captain mercury

Winfree

According to some of our local rotar heads break sounds and also clicking can occur if the wrong sized ceramic pad is installed. This can happen if your dealers supply guys grabbed the wrong one off the shelf - have pad replaced and ask to be sure they put on the right size - may end all the moaning. I also note a little noise if I get too much dust on it (hard not to if your road is 1 1/2 miles of dirt) when you wash the car have someone sit inside and break and release while you hose down the wheels, this helps get rid of some dirt. Do a couple of hard practice breaks to get rid of the water and dirt, just to help them get clean. But don't overwash wheels, enough water on any soft steel will result in rust.

Winfree

By the way on the sudden loss of airconditioning - keep poking the air conditioning button - sometimes you can accidently bump it and it will go into a different mode. The mode that its in shows up as an icon in that little lighted bar with your music station - right in the center of the dash board. It should show a seated figure with an arrow indicating air to the face for coldest noticable temperatures. You get less with arrows to both feet and face. and other setting are even less comfortable. So far my air conditioner has stood the test of cooling to comfort when outside temp was 114 F!

Detrich

my brakes squeal, as do those on my bmw. i've noticed that the 8 isn't as finesse as my beamer. but bmw & mazda really aren't the same type of car makers. so, i just know to expect less perfection from mazda. if your brakes squeal really bothers u that much, just get them fixed. there are lots of ways- cross drilled rotors etc. but, don't cut off your nose to spite your face...

Spin9k

I noticed in other's cars, if you don't really get on the brakes and use them, and I mean pretty near abuse them, the rotors get all coroded and pitted, need to be turned all the time, the calipers look like crap and get crudy cause they never heat up enough to burn the crud off off.

Alternatively, if you use brakes for ...ah... braking in no uncertain terms, regularly, no messing around...and certainly not eaaaaasssing to a stop 3 miles ahead of the intended target every time you need to slow down or stop... well.... rotors stay shiny clean and smooth, calipers just have brake dust, not crud on them, and the system works as designed and very well at that!

Wash um too, often... I use a power washer. Car upkeep is a proactive event.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Since the departure of asbestos disc brake pads they all squeal to some extent. High performance more so.

I miss asbestos, and refrigerant R-12, and Dursban insect spray and ......

Mortal Moxie

At first I felt some discomfort with my squeeling brakes. I thought it would wear off.

I mostly felt the discomfort because I thought people would think I don't take care of my 8. That and the noise tends to make people look.

But go figure. I'm sitting at a stop sign on a popular blvd in my hometown, and I hear some squeeling brakes. Even worse than mine!

So I look over and theres a Daytona Red Ferrari F430 pulling up to the stop sign next to me. Suddenly I felt ok about my squeeling brakes.

The driver obviously knew I heard his brakes because he saw me look over at him, so he looked at me and shrugged, then I shrugged,and we both went on our ways! It was hilarious.

It's ok for your brakes to squeel!!!

Animagix

i use to own an audi A4, brakes squealed at 5000 miles up to 40k. I complained about them at every service stop and they kept replacing them with more crappy OEM pads. I eventually went aftermarket and it was fine.

My 8 on the other hand, squealed a bit at 10k as well. I complained about it twice and they replaced my pads. It squeals no more, currently at 16k miles.

I notice that knowledge differs from dealer to dealer regarding certain issues, it's like getting a second opinion at different doctors.

New Yorker

OMG, you have no idea how relieved I am to find out that someone's actually worse than me! I have a small scratch on the lower rear bumper—you have to look for it to see it—and it's all I can do to NOT order a new bumper (probably $700 - $800 w/painting and labor) to get it fixed. (It's on the lower, "unpainted" textured part, so it can't be repaired.) It's not that I'm a perfectionist—it's that I'm a perfectionist just when it comes to this car. I don't care if people put their feet up on my couch or if the color's a little too dark when I paint the living room wall or if my girlfriend snores a little—I just want this one thing—my 8—to be perfect. How crazy is that?!

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Not crazy at all. But unfortunately the rock chips will be with us, always.

dean2900

Wow this is interesting. I have never noticed the brakes squealing on my in nearly 2.5 years but I have always had performance cars so maybe I am just used to it.

