Luxury car??? High-line brand??? Are you seriously talking about the RX8 right now? Mazda is not a high-line brand, their most expensive car is less than $35K USD. Nothing Mazda offers is luxury, especially the RX8. Don't get me wrong, I love my 8 and think it is a very nice car....but I am not kidding myself into thinking it's a luxury car. I have close friends with Lexus products, Mercedes products, BMW products, Audi products..........believe me, nothing Mazda makes is in that league as far as luxury is concerned.

Should a fun sports car have flooding issues?? Well, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't have flooding issues........as long as you follow some simple preventative steps. Is allowing your engine to warm that much of an inconvenience?? Is revving the motor a little prior to shut off that difficult?? You same people must hate checking the oil at every other fill-up also......but you probably don't do that either.

BINGO Bascho!! This is my FIRST rotary purchase, so I do not know anything at all about it. However, prior to purchasing it, I did my research and am WILLING to deal with the extra care REQUIRED to enjoy this car. If I was unwilling to go through what needs to be done, I would not have purchased it in the first place!!! SO, lets not compare this car to that car, because only Mazda makes rotary engines!!! Until another competitor comes up with a rotary engine that does not require these extra tlc (tender loving care), zip it and move along...

My first rotary also. Like you, I did the research, weighed the pros and cons and decided that I loved the car waaaaaay to much to get worried about some insignificant quirks to owning and operating a rotary engine. The 8 is the essence of sports car ownership......the owner actually has to PARTICPATE to keep the car happy.

If you wanted a 'no brainer - hands off' car....then you made the wrong choice. The 8 has personality.....and just like a person, you may not like everything about that personality. SO STOP BITCHING ABOUT IT!!!!

I like my cars like I like my woman.....HIGH MAINTAINENCE :101384_l:

Hells yeah! More cowbell!!

i have flooded my car 2wice now.. first time i had no idea they were prone to it and the second time i just thought i ran it long enough.... i did have thoughts of another car, but when it boiled down to it.. What other car looks as good handles as good as the rx-8. Looks are everything but i bet thats what got you to buy the rx-8 sure the hell wasnt for gas mileage Unless u spend over 100 g's for the money this car rocks out with its cock out.. Like being married u dont put ur tool in another woman. let it run for a few minutes rev that bitch up... SOUND OFF!!!! I LOVE MY 8 it keeps me on my toes ;)

I don't think anyone is saying it's "difficult." But after driving for 20 years not having to do that, and then getting a car that requires it after being moved a short distance, it is "difficult" to always remember to do it.

Semi-related... The front end of the RX-8 is lower than all the other cars I've owned, so I've had to get used to that. (And I don't even have the appearance package / color keyed strip along the bottom of the air dam.) I'm developing a new habit of not driving over the "stops" or curbs in parking spaces until my tire(s) touch them, like I used to be able to do in my previous cars.

One day I was not paying attention -- i.e., habit not fully developed -- and I forgot to deliberately park short. When I returned to my car, I discovered that the curb was about 1/2" too high for my car to clear it and my front end was less than 1/2" from crunching into it! :Eyecrazy: That was a lesson learned "the easy way."

The point I'm making is that good habits are sometimes "difficult" to learn, especially when the habit only seems to matter in the RX-8.

That sucks man :(

As far as the people with no compassion, lighten up a bit.

It was his fault, sure, but you still have to feel bad for the guy that spent 30k on his car only to have it not start like some 70's POS in front of his entire family.

i was embaressed when people asked at work wheres ur car. O its getting fixed... and those were workers that i dont even give a shit what they think.. now family might be a bit tougher and even more embarassing.. Trade it in someone else will love it!!!!

I agree completely.

The 8 I own now is my third rotary. The first one being my 1980 RX-7. Never flooded any of them.

It's also a symptom of our society to blame someone else for our problems. So, maybe mrkinn had a traumatic experience once reading an owner's manual and couldn't read the 8's manual and the supplemental booklet on cold shutdown/ deflooding procedures. It may not be his fault. :banghead:

bwhahaha. he wants to declare it a lemon :rollingla

See a trend here? This guy is a joke.

admits his mistake here, for once he's being reasonable.

