For some information guys, my car just 'broke in'....
 

What does that mean?

Well with the most of you I had noticed that as I climbed the rev range the car was not as peppy as the torque curves presented it to be. My maximum power was coming from 3-4k it seemed, and after 6000 felt rather sluggish.

Today being the start of a weekend, I get to drive my car a little harder than normal since well... I don't drive much during the week as I'm working.

I wound out the car to 6000 and noticed, hey... it's pretty good up here today. Weird. I did it a few more times and there was definately some kick... I dropped the RPMs down just a tad under 6 and then back up, and the car lurched forward harder and harder. I was very, very pleased with this.

Some information... I have just broken 2000 miles (2044 to be exact). I put in a full tank of gas before this (the light was on, so I was pretty empty), Sunoco 93 Octane.

I am not sure if this gives some of you something to look forward to but I hope so! I was happy to see that some of the power *does* come back as suggested by reports and today I can verify it personally. Hope you all keep the car long enough to find out... winding out the gearbox today was *really* fun :)

Not to sound skeptical, however butt dyno's do lie from time to time. Could be cooler weather?

It was 82 degrees out... it's been cooler than this outside when I was driving hard.

It might just be me, but I really do believe there is a good deal more power now... but that's something you have to judge on your own.

butt dyno
 

I wish I could add more to this Herc. I'm over 4K miles now. However, during the first 600 I seldom hit 6000RPM; during the next 200 miles 7K, next 200 8K, I don't think I hit redline until around 1000. By the time I got it to Deal's Gap, I was around 1500 miles - I'd have to check to be sure. I can tell those who care this much. I let a guy from FL who's been racing RX-7s since the 1980s (about 17 years) up through the Gap and back. (11 miles, 318 turns, mountain roads -it's a blast. Highly recommend if you are ever anywhere close to Knoxville TN, Asheville NC you try it! For more reference, they came to the Gap in his wife's MR Spyder because his Miata was down (sad story, lost engine at 60K, he only had it about 6 mos). So he has some idea of what a sports car should drive like, handle like, and perhaps how much power this much-vaunted RX-8 he'd like to see it have. He LOVED it. They'll be getting one next spring. Just have to decide color. Back to my butt dyno-it literally jumped in 2nd gear in the 5K-7K rpm band then, continues to do so. I am pretty sure I can get into the 6sec 0-60 range and maybe...(hope to try next Friday night) see a 15 sec 1/4 mile - but I've never tried that so I have some learning to do... so far my launch practice while trying to keep it tame in town has produced rear wheel spin around 5K-I'm sure it'll be entertaining to do some 6K-7K launches... to summarize,I think Herc has a good and likely valid point. Not all cars are the same. I hope most are found acceptable in the eyes of their owners while I recognize for various reasons some will return theirs. I haven't decided....

So rx8daniel..how did your RX-8 perform through the Gap in your opinion and not just the speed but handling the hairpins? I'm planning to do the Dragon's Tail next spring (would like to this fall but you know how the color gawkers clog the road). I've been on a little of that type of road in north Georgia, but I know it does not compare with Deal's Gap.

This is already being talked about at: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/what-do-you-feel-6250-rpm-9876/

---jps