Rev too high?
 

I just purchased an '04 GT 6sp RX8 less than a week ago. I've read a decent amount of info on the rotary engine (but still learning), and am aware of the high-revving capabilities of the car. However, while still getting a feel for the engine and tranny I have made a couple of mistakes. From about 60-65mph I attempted a 6th to 4th shift, but hit second by accident. Of course the tach immediately jumped up above 9k for maybe half a second before I corrected. And, last night I accidentally revved to 9250, maybe as high as 9500 in second gear while passing on the highway.

Now, I have read some comments on similar topics here in the rx8 club, but I am looking for some other opinions.

Have I risked any damage by over-revving? How can you identify over-revving damage?

Thanks for your input.

Hi VA-rx, welcome to the forum.

Well, first of all I'll assume you bought a used RX-8. How many miles? If it has many thousands you certainly don't have to worry about departing from proper break-in procedures.

How about engine temp? Typically we all say - keep it under 4k rpms until the temp gauge moves, then keep it under 5k until the temp gets to normal operating point, then wait 5 more minutes before redlining it.

When you were passing in 2nd, did you hear the beeeeeep of the shift tone? Most of us hear that every day (once our engine is good and warm). You were probably going about 60-65 in 2nd on the highway last night so I wouldn't worry about the down-shift you outlined as your first concern (but I would be more careful ;) ).

Where did you buy it? Do you trust them? You might want to get a fresh oil change (not so much because of the rev'ing you brought up, just to insure proper maintenance).

if youre still driving youre ok

60 in second is ok .. 65 maybe cutting it close to fuel cut off .. if you dumped into 2nd at 70 i think you may cause damage .. but normaly releasing the clutch into 2nd at 65 should give you enough time to correct your action and depress the clutch without any problems .. you probably didnt get the time since you noticed the >9k rpms

just learn yourshifter a bit better b4 doing this again

hint .. you're better off both with accelarating and shifting to going into 3rd then 4th with that 60-70speed .. though i do both... at 50 you can go for 2nd and slam it until then next quick change to 3rd

I wouldn't worry about it too much, since it sounds like you caught it pretty quick. 2nd will go as high as the high 60's before hitting the rev limiter.

Your second question, yes the rev limiter. I wouldn't worry too much about upshift revving too high, because the car doesn't let you hurt anything. There is a shift limiter that will bounce you at about 9400 or 9500 rpm. When you hit it, you will know as the revs drop to about the mid 8 range before you get your power back as a reminder to shift.

This car shifts so smoothly sometimes it's hard to get a feel at how high it's revving, so Mazda also put in a beep that goes off at 8500 rpm to remind you. This is pretty low and if you got the radio going, you probably won't even hear it, but the limiter will remind you again. No worries about blowing the engine...

I have read articles that the engine will rev to 18000 rpm's but the tranny won't take over 10000rpm's, which is why Mazda doesn't let you get there...

So, hit 9000 about once a week to clear the carbon buildup (it good for the engine) and welcome to the addiction...

dummy question: is it ever harmful to skip gears? ie 3rd to 5th...

welcome to the family! Don't worry the car was basically made for High-Revving.. Just don't shift aimlessly, because it wears out your clutch and it could possibly cause some damage. Though hearing your story it seems like you moved fast and prevented anythign from happening... Just enjoy the car and hear for the BEEEEEEEEEEP... good luck and have fun

Thanks for your reponses. I purchased the car with almost 22k mi. from a private seller. It seems like he took really good care of it, he has all service records, kept it in prime condition, and the mazda master mech. at my dealer had nothing but good things to say about it. Shortly after purchase the had the Racing Beat springs, front and rear sway bars, and endlinks installed. He installed Mb Quart components and JL audio sub in custom box with PG amps. Also, he installed a Viper alarm. It is fully loaded, Black on Black, tint, NAV...more than I could have ever dreamed of finding for this price. It handles like a dream.

The engine was up to operating temp. with both of my screw ups. I def. learned turn the stereo down if I'm going to be running it hard b/c of the crazy smoothness, at least for now. The engine note is music enough.

