Hi guys,

My name is Ben, and I'm from Mississauga, Ontario, and thanks to God, I just purchased a 2005 Mazda RX-8 GT. I love it, and I've done some research on it before buying it, however, I wanted to sign up here and get some info. or help on the car if I ever needed to cuz you look like a great bunch of guys and gals!

Some specs on my car....it's a red car, or I think it's called Velocity Red? I have the Spoiler and Moonroof, but no navigation. I also have the two-tone leather and it has roughly 52,000kms on it. How do you post pics on here, so I can post a few pics?

So do you guys have any tips for me as a new RX-8 owner? I know I have to put Premium gas, but if I put 94 octane, I've been reading on here, it won't make any difference, is that true? Also, should I be using synthetic oil or can I use regular oil?

Lastly, my big concern is winter tires. I wanted to stick with the 225/45VR18 tires as I would just swap the stock tires with the winter tires onto the stock rims. The only problem is that the price is sooooooo high, I mean I was quoted from all over around the Mississauga area to be over a grand! The best price I have so far is from tire rack.com which quoted me $860.99 (tax in and shipping included for a set of Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSport
Blackwall tires), but then I have to pay approx. another $100 for the balancing and swap correct? Does anybody have any used 18" winter tires for sale for cheaper, or does anyone know of any place where I can get 18" winter tires for cheap? What do you think my options are with this issue?

Anyway, thanks for all your help! I'm really loving this car!

God Bless you all,

Ben.

P.S. If I were to post that I was looking for winter tires, would I post here in the Canada forum, or would I post in the Buy/Sell/Trade forums?

 

Hey Ben,

Click on the image button (with the mountain) and type in the exact web address where your pics are stored, including the filename and extension. I have webspace along with my domain so I don't use any free servers.

I use Sunoco ultra 94, unless i'm on the highway and have to go lower. Seems to run best for me with that.

I use only regular 5W-20 oil, not synthetic, but there is a lot of info. about that debate here. As many will say, "search" and read the sticky notes.

I have stock size winter tires (blizzaks) but on aftermarket rims. And yes, they are expensive. I personally wouldn't want to cheap out on winter tires (or summers, for that matter) but it depends on your finances. Do you have the Mazdaspeed rims? I have them in boxes ... not crazy about them but they're still cool.

Probably more action in the tire and buy/sell forums than in this one. Not much happening here, it seems. Where's the London gang dammit?

Good luck man and watch out for Taja! haha

 

Thanks for your help dude! If I buy 17's with steelies or 17" rims for the winter and swap back my 18" tires and rims for the summer, is that okay? As in will putting 17"'s for winter harm my car? Cuz I'm seeing that a lot of people put 17"'s for winter as 18"'s are really expensive!

I have the stock GT 18" rims. Are the Mazdaspeed ones different?

 

A lot of people, including myself, are driving on 17 winters.

 

How does it ride? Do you notice a difference from the 18's? So there is no harm as the lowest we could go is 17" and highest is 18" correct? Sorry for the multitude of questions. lol

 

Congrats and welcome.
Please add location to your profile.
Please add your name to the GTA roll call in the Canada forum.

For winter get 17" x 7" wheels with 205-55-17 or 215-55-17 or 225-50-17. You'll save on tire cost plus the mount and balance charges. The response of the car isn't as good but hey, it's winter.

 

safe the stock 18" for summer driving and get a dedicated 17" steelie for winter duties. Enjoy the car. Leave DSC on.

 

The ride highly depends on what type of snow tires you get. If you get the Pirelli Snowsport 240, it'll practically drive like the summer tires. But the traction is pretty meager in real snow. If you get hardcore snow tires like Blizzak, it'll handle like crap but have lots of traction in snow.

Whatever you do, don't attempt to drive on the OEM tires in snow.

Second hand OEM 18" RX-8 rims are really cheap, just get a set of those and mount whatever snow tires you want on them. Downsizing to 17" will save you some money on tires though.

 

Hi guys, so I got an update on the winter tire situation:

Okay guys, praise God, I got a good deal on some Pirelli P240 Snowsport (225/45/R18) 18" tires, so I have a few questions:

1) I plan to mount them onto my stock 18" rims, so if I keep swapping summers and winters, will it eventually harm my tires and rims?

2) To do this swap, should I go to a Mazda dealer, or can I go to any shop?

3) Where can I get a set of second hand OEM 18" rims, and how much do they go for?

4) After swapping my winter tires on my stock rims, can I store my summer tires in my garage, or do I need to store it at room temperature in the basement or something?

