shelleys_man_06

I've had my M Flash since last week. So far, i have yet to fill my tank :D . My car feels like it regained some of its confidence. Thanks guys for letting me know about the M Flash .

msrecant

My car was manufactured in May of 2003. I upgraded to the M Flash this past April and it was like getting a new car (much smoother in all situations, up 1-2 mpg). A highly recommended upgrade to the flash they were doing at the port last summer.

ByeByeHonda

I just wanted to enter my 2 cents worth. I had a hard time at the dealership, but after finding the Mazda rep that just happened to be there, I got my M-Flash. I have to say I am definitely impressed with the difference. I don't know about the gas mileage, but the power band seems much smoother. Before the engine had it's weak spots, then it's strong spots. Now the band feels pretty equal across the board.

Silver04RX8

I got the M Flash this morning, my 8 was slow starting, I know this for a fact as a co-worker has an 8 and there is a notable difference. After the M Flash it made the difference the car wants to start right at the turn of the key now versus two or three cranks. As for Gas mileage cannot really say yet. I did notice that my AC is acting differently maybe its just me will continue to monitor. Overall I was happy with the smooth transition noted less jerking and when I layed into it on the on ramp it most definitely felt more fluid. My jury still is out but I am very happy that my car is acting like it wants to start now versus having to work for it like before.

Also I was very happy that my dealership knew exactly what I was talking about and got me in and out of the dealership in a very acceptable time, just glad I did not have to fight for it or have to pull out a TSB to inform my dealer of something that they should have already been aware of.

RandyP

The VIN is also under the windshield on the driver's side:

JaChTsai

My repair order said "Reprogrammed PCM" as indicated by MSP04. However, upon doing the 20 brake test, my oil gauge did nothing at all. I don't know what flash I had before, but it was definitely really old cuz I pre-ordered. I'm wondering if there is any difference between the TSB for the "crank/engine no start" and the new "PCM reflash" that could be the cause for this? Why does it say for the new TSB PCM reflash (01-022/04), "Note: After PCM reprogramming, it is no longer necessary to road test the vehicle to 'relearn' KAM (Keep Alive Memory)." Does this have anything to do with the brake test? Anybody get the M-flash from an old calibration and didn't get the L-flash?

RandyP

Forgive me if I have my head in a dark place, but L and M indicate firmware revisions. It's hard to imagine they would sectionalize the code and flash only part of the ROM. I gotta believe the M flash includes all L flash revs, but I'll ask Auto West next week if there's no answer here.

RX4+30Years=RX8

Yeah I went from K to M. Each revision has all the changes made in prior revisions so if you got M you got everything up to M as well.

The tap the brake thing is not a test, rather it resets something about the excentric shaft. The oil gage sweep is just an indicator that it was done. I do know that of you don't lightly tap the break peddal fast enough, it won't happen.

JaChTsai

Yea, I tried the 20 brake test a number of times. Not sure what to do. So tired of going to the dealership and arguing about it, when my repair history will clearly indicate "campaign closed", meaning reprogrammed pcm already.

mtpot1

I took my car into John Finger Mazda (Greenville, SC) last week. They plugged my VIN # into their computer and said that my car was due for the upgrade. I am not sure if policy has changed, but they are treating this as a recall type upgrade - no problems necessary. They gave me a loaner car and had the car ready in a few hours.

I would like to say that I notice a difference in power or engine response, but I don't. I do belive my MPG has gone up 1 or 2 in the city.

JaChTsai

Ok, I think I finally got to the bottom of the 20 brake test. I brought my car to another Mazda dealership. They checked my ECU and it was upgraded to the M-flash. So I asked the service advisor about the 20 brake test, and he got me talking to the MAzda tech. The Tech said the 20 brake test has nothing to do with the M-flash. All rx-8s before a certain VIN had this 20 brake test indicator, but some rx-8's just don't. So I guess mine just doesn't. So don't be surprised if the 20 brake test doesn't work, cuz I definitely have the M-flash but the brake test just doesn't do anything to my oil guage.

brothervoodoo

Here is the story with the the 20-brake test, if your car doesn't do it then you don't even have the "L" flash. Currently cars that have the "L" and "M" WILL sweep the oil gauge after tapping on the brakes.

You can cross reference my statement by reading the TSB below which talks about clearing non-volitale RAM. If your needle doesn't sweep you don't even have "L".

So yes, the oil sweep is not directly related to "M" but if your car doesn't do it, then you don't have "M".

Reference TSB:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com...ocs/01-007.htm

RX4+30Years=RX8

I would like to point out that these 20 taps are just taps on the pedal and sometimes you might not tap just right on a 2 or 3 so keep tapping for up to 25 times. It also has to be done in just a few seconds so don't waste time pushing the pedal, just tap it.

JaChTsai

Brothervoodoo, thanks for the TSB. Didn't know there was one about it. Thing is my VIN is before the VIN they designated. I pre-ordered early. So I guess it doesn't apply to my car? And yea, there's no doubt I'm doing the brake test right. I literally sit there and pump the brakes for 5 minutes.

RX4+30Years=RX8

If you are pumping the breaks for 5 minutes you are doing it wrong. Just tap them very lightly and do it in 8 seconds. That's how light a tap it is.