However, I will say some of the people have been a bit harsh on him. I would have to hear the squeal for myself to see if this is normal high performance braking sound or something else.

Dean

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

This pretty much covers it:

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

I think the only way to solve many of the "problems" on this board and with this car is Mazda making all perspective buyers take sort of a personality test...

if they score in the category containing people who actually want a performance oriented car and are willing to put up with driving a performance oriented car daily - they should be able to buy the car

if they score in the category of people who buy a car based on looks or how others will view you driving and are unwilling to have normal tradeoffs for performance - they should be directed to the nearest Honda or Toyota dealership


this would eliminate the rough idle, poor fuel economy, and squealing brake 'ing

Red Devil

I regret buyying my RX-8 because it has brought me to this Forum, and hence pathetic threads like this one.

CosmosMpower

I have an update on my car, I think everything in the interior that could possibly break has done so within the 3 months since I bought it new. Mazda uses the cheapest plastics I've ever seen.

So far:

Broken cupholder door, replaced under warranty
Squealing brakes, fixed under warranty
Headlight condensation, replaced under warranty (took it back since they forgot to aim them)
Driver sunvisor exploded at the seam, replaced under warranty
A/C amplifier changed and reflashed
Squeak between dashboard/drivers door, not resolved yet since the dealer doesn't know how to fix it

DrDiaboloco

The cupholder door and the sunvisor is EVERYTHING THAT COULD POSSIBLY BREAK in the interior?

Paul_in_DC

To find out everything that could possibly break, hire a squad of toddlers. They can break anything.

DrDiaboloco

Yeah, tell me about it. I had an 11 year-old in my car and it took him practically no time to scratch my silver trim (on the center tunnel) and leave muddy footprints on the back of the front pax seat.

jaguargod

Apparently lots of people. What, do you think Mazda released these brake pad TSB's out of the goodness of their heart? No, it was because enough people complained about it.

patrick_andraste

Not sure if this is the best place to post this but here goes.

One of the reasons the brakes are so good on the RX-8 is they are cast iron.

Cast Iron is the best brake rotor material available to mere mortals. If you want better you have to go to carbon rotors and pads. Then you get to deal with them being as effective as blocks of wood dragging on the ground until they get very hot.

Cast Iron rusts, get over it, I look at it as an indication of high performance. Real Rotors Rust.

If you think your brakes squeal now, put on ceramic carbon pads. They will really squeal then until you are on the brakes hard.

They will also overcome the friction of the 245/40-18 Goodyear tires I have on the car easily enough which is a pretty good brake friction coefficient.

So my brakes squeal. They squeal on my friend Porsche, they squeal on another acquaintances Ferrari and they squeal on my Ducati and my TZ.

If you want no squeal, go with organic non metallic pads, and put a metal/carbon or metal/Kevlar back plate on the pads. Also find Stainless Steel rotors.

You will have no where near the braking efficiency, but your brakes will not squeal.

The way I look at it, this RX-8 has the technology surpassing my Acquaintances Ferrari, Matching my Friends Porsche and far less maintenance issues even with checking the oil, and all the recalls. The RX-8 is a Real Performance car, I know it does not have the Horsepower, but it still goes fast enough to get you thrown in jail, and I can pass most anything short of the aforementioned Ferrari in the curves. And it costs nowhere near as much!

bascho

For those comparing your brake squeal to a Ferrari or Porsche.....there is a big difference. Those cars are exotics and people will think, "those must be performance brakes" and continue drool over the car. People will hear your RX8 and see the badge and think, "shitty Mazda brakes.......whata POS."

SolarFlare665

thanks to thread resurrection i'm compelled to ask one question... how the hell do you break a cupholder?

sorry that was me not reading... it said cupholder door.... now that i corrected that... how are you abusing that door? i popped mine out once cause i put something heavy across the back but it just popped back in... also note... the rx8 is not meant to have a small desk resting across the rear seats... it pops the cupholder door out of place

bsteimel

iTrader: (5)

my breaks started sqeaking i took it to the dealer and they told me about the TSB. They put on the new pads. I the break are silent no squeaking no nothing.

Razz1

WOW Great!

Another thread where I can cry like a baby and shed some tears..


Wa Wa Wah...........