I have a 04 RX-8 that i bought salvaged and fixed it up. I have had a problem for a while though. When shifting from 1st to 2nd the engine seems to be out of air or something. When i checked the exhaust tips they were black and a little smoke was comming out of em. A friend told me the engine was running rich on gas and not enough air. Im wondering if this is true and if anyone has had the same problem. I got the catalytic converter opened and found out that it was clogged which also explained why the car would heat up in traffic. The guy who i took it to put a straight pipe into the muffler but i want to put the cat back but i dont want it to clog again.

Any suggestions??

 

At WOT or high load these cars run rich....clogged CAT's is relatively common ( do a search) and was likely the cause of it running like crap. The exaust tips will be black normally...so don't worry about that The CAT could have been damaged from the accident

If the car is not getting a CEL it is probably not running too rich......