Why is it that after a long drive or being driven aggressively, the whole central "column", ie the bit that runs between the 4 seats become hot! The storage compartments warm up the contents, and even my boot becomes warm!

Does this happen to your RX8 aswell, or am I suffering a problem? I only got my RX8 a month ago, it was used, with only 7000 miles on the clock.

Thanks, Rich

 

Dont worry its normal..mine does the same...u must remember that CAT is just bellow the centre colum and it gets pretty hot....another point u should look at is the the engines location is mid mounted and just behind the dash literaly...so the gas flow is quick...Rotory engines will get hot quick...remember it works twice as hard to produce power....more revs...your car is fine...if u remove the CAT then the heat will stop...u will then lose the warranty and we dont want that on a second hand car...
Cheers

 

Isn't removing the cat illegal? I know that it wont be able to pass smog. And yes Rotaries do tend to run hotter.

 

My 8 has a high flow cat, and after a few days the heat turned it a nice deep blue. These engines run several hundred degrees hotter than pistons.

 

Mine runs a bit warm, but that is normal. I do recall hearing/reading about a recall for this in the 2003 built models. Something about an insulation guard that was added to the console to reduce the heat emanation.

 

It's not a problem at all. It's a feature, the mazda rx8 cup warmers. It's all good, and you got it for free ! :D

 

LOL.. I left a bottle of water in the cup holder for a few hrs on a long drive.. When i took the water out it was almost as hot as a coffee! hehehe, thought that was funny


MrJynx

 

Funny, unless you like cold drinks! That's it i'm trading this piece of junk in.

 

Our engines run alot hotter. This is the nature of the beast.

 

I believe our 1.3l engines run almost twice as hot as your conventional 2l piston engines (when you're pushin it of course).

FS

 

the engine gets hotter b/c the exhaust gas travles farther in-side the engine as opposed to a piston engine. :D

to counter act the hot feeling i just light myself on fire...after that everything else feel scool

 

Thanks for the answers, cheers.

Someone mentioned a recall on 2003 models, is there anyway in finding out if my car has had the recall? because my car is a 2003 model and i have only had it a month!

 

It wasn't a recall, just a service bulletin... so whoever the previous owner was would have had to specifically bitch about that problem to the dealer to get them to do the fix. I vaguely remember when that bulletin came out that it didn't apply to my car (Sept 03 build), so if yours is earlier and you obviously have the heat problem, give the dealer a call.

Even in the summer my center console gets just slightly warm... nothing like what I hear people complain about, although I'm never stuck in stop-n-go traffic or other overheating situations. I do drive it very hard though... the engine bay can get crazy hot after a high speed run.

 

Yeah, my center console doesnt get hot either. And my cup holder is relatively cool. Dunno. Maybe Mazda listened to those 04 owners and installed a heat shield for 05. Other 05 owners feel the same?

 

Mine's also 05
and it doesn't get HOT
it gets reasonably warm but only when I push hard

 

mine was brought in dec 03, so it MAY not have the heat shield. i will give my local dealer a call, thanks!

 

I said MAYBE they installed a heat shield. Do not know if one is there or not.

 

Mines definitely gets warm, and after a long drive with just the windows down on a warm day, it'll start feeling like a sauna inside the car. Even passengers comment on it. It never particularly bothered me though, knowing that the engine is like RIGHT THERE under me.

 

my 04 get really hot and it not being pushed ,it's
hotter inside always, than any other car I have owned or driven in.
They should consider a fix and retro fit for this issue.