rx-8 in japan having same problems as us?
 

i have been seeing an awful lot of thread posts regarding to technical issues dealing with the rx-8. i love my 8 to death, but i cant help but be bothered by some of these issues. if the us spec rx-8 is fairly similar or identical to the j spec one, are the j spec owners experiecing these problems? how are sales in japan, i knoe they love the rotary engine over there and the rx series should have a larger following being that the rx-7 was more widespread there.

im just seeing if we can compare and contrast and find something.

this is a very good question. I hope the answer is no and that some of the issues we have can be resolved via a flash of the ecu

It's hard to know because I don't think there are a lot of Japanese owners in this forum. They probably have their own Japanese language forum for their RX-8. Maybe one of our Japanese friends in this forum (Yuhki comes to mind) can comment on this.

i read alot of option magazines, and my boss's homie is originally from japan. he tells me the rx-8 has a very large following in japan, as the people love the rotary engine. im sure they have a different ecu, as they have better gas to burn and different variables, but lets see if we cant find something out that will be of use to us.

Hello from Sunny Singapore!

I have a direct import JDM RX8 Type S since 10 Sep 2003, done 2500km so far, rev'd up to 7K. Oil changed at 1100km - HKS RE rotary synthetic oil, 10W40.

No problems whatsoever with the car, the performance and the handling. No warning lights on, no mechanical, electrical or electronic problems. Absolutely fabulous, a perfect ownership experience so far. That's coming from a nitpicker having bought 10 new cars in over 20 years of car ownership.

NOTES :

All the RX8s in Singapore that I know of are direct imports by enthusiast since we are crazy about the car and there's no news from Mazda Singapore as to when they will market it here.

We have RON98 unleaded petrol (I believe they have RON100 in Japan which the JDM ECU I believe is programmed for). Your premium octane 91 is equivalent to RON96 only.

I noticed the following differences between JDM Type S and the North America version (apart from having the steering on right side and use of km) :

- 1 oil cooler vs 2
- 250PS (247HP) vs 238HP
- 180kph speed limiter vs none
- Standard climate control vs aircon
- Puddle lights vs de-spec'd for some weird reasons?
- Manual (electric) headlight (HID) height adjuster vs Automatic

I'm sure there are other little differences apart from options. If I recall more or if you have any specific ones you are curious to compare, please post.

A universal gripe : yes the Bose Audiopilot sucks. w/o audiopilot it's acceptable for an in-car system.

Hope this is interesting.

-Ringer-

hey ringer, great to see more international membership :D

WITHOUT TAKING THIS THREAD WELL OFF TOPIC...i'm curious about this RE synthetic product, could you post some more information or links (which i can turn into comedy with an internet japanese translator ;)) pertaining to that 10W40 oil?? other than that, no comment ;)

there are many places in North America which get PON 93 or better, which is equivalent to any gasoline they sell anywhere. there aren't really international discrepencies no matter what the kiddy-ricer "import" crowd want to think.

only a SINGLE oil cooler??? :eek: hmmmmmmm.... well, glad we get two. is it different in any way, ie. bigger??

ah, and you get the climate control system along with the mirror lights... stupid. is that climate control system from the Mazda 6 as many here have postulated, or do you just not know?? :)

manual headlight adjustment???? does that mean you can use your HID lenses in a high-beam mode, or that you can adjust the beam angle to the nth degree with a button?? strange...

Thanks for the welcome.

I do not read Japanese and could not navigate on the HKS jp site. Nothing on oil in the HKS US or Europe site either. The only mention of HKS RE oil I found is in the HKS Thailand site www.hksthailand.com but it's in Thai which I don't read either. At least there's a picture of RE synthetic oil.

If you can get octane rating of 93 in NA that will be equivalent to RON98. Note RON = Research Octane Number and it's slightly different from US octane rating number.

I'm not sure of the size of my single oil cooler. I speculate that the Mazda NA spec'd 2 coolers due to their requirement/insistence for low viscosity oil due to their need to meet the fuel consumption figure claims. I feel this whole thing led to more warnings/reminders/maintenance and a poorer ownership experience. My 2 cents worth.

No knowledge of Mazda 6. My RX8's climate control works fine. I saw some threads complaining about it being not cool enough but I speculate it's because sometimes the climate control automatically opened the vent. If one feels uncomfortable, check vent setting and close it manually. Same behaviour in my BMW.

The HID height adjuster has 3 settings. The HID mainbeam has the distinct cut off line in compliance with regulations. The highest setting it seems to me to be just the normal height. You can only set lower, in case the car is loaded. BTW my BMW is also equipped with manual (motorised) headlight height adjustment.

-Ringer-

This is bizarre. I have seen several threads that seem to say that for a lot of areas the top grade is 91. Here in St. Louis, I can't find 91 at very many stations. I've found one so far and it's not convenient. All places around here seem to stock 87, 89, and 93, with about a dime price difference between grades. Is St. Louis just a weird market?

No, Nashville (which isn't far away) you can't find 91 anywhere, it is the same 87, 89, 93 with about 10 cents difference.

91 is about the highest you can find here in Cali. It sucks if you have a car that requires 93 or higher like an Sti or Evo.

Most modern engines can make use of a range of octane ratings by detecting pinging and changing the timing.

Some user manuals are clearer than others. My BMW's stated RON93 to RON98. Power will be optimum with RON98, lowered with lower RON.

In the Mazda USA RX8 manual (which I make do with since I can't read the Japanese manual that came with my JDM RX8) it states Octane 91 (RON96) and above. In the absence of a stated upper octane I would go for as high as available because I'm sure at the minimum octane 91 (RON96) you will not attain the rated power.

Read my thread on "Japanese Engineer Talk" in the Far East forum. If you can get octane 93 (I think that will be RON98) go for it!!!

-Ringer-

Wakeech, the link to the info on the RE synthetic oil on the Japanese HKS website is http://www.hks-power.co.jp/products/oil/oil_04.html

Ringer, what type of mileage are you getting and what type of driving do you do?

i want that synthetic oil......although the dealer told me explicitly many times any synthetic oil will instantly void my warranty.

why?? use what they spec, there's no perceptable difference for the way you're using your 8.

not only that but the weight is much heavier than spec. stick with the 5W20

yessir. theres just something about the hks oil can that makes me want it tho....

Ringer, what type of mileage are you getting and what type of driving do you do?
 

LL7,

I have stabilized to an average of about 7.5 km/litre. That's about 21 miles per imperial gallon. Someone please help to convert to miles per US gallon? City driving.

-Ringer-

Thats about 17.6 MPG. Not actually that much better than mine where I get about 16-17MPG city driving. How many km are on your car?

>2,600km