Checked this morning with MAZDA head office about WARRANTY on my car if i installed a MAZDASPEED Flywheel .

They will not cover any mechanical parts that do not relate to the mazda rx8 here in AUSTRALIA .

Even THOUGH MAZDASPEED parts are ok in japan and the united states australia mazda will NOT cover them under warranty .

Back to the drawing boards , no flywheel upgrades at this point in time .

cheers
michael

 

So hang on - they won't cover the flywheel or do you void the drivetrain warranty? From the sounds of it you're saying it's just the flywheel.

So who cares? How the hell do you break a flywheel? If it was a manufacturing fault you can just take that up with whoever imported it for you.

You haven't lived until you've driven a high revving rotary with a very light flywheel. Absolutely hilarious :D

 

Has anyone here in Australia installed a lightened flywheel on the RX-8?
From what I have seen this is a great modification. The warranty is a concern but as the flywheel reduces the strain on the transmission due to its lighter weight it is probably not much of a concern. I would love to try a car with this mod to assess the day to day drivability for myself.

 

That is such a bullshit. It is developed my Mazda Japan, same factory that brings out our RX-8. They are problem shifting ***** IMHO.

There is a lot of what if..... in modification. I will put in the MS in order of risk of breaching the warranty

 

MA is not Mazda Japan, if they don't sell it here, why would they cover it? how on earth could they even know for sure it's actually what you say it is if they don't fit it?

IMHO, it's rediculous to expect MA to cover anything they don't directly sell and fit...

YOU mod your car, YOU wear the risk.

 

Eggzackly!

 

I agree with Taka.......................how can the left hand not cover what the right hand built?! Its not like your fitting a Nissan part to a Mazda..................Its such horse ****! Its about time company's such as Mazda realised that the Internet has made all their products GLOBAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I don't like the argument that if it's available elsewhere in the world you should get a warranty on it.

Where does it end? If you put a JDM ECU in your car and lunch the motor because our octane isnt good enough, do Mazda owe you a new motor? Hell no.

If you put a lightweight flywheel in your car and suddenly start burning through clutches, do you guys expect a new clutch? What about the increased fuel consumption - do you expect a fuel rebate?

I'm with pepe. Your mods your risk.

 

Im with the rest your mods your risk

What does MAZSpeed have to do with Mazda Australia absolutly nothing at this time. Do they have a part cataloge that they can see that the serial of the flywheel matches with mazspeed etc.. Like everyone else said why would they support something they did not install..

Even if you get some dodgy mechanic to put in the flywheel and messes something up ( you never know ( its up to mazda to fix it, or give you warranty on the flywheel that the mechanic help break?

Further more if they still have warranty on the rest of the car but not the flywheel i would stop complaining.

ANYTHING you stick on your car can void warranty im talking about even a grill extra light etc... If something happens to your car say over heats or electronics they are going to blame something not the car.

Regards
Phillip

 

That is like the right turn rule in car crashes. It is always your fault if you are turning right in a car accident. I heard this even you are having a green arrow!!

 

Your warranty on a mazdaspeed mechanical part will still be void even if your flywheel is installed by a mazda dealership .

Emack we need a volunteer to try out the mazdaspeed flywheel and report to the forum , are you up for it???

What no words of wisdom from HYMEE ??????

CHEERS
MICHAEL

 

Sorry Lock but if they're going to jerk me round on Warranty, I'd prefer to go with the SR Motorsports option being their 9.75lb aluminium flywheel , counterweight and heavy duty ACT clutch.
If they refuse to warrant their own products then why take the heavier Mazdaspeed flywheel at roughly 16-17lbs. There's a great write up in the Aftermarket Performance section of the forum on the SR Motorsports set up. Just want to talk to the Guru before I proceed.

http://www.shaneracing.com/RX8_Clutch_Flywheels.html

 

Hang on, this is not a binary issue.

I can drive around all day in 2nd gear revving at 9,000 rpm, and if the engine blows -- basically (with some argument) Mazda will wear the cost if it is withinthe warranty period.

In fact, I can add a light weight flywheel and, as long as I am not involved in any motor sport or obvious abuse, and the motor blows, and it is NOT due to the flywheel, then Mazda wears the cost as well.

This is a basic consumer right under Australia's various National State consumer laws and common law -- it's about causation and fitness for purpose, which require -- I admit -- some evidence to support.

To look at it another way. Just imagine you replace your 8's brakes with larger, higher spec Brembos. You have an accident because the original Mazda master cylinder and servo fail due to a manufacturing fault. Can Mazda avoid their liability because of your modification? They will try, but the weight of case law says they'll probably fail.

nulle bastardo carborundum

 

I love it when you talk dirty Timbo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Timbo

Nulle bastardo carbonara , a nice italian dish or is it part of your DARK side coming through .

Dont worry its more fun on the dark side .
cheers
michael

 

L&L

Don't let the bastards grind you down!

