Raptor75

Well I brought my car in to have the 11.5 mpg abysmal mileage addressed. They took the car for the day, ran standard diagnostics on it and reported that the car was running normal. I pointed out that 11.5 mpg achieved while driving normaly (shift from 3K to 5K, infrequent hard acceleration, one or two red lines perday) was not normal. They again pointed out the computer said it was normal and then ran through a check list of bull sh#t caned reasons - tires pressure, road conditions, weather, driving habits ect... This is obviously a pre rehearsed show they have performed many times in the past.

I asked it they had checked the compression ratio....."no the car would not start if it was bad, it is fine!" Did you inspect the cat....."No, an error would have come back if it was bad, it is fine!" These Bozos did absolutely nothing. The actual mechanic told me he owned a RX-8 04 and that his also got 12 mpg and this was normal for the car. I pointed out that this board had about 50 users who might disagree with you. That argument was quickly dismissed because the boards are full of misinformation and basically worthless. We went back and forth and it became pretty obvious that the good folks at Autobarn in Evanston IL had absolutely no desire to fix my defective vehicle and just wanted me out of their hair.

It ended with them telling me there was nothing they could do and to call Mazda. I will do this next but based on others I do not expect much help from them.

This my friends is why I say Mazda sucks. If you build a product, support it, if it is defective fix it. I just put down $26,300 for this car and can't get more then a token jester to right it and a quick hand off to Mazda's corporate were I fully expect to get the corporate dump. I will update with my progress or lack of.

mysql101

if it makes you feel any better - that fuel is going SOMEWHERE. If you ever get a turbo, you can look forward to having your fuel mileage not dropping as much as the rest of us

I get about 15 mpg, and I am not driving it easy. Heavy acceleration, high driving speeds. Never baby it. I would have to say it would be difficult to drive it harder in normal conditions (outside of a race track), so getting 14 mpg on my car would be difficult to do.


Not sure what else to say - getting ~150 miles per tank would definately **** me off. Are you in an early 2004 unit?

Raptor75

2005 build date of 8/05, she is a new one and my mileage is just over 1000.

I would kill to get 15 mpg driving the car to have fun. I know I'm venting here but this real saps the fun out of the car.

bascho

I feel u raptor......I had a horrible service experience as well. Mine was brake squeal and no start conditions. They said the my car already had the newer designed brake pads based on my build date. That's funny......then why do me brakes squeal for every single stop (except hard braking)? They said that others have complained as well....but that Mazda had not offered a 'fix' for the problem yet. They had no solution for why my car wouldn't start after sitting for 3 days. They said I already had the newer starter and battery based on my build date. I am getting so sick of this BS. My car cost $33k and they treat me like I just drove up in a $16k Mazda3.

Special Ringpop

Well, to be postive, I know there are others who did not get such a great deal as you did on a new RX-8, and still get about the same gas milage as you.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Your complaint is with Autobarn, not Mazda. Autobarn has had a bad reputation for a while. I use Wilkins. They may be too far away for you though. I have had a long list of warrenty issues and they have been good at taking care of them. As far as the gas milage issue, I also get about 12 mpg. The only thing I can come up with is that it is the gas formulation sold in our area or a sensor is feeding the wrong information to the ecu causing the engine to run rich.

Are you comming to the meet on Tuesday?

Raptor75

The gas is poor around here and I have also thought of some misinformation messing up the sensor.

I am planning on Tuesday night; I look forward to meeting the Chicago group and comparing notes. See you there.

PeteC

Interesting idea. Has anyone ever bought a 55gal drum of high octane unleaded race gas (quality assured) and seen what the mileage is?

Red Devil

I don't know about the thoughts regarding Chicagoland gas mixture. I've consistently averaged 17.5mpg and my car has 22K on it now.

XRX8X

ok here we go again all of the sensible drivers who drive there sport cars like a sports car feel the same way DON'T SELL US THE BULL AND WE WON'T GIVE YOU THE BULL!!!!
all in all i get the same crazy gas miles you guys get (10-13) city and highway no diffference on shift patterns or gas grade(87 or 93)only thing with the gas is on 93 my pipes turn black and on 87 i loose a little power not much to complain about.i have come up with a fix i am sure will work once i do the math. i think the maf sensor is way out of its range to let the computer adjust the proper flow of gas (too rich most of the time and down right dumps fuel at idle and wot.i think if the car had a maf sensor that would not let the air flow affect the fuel flow so much and let the thottle position control most of the flow it would improve gas mpg.i do not feel the it's a motor problem but a regalated problem.some days on a long drive on the highway you feel a little more mpg as it should be but how come the mpg is so bad with most rx8's and not with others ?one would think mazda would be very concerned about all the fustration we have.many of the drivers out there really love there cars and wish someone would come up with a good answer to our problems i don't believe that this is what mazda inttended to do but how many of the big boys drive there product???if i had the brains to come up with the answer i would simply give it away just to prove you don't need to make money off everyone. sorry bou't the long dragging but i love my 8 and i feel your pain sometimes it go's away and other times it won't....hang in there !!!!!

Raptor75

My 11.5 is 100% city. I got 17.5mpg on a 100% highway drive averaging 75mph.

expo1

1,000 in about two months? That is not very much driving, what is an average trip mileage wise for you? I am one of those hated 20 MPG owners but I have an hour commute to work so that is about 2 hours a day doing over 65 in 6th. If your driving is mostly short trips around town your mileage will always suck.

5/2003 build date 58,000 miles FYI

BunnyGirl

Your highway isn't so bad, then. Just mainly your city driving. You probably have tons of stop and go traffic and lots of idling, which will just eat the gas.

BunnyGirl

Your commute sounds like what mine will be soon. Essentially all freeway except for about four blocks in downtown Portland.

HCTR154

With gas prices rocketing skyward yet again, this is a sore topic. I get about 15-16 mpg in the city and a whopping 20 mpg on the highway. So, I guess I'm pretty lucky.

I know that piston engine cars usually "loosen up" with some miles and often get slightly better mileage than when new. Is this the case with rotary engines?

expo1

An hour in a RX-8 after a long days worth of work ===> PRICELESS

born2drive

I get about 10-15mpg in the city. I had a big pickup truck before I got my RX8, so I'm used to the poor gas milage.

Raptor75

I do about 9 miles one way and it takes me 20 to 30 minutes. It is suburban city.

BunnyGirl

Your commute sounds like the biggest killer of your mileage than anything.

I live in the country so it is essentially a straight shot to hit the freeway from my house. It takes about 13 minutes tops to go 10 miles to the first traffic light (well, was the first traffic light until they built the new high school). In less than a mile from there is the freeway, so very minimal amount of sitting in traffic, assuming the lights aren't cooperative on any given day.

UFGator12

The only thing that I can contribute to this is that my parents drive nice cars. They have Lexus' and Jaguars. The comparison between Mazda and those companies is not even worth the time. Jag and Lexus do whatever they can to help and bend over backwords to do what they can so that you are pleased. Example: On my dad's Jaguar, he had a defective dashboard. He would crank up and none of the needles would turn on. BIG TIME issue. He took it into Jaguar, and they replaced it immediately. They gave him a loaner car until his was fixed. They called him immediately right when the part was in and ready to go. Mazda, on the other hand, YOU have to make the effort to call and ask them if it's ready, and you never get a loaner car. Example: I had to get a new tire in my 8. It was on a Saturday, and there is a mall located near by. So, it's about 30 degrees outside and raining and I go in and ask if there is someone that can give me a ride 500 yards to the mall. They said, "The runner isn't open on Saturdays." I said, OK, I'll just walk in the freezing cold rain. That's rediculous. SOMEONE could give me a ride to the mall. It really bothers me. And, it's not like Saturday isn't a busy day or anything. All I know is, if it had been Jaguar, Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, Mercedes, or any other luxury car company, someone would have been able to give me a ride.

RX-Aight

I think you're overreacting a little. I've now got 3800 miles on mine. The first 2500 miles I could only get 220 miles to the tank, if that. Now at 3,800 miles I’ve been getting about 260-280 miles to the tank, with it gradually getting better.

In Mazda's defense, there probably is nothing wrong with you car. It's call break-in period for the engine.

Plus, didn't you know the rx-8 gets **** gas mileage before you bought it?

RX-Aight

there you go, stop and got traffic is going to kill your mpg.

how many miles to the tank are you getting?

BunnyGirl

Why are we discussing miles per tank again? This does not reflect MPG since everyone's opinion of "tank" is different!!!!

nu2rx8

It took me a couple of weeks to get used to short shifting the 8 which I decided was necessary after avg 180 miles on my 1st two fillups. Once I got the hang of that, my city milage improved 20% or so. The part of the equation that i can't control are the archaic streets here in Pittsburgh... so narrow that they have to place stop signs like every 200' even on or aproaching steep hills. It seems like most of the people that get 11mpg are near cities with older grids like PGH, NY or Chicago. I'm sure if I had my 8 when I lived in so cal, I would have gotten closer to 20mpg. No solution to your problem, but I'm just stating that mpg comparo's with other members may not be apples to apples.

BunnyGirl

In the 06 owners manual it recommends shifting at 14, 22, 29, 36, 46 for good fuel economy. If you are overly concerned about the low MPG try using the recommended shifting points.