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Well about 80 miles on the Project RX8 so far. Braking in the engine part is a big tease for my sences but absolutly nessessary. I can't wait till we hit 1000 miles and change the oil and filter. Once that's done then the fun begins. The roads keep beconning me and the corners are trembling. The car feels so stable under power. Very flat and persice. Reminds me of a small Corvette minus the push rod horse power. The exhaust is kinda stinky right now. Has to go thruogh the whole burn out thing then it will be fine. When shifting it takes a little practice to get used to the feel and timming. I've found that my thicker soled NewBalance sneakers are too bulky for fast footwork. Very inpressed with the music under the hood and out the exhaust. Not to mention that every whare I go the car turns heads. STOCK! I'm really anxious to check out the braking power, especially since the car is balanced so well. Stay tuned as we'll have more to say some miles from now. Untill then I'll leave you with this:

I woke up this morning and walked out to the parking lot, tired and groggy. I was confused and stunned to find that my WRX was not in it's parking spot. Then as quick as it came the wave of anxiety passed as I remembered that I traded it on the RX8 the night before. I parked the RX on the other side of the lot, the empty secton. It wasn't a dream!

mikeb

Its worth the wait
congrats

RX-GR8

i have 400 miles on it now and i still havnt been over 4500 rpm. i do turn off dsc/tc whenever possible however.

Psylence

Ok class, take out your textbooks (RX-8 Owners Manual) and turn to page 4-7.

Now read along with me:

"No special break in is necessary."
-Don't race the engine
-Don't maintain a constant speed for long
-Don't drive constantly at full throttle or high engine rpms for extended periods of time
-Avoid Full throttle starts

Any questions?

I sure have a few for you people pointlessly babying your cars. Where does it say not to exceed 4500 rpms? Why are ya'll needlessly torturing yourselves AND your new cars? You will never break in an engine properly like this.. see ya in low HP or low MPG land

John415

But,
the Engine is still new with no miles. Never ran, therefore it is the same principal of breaking in a fresh rebuild on a 7. You must first break in the rotary so the seals will break in rather than force them too. The salesman that took me on a test drive even said that. If you want that engine to hold up 75k-100k+ down the road, then do yourself and your car a favor and break in that motor, tranny, suspension, braking, all of it. Baby it in the beginning and trash it later, the more you baby the more you can play later. :D I know that the RENESIS is a new type of rotary but its still a regular 13B. Just my .02$,

John

goodyrx8

What break in period:D

VelocityRedRX8

I spoke with my service tech about break-in as I was picking up my car. Having read the break-in instructions (while waiting for paperwork to finish up), I asked him about the 'no special break in period needed...'. He suggested keeping the revs in general under 5500, and avoiding long-term high rev runs. He didn't go beyond that. I don't see any problems in running the full range of the engine on occasion, as long as it's not a constant thing while under 600 miles or so. My car doesn't seem to mind at all (nor do I).

One thing to remember though - it's the brakes. Be sure to 'bed' them when new by stopping gently and smoothly, then progressively harder on occasion. This will help set the pads and avoid scoring or warping the rotors.

Oh, and I have the automatic. I never thought I'd buy one, having been a stick shifter for > 25 years, but developed nerve damage in my left foot. This makes it very painful to run stop and go in traffic. So, I sacrificed my BMW 540i six speed to buy the RX8. I run the auto in 'manual mode', and use the full engine range. It's a blast, but I have to get used to the relatively wide gear spacing.

mikeb

hello
the small blue book says 600 miles
there is a break in period

Psylence

VelocityRedRX8, you and I have exactly the same take on what the break-in period is!

Brake pads can be bedded in within 100 miles.. nowhere but bizarro world will it take 600 miles to bed in some pads

Digisan

Proper breakin


I babied mine for the first 600 miles, but I don't think it broke-in until I started to really get on it. It definitely runs better if you get on it, putting around seems to make my 8 unhappy. Works for me though!

RX-GR8

could it be that the engine takes more time to break in than the brakes?

come 8 me

my babe walked 631 miles so far, I gonna teacher her how to run soon

RX-GR8

oh i hear that dude.

Pulsr

mines seen redline atleast 20 times for the first 400 miles... hey the dealer said