Today I drove a new 2004 with 110 miles on it. Mine has 8000 miles on it. Mine seems to have MUCH more acceleration than the new model. Did I imagine that or is this a real attribute of the Rotary engine.

 

your could have all the flashes .that might make up the difference.the dealers won't install flashes until the owner complains.new car no flashes

 

Interesting, if I buy a new 8, can I tell them to install new flashes at that time? What is the flash actually telling the engine to do?

 

my car definately feels faster now with 1700 miles than it did with 17 miles

 

when u pass ur breaking period car tends to run smoother... thats y stronger accel...

 

It's the same with any motor, once a few kms have been put on it, the engine "frees" up.

 

I'm not a mechanic, but as far as I know, a new engine is extremely tight and has more friction than one that has been broken in. As you run the engine, the tight points wear off.(Causing increase in power)

After being broken in, stuff starts to wear more. (Causing loss of power)

In the case of the RX-8, my personal concern is about the Renesis side seals that may be a future wear point causing loss of power. There's a long thread about it. But I felt it related to this discussion.

As always, YMMV.

 

Also doesn't the ECU 'learn' your driving habits? So if you drive hard (guessing we all do to some extent) , it favors that kind of accelerator 'expression' and as it is an electronic throttlle, makes it happen for you.

On the other hand a new car well... is simply 'untrained'! :D

I think (?) I've noticed that after a track day hauling around at 9k for extended time, the car is much more responsive for a while (days) before it settles back to normal. Or perhaps I'm just imagining it - hard to tell.

 

Not true for all dealers. My 8 had all the TSB's performed before I bought it. I know because I looked for the stickers.

 

What stickers do I look for and where? Do they always put the stickers on if thy perform this update?

 

usually you would see the sticker underneath the hood but I think that the dealers have run out of them. When I picked up my 8, I looked for the sticker and didn't find one ... so don't be surprised if you don't have one. You can ask your service guy to look up on the computer what flash you have. or you can do the brake stomp test (lets you know that you have L or M flash)

I seem to remember after a certain mileage point that the ECU becomes less "restrictive". Anyone know? I seem to remember 1000 or 3000 miles.

 

Heres a link to the TSB's. In the instructions most of them state where the service techs are supposed to place the stickers. And yes, the dealer is suppose to perform the TSB's as the come in, and attach the stickers.

 

I have noticed a big improvement in how much more the engine is willing to rev and I feel it's about ten hp more now with 15k on it. I have got 4 mpg more now then my first tanks got both around town and hwy. This is my 7th Rotary(bought my first in '71) and it's the most fun one too.

 

Yeah, compression ratio goes up during break-in.

 

My car feels much more ready to spool up with the 3000 miles on it now. Before it felt very tight. They also just made some upgrades on my computer... it had to be towed into the shop becuase the car wouldn't start. The dealer admitted to me the RX-8 will easily flood itself, especially when the ambient temp is near freezing ...and only the dealer can de-flood the engine.

They avoided telling me exactly what they did to the computer, but the gas mileage went from 350km per tank down to 280km/tank. What the hell did they do?

 

The dealer probably reflashed your ECU/PCM.

Check out this thread for an explanation.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=34936

 

I noticed that too - and the opposite, in that it was definitely a better car after a couple of sessions.

 

Cam, that was a very informative post. Thanks, now I understand a lot more about the Flashes. I assume by the 2005's have the M Flash already installed?

 

Yes, the 05's have the M Flash. I believe all 8's past a certain build date (not sure of the date) have the M Flash from the factory.

Im thining March/April 04 build date, but I may be wrong.