I am new to driving the RX8, I keep hearing that you need to redline it often to burn off carbon. What are your suggestions on what gear to redline it in i know its a pretty dumb question but I have to get use to redlining i keep thinking I am going to mess up my engine.

 

6th gear or go home.

 

Unless you are going downhill, it might be hard to redline in sith gear.

Just drop back one to fifth and you are good to go. Make sure you bounce it off the rev limiter 6 times before you back off the go peddle.

 

ohhh sunovabitch!
OP, these guys have great hearts, but they're just messin with you. redlining in 2nd is best. 1st or 3rd won't hurt. Just make sure you have enough safe highway!!
Also, this type of info is not at all hard to find (hence the sarcastic remarks...). Click the link in my sig to learn to search the forum more efficiently

 

most people here will grill you on the search function unless you have run accross new ground breaking material. but i generally do a 2nd and 3rd gear redline pull on the on ramp going to work once a day. im also a very "spirited" driver so maybe more often then that, but 2nd gear is probably the best to do it in... drive safe!!!

 

And dont fear the "beep." The fuel cut i in there to stop you from doing anything stupid. Only way to over rev your motor is to be going 70 or so and downshift to second. Zip BOOM!!!

 

These kinds of threads rarely mention to wait until the engine is properly warmed up before making a run for redline. Don't say I didn't help at all here. :P

A search for "common sense" on the forum should provide better results; alas it doesn't.

 

I redline 2nd and 3rd each drive when I "decarbon" Besides, 3rd is the "power" gear so I feel I might as well experience as much torque as I can

 

Good point. Def do not redline an engine that is not fully warmed up. Then again, my philosophy is that the car doesn't get put into gear until it is warmed up, so I don't think to mention that. Good call mask

 

Thanks guys I will be redlining more often I had my check engine light come on and code P2070 was the issue (SSV). The guys at Auto Zone reflashed it to make it go away so I think it's carbon in it so hopefully I can burn some of it out and has anyone tried seafoam?

 

I redline in reverse.

 

I usually go with 2nd... But a redline is a redline, regardless of gear... Since you are new to the 8 it will probably sound pretty scary to you initially for the engine to be revving up that high. Don't worry, our engines are meant to go that hard so you aren't going to mess it up. Your engine will love you for doing it... And enjoy hitting 9k rpms!

 

Antonio, search the site for "seafoam" and you will have more answers than you can read...

The SSV code may be gone for now, but it will probably come back as the valve gets more sticky. The valve gets contaminated by oil breather vapor, and by some accounts, creeping carbon deposits from the intake ports. The most permanent fix involves removing the SSV and cleaning the components. This is also detailed in a separate post.

Another cause for the code might be a faulty strike switch, which tells the computer the valve is functioning. This can be tested on the car, and is detailed in another post.

 

SSV has nothing to do with engine carbon. the SSV is on the intake manifold.

 

Here is another POV from a recent posting :

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...8&postcount=11

 

i always assumed it was common sense to let ANY vehicle, be it car, motorcycle, boat, go cart, etc warm up before driving it hard....

 

Yesss.... I like to practice my Fast & Furious driving... You never know when you might want to flip your car out on the highway and accelerate in reverse while going 80mph+... man, if only my reverse went that high. I guess I will have to do it on indicated 30mph speed limit roads...


FWIW: premixing helps keep carbon at bay... I have been against premixing in the past and im still at bay whether its worth it (our engines lose compression randomly it seems) but if anything I decided to premix 4-6 oz with every FULL (13-14.5gal) fill-up to help keep carbon from sticking and to help lubricate the center apex seal.
But dont take my word for it, do your research and make up your own mind.

 

I disagree with the red line a day crowd. Just look through the "new engine" threads and find a large number of those in need of a new engine saying they did that and wonderin why it broke. Freeway entrance ramps are the most convenient/safe way to street run it that hard, but almost guarantee the oil isn't up to temp. Without an oil temp gauge, there's no way to know. It does make sense to exercise the SSV however, but that only takes 7300 rpm or so to accomplish.

 

Why do entrance ramps guarantee the oil isn't up to temp?

 

Because in mild to cold air temps, it takes a very long time to warm up the oil on city streets (on the way to the ramp). It probably takes less time at idle in the driveway since there is no airflow through the coolers in that condition or about 15 -20 min at 70 mph on the expressway. The Series II recognizes this problem by lowering the rpm limiter based on engine temps - I suspect based on the bad experiences with the Series I. In non-desert running, cold oil temps are a very common problem with these cars. Search "milky oil".

 

I thought bouncing it off the rev in 1st was the best way to warm the engine up. Did I not get the memo?

 

theres a specific gear for this? I redline before I shift every gear for the most part:P

Start off with 2nd gear on the on ramp to your highway(not sure if yours are like ours in Texas, smooth and long)

 

....that's what she said....

 

I think you've transposed a couple of numbers there....

 

Amen to that. Warming the car up can take up to 20 minutes during autumn\winter, even 30mins if it's freezing outside and you're driving it. This AFTER the dummy gauge stopped moving. Saying that you warm it up in the driveway means nothing unless you have a real gauge to tell.
I wouldn't worry too much about redlining once a day, it's more about your driving style\loads\rpms.