Is this not your motto?

 

I think that it's reasonable for Mazda Australia to state that if they are selling a car with a 20 to 28 pound flywheel designed for standard street level driving, that replacing it with a 3rd party product ranging from 9.75 to 11 pound flywheel ( or 8 to 8.5 if you buy a really out there version not even close to being street drivable or long shelf life ) then they won't provide full parts and labour warranty support for it.

Frankly, if you build a car company, build a distribution network, resellers, and then service centers, you too can choose to only support your standard parts and products, right?

Heck, you change it, you wear the risks, your choice.

But for my money, I'm changing it bit by bit and testing it - there's a 11 second RX8 somewhere in Sydney and I'm on a mission to find it, reverse engineer it, and replicate it.

--dez;

 

This is quite simple really. How can Mazda provide warranty for a part you purchased form another source?

If you put on a non-genuine flywheel (the MazdaSpeed ones are not considered genuine here as Mazda Australia has not committed to them) and the flywheel breaks, then it is not Mazda Australia's problem. The matter should be taken up with the supplier. Beware - generally, components are not covered by any warranty if used for competition.

If you have a non-genuine flywheel, and your stereo stops working, then the stereo should be covered by the new vehicle warranty.

Unless of course during the failure of the non-genuine flywheel a fragment of metal spinning at 9,000 RPM manages to slingshot itself out of orbit and goes through the bell housing, though the transmission tunnel then comes to rest inside the radio...

Basically, if the failure of the non-genuing part caused the failure of other parts, then that is not a warrantable claim.

Also remember that a warranty claim can be knocked back using the "abuse" clause. The problem is where to draw the line between driving a sports car up to it's limit, and abusing it.

Anyone needed to get a clutch replaced? Mine is still going strong, yet the one on my Commodore was replaced at around 30,000km. And the replacement one was just about stuffed as well. Most people I know at least got one clutch under warranty. Most people I know also had the 5.7 Chev V8 motor re-built/replaced under warranty as well - mainly due to to oil consumption problems and rattling pistons. At least the Renesis is designed to burn some oil.

So how much do you want to mod your car and hope that Mazda will still warrant it? Lets see - coil-overs all round, replacement swaybars, whack on a super-charger or a turbo-charger, bebuilt the whole CAI, put a full exhaust system - all the way through, give it a shot of NOS, put on some big **** wheels, change the brakes, put a Motec ECU on and get it tuned by the guy on the Cribb Island bus.

Then turn up at the dealer with 1/2 inch of burnout rubber lining the inner rear guards and making a warranty claim on a clutch that dissintegrated when you sidestepped it at 8,000 RPM with way too much boost! Then the small matter about the lunched motor because the guy who thought he knew how to tune it forget to richen the mixture at some critical point...

Do your homework. Way up the risks, and prepare for the consequenses. Accept responsibility for your actions.

And how badly do you want that 11s RX-8? I'd love it! But sometimes I know when to get my hand off it and stop dreaming. Sure it is possible, but I think the level of mods required to achieve that would probably put the warranty at risk. An 11s street car is very fast. How many drivetrains has JudgeITO gone through - and it is a 13s car??

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

This is not within the context that the original comments were made. I understand and accept responsibility for any mods I make, but refusing to accept a Mazdaspeed product by Mazda Australia is puzzling and evasive to say the least! (Accepting that any Mazdaspeed parts are of course installed by a Mazda dealer).

 

DITTO / DITTO

 

I think it is a simple fact that Mazda Australia have not yet embodied the products from the other company MazdaSpeed.

 

since the mazdaspeed web sit is attached to the mazda .jp website (it's actualy coppyrighted by mazda) would this be enough to make their parts genuine mazda parts? the other thing that would be interesting to find out is if the mazdaspeed items have a similar part number to the stock parts or if the std mazda logo is on the box.
still even if you do the fly wheel **** all is likly to hapen in 3years.

 

MA would be mad not to embrace mazdaspeed in it's product range. There is certainly a demand for it ( at the right price though). However while MA does not supply or profit from mazdaspeed products (at this point it time) they'd be silly to offer a warranty on an outsourced product installed by somebody independant of mazda australia and it's dealerships. After all, every car and product sold has an inbuilt warranty percentage in it's price to cover any claim which may arise.

This is just sensible commercial decisions.

It would be like me providing a warranty service for implant treatment provided be another practitioner despite the fact that i use the same system as the other.

 

The only way I see MA covering any Mazdaspeed kit is if they start selling it here, then they may cover it. Even if they do, they'll only cover what they sell, not what you import yourself, and they'll probably only cover it then if they install it themselves. It's their way or the highway.

 

Pepe, that's what I was implying.

Consider this. You import a car, an RX8 or a 350Z. Would mazda australia or nissan australia have to honour damage caused to those cars which would otherwise be claimable if the car was an Ausssie bought under warranty. No because they have no obligation to it. And why should they?