims for $23k. I have a couple questions/comments on it so far

2 tanks of gas through it so far, averaged 18.3 MPG, and with a fair bit of city driving, not bad from what I've heard but a shock from my little four banger I traded in. As someone here said, no matter what your expectations are, it'll be worse!

The car rumbles a bit at idle, every couple of seconds it gives a little shake and occasionally the rpm flutters a tiny bit. It's minor enough to be nothing but... It's a new car so I might as well ask if I should be concerned! Above 2 km/h it's completely gone. I'll be putting new plugs and coils in it on the next paycheck for my own peace of mind, probably going to stick with OEM for now. It's also going in for a compression test soon again just for peace of mind, but the car's in immaculate shape and mileage is low, I'm not worried there. It drives like a dream so far. The S2's seem to be a lot more reliable too, but I guess they haven't been around long enough to really tell so far.

It came with 20" rims, linked below. I'm not in love with them and may want to trade them out for 18's. They're just so heavy! I'll be taking the car down to the track (Cayuga for anyone in Ontario) and I'm not sure what the difference between the two will be. 20 inch rims seem a little harsh for a low torque car but the smaller sidewalls will help on cornering? 18's should give a bit better ride handling too I would think. It worth the money? At least I can sell these, they only have 700 km on them.

087 - MSR Wheels

And finally in the "great oil debate" I see a lot of reports, especially the (2007?) Mazmart tear down that showed the lighter oil was causing bearing damage and they recommended going higher, so I feel comfortable with 5W30 I think, I haven't seen any evidence for the guys going higher other than "it's better." The guy at the dealership said to always go synthetic but the manual and consensus here seems to say keep it old fashioned. Without starting another whole thread, I'm on the right track? Should I switch to 5W20 in our cold Canadian winters? It will be winter driven, but it's not a commuter car. Gotta love walking to work!

I'll try to get some more pictures up shortly, this is off the dealers website.

Well, the R3 comes stock with really nice 19" wheels.
If those wheels have the snow tires on them, then just use the 20's until they are bald, and next season, sell them, and switch back to the stock wheels for all year use.

New coils wires and plugs will never hurt, especially since the car is new to you, and you doubt they've been changed as of yet.

As for the oil thing, the S2 engines come from the factory with higher oil pressure, so I doubt there's been any teardown evidence done of one to see if the 5W-20 is killing the ESS and rotor bearings like it did in the S1 engines.

So, pretty much, pick something, and stick with it.
If its under warranty, and that matters to you, stick with 5W-20 and conventional.

BC.

Strangely enough, the snow tires are on steelies, the original rims never came with the car. the dealership didn't want to sell it with the ugly steels so swapped these in. I guess someone liked the R3 rims and didn't want to give them up with the car!

A shame you didn't get the oem rims.

I use 5W30 all year, and store for the winter. You MAY consider going to a lighter weight when the white stuff comes. However, it's not mandatory.

You seem like you're on the right track. Make sure you read the stickies, do some research and most of all- enjoy the car ;)

ill trade ya my r3's rims for volk te57 gloss black =)

Oh the other thing I was wondering about, I'll obviously be wanting to make this a little unique, add my own touches to it. I'm thinking of starting with brake caliper paint and painted oil cooler screens. I'll start off with something cheap and once I get into tracking the car next year do something more serious. My overall impression so far:

BHR Ignition upgrade is common but doesn't add power and still needs replacement. Not sure that it's overall worth the money over OEM

Air intakes don't add anything but sound, and I like the quiet purr, and I don't want to mess with the cat, again seems like a lot of potential hassle for the gains.

I like the look of the mazdaspeed sway bars, anyone have some feedback on how that interacts with the stock suspension? Should I do the whole thing at once or start with coilovers?

From what I hear the water pump option isn't as needed on the S2 as they've fixed up the cooling a fair bit?

I'm thinking ignition, some small cosmetics then next year playing with the suspension and probably the short shifter, by then I'll be looking at new tires. How did you guys approach aftermarket mods, with a focus on track driving, reliability and a limited budget?

Search around and get ideas what people do. Asking for mod advice is like asking us to dress you in the morning.

What did you mean by bhr coils not adding power and needing replacement?
There are other benefits to the bhr coils...

Great looking car, with the exception of the fact that you got robbed of the stock rims. The weight savings alone, compared to those heavy (and ugly..sorry) 20's would make it that much more worth it.

I can't see into the car in your picture, but I'm assuming that they at least left you with the Recaros intact.

Nice R3, get some stockers on her NOW :rant:

Nice looking ride. Anyway, as others already mentioned...get oem's.