canzoomer

Common questions we have been asked include:

"What warranty do we provide?"

If it is broken, we fix it.
If it is obvious that YOU broke it through some action of clumsiness, accident, or tampering, we reserve the right to refuse warranty.
If it is a minor thing, we will probably fix it anyway, though.
Our warranty is for ONE YEAR from the date that we ship the goods to you

"What is the warranty return policy?"

Contact us by email, we will assist you in diagnosing the problem, and if necessary provide a Fedex account # and necessary documents to return it for repair.

"What amount of time does this repair process take?"

Transit time by Fedex is usually 2 days each way. Turnaround here is 2 days. Total time: 1 week.

"What if I do not like it, and want to return it?"
If you are not satisfied, we will accept a return.
You need to contact us and request this return within 15 days of your receiving the unit, for this to apply.

Shipping costs remain at your expense.
When we are contacted we will try to resolve the issue, and if not successful, we will issue you an RMA # for return.
Upon receipt of the kit back, in good order, within 10 days of issuing the RMA #, we will refund your money, by the method that you have paid us.

"Will the Stage1 kit damage my car?"

There is no reason it could/should damage your car.
Having said that, the fact is that while running with this, the exhaust gas temperatures are slightly higher, so the catalytic converter life MAY be shorter than stock. Mazda originally tuned the RX-8 to meet regulations that called for the catalytic converter to last at least 50,000 miles. They were prevented from providing the cars here and in many other markets, due to the introduction of the new 2004 regulations, which apply to cars even if sold in 2003, as it is a 2004 model year release. New EPA2 regulations call for a 120,000 mile converter life, and Mazda responded to EPA2 by de-tuning the car. As we restore approximately the original tune parameters, I would expect the catalytic converter life to be similar to the original planned one.
Having said that, as there is no long term testing yet, we can only speculate.

We do know that installation of the Stage1 kit produces less carbon build-up on the spark plugs and exhaust, so spark plug life should improve, and exhaust plugging be less likely. It will also help to diminish flooding a small amount. Owners have reported smoother idling and running in general, with less misfiring, with Stage1 turned on.
Our tuning parameters are very similar to the original RX-8 ones, similar to the Japan spec RX-8's. If Mazda beleives that this is a "safe" performance level, we do not disagree!
Running with ANYTHING that improves power output may result in increased tire wear, and shorter engine, clutch, brake, transmission, and driveline life.

Finally:
"Is running the Stage1 legal on my car?"

You will have to check with your local authorities on this.
Most jurisdictions provide a method and place for you to have your car tested for emissions compliance. This testing is the only way to answer this question with any level of certainty.

If you are concerned with this, and intend to use this kit on public roads, we suggest that you contact the local authorities for this information BEFORE purchasing the parts from us.
This will not be considered a valid reason for return.

As a general policy statement, we intend to do our utmost to make our customers satisfied with our products. Where fault can be shown to be ours, we will provide a solution, or a refund. If anyone acts unreasonably, we reserve the right to refuse their business.

If you have additional questions of this type of topic, please post them here, and I will add them and the reponses to this list.

Thanks!

Sin

FMS (Frequently Mentioned Statement)...I need my Stage 1

Knerk

Sorry is this is posted in the wrong place. Will the Sage 1 stage 1 void the mazda warrenty? Thats kinda the only thing holding me back from buying at this time.

emailists

No aftermarket part can void your entire warrenty. However the part you replace is obviosly no longer under warrenty. Also- if Mazda can prove (or I guess if it feels) that the modification you made damaged their part- that part can be denied warrenty servicing.

SO a suspension upgrade can't void your electrical system warrenty, etc. Now in theory, since you are modifying the electronics system that controls the engine, an engine, ECU, or electrical failure could be blamed on your aftermarket ECU tuning (like the Canzoomer). Seems unlikely, but possible.


That being said, the Cazoomer unit is easily switched off under the hood, so for minor servicing, you would just turn it off. For anything major- you would just remove the unit completely, which should take maybe 15 minutes.

Some people have pointed out that this may be seen as unnethical, the idea of making a mod then if it screws up your car- removing it. But since the CZ unit is now considered a fairly mass market product (4500 units on order) and was designed to be well within spec of what the engine can handle, by the time you get your unit (if you ordered today) there would be plenty of realworld user experience and feedback to determine if there were any problems. There are people already using this unit today for several months with no failures, etc. That being said,
I have my stage 1 on order, which will be shipped out to me in the next week hopefully. I was thinking of switching my order to a stage 2 unit, which involves also getting a new downpipe and cat installed. I have decided to hold off on STage 2 until more user data has been gathered and I feel comfortable ordering. Also I am at sea level, and do alot of stop and go/ idleing, etc in NYC city traffic, and would like to read more user experiences in those environments before upgrading to stage 2.

I personaly can't wait to get this stuff going. The original renesis prototype was slated to make 280 HP and I believe stage 2 will put it just at that level (maybe 290), so I think this is all fairly conservative stuff especially compared to supercharing or turboing your engine, which would definitely void the engine and drivetrain warrenty.

ANother point- I had my Probe Gt '94 modded with catback exhaust, had a socket put in the ECU so an aftermarket chip could be installed, and had a K&N cone filter replacing the stock airbox. No dealer ever even mentioned those items to me in the 9.5 years I owned the car, and I had an extended warrenty. The main dealer I used was here in NYC, and they are owned and operated by Ford, so I would think if any dealer would want to void warrenty work- it would be them- and they never did (though I believe they never looked at the ECU)

Eradicator

I'm confused as to how it all works. With the latest threads talking about an "L" flash, does that mean those of you with the CZ ECU go in to the dealer and have them flash it? Don't they notice it's not the stock ECU?

Originally, I thought the CZ ECU had a different flash and that was the whole point. Now I'm guessing it has a different hardware setup, which uses the same flashes from the factory/service dept. and "converts them" differently. Maybe someone can help me understand the general concept here.

rx8miami

here is a hypothetical situation which is probably all to common is reality. I own an m flashed 8 and want to install stage 2. I keep hearing/reading that I need to change my cat to the high flow one. If I chose not to and stick with the factory cat has there been any proof that the stage 2 will burn it out?

Genom

Yes. You have to change it out put in a midpipe.

zoom44

eradicator- the cz unit modifies the signals and makes the car run off of the maps in the cz unit. however the original cz unit had maps that changed the original factory tune. since mazda has been re-tuning the car themselves with the l and m flash maurice has had to modify the maps in the canzoomer unit to adapt to what mazda has been doing. also the stock PCM is not replaced with the cz unit, the cz unit is a piggy back unit that works in conjunction with the stock pcm. when the techs "flash" the stock pcm they connect to a port under the dash not directly to the pcm in the engine compartment. however if they decide to put a new sticker on the PCM noting the update then they would indeed see the extra hardware. that is why the cz unit is designed to be easily uninstalled and reinstalled.

canzoomer

Correct, except:
When they flash the PCM, they do not put a sticker in the box.
Why would they gp to the trouble of opening it?

They put the sticker under the hood.