new rx-8...probs..please help
 

Just got mah rx-8 a week and a half ago and my gas mileage just sux....i filled the tank up the other day and i put the trip on to see how much miles i would get to the tank and i have 205 miles on it and a 1/4 of a tank left..is this normal??? if it is mpg on this car just sux....and also i hear u guyz talkin about the flash..no matter how much i read the threads on it, i stiill dont understand..sorry..if u guyz can put it in simpler terms i would greatly appreciate it...by the way i have a sunlight silver automatic..i kno i kno why didnt i get a manual...becuz i have too many speedin tickets already..haha..dont need anymore..by anywayz.. and also it is sometimes hard to start the engine....

please help...thank u

Yes.

yes, i get a lot worse mileage. Its just the nature of rotary if i understand correctly from all of my reading. I get under 200 for a full tank.

At 1/4 tank left, a fillup will be about 11 gallons (at least on my car). 204 miles on 11 gallons equates to 18.5 mpg. That's about typical, especially for a brand new car that hasn't been broken in yet. There are MANY folks here that would love to get 18mpg! What sux about that?

Remember, the tank in this car is not that big (only about 15 gallons), so it will run it down faster than a car with a larger tank (and the same gas mileage). For example, my MG runs down to 1/4 tank in about 200 miles (but it only has a 12 gallon tank, and gets 25mpg).

You can't assess gas mileage until you calculate it - don't judge it solely by the gas gauge.

i am gettin about 250 miles on a tank.. about 1000 miles on the car now

...and for your simple answer on the "flash"...

The engine is controlled by a computer. The computer runs engine control software that is stored in memory chips in the computer. Software stored this way is often called firmware. The process of storing the software into the memory is called "flashing".

The letter of the flash that you hear people talking about is simply the factory revision of the software. L came after K, M (the latest) came after L. Simply a revision - Mazda is using letters of the alphabet instead of numbers.

The latest revision of the software is revision M. It provides new fuel injector programming as well as other changes for improved efficiency and smoothness. It also changes the injector profile at startup to help prevent flooding.

Having your engine computer (also known as PCM or ECU) upgraded to the latest firmware is the M flash that you are reading about.

Beyond this, read the sticky thread at the head of this section for more detail...

Spend some time on the forum and and educate yourself on the vehicle, no disrespect but something you should have done before buying a ~ 30K car. Getting the latest flash is not going to magically correct your mileage issue, it is what it is.

Thanx guyz...i kno im a lil illiterate about the cars performance and stuff..i should have done some research but i guess its too late now..haha..well thanx for all the help..prob will get flashed soon ...gonna take it to the dealer to check it out...again..i really appreciate....glad to be a part of a forum that actually knows about there cars..haha...

Well--I use to have a 93 FD and I never experienced gas mileage like this with the 13B Rotary--and that car was twin turbo--of course when I would get on the gas pedal on the TT the gas would go away quickly. My RX8 usues a lot of gas for it not to have forced Induction--and I have the A/T also. So, I'm not too sure its the "inherent nature of the rotary"--perhaps the RENESIS Rotary. Hopefully the M-Flash will rectify this somewhat.

If you're getting aroud 18mpg my advice to you would be to take it to the dealer immediately and have them give you the latest flash. Hopefully that will get your mileage in line with everyone else's, at around 15mpg.

:P

lol

Consider yourself lucky bro. I get 15 MPG. Wish I got 18! Is a sacrifice you'll will view as a worthy one.

I'm amused when people find out they spent 30k on a car and it gets worse gas mileage than a Prius. As if to say, "Hey, it's 10k more, they should put in higher quality components into it!"

Absolute truth to be told, I'm not exactly sure that I looked at the sticker to see the estimates before I bought the car. I knew I wanted it. Either I never looked, or I quickly wrote off 18mpg as an acceptable trade off for having such an incredible machine.

gas mileage is for the dogs...real cars slurp it up!

Sticker? What sticker? I couldn't see past the car. I think I had a blood pressure loss to my head when I saw the car and didn't really care about the mpg. If you have to ask....

It is quite simple, actually:

POWER = GAS CONSUMPTION

The RX-8 puts down almost as much power as the FD did (stock).
Where do you think the power comes from?
It doesn't matter much how the gas and air gets in there...

The flash definitely made a difference for me. I had never even broken 200 miles before filling up pre-flash. My last 2 tanks have been about 230 post-flash.
Car was built 7/03. MT, 93 octane always.