How can anyone have sympathy after all this. This guy doesn't seem to understand why his car floods, doesn't seem to care. He doesn't question for 1 second why his car behaves the way it does. All he cares about is finding a way to get rid of his so-called lemon.

You decide if he needs sympathy or a good lesson.

i didnt read nuttin i was drivin... is there somethign in the manual abot this?? i have no clue

You would lose that bet with me

You seem very concerned with what people think about your car. Who cares! I bought my 8 because I loved the car, not because it would or wouldn't turn heads.

Sounds like that's your problem....you need to get a car that makes you happy. Get rid of the 8....... :)

uh huh. i never said i bought this car so it would turn heads.. i bought the car cause in my opinion these not a better looking car out there MY OPINION... I made a statement deal with it..

i have a question on this.... now.. does it only flood when its cold.. when its all warmed up can u start it and shut it off with no wait??? when i have gotten my car wash a few times im like sweating it that they shut it off to run it through and start it up the move it to dry and and shut it off again.. im wondering if this is a vaild worry???

From what I understand, the thing you need to do is not allow the engine to be shut off while the engine is cold -- which means, the temperature gauge is on "C."

If you drive the car for a few miles (or more) to the car wash, they'll run the car for a while, it will get washed, and then they'll turn the engine off. When this happens, the engine will not be cold.

It's not that the car must be run for a minimum amount of time each time. It's just that you should not shut it off while the needle is on "C."

thankyou

From what I understand from reading the manual, that's flat out wrong. You can shut it off when the temp. needle is on "C". You just need to rev to about 4k and turn the engine off (while it's rev'd up). That prevents the unburnt fuel from sitting in the engine and flooding it.

Someone, correct me if I'm wrong, but whenever I move my car from inside the garage to the driveway for a wash, that's what I do and haven't flooded it yet.

Yup, you got it right. Point being, any short distance moves, rev it up and power off, PERIOD. Doesn't matter if the engine is warm or not.

I had the same problem. The car needed a warrenty cat-replacement 3 weeks after I got it. Some of my coworkers gave me a hard time - nice of them to remind me why I don't like them. I just tell myself their jealousy runs away with their mouths - then I drive my RX-8 out to lunch for forget about them. Imagine how much fun it was for me to show up in a rental a week later and have to answer, 'it's in the shop again; I hit a deer.' They were overjoyed - looked like they'd won the lottery. That's why I call them coworkers instead of friends.

I completely sympathized with the embarrasment and frustration of the posters who reported an inconvenient flood, especially in front of an audience. It's a shame. However, I still find the cursing rants that assault the entire design of the car to be overblown, silly and to completely lack perspective..

I believe the book says to rev it up to 3k and shut it off as it comes down to idle - not shutting off while revved.

I do the rev to 3k, then let it drop before idle before shutting it off, but have read from users who do the rev and shutoff...either way seems to work? Anyways, was just pointing out that the main point is to do it if you take it for any short distances...

hmm... I don't think the owners' guide says anything about the rev before shutoff at all, the 2004 version at least. Anyway, the idea as far as I know is to turn off the key while the rotors are still at speed. This cuts the gas and any excess has a chance to purge from the combustion chamber as the rotors spin down.

My 8 won't start today. I suppose its a flooding problem. First time. I've had it 18 months and 14K miles. I suppose I will get it towed tomorrow.

Just a point of interest, the 2004 owner's manual doesn't talk about warming up the engine to prevent flooding. It only has a short paragraph called "Starting a Flooded Engine". There is a separate booklet, called "Mazda Driver's Guide" that addresses warming the engine..

If you only read the 2004 manual you will not know that there is a flooding issue or Mazda's procedure on how to prevent it.

Fortunately I had today off and the dealership didn't. I called Mazda Roadside Assistance at 7:30 this morning. They picked up the car within 45 minutes. I got a call at 2:30 this afternoon to pick it up.

They deflooded the car and replaced the battery, starter and plugs. The service associate said they have done several of these since the weather turned cooler The cost was $0.00 and they gave me some chocolates too.:)

I took the expressway home. The car runs great. The only issue is that I noticed a strong burning smell when I parked at home. I think this is the converter burning off the extra fuel from the flood and assume it will go away in a day or so.

Add me to the list of people that have never flooded my car...and we live in a cold climate here.