So...general concensus: not a big deal? Just don't do it too much?

What do you think.

general consensus is do it all the time.. but right

no but sometimes its wise to pay attention to the revs .. and if necessary match as close to the needed rpm as you can .. prevents clutch wear .. but in short no .. if you were really crazy you could probably try going from 1st to 5th with no problem

i'd guess it was harder on your clutch than your engine. but definately don't do it a lot, and don't do it if you aren't rev matching.

You don't have to worry about valve contact on the rotary like you do on a piston engine, but you don't want to go buck wild because the e-shaft can flex. i don't think there has been anyone that has done that. i think the guestimates are around the 13-15k rpm range for the e-shaft to flex, and then bad, bad things would happen.

It'll be fine. Also, if you can bounce the throttle on your downshifts you'll find it smoother too.

Bounce...like just tap it once to get proper rpm and back off?

Yep - bleep the trottle to rev match. The more you drive the Renesis, the easier it is to accomplish. I'm at 40K of shear madness, in fact I can't wait to drive home!

What would you recommend as the first performance mod? Intake, exhaust, flywheel, ecu? Specific brand/model?

Driving school :rollingla

It all depends on what you are looking for. Light weight flywheel and high flow cat midpipe are the biggest bang.

I did something similar in my earlier days of having the car; mine was worse because I never even noticed anything was wrong until I hit the rev limiter. I had the stereo up and never heard the redline beep, and I was somewhat bent out of shape that it wasn't louder.

But I've found this: it doesn't take that long before you get sufficiently atuned to the sound that you start being able to hear it through the radio. Its like your ear learns to monitor just that frequency. I haven't had a problem of not hearing the beep in a long time, and I still often have the music up.

I thought the engine is programmed to cut off before conditions are ripe for damage to take place in an over-rev' situation.

Performance driving lessons.
Mazda engineers left very little for the aftermarket to improve on. You can get the short shift kit for better shift feel and an aftermarket exhaust to improve the sound but the only way to get power is with forced induction.
The handling comes down to preference. I would like a bit higher spring rate and damping in the rear and better anti sway bars. I would not lower the car.
The brakes are great unless you do serious racing.
Have fun!

same thing happened to me long time ago. i used to set the ALC level to 3, and didn't realize i rev it up to 9.5k. now i set the level to 1 but i haven't driven my car really hard since winter came. my wheel slip easily during winter when i go wot.
small suggestion to VA-rx, when you shift down from 5th or 6th to 3rd or 4th gear, don't push the lever to the left, just let it go to the center by itself. btw, i rarely skip gear, i think it's much easier and faster to shift from 5th to 4th IMO.

you basically can't over-rev a wankel engine,

case in point the 26B engine in the mazda 787B race car, they limited the engine to 9,500 rpm where it made 700 hp, after the race it was in near perfect condition, the engine made 900 hp at 10,500 rpm.

also remember that the rotors are only spinning at one third the speed of the e-shaft and the revs shown on the tachometer are the e-shaft revs. electric motors will spin as fast as 30,000 rpms with no trouble, so yeah, don't worry about the engine, just worry about the tranny (your fuel cut off very likely won't let you hurt the tranny either)

I dropped mine into 2nd at 100 mph instead of fourth, it went right in, the tach swept almost to the digital speedo ( an inch or more past the 10k line ) and I simply hit the clutch put it back and gear and continued on my merry way. No problems at all since then.

damn i take my rx8 to 9500 in first and second all the time to keep the revs up u have now worrys just dont saty in the red for a long time and u r fine

Now THAT is a story. I will never worry about this again!

Hey, Hows the sound past 10k? even more musical?
________
SelenaCutie

I always do 2,4,6 when rolling through stop signs just to save on wear and tear. Way more important than over revving is applying too much throttle at low revs which can induce pre-ignition. Detonation effects on rotor seals can be instantantaneous and devastating. You'll know when you loose oil pressure and start blowing smoke after a few hundred miles. So, when it doubt, rev that puppy!
:mdrmed: