Sluggish Acceleration...Warranty?
 

Hi, I'm new here. I just bought an 04 RX-8 on Ebay. I never saw or drove the car in person before I bought it. Probably not the best idea, but I've done this 3 other times never with an issue. I guess I got a little over confident. Anyway, I just got the car today and everything seems fine except the car feels very sluggish under hard acceleration. I'm going to have Mazda look it over. The car has about 94,500mi on it and just has a K&N air filter and a Greddy catback exhaust. If the engine is no good, will the warranty cover it with the intake and exhaust?

yea they wont care or even notice those little things. could be in need of the basic maintenance people always forget about, plugs coils etc.

ISnt this normal though. I have the same "problem". If i floor it, itll take a bit of time till it starts pulling. Is this normal ? I always thought it was.

Yeah, that's exactly how I would describe it too. Seems perfectly fine under light/normal acceleration but when I mash the pedal it feels slow to get up and go.

i dont think mine is slugish, maybe slow (but i blame that on my friends turbo rx8 and my other friends turbo rx7 which i am used to being in ). The lack of torque can be weird for a new to rotary driver(coming from a v8 it was very odd) , also maybe flooring it at a low rpm ? that is the only point where id consider it a little sluggish.

then again who knows i am on engine 4 or was it 3 lost count and I never noticed that they were dead besides the last one spewing oil and stalling. (almost at 50k miles lol)

Damn you read me perfectly! Yeah I too am coming from a V-8, a Mustang with gears...fast as hell, so maybe I'm just not used to it yet. Otherwise I absolutely love the car. Insanely fun, comfortable, and sexy! I'll find out from Mazda next week whats up with it if anything.

Bad idea. Never ask a dealer these types of these cause they will try too screw you over and make you change shit you don't even need to change. Just wait till more people post.

Is your 04 an 6-speed or Auto??

6 Speed. Instead of going to Mazda listing general symptoms should I just request a compression test first and then go from there?

What's the build month on the door sticker? Check everything else out first then compression is last. Get the service history on it to see if the engine is original it might already been swapped out with that many miles.

You need another Club Member or someone (you don't show a location)to drive it and see if you really have a problem or your just not familiar with the feel of the Rotary engine. It could just need a tune-up(plugs,coils,wires.aprox $300)those could cause it or an air cleaner or de-carbon cleaning might need doing it could be many things etc... If you bring to Mazda and ask for compression they will charge you and most likely say you need a tune up for $$$.

perhaps your just not used to the higher powerband in the rx8, its completely different than your v8 mustang

not sure how long the core engine warranty issue 100k miles and so many years but u may get it check just to make sure if u have warranty still. I check compression first o_O, I have my own tester though so i check it every now and then.

Yeah I agree. I need a comparison test first.

A compression test will run about $130 if the engine passes, but you must make sure the test is done at the right rpm. 100 rpm test difference off of par and a failing engine could read as a passing one. Engine Fails, no cost, replacement engine. If your local dealer gives you any guff just call Mazda National.

$130's actually not bad. How can I assure the test is done right? So all engines are warrantied up to 100,000 regardless of age? What is the warranty on the replacement?

8 year/100k on original, and seeing as the car can't be eight years old you are good, I don't know about replacement. You want to make sure the test is done at the proper rpms, (I donno what they are, but I know some one does) otherwise the actual compression of the motor can be misread.

If you get the test ASK FOR a copy of the results...

What he said, then post said results, others will be able to tell you correctness of said results.

Sounds like a bad CAT

First off, thanks everyone for your help. Your really helping me sort this out and learn more about the car. The CAT was actually the first thing I thought too...the exhaust (air) seems abnormally hot. Would that be a bad cat or is that just the way this car is? How else can I tell? What am I looking at for parts + labor?

slap on a shiny midpipe! :naughty:

Update
 

Ok so I bit the bullet and brought the car to Mazda. I had them do a compression test. The tech says they have to call Mazda national because and I quote "you might need a new engine". So I asked if it failed the compression test and he wouldn't give me a straight answer but he said "theres a ton of carbon buildup so we'll have to clean it and test it again." aka it failed. If it fails once thats it right? What do I do if they tell me tomorrow, "hey good news the car passed now that we cleaned out the crabon!"? Because that would just obviously be complete BS.

Some times the cleaning will help and some times it wont. Did they say anything about plugs, coils, wires?

Ok so Mazda National approved a new engine. They did say I have to pay for plugs, coils, and wires and they also say I don't get a rental car.