Also, I picked up the car today, so I was driving about and noticed a few things that kinda sent some alarm bells my way, so here they are:

1) After driving for a while, and I'm coming to low speeds, I put it in first at a very low speed like 10 or 20km/h and I hear sort of a "clunk" like the gears are switching, even though I've put it in first. This happened once while down-shifting to second, but it's rare as 90% of the time I don't hear this noise. Other than that, the shifting is awesome, so do you guys ever experience this and is it anything to be concerned about?

2) The heated seats take a while to get warmed up. Is that normal?

3) Also, I think my car has lug-nuts but I'm not sure. Do all RX-8 GT's come with lug-nuts, and if so, where is the lock for it. I read in the manual that the supplied tool would have the lock on it, but I'm not sure. Anyway, here is a pic of one of my rims: The dealer I purchased it from (it wasn't a Mazda dealer) didn't give me any lug-nut keys.

4) I have the warranty book in my glove compartment, but the dealer just told me that the warranty was transferable. So how do I start the process of transferring the warranty to my name. Do I need to go register the vehicle at a Mazda dealership or something?

5) My car is at just over 52,000 kms, so how do I get into the the whole servicing game, because I'm unsure of what was done. Perhaps one or two services by the previous owner, anyway, I should start this....so what service do you guys recommend me to do, and when should I go get registered with a Mazda dealer to start? For both points 5) and 6), which Mazda dealer between Mississauga and Brampton do you recommend, as in the best service and pricing?

6) I smelt a burning smell every so often today, but the dealer assured me that it was because the oil change had just been done today and I will be noticing some burning smells here and there. It went away tho, so I'm assuming he was right?

7) I filled up my car today at Petro-Canada with 91 octane premium gas, and I filled up 48.6 litres (the first click on the nozzle) at $1.15/litre for $56! So now after about 35-50 kms, the notch has moved down almost three points!! So my question is - on a full tank with average driving, how many kms do you guys get? Can you achieve 450kms?

8) What about an oil change? Is it every 5,000kms (and also do I need to fill it up myself in between as well)?

9) Lastly, I've had my car rustproofed and undercoated. How do I tell for sure that they actually did both jobs?

Anyway, I thank God for this car, it is so awesome, the styling is superb, the handling is awesome, the speed is super, I love everything about this car and I'm happy to own it!

Thanks for your help guys, and God Bless you all!

Ben.

 

Can anyone please help with the above points?

P.S. I re-checked and my rims do have lock-nuts, only I don't have the locking nut, so the dealership will replace it for me.

 

why did the numbering restart at 1 after you reached 4?

 

After your first cycle of "swap to the winters, and swap back to the summers", for a total of about $200, you WILL buy some cheap alloys and mount the snows permanently - hear me now, and believe me later!

I have NEVER got 450k from full to the refill light. Never.

Check your oil in between fills, the engine uses oil to lube the rotor housings, and can drop the level quickly.

Rustproofing and undercoating a car with 50 k on it is kind of useless - even if they did it, it would just lock previous "winters" of salt into all the crannys.

Enjoy the car, S

 

I'll take a shot at some of the 2nd set of questions.

1) After driving for a while, and I'm coming to low speeds, I put it in first at a very low speed like 10 or 20km/h and I hear sort of a "clunk" like the gears are switching, even though I've put it in first. This happened once while down-shifting to second, but it's rare as 90% of the time I don't hear this noise. Other than that, the shifting is awesome, so do you guys ever experience this and is it anything to be concerned about?

>> When gearing down, I try not to shift into first at anything above 7km/h. Otherwise I will experience a clunking.

2) The heated seats take a while to get warmed up. Is that normal?

>> Yes. It's normal. And I believe it only warms up when someone is sitting in it.

6) I smelt a burning smell every so often today, but the dealer assured me that it was because the oil change had just been done today and I will be noticing some burning smells here and there. It went away tho, so I'm assuming he was right?

>> My exhaust smells a little nasty sometimes. The oil reasoning might have been correct for you.

7) I filled up my car today at Petro-Canada with 91 octane premium gas, and I filled up 48.6 litres (the first click on the nozzle) at $1.15/litre for $56! So now after about 35-50 kms, the notch has moved down almost three points!! So my question is - on a full tank with average driving, how many kms do you guys get? Can you achieve 450kms?

>> Search the forum. Lots of threads dealing with this. I've achieved 450kms just once. That was all highway driving. You will never get it in the city. In the city, I'm lucky to get 300kms. There is great variability in mileage achieved by people. Unfortunately, I'm one of the ones whose mileage sucks. I got new spark plugs put in today though. Hopefully that'll improve my numbers... but I doubt it.

8) What about an oil change? Is it every 5,000kms (and also do I need to fill it up myself in between as well)?
>> Personally I get it changed at my regular servicing (every 8,000). Others will do it more often. I do add oil two or three times between servicings though.

