Just a few weeks ago I had my Rx8 reflashed at my local dealer from "F" to "G" flash to help with slight rough idle and odd hard starts.

My observations are as follows:

On "F" flash(original flash)

Idle would be intermittently uneven.
Occasionally in warm weather car would hard start.
Fuel consumption would average 15/16 litres per 100 KM
Power seemed reasonably strong through mid range but would plateau slightly in high rev range .

On "G" flash
Idle is smoother
Starts appear easier
Fuel consumption definitely better (12/13 liters per 100KM
Power seems slightly weaker through mid range but at 7000rpm and above definitely has more of a kick than before.

Anyone else with this flash update have anything to add?

Regards
Rexi

 

Thanks for the update..

I don;t have idle problem but what is intermittently uneven idling.

Fuel comsumption is a big factor --- I will do the change... soon

 

Rexi,

Thanks for posting your observations. A nice informative read.

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Have you had the stall and tow to the dealer upgrade yet?

LOL!

 

I'm seeing fuel consumption around 11.3L/100km around the city now, as opposed to nearer 12 before.

 

still not getting below 15L/100km, average roughly 17L/100km. (and may i remind, although i'm not a conservative driver, i do not trash the hell out of the car either).

 

Yanje sure you dont

 

After the G upgrade i am still getting 15 to 16L/100km. If it improves fuel consumption then i havent seen it.

 

after the G flash, did anyone notice the sticker on the inside of the driver door indicating that the flash was performed? it's on the hinge side of the driver's door.

mike

 

When I took my Dec '03 build car in for its 10,000km service I asked them to do the reflash - their reply: there is no reflash! So I have no idea whether I'm on F or G. Does anyone know the serial number cutoff?

Whatever flash I'm on I still struggle to better 15.5l/100km in my daily commute, which is a mixture of smooth running at 80-90km/hr plus the usual Sydney snarl. That's basically what I have been getting since brand new, so have come to expect it as normal. I guess most of us have grown to live with this. Fortunately there are so many other positives with the car. Still I sure hope petrol isn't $3.00/litre when I come to sell the thing in a few years time! "the RX-8 a noughties dinosaur??"

 

to see if you have the G flash, turn car on, press brake pedal 20 times in less than 8 seconds and the oil pressure guage should move to half way then drop back to low.

mike

 

Doesn't that only work on a full moon ?

 

I have my doubts that the "G" flash offers any significant fuel economy benefits. I can't see any trend yet, after 2,500k. But the car seems altogether more lively -- and that's benefit enough for me. As I have said before, the RX-8 is probably as economic as any other similar performance car when driven in a spirited fashion, If you want economy, buy a Prius

Haven't seen any stickers after the re-flashes I have had. According to the US TSBs, the dealer is supposed to note them under the ECU cover, but I haven't checked.

 

the sticker also lists the version number of the flash. starts with N and ends in G. i'll write it down tomorrow and post the number.

mike

 

Same here. After getting a G flash - up from the original which dated back to the middle of last year - the car just seems a bit more lively all round.

On the topic of starting/idling:

After suffering the dreaded flooding problem I've been paying a lot more attention to the pattern it follows on starting, and it seems quite erratic.

Sometimes it starts and warms up at a steady idle of just over 1500 and and slowly drops to regular tickover speed. At other times it initially revs at well over 2000 and then drops back. It doesn't seem to be tied to any large noticeable daily outside temperature difference though.

As Hymee pointed out on a previous thread, when it starts at over 2000 rpm it also sometimes does a strange little sudden drop back in revs, after which it quickly returns to the higher figure. It doesn't always do this however, and I've no idea what that's all about.

I think that the odd drop and surge thing that sometimes happens during the warm up period was probably the cause of my cut out and and flood experience. I was reversing out of the carport at a slow but steady speed (into a wide open space on my block) when it suddenly cut out for no obvious reason. I was almost clear of the carport and there was no reason for a conventional stall to happen at that point. The car had only been running for a short period (it was a while back on about a 20C day) so it could well have been the point at which that odd little drop and surge can happen.

Anybody else notice that their car warms up in different ways, or do some people get a consistent pattern when they start up??

Initially I thought that the G flash was giving a smoother warm up period at lower revs, but over a longer period it seems to have a number of different ways of starting, and I never know which one I'll get.

 

Bvd

I can report the same observations as well. Every morning the car revs differently at start up.

skc

 

Yep...same, same.....still on "F" flash.

Gomez.

 

BVD

Luckily my car starts the same way most mornings , reving to 2000 then dropping to 1500 then to 1200 then back to 850 . :D

When i reverse from my garage i always make sure i still have the clutch slightly engaged i find this helps in avoiding the car from stalling , i also give it a few more revs as i reverse then once reversed i totally disengage the clutch , and wait 2 minutes for engine to warm up .

If i feel that the car may stall while i am reversing i quickly deprees the clutch all the way , and give a few more revs .

I know some of you will say that you should never ride your clutch :p , however i find this procedure works for me in the mornings as i reverse out of my garage , and so far i have never stalled my car .

cheers
michael

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Interesting that some of us seem to get a fairly random pattern of revving on start up.

Since having the flooding problem (which was a once off thing after 9 months or so of owning the car) I now let it warm up for a while longer than I used to. As I have an open carport rather than garage it's no problem doing this before I back out.

Thanks for the reversing tips Michael. I guess that I probably already do something similar - i.e. ride the clutch a little when backing a short distance. But after driving for 45 years, I tend to get it right on most occasions. :D

I guess I'll never convince other drivers, but it really did feel like it cut out, rather than my ballsing up the revs and stalling it the 'regular' way... but, hey, at my age I've already forgotten the details anyway...

 

hi

finally got to note down the flash version number for the PCM from the sticker on the door:

N3J6-18881-G

cheers

mike

 

Funny I never have a feeling that the car will stall... must be the Gold Coast weather, is humidity going to contribute to that?

I am going to upgrade it to G, sooner or later.

I just tested on my F flash on 110km/h highway doing 11L/100km - it is too much :o

 

I get this pretty consistently on a cold start and to prove it happened at least once, see the attached graph.

No surprise that there is a blip in the throttle when this occurs (it drops down to 4.8% then up to 6% and settles down to about 4.7%. Not sure why yet... will keep looking. It might take a while seeing I can only do one of these a day.

 

That's a neat trick, Sco! How'd you come up with that graph?

 

Ok guys -- time to bring forward information on the latest state of development of your CAN scan tools -- otherwise some of us might do something really silly, like buy from overseas Neat taster marketing though

 

I have a natural talent for timing and I'm quick with a pen?!

I need to be careful about forum rules. The answer is here in the forum if you look hard enough - let's just say that graphs make me "drool".