Silver01TA

Hi, Im a new member...
and my g/f just bought an RX8...
Its pretty much my job to make sure its running right and educate her on the car...and mod it if needed...

But seeing as how I dont know that much about the 'x8s...I figured this is the best place to get some info.

So lay it on me if you could...
Any things we need to do?

Break-in rules?

Or any general info would be much appreciated.

I must say though. I am very impressed with the car. It revs so quickly...something that doesnt really happen in my 350...Im a little disappointed in the power...but then I realized for a 1.3L, that power is pretty darn good. Im used to having a big displacement motor pumping out over 400 horses. But this rotarty has lots of potential. VERY AWESOME CAR. I cant wait till we can strech the car's legs a little bit.

Thanks in Advance,
- aaron

RX8-TX

Welcome and congrats for the two of you!
Alright, here go my tips:

1. Break-In, I tried to baby it for the first 500~600 miles.
No trips to redline.
Tried to avoid highway driving (to avoid keeping the engine at the same speed too long)
Vary your shift points.
And whatever you do, don't run in 6th below 3K rpms like I did (it does nothing to the engine as fasr as I know, but its depressing!)

2. Check oil often. I believe every 1000 miles is a good habit to pick up from the start. I had to add 1/2 quart after 1500 miles. And then 1 quart @ 3300 miles. I recently took it to the dealer for the first oil change: no problems!

3. Start the car and drive it (in my case its not difficult!.) Don't cold start it, move it off the parking lot and turn it off. Keyword: ENGINE FLOODING!

4. In the mornings, when cold, start the car and let it idle for a couple minutes. You'll notice the rpms climbing as much as 2K when cold, and eventually they'll drop and stabilize at 1K. You don't have to necessarily wait that long, but let it settle a bit.

5. Check your oil again!

6. Enjoy it!

Silver01TA

Great.

Should we change oil at like 1500 like most normal reciprocating engines to get rid of the metal particles...or regular every 3k miles

Silver01TA

How is the tranny...
She has a 6spd...
Is the flywheel and rear-end pretty stout...
Im thinking it is...but you never know...

My T/A's flywheel only handled 375ft/lbs max...and didnt last for about 40k miles....

And now the rear end will go if I put any more power to it...

Sorry for all the questions

FirstSpin

My dealer and my mechanic both agreed that changing oil every 3500 miles or so is probably the best approach. The manual calls for oil-changes at 7,500 mile intervals. After the "new" wears off of mine (its a week old tomorrow) I may stretch the 3,500 to 5,000 but I doubt I'll go any longer.

I've heard about the metal particles in the oil all my driving life but I've never known if it was truth or "legend". It seems to me that any metal particle fine enough to make it through an oil filter is not going to be of any consequence. Perhaps I'm missing something somewhere. If so, please feel free to tell me.....

RX8-TX

I would call the dealer...or, If I had the place and patience to do so...I would probably change it myself. But I drove all the way to 4300 miles without changing it. And nothing has gone wrong, yet (obviously if something got F'ed up it will show up further down the road)

RX8-TX

Mmmmmm.....I don't know if stock it could hanlde too much torque. However, being that there is so little right now...it should have some room. But definitely that's not my area of expertise. You might want to talk to the guys at the Technical Forum. And there is one guy (Judege Ito) that blew his. But again, who knows what his car went through, and if it was deffective to begin with.

Silver01TA

thanks for the help guys

Its a nice day outside...so me and her might drive around later tonight...

Its a fun car...engine turns so smooth