Mag66

Last weekend I visited a few friends in SF for the weekend and happened to meet someone they knew who had an identical 8 to myself (I was actually driving our AT for the weekend) but his was built in Nov 03 whereas ours are both built in April 04. We both switched cars for about two hours and drove them around SF following each other to ensure we both drove similar routes and through similar conditions.

He has had all the various 'fixes' and 'flashes' done but I am beginning to see why some RX-8 owners are unhappy with their cars. We both have about the same milage.. (3000) and we both drive in a similar fashion.. slightler spirited but not too crazily to attract the attention of the local police!

Please bear in mined.. I'm just a driver.. not a speedster or someone with a ton of reacing/car experience under my belt. I'm not a mechanic nor have i any real skills in engineering.. I can only relate what I and he felt when driving each others cars for a few hours.. and of course, YVMV!

Differences;

A/C. - The difference between my A/C and his, even with the 'latest' fix available to him.. was like night and day. Whereas mine cools down the car quite quickly even on the '2' setting, he had to ruin his at '4' almost all the time to achieve the same level of 'chill' in the car. Running mine at setting '4' resulted in a comment from him of "Its like an ice chest in here!"

Heat shield - Again a world of difference even though he has had the heat shield mod done. Whereas mine stays simply a little warm even after some spirited driving his got very hot indeed. Enough to turn an ice cold can of coke into something approaching hot sugared water!

Tires - He had Potenzas and I have the Dunlops. His comments were "So much more grip and a much quieter ride. Smoother too!" I found the Pots rough handling and very noisy and they had nothing like the same level of grip around tight twisty rounds though I felt they worked better from standing starts than mine.

Shift points - Mine seemed to have a slightly shorter first gear and a longer second compared to his.. Not by much mind you.. but enough to be noticable.. maybe had to do with the extra low end torgue mine seemed to have, to both of us, too? 3rd and 4th seemed identical to us both.

Power - Again a major difference here. Not sure if this is down to the differences in how the onboard comp has 'learned' about each of our driving styles but mine felt like it had more low end torque and was a fair bit zippier when using 'manual' shifts.. especially bwteen 2k and 5k whereas his felt like it was snappier at the top end of the revs but was sluggish until about 4k. (He had had the recent 'M' flash done which mine had straight from the factory.. so should be no difference) His comments were "Like a different car when starting of from zero... not as punchy at about 6K..." I kinda agree with that too with the addition that mine felt like it delivered more power, more smoothly throughout the full rev range... until the very top end.

Mileage - Using the same tank of of gas (V-Paower 91) Mine got slighter beeter MPG.. About 20 compared to his 18 over the same time frame.

Interior build - The build quaility of both cars seemed about the same except for the ***** on the AC and stereo which to him seems more substantial and less 'wobbly". I would agree. My interior lights seened brighter to him though I must say i didn't notice much difference myself. My main beams were brighter though which we both agreed upon. No rattles in my car.. Slight door rattle (Passenger side) from his at high speeds.

Things that seemed the same - Brakes, no squealing or other noises.. both felt great.. Bose stereo, seats and alarms systems was the same, Steering wheel and gear shift... identical as far as we both could tell and outside paint jobs and overall finish were both very good.

Thats it really... The biggest difference to me was the different ways the car drove.. Could have been the tires alone but I think the two engines felt different.. especially in terms of power delivery throughout the full rev band of my car. Also the A/C was totally different in terms of performance and noise levels!

So, did Mazda really change stuff that much between Nov 03 and April 04? Even after having all the stuff done to the Nov 03 it still didn't feel much like mine and both of us prefered how mine drove to the older model.. Maybe it was just the tires.. but I don't think so myself.. and nor did he.

I hope to try the same thing out with a similar speced MT to mine in a couple of weeks.. Wil post up my (very amateur) thoughts here too if enough people are interested.

09Factor

Hmm intresting. I'll have to find some close that has a '04 built car to test.
Mine was built 12/03, And even here in Az the Ac blows cold.
Did you see if there was a manufacture date on the AC compressor and compare it to his?

I think my 8 pulls pretty good for just haveing the "L" flash. "M" sounds like the way to go.

now I just have to find a willing Victum.. I mean owner !

Sky88

My 8 was also built in April 2004 and also have the Dunlops.
I couldn't be happier with the car.
Thanks for the review.

Razz1

the differance in the drive is due to the M flash.

SpinninAgain!

Razz1, they both have the M flash.

I'll wager the tires were responsible for most/all of the perceived differences in acceleration, power and handling. Occam's Razor. I wasn't aware that Dunlops were so good for the AC though! :D

Smoker

Hey Mag66, Great work ! Finally a back to back comparison and review on the earlier version to the later version.

Nice to know Mazda working hard to keep improving their cars.

Thanks for the review !

RX22

Well I'll chime in here since mine has a build date of 05/04. I too have Dunlops, which I love. They've always been my favorite tires. I put them on every sports car I get.

I live in San Antonio and it's HOT here, but I have only gone to level 3 on the A/C once. I usually keep it on 1 or 2, and my car is outside in the sun during the day. I haven't noticed a lot of heat either, so the heat shield must be working.

As for the way it drives compared to older build dates, I have nothing to compare it to, but I couldn't be happier with it. I've also used 5 tanks and have gotten 19, 20, 18.5, 20.4, and 17.9 respectively. I can tell that my mileage will be going down a bit because I'm starting to drive it a bit harder. I'm doing the RB break-in which takes 2000 miles.

By the way mine's a 6 speed.

Mag66

*nod*

Bear in mind however, as I noted in a different thread, there would appear to be at least three different versions of the A/C Amp fix... and the very latest one, which seems to be currently on back order for most dealerships.. is the one that seems to do the trick. So, if your A/C still isn't working right.. get it back to the dealership and get them to redo the amp fix again with the newest version of the amp.

Both my 04/04 cars have the newest amp fix (They came with them already fitted from the factory) and even here in Arizona.. the A/C has worked just fine.. and I'm an Ex-Brit so trust me.. if it can keep both my cars cool enough even though 110f temps.. (and I really have probs with the heat still at times) then it should be fine for any Americans who are used to the heat in their respective States.

Mag66

I think you are probably right about the Dunlops being the main cause of the differences noted. I certainly found the ride very different at times when driving the Pots fitted 8 compared to my Dunlop fitted 8.

The only one I had a hard time with (apart from the obvious non tire related issues!) was the way my car shifted at slightly different revs... in 1st & 2nd. That, I would think, would have to be something different in the ECU? (..and yes, both cars were "M" flashed.)

TownDrunk

Very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to test, and sharing your thoughts.

My car was built early last year (I'd have to look for exact date, but I took delivery 7/03 so certainly before then). My A/C doesn't have any fixes (yet), and it tends to suck when I need it. Luckily, I don't need A/C much where I live and have probably turned it on about 5 times over the past year. I'll likely get the fix next time I take it in for service.

As for power, I got the M-flash a couple weeks ago when I had the routine maint done. I noticed a slight power increase somewhere in the 5500 range, and where I only broke 20mpg twice in a year of owning it, I immediately broke 22mpg the tank after I had the flash done.

I wasn't aware of any heat shield upgrades... Are they free upon request, or is it an aftermarket thing? Sometimes it can get a bit warm in the car if I'm sitting in traffic, but cools down quite a bit once I get moving.

dwill9578

i got mine on 8/28/04 and has a build date of 11/03, I got the flash and it seems to fly(reading taken from butt dyno), the AC is freezen even on 90+ really humid days. I kinda pissed that I didn't get an 04 I hope I don't have to kill everyone at my dealership. I was foolish enough to believe what the salesman told me that "it has a late build date" I'm just hoping that it's late enough. Also I should add my car still has less than 100 miles since I purchased it one month before I could drive again,cause I wanted to take advantage of good deals(so I thought). From what i read I'm going to drive it hard so it doesn't give me a wussy ecu program.

93rdcurrent

I purchased mine in 10/03 and it has a build date of 9/03. I have put over 14k miles on it. I had rattles in the door that the dealership paid a shop to install dynomat for me and we took the styrofoam blocks out of the doors to stop the squeaking and rattling. I've had the "M" flash, the A/C amp fix, and she's had the center console replaced after a plastic guide came undone. I still need to get the drink warmer fixed (heat shield) and I would like to see the lost hp and mpg issue solved completely but other than that I am happy. Oh and I think I might want to shoot for the latest A/C amp fix too. Mine gets cool fairly quickly but doesn't get really cool for awhile and it needs to be run at fan speed 4 when it's nice and hot (90*+ F). Otherwise I need to run the A/C when the temps are above 70*F or the car heats up quickly on the inside.

Mag66

Its not an upgrade or aftermarket part.. It was something Mazda did for several owners that had/have this issue... For example, with the cup holders getting very hot.. Ask your dealer for more info or failing that, email Mazda via their website.

Please note, this 'heat shield' fix only applies to the transmission tunnel etc.. and not any other part of the car that i am aware of at least.