wierd accel. at 8.5rpm in 3rd gear.
 

hey
i just recently purchased my 8. 2005 GT M/T brand new. this is my first M/T car aswell as rotary. i love this car alot!!! she now has almost 700 miles on her. so, one day i decided to redline the gears to see what the car would go up to. 1st to 2nd perfect, 2nd to 3rd perfect as well, but then wen i was in 3rd gear and i was at about 8,500rpm the acceleration acted and sounded a little wierd. dont know how to fully describe it but almost like wen ur out of gas so ur car starts to have surges of no acceleration but not at that level of seriousness. my 8 was still accelerating but u could feel/hear what im talking about. its only from about 8,500 - redline. its not a major feeling or sound but just wonderin if this is normal?? will it go away? is it normal when breaking it in??? anybody else experiance this??? thanx in advance.

P.S - and yes, i had a full tank of gas.

Are you sure it wasn't at 9500 rpm fuel cut?. The car should still spin strongly beyond 8500revs up to fuel cut. Buhhh... other than that... I dunno!.

If I'm correct and I know I am, there is a break in period on a new car. I don't think you should be Redlining the car. Just my opinion.

I doubt he's in break in because it's an '05!

If I am remembering correctly that is where the peak power is so after that it shouldn't really be pulling all that hard!

question was the 8 temp still cold or warm? because i know if the 8 temp is still cold and you try to go high in the rpms, the car acts like what you posted. example- if i had my 8 sitting all day, then decided to go for a ride . i pull out of my drive way like it stole the car. My car will act like it wants to shut off once it reaches a certain rpm due to my engine still being cold.

sounds kinda weird...i had that happen onces before but that was only once, it did feel like it was low on gas and it kinda stopped accerlating and like a slight bump and so i just slowed down but later i tried again and it was fine then...maybe its just a one time thing have you tried running at that rpm in 3rd gear again? if it still persists then i'd get it checked out if not it mighta been like a gas fart or something. (ps - for break in period its good to have a "variation" of rpm's so redlining is fine just sparingly but then remember to granny shift at times too)

I think 8,500 is peak power. After 8,500 your still accelerating but the power flattens out. At least thats what mine feels like. /shrug

You're in the clear as far as mazda specs go for the break in period. However racingbeat says otherwise.

-for the first 1000 miles do not accelerate under full throttle
-do not exceed 4k in the first 1000 miles
-for miles 1000-2000 expand the rpm upwards, but do not accelerate under full throttle
-over 2000 miles, full throttle and high rpms is acceptable

I say baby it still. Let the engine get up to operating temp as much as possible, no short trips. And don't cruise at one rpm for too long, rilfe between gear the change the rpm so the engine and seals will seat properly. But then after that give her hell!

thanx for the adive guys. really helpful. im gonna try to take it to 8500rpm in 3rd gear once more to see if it does it again. but i think im gonna take GT34's advice. ill post back wen i come from my drive.

Your third and fourth sentences conflict with one another.

so, im back from my drive and this time it was the same but i also heard something that sounded like small rocks tumbling around. i took it to redline once more and the loss of some acceleration was gone but still heard that sound. anybody know wat it might be? thanx in advance.

oh and Hornet, its an '05 but it was a leftover so it has zero miles.

and i mean take his advice after i try it once more. :)

Wow, an '05 with no miles on it! You must have got a great deal on it! Kind of used but actually not! Maybe those things will clear up after break in after all!

yea i hope so. i got it for $24k its a grand touring. didnt get appearance package cause i dont think its worth the extra $2k. so i guess its a good deal.

What octane gas are you using, and how full is your tank?

search "marbles" . Sounds like you may have some detonation . What fuel are you using ?

ha ha- you beat me to it ,,,,

Although 3rd gear is my very favorite gear, I've passed thru that 3rd gear RPM range 1000s of time on DE track events :boink: in 3.5 yrs. If I had a dime for each time I've heard that.....you know how that ges.

I find that 8200-9000+ is really kinda sad in the stock 8. To me...it sounds like those rubber ended party noise makers that you blow thru.....so like a nice windup rotary sound to ~8000+ then this phuutttttt rattlie sound as the engine really seems to give up on making increased power. I've even put a mark on my tach at 8000 as a shift point, because I can go quicker faster in the next gear.

Data logs bear this out, acceleration is down above that, again, might as well shift. Thinking the RB flash will make this area improved... watching that thread w/great interest. :yesnod:

don't see that here .... only a very slight dropoff in 3rd towards 9000 so may as well take it all the way .....

i use 93 octane. i thought of another way to describe the sound, like when u have one of those handheld vaccums and u suck up a penny or little rocks. so do u guys think i should take it to the dealer?? or perhaps wait until i get more miles on her?? or any other suggestions??

It truly is not unusual.... really.

so i should do??

Just my opinion, it's just the way it is. Unless you experience a physical or performance difficulty vs a sound you hear that is 'unique to the 8's rotary' (what i think this is)... there is no point bugging a dealer, what can he say... they are the way they are..

This is why I don't buy used cars.

um i dont either. its a brand new car. its an '05 leftover. meaning they ordered too many 8's at the dealership and didnt sell them all, thus the word LEFTOVER. it has 700 miles on it because i bought the car like a month ago. can u actually read the thread before u post???? thanx

Sorry for the ambiguity. Although the manual states no heavy loading for the first 600 miles, if one takes the time to research rotary enthusiasts' information, the break-in period is generally understood to be longer.

My point then is that I wouldn't buy a rotary-engined car where the owner redlined at 700 miles on the odo. My preference is arguable at many levels, but I'm in the camp where a proper break in is of utmost importance.

On hindsight, I realized how off topic I was and the nature of my comment had a "soapbox" inclination. Just ignore me.