Reset that computer!
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2005 RX-8 Shinka 4AT #267
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11
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From: San Francisco, CA
Reset that computer!
Just wanted to pass on some advice to new RX-8 owners.
Ever since I got my Shinka a little over 3 months ago, it had a strange problem. After starting the car and driving for maybe 1 minute, the car would "hiccup" once during acceleration. The RPM would drop and it felt like the car was about to stall. It never actually stalled, and immediately recovered, but the loss of power was always disconcerting.
Furthermore, I bought the A/T, so for several weeks after the car was initially broken in, I drove primarily in manual shift mode just because it was so fun. What I didn't realize is that the ECU learns and adjusts to your driving style over time. I don't drive the car all that hard, but I do like to feel snappy acceleration, so I tend to shift later (~4000-5000 RPM) than the default shift points (~3000 RPM). Also, since I wasn't used to driving with clutchless shift, I had a hard time finding the best points to downshift during decceleration--not realizing that I usually didn't need to downshift on this car since it does a good job of this on its own. Over time, I found the car was snappier on accceleration but also a bit schizoid when accelerating hard and then quickly deccelerating (I live in San francisco; lots of stop signs). Under acceleration or when letting off accceleration, it would hestitate on the shift points, or quickly alternate between them.
These problems weren't all that bad, but I did find them frustrating and abnormal. I read about resetting the ECU/computer on this forum and decided to try it. It worked beautifully! I no longer have the hesitation within that first minute of driving, and the schizoid shifting behavior is gone completely.
So, my first bit of advice to new owners is to reset the computer after taking delivery of the car. My car had to be delivered from about 250 miles away, and the dealer drove it down instead of shipping it. I don't know what the ECU learned before I got the car, but it is much better after the reset.
My second bit of advice, if you have an A/T, is to avoid using manual shift mode too much during the first few weeks of ownership before the ECU has a chance to adjust to your driving style. Temping as it is, I'd suggest keeping the manual shifting under, say, 10-20% of your driving time until the ECU has been broken in.
Ever since I got my Shinka a little over 3 months ago, it had a strange problem. After starting the car and driving for maybe 1 minute, the car would "hiccup" once during acceleration. The RPM would drop and it felt like the car was about to stall. It never actually stalled, and immediately recovered, but the loss of power was always disconcerting.
Furthermore, I bought the A/T, so for several weeks after the car was initially broken in, I drove primarily in manual shift mode just because it was so fun. What I didn't realize is that the ECU learns and adjusts to your driving style over time. I don't drive the car all that hard, but I do like to feel snappy acceleration, so I tend to shift later (~4000-5000 RPM) than the default shift points (~3000 RPM). Also, since I wasn't used to driving with clutchless shift, I had a hard time finding the best points to downshift during decceleration--not realizing that I usually didn't need to downshift on this car since it does a good job of this on its own. Over time, I found the car was snappier on accceleration but also a bit schizoid when accelerating hard and then quickly deccelerating (I live in San francisco; lots of stop signs). Under acceleration or when letting off accceleration, it would hestitate on the shift points, or quickly alternate between them.
These problems weren't all that bad, but I did find them frustrating and abnormal. I read about resetting the ECU/computer on this forum and decided to try it. It worked beautifully! I no longer have the hesitation within that first minute of driving, and the schizoid shifting behavior is gone completely.
So, my first bit of advice to new owners is to reset the computer after taking delivery of the car. My car had to be delivered from about 250 miles away, and the dealer drove it down instead of shipping it. I don't know what the ECU learned before I got the car, but it is much better after the reset.
My second bit of advice, if you have an A/T, is to avoid using manual shift mode too much during the first few weeks of ownership before the ECU has a chance to adjust to your driving style. Temping as it is, I'd suggest keeping the manual shifting under, say, 10-20% of your driving time until the ECU has been broken in.
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