Welcome to the club and congrats on your new car !!

 

responses in red

 

Thanks for all your help again guys! Everything went well thanks to God, I got my snow tires on, I swapped 18" Pirelli P240 Snowsports onto my stock Rims from the winter and I'll swap it back to the summer tires in the spring.

The only thing left is I still hear that slight "clunk" sometimes when I shift to first at a standstill - even when I've been sitting at a light for a while. This is not reproducible every time, but it does occur 2/5 times. Also, it rarely happens when I shift to second at low speeds. I've been checking out this forum, and somebody said that since we're so close to the transmission, we hear that clunking when we change gears that we wouldn't hear in normal cars. What do you guys think?

 

Hey ChrisINben...

I just moved to Illinois from hawaii, and I have an automatic 2005 RX8 w/ 18 inch rims and the stock dunlop tires.. well, I am having a very hard time getting traction to even move forward, and when I finally was able to start driving around, I was going 10mph and slower through a turn and slid out and crashed into a mound of snow on the side of the road and was stuck, my tires just won't get traction...

Well, I just ordered a set of 224/45/18 pireli snowsport 240's like you have, and was wondering if those will do fine in snow packed roads and freeways? I just have the money for a pair right now to put on the rear wheels. Do you think I'll see a huge difference in traction and drivability?
Please get back to me soon, as I still have time to cancel my order. If they are good, I hope to get them by the middle of the week to get them installed for my holiday roadtrip of 400 miles to michigan to visit family.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Mark

 

I can't understand why anyone would buy 18 inch snow tires, and not getting rims for them. You are going to be paying much more to swap them on and off and chancing ruining your tires.

Also

A wider tire = great in the dry

not so much in the snow.

Also

MarkAngelo: you are insane to be only buying 2 snow tires.

If you can't afford to equip your vehicle for the proper conditions dont drive, you are putting other peoples lives at risk, ESPECIALLY in an RX-8. You should really be ashamed of yourself.

 

Is jesus your copilot?

 

MarkAngelo, you're currently driving on summer tires. In the winter weather they become rock hard and do nothing to provide traction, as you've seen.

Buying two snow tires isn't really going to help you at all. You'll still have summer tires in the front which means you'll be able to start moving but you won't be able to turn any better than you can now. Hello snow mounds.

Seriously, at least try to buy four 17" steelies and cheap snow tires.

 

Hey all,

Ya, I think it is pretty insane buying just 2 snow tires for the rear. I just moved here from hawaii, still trying to settle in with the new job, and the weather.

I managed to drive 15 miles on snow packed roads this morning to get to work on my stock tires. I was going about 25-30mph the whole way, with a lot of letting off the gas.

A red RX8 passed on the opposite lane and was GOING WAY FASTER than me.. He probably had snow tires on.

I will be receiving these tires in the middle of the week, and will have them put on the rear wheels.

I just really wanted to check if I will feel any difference at all as far as traction with these pirelli snowsport 240's.. 225/45/18, then I'll place my order for the next pair for the front.

Since this is my first winter, and I honestly think it's crazy over here in Champaign, Urbana, IL area, I will probably end up keeping the winter tires on my stockers and grab some other nice rims and for the summer. So I can swap them out every winter, since we're always going to have snow.

Thanks everyone for your help and support.

 

I drift around right turns when there is no traffic in the snow. Turn off DSC.

 

You will notice a huge difference with snow tires. I haven't driven in snow with the stock tires on the RX8 but I got caught once with my MX-3 with summer tires in the snow (ironically, I was on my way to the dealership with my winters in the trunk/hatch). It was the scariest ride of my life! You definitely need all 4 snow tires though. It'd be nuts to just put 2 on. You'd have traction taking off but you wouldn't have any when trying to turn.

 

Only right turns? You'e not an ambi-drifter? :P

 

hahaha... right's are easier for now, since I'm a learner.. maybe winter 2008 I would try left's

 

Hey.. Well, I ended up calling tirerack up and ordering the FULL SET of 4 winter/snow tires.. the Pirelli SnowSport ones that I stated above. I sure hope they are worth the money, and will actually allow me to get to and from work okay.

I had to leave my car at work and had someone drive me home because the parkinglot had ice and snow on top of it, and I slide off into another mound of snow!!!!!!! everyone at work is telling me that MY CAR (THE RX8) Sux in snow, and I should get rid of it.. but I told them that I should beable to drive around after I get my snow tires...

Well, Should I also add some WEIGHT in the trunk?? Like a 50 pound bag of lime or sand or somethin that I can use as extra weight, and use as emergency in melting snow??

Thanks!

Mark