weepul

So I was talking to the CSR and a guru rotary tech at the dealer the other day and they were saying how the rotary more than any other engine loves to be revved and revved high. I guess it's because there are less internal moving parts, and the rotor spins in the same direction. I also heard when they developed this REnesis engine that they tested it to see how high of an rpm they could run it at. Supposedly they hit 14k before the engine failed.

So if both of these are true, does that mean I could just sit and redline the engine literally all day and do nothing but make a hot engine, and go through a lot of gas? Not that anyone would want to, but hey if there's nothing wrong with hitting 9k and doing it often with this car, then why not?

sferrett

I've gone on some drives where I was at or near redline for extended periods of time - 30 minutes or more - mainly in 2nd gear from 45-65mph or so, up and down twisty mountain roads. The car runs excellently in the high rpm ranges and zooming it up to 9000 is why I own it and love it. Second gear is very fun on the twisties.

So yes - use the engine's capability to rev!

Of course, I get crappy mileage after such runs, but that's the price of having fun I suppose. Normally I get around 18mpg, when I do the mountain blast I'll see 15 or less, so driving style definately affects mileage.

N20SA22C

Dont forget the actual rotors spin at 1/3 the rotation of the crankshaft so 9000rpm is actually only spinning 3000 rpm's for the actual rotor itself. And even my 79 RX-7 pulled 7-8k forever until I put it under N20 and that was ~20 year old tech, so rev the shibby out of it. :D

rx8miami

Rev on my brothers! Rev till it hurts your ears!

murix

All day, all night, all morning. Live for the redline. It is what this motor is made for.

Rev It Up

REV IT UP!

epitrochoid

this has been covered from a technical aspect before...search my posts, it's down there somewhere

rotarygod

As long as the cooling, and oil systems hold up, and you can keep gas it in, it should be able to stay there until the seals literally wear out. That would be a damn long time.

speedsector

your accessories will probably die on you before the renesis does.

ICEePC

14k sounds like fun. I wonder if 11k would be possible with any crazy modification?

epitrochoid

there's some resonant frequency at around 13k that tears the motor up, probably the reason for the 14k failure.

rotarygod

Racing Beat's Bonneville 1st gen RX-7 had bearing issues at 13,000 rpm. In their own word the bearings would go "sayonara" at this speed. This was also 25 years ago and the bearings have changed a little since then. They still only rely on a thin film of oil to prevent surface contact.

N20SA22C

a lot depends on the depth of the oil groove in the rotor bearings, which I dont know.

Edit: Dont forget the RX-evolv ran 11K RPM and made 280hp hmmmmmm

LightEmUp

Yeah rev the **** out of it, just don't come on here complaining about shitty gas mileage.

kristopher_d

:D my mileage sucks :D I love it.

v300

iTrader: (1)

Preach on brother! Hahaha.

weepul

This what you're talking about?

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...5&pagenumber=1

It seems back and forth. Taking what I've heard about the design of the rotary, what the 'smart guys' on the board say, and what I've heard from techs and CSR's at Mazda...rev the engine. Not sure if it'll help make it last longer than normal, but it certainly won't shorten it's life, nor harm the engine. For all those people who love pushing their car's engines to the limits and felt guilty about redlining, this engine is for you.

rx8miami

amen

RotorManiac

I totally agree. Rev the little bastard to the limit!
I read somewhere in this forum 'drive it like you stole it' and i think that's the idea!

RotorManiac

Oh, and something else: did you guys smell anything the first time you hit redline?
My 8 is new -only 1400 miles- and I desided to reach 9000+ rpm for the first time (up until now I never exceeded 7000-7500rpm). After some hard accelerations and shifting at redline, a strange oil smell got to my attention!
Is that normal? Do you all get smells when driving at redline? Please tell me I'm worried!
P.S. Sorry if my english is not good... I try my best!

manok_adobo

I think that's the engine sealant or something burning off. I had that burnt smell when mine was new but now it's gone with 2,300 miles since last Oct, hehehe

kbull

Oh, yeah! Trouble is, cops won't be able to tell you apart from people who actually did steal one

Mine had a funny smell for the first hundred miles or so, but the dealer said it was a coating on the exhaust that burns off relatively quickly, so if you're still smelling it at 1400 miles, that's probably not it. Hold on, lemme go redline my 8 for a minute, see if I smell anything...