JaChTsai

RX4+30Years=8,

Dun worry, man. I'm doing it right. What I meant was that I would try it for 5 minutes. Turn the ignition, tap 35 times, nothing happens. Turn it off, turn on the ignition and tap it another 35 times. I would do this for 5 minutes. Nothing. Just as the TSB says, it's for a certain VIN range, and I just happen to fall before that range.

G8rboy

You're not reading the TSB correctly- the NVRAM sweep indicator is part of the PCM code, whether your car was born with the 'L' calibration or later, or it was flashed to 'L' or later. Since you have an earlier VIN, and since the PCM calibrations are cumulative, either you don't the 'L' or 'M' flash, or you're doing the sweep test wrong.

InuYasha

Just got my 8 flashed to "M" today. Boy, does it feel good!!

They had told me before that the car did not need it. This time, I brought the TSB with me and made them check it out while i was standing there.

After getting the car home, I hooked up an OBDII scanner to the car and querried the vehicle information. The scanner returned the following value for the PCM Calibration level:

N3H6EM0013H6020

Interestingly, the TSB for the PCM/ECU Flash upgrade http://www.finishlineperformance.com...01-022-04.html lists the software calibration file for the level "M" flash as:

Automatic Transmission: SW-N3H4EM001
Manual Transmission: SW-N3H6EM001

Therefore, I can confirm that the car has in fact been flashed to the "M" level revision.

Maolin34

I supposedly got the M flash two days ago. I had not experienced any flooding or no start issues, nor any CEL's. What I am dealing with is a ridiculously low MPG. I have just over 2000 miles on the car, and I have filled my tank 9 times. Would be 10, but the dealership gave it to me with a full tank. I am averaging 12-13 mpg. Any ideas?!!?!?

RX4+30Years=RX8

Mine was the same before the M flash. After that it did improve, but I found out that if I try to get better mileage by babying the car and keeping the RPMs low, it actually went down to just under 10 mpg. Maybe because all the low rpms were fouling the plugs, but I have learned to just drive it and rev it up every now and then and my mileage in town has been as high as 19. Of course if I floor it 24x7 it does drop to about 13 again. I am just glad the price of gas has been going back down. One of these days I'll have to take it out and see what it will do on the freeway. Besides 140+mph that is.

Raptor

It makes me smile when people are surprised about getting 13mpg. This is a sport car, remember?
If you drive it like you stole it everyday sure you'll get a crappy milage . But the RX8 is not the only one with bad milage when you push it. My friend's R32 is getting 13 mpg with spirited everyday driving , I remember one magazine writting that on their track course they got 13mpg on their RX8 and 8mpg on their Evo!.
It's all about modulating the rpm. My mpg range is 15 to 22mpg. I get 15 when I drive like a maniac, I get 19mpg if I shift at about 4000 and 22 if I drive highway at constant speed.
Simple: fun=crappy mpg.
Now, the renesis might be a little worse than other piston engine when it comes to efficiency, but hey, a couple of extra gallons consummed to get the zoom-zoom feeling doesn't bother me at all :D .

RX4+30Years=RX8

I am absolutely not surprised that the mpg goes to crap when you have fun. It is to be expected. I am somewhat surprised that when I baby it and always shift before 3200 that it gets less than 10 mpg allthough it does make me have more fun because in my case that is what I bought the car for as well as to get me where I want to go.


Yeah it gets crapy gas mileage, but I always have a smile on my face when I pit for gas. It just means that I get to have some more fun.

So excuse me for now. I know of a nice windy road that is almost on the way to somewhere I want to go. ALmost is close enough for me.:D

Raptor

Wow 10 mpg with shifting below 3200rpm ??? .
There's something wrong with your car( some messed sensors may be? ). that is really far from the advertised 18mpg. I wonder if there is a quality control issue with the RX8.
Can you try to bring it back to dealer and have them 'fix' the milage. If they can't after 1 month or so I wonder if you can use the Lemon law.
In that case you might be able to get your money back( and buy another RX8 ) or get directly another one.

rx8cited

I wish I could drive some of these low mpg RX-8s for a week to see what kind of mpg I could get out of them.

I gotta wonder how much of the low mpg issues we read is due to car-to-car variations and how much is due to the driving style differences.

Too bad there's not a quick standardized way of measuring mpg easily - like putting a car on a dyno and letting a computer drive it ...... at least not that I'm aware of anyway.

Fortunately, I usually get around 20 mpg in 50/50 driving.

rx8cited

Maolin34

I read the suggestion of cleaning the MAF sensor, but I haven't gotten to it just yet. I do know that my 8 in particular was sitting on the lot quite a while. The dealer said they had to jump the batteryt o get it started, and it was washed and running when I got there. Later when I washed it, I found two bee's nests in the front door hinges....I wonder what affect the time would have had, if not the jumping of the battery. I know you have to perform the DSC config after a battery jump, I wonder if something else needs to be reset.

In addition, I babied mine for the first thousand miles. Never floored it, never revved past 7000 rpm. My mileage has been the same every tank....at least, 195 miles, 15.2 gallons on fill up, and at most 219 miles, 14.8 gallons on fill up. I have also always use premium fuel, and I varied the gas stations with the thought of bad gas.....I spoke to the dealer....they offered to have the RX-8 tech hook up the laptop to my car and go for a drive while logging everything and monitoring fuel/air management in realtime.....it would cost be a half hour of labor....$44 I will post the results, I am having it done this week.