so, i've had my rx8 for a little more than a year now. even after having it for a year, when i drive my car hard there's still a huge jerk. i drove my friends mazdaspeed protege today for the first time, and gunned it and it was much smoother than i've ever done with my 8. i was just wondering, if it was just my driving, or possibly something with the transmission that doesn't allow us to make smooth shifts. any advice would be greatly appreciated :p

 

I think it is because the rotary is so responsive and the flywheel is rather light compared to most cars, that the 8 response some much more quickly and isn't dampened much when gunning it. I like it for the most part because it makes the car feel like it has some real *****, but I do have a problem with trying to creep slowly in 1st, you have to be almost perfect with the throttle to creep and not jerk around.

 

The "jerk" you are feeling, when you are driving the car hard, isn't normal. It isn't the flywheel either. I have the Mazdaspeed lightweight flywheel and don't have this problem.

Brice-RX8: The jerking you feel whe creeping slowly in 1st gear will happen in any car that is on the low end of it's torque curve.

Johnnylee3: You don't give a very detailed discription of your problem. Fuel deposits are one thing that could cause this and is easy to correct. Use high quality premium "Top Tier" name brand gasoline to clean out these deposits.

 

i'll try that, but i dont' know, it just feels that the 8 is really hard to drive smoothly while driving in full open throttle.

 

Its not that hard, and im a new driver. Now i can go WOT and pretty much drive smooth most of the time, except for the rare jerking when shifting into second.

 

Are you talking about the jerking when you take your foot off the throttle? When does the jerking occur? is this an AT or MT?

 

just shifting in general for a stick, it sounds like it's just me...hahah

 

Probably,....

Brice had it correct. The Rotary engine has far less inertia than a piston engine, and requires precise driving for a smooth drive.

 

yea, hahaha

 

its cause u slam your shifts from gear to gear so roughly... u should shift a little bit more smoothly and ur dropping your clutch.
i think its more the way you drive the car then the car itself.

 

I find when I shift slower I have this problem. I think its due to the flywheel RPM's dropping before you let off the clutch. I also remember reading something about this in one of the PCM flashes.

 

Its the flywheel rpm's dropping when you shift very slow.

 

Don't feel bad I drive like crap at WOT too. I think the key is practice, I know it's helping me shift better and it's fun!

 

ah yet another quirkyness of the rotary engine, a bit more difficult to shift smoothly compared to piston cars, but once you get it, boy is it niice :D

 

practice makes perfect i guess

 

Wow, i have the same problem. And i know it's not me because i've been driving standard for 4 years now, and ever since i got the rx-8, i've been feeling the same jerkiness. But people say it's cuz of the rotory motor, so i just lived with it. But if theres a solution to this problem, some 1 please let me know.

 

not really a solution for this, you just need a more delicate touch when changing gears.

think of it as a next-level manual driving training :D

 

so,,

ive had my rx8 for a month now and just a couple of days ago im starting to notice that when im at 3rd and 4th gear around 3krpm or lower my car jerks and it feels like its losing power while it jerks,,this dosent happen while im shifting,,its while im moving.. so if anyone can shed some light on this,,its much appreciated

 

pull your pants, keep one hand on the wheel , one on the shifter and stop jerking it

 

I would make sure it's not running too lean at that particular rpm/load. what mods do you have? do you have afr info? our engines jerk back and forth when you want to cruise it too lean.

 

my rx8 is all stock

 

So i went and checked my spark plugs,they were a bit worn,then cleaned them up ,, after that my car went fine for another 3 months then,,the jerking/power loss happend again,,so i decided to change my spark plugs and ignition coils,,ever since that,,its been all good

 

2001 Mazda Protege LX 2.0 started jerking back and fotfo then shut off then my daughter smelt smoke when she opened hood. Then she had it jumped it died 3+5 seconds later and hasn't started since.

 

You should have flashing CEL for misfiring if the ignition system is causing problem enough for the whole car to jerk.

Hopefully the spark plugs stay good for a while for you. They don't need to be replaced that often.

Wrong forum, but since I kinda like Protégé...

Did the car overheat?

And it almost sounds like she hooked up the positive/negative side opposite. That can do all sorts of damage.

Have you checked all the fuses yet? Does the battery read any voltage?