The car is kinda shaky when driving. Most of the time, there is a whirling sound, but I guess everyone has that. What bothers me is the vibration when driving. Actually it doesn't bother me, I just wanna know if everything is fine with the car. It's an 04 AT. Thanks.

 

wheels out of balance? wheels bent?

 

I don't know what else to say. I'm not a car expert, but as my gf said, "It feels like sitting on top of a vibrator" lol.

They checked out the car before I bought it and everything was fine. Maybe I'll take it to the dealership to get it checked out?

 

i can almost guarantee its the wheels. those tire pressure monitors really throw off the balance. either the weights fell off while you were driving or you got some serious bends on your rim.

 

The wheels look good, but there was a problem when I bought it. The guy taking it to get it checked out cut a tire and they needed it replaced. I can almost garantee that the car was the same before he cut the tire. I guess I'll get the wheels checked out. The rims look fine.

 

Slow speeds, I think when going fast (above 50) it doesn't happen. I haven't checked tire pressures. I haven't hit any curbs, but I got the car used (14k miles). Virbrates when idle until I speed up.

 

if you speed up and the vibration doesn't increase, then it's not the wheels. sounds like a misfire.

 

I'll take it for a test drive in a couple of min. I haven't driven it that much since I've got it because I don't have insurance yet.

 

I useds to have a Benz that did the same thing. It wouldnt happen when i want slow, started at something like 50 and ended at like 80. It was the wheels. Have them checked out.

 

they replaced a tire? make syre all the tires are the same brand/type etc. there was at least one post before where to do a quick fix a dealer pulled a tire off another car on the lot and they used a dunlop or whatever instead of the reo40 like teh otehr 3 tires on the car. also see if the tire is on in the correct direction. they are uni-direction tires.

ask your girl friend- "why is she complaining?"

 

check for everything Abbid mentioned.

1. does the vibration increase with wheel speed?
2. does it vibrate at idle/sitting still?
3. can you feel it through the steering wheel or the bottom of your seat?
4. does it worsen when turning?

just try to be as specific as you can. check your tire pressure as well.

you said you had a tire replaced...your wheels could still be un-balanced.

you really can't tell if a rim is bent just by looking at it. the inner lip could be bent as well. feel your tires. do they feel lumpy?

 

3. well the girlfreind must be feeling it thru the seat since its vibrating her.

 

maybe she was sitting on the shifter

 

hey you said it not me!! (i was thinking it too tho:D)

 

great minds think alike.

 

It might be the tires, I don't know. Also, is the whirling sound supposed to be there all of the time? And when I brake from at least 15MPH, it sounds like an airplane on landing. I took a video with my cell phone, I'll try uploading it somewhere. You can hear the whirling.

 

Has it always made the whirring noise?
Just asking becasue the rotary engine does sound quite different then your 'normal' car.

When was the last time you had the brakes checked?
The pads could be running low or maybe you've warped the rotors? Have you made any panic stops recently?

I'm leaning towards it being the wheels. You can have the dealership rotate AND balance them, that might help out.

 

It always made that sound. Maybe the sound is normal, but it seems that there is too much of it. I haven't gotten anything checked yet, I just got the car.

 

first thing first... just take it to the dealership and tell them your concerns.

if they dont fix it or send u off without doing nething to your car and say that they werent able to reproduce anything, then you should start stressing out and coming to this forum seeking help. but first go to the dealership if u have the time

 

bad wheel bearing?

 

You may just be experiencing the crappiness of the AT transmission they used in the RX-8. If you keep the RPMs below 2000 while driving in full auto, and you're in 3rd or 4th at low speeds, the car will start jerking...pretty much the engine lugging. This remains the only automatic I've driven to date where you can actually feel the engine lugging...and I find it pretty sad that I can feel such lugging in a 30k+ sports car when most cheapy ATs don't have such a problem.

Try driving in tiptronic mode and keep the revs above 2000...drop down a gear if you need to, but don't go into first. Then see if you still have this problem.

As for the whirring...hell that's half the reason people bought this car. :D

 

I got the videos hosted, but it's in .3g2 format. That's from a cell phone file. I can't even open this ****, see if you guys could.

http://s88573408.onlinehome.us/3g2/4.3g2
http://s88573408.onlinehome.us/3g2/5.3g2
http://s88573408.onlinehome.us/3g2/6.3g2

 

I'm pretty sure the whirring is normal. I just got my rx-8 last week. At first I was little annoyed by the whirring noise, but now I am accustomed to it as the unique idling sound of a rotary engine. I now think it is awesome!!

 

install quicktime

 

I got it to work. Did you notice anything unusual when watching the video? The noises or anything?