This is my first winter in the 8. I was abit nervous about using it as my DD in the winter, but with Dunlop Wintersport M3's it drives WAAAY better than my wife's Altima on all seasons. I love it! The DSC is fantastic, it lets you have a little slip, then it steps in and helps out, stopping is great.

 

One of the reasons I bought the RX8 over the other cars I had wanted to get was it's potential ability in Winter driving. =)

 

I have a somewhat similar story.

For 3 winters in Winnipeg I've parked indoors and after 1 night outside (overnight) - plugged in - the car has developed what looks to be a SSV issue when I brought the car back indoors - some very helpful posters on this forum have given me tips to trouble shoot.

The engine service light remains on after being inside for 2 days and running the car up to 7,000 RPMs several times to attempt to solve the problem.

The problem persists (engine light), so I'm told to bring it in to the dealership where I'll be extorted by the Winnipeg Mazda dealership $109 to inspect the car.

Never again will I leave the car outside in winter - it simply does not like the cold.

I'm praying the intake manifold / engine light issues above are covered under the 5 year, 100k Powertrain Warranty in Canada. I bought the car in Oct 04 and it has only 22k kilometers.

 

i have zero issues leaving the car outside fyi =) actually i havent really had any major issues with the car at all.

 

-32 with -45 windchill here. Car was in the garage sitting for 2 weeks and barely turned over (weak battery I'm guessing). I have a Wolverine Engine Oil Heater ordered from Park Mazda. She is now sitting outside and I won't even try to start her, even with the oil pan heater, until it warms to at least -20. Plus I am going to have a battery trickle charge on this afternoon.

Last year my car wouldn't start in -25 weather (without the oil pan heater or garage) and I had to take it to a heated garage where it sputtered to life. Drove it to Edmonton and again it wouldn't start so I had it towed to Weber Mazda where they replaced the plugs and cords under warranty.

Unless you really really need to drive your car. I would not try to start it in -25 weather without an Oil pan heater, and would be hesitant to try it in -30 with an Oil Pan Heater. If it doesn't turn over then your chancing an engine flood, then you have to wait for a tow, and Mazda to change your plugs and cords. There goes a quarter/half of a day right there.

 

I don't know why people are having troubles starting the car??? Mine was left outside in Winnipeg -37 weather for 24 hours...and I didn't have anything plugged in, it took like 5 seconds but it fired up without issues.

 

Yeah weird, mine fires up in -30. It idles a bit higher for about 10 seconds then settles down and all is good.

 

I think it's because my battery was a little weak last year. I live in a small town and I drive my car short distances. Well I hope that was the reason. I used to have a winter AWD junker which was great for days like today.

 

Yea the car doesn't do good for short drives, in winter I drive at least 15 min. But before I move the car I always let it warm up for a few min (going through the 'warm up procedure)

And if you drive short distances it might not have enough time to charge the battery.

 

Yeah same thing happened with my gf's Tribute. Battery was dead yesterday. I always allow my car to warm up, but sometimes (probably 99% of the time) the trip is shorter than the warm up time. Any longer is way way too much waste of fuel.

 

I have been in saskatchewan for a week and it has usually been -30 to -35 over the night and as long as i have had it plugged in it has started great. I also atribute the good starts to the new Optima battery. One day i forgot to plug it in until about a hour before i left, it was -32 or so and it didn't start. I had to turn it over for a bit doing the deflood procedure but the optima stood strong and got it started without another car having to boost me.

 

My car had the battery issue this weekend. Came back from my trip to Cleveland to find my car wouldn't start. I thought my dad flooded it (he had to move the car to get the oil changed in the garage for our Civic). The lights inside worked and so did the power door locks. So I brought it to the dealer and they found that my battery wasn't holding a charge...

 

Special Blend, what deflood procedure?

 

^^^ 1) Push the accelerator pedal all the way (cuts off fuel) and try to start the car for about 8 seconds
2) Wait a few seconds before trying to start the car normally (can drain your battery)

You may have to repeat a few times to get it going. If you can't, you might need to do more (like taking out spark plugs, etc)

 

In most cases you will probably need another car connected depending on the strength of your battery but this is basically all you have to do(has worked twice for me):

Turn car over normally without pushing gas pedal down

IF it doesnt start then keep turning it over with your foot all the way to the floor on the gas pedal

After a little bit it will probably start to sputter, once it does that or if you have been turning it over for 10-20 seconds with the gas pedal down and nothing is happening then release the gas pedal and continue cranking.

Basically you just have to keep alternating gas pedal down(fuel cut) and then gas pedal up(fuel injecting) and you will get a feel for when it is trying to go. When it is trying to go make sure you do not have gas pedal all the way to the floor as that is what kills the gas from going into the engine. If it dies out and you don't hear it firing when the gas pedal is up then start again with the gas pedal down all the way.


If this procedure is done you will get alot of smoke when it goes, that is normal. Just make sure you don't rev it too high when it first goes because there is going to be alot of unspent fuel in the cat.

 

Sooo ... I think Jesus is my friend. Spent most of xmas eve and xmas in the garage. Installed the BHR ignition, then tried to deflood the car. Finally at 11pm today, I was about to give up but decided to say hi to Jesus and ask him to help a brother out ... the car then started! Tons and tons of UNHOLY UNHOLY smoke filled that garage. The lady across my alley saw and must have thought it was a fire. Let it run and idle to normal temp ... seems ok now.

Still scared to drive it because I'm reusing the old spark plugs and those things were fouled when I pulled them --> so I can't trust them too much.

 

Did you get someone to tow it to your house in the first place?

 

^^^ I used my muscles to pull the car home 8 km. Ha ha. Nah, I managed to find a flatbed tow truck from a guy on Beyond's dad. He's just starting his tow company so he wasn't super busy like the rest of the companies. Would you believe that the other company's had a 2-4day wait list???? The guy is very careful with the car (he told me that he had to tow his son's 300ZX and also some of his buddies' cars before). Very reasonable rates as well. Anyways, if anybody from Calgary ever needs a tow, let me know and I can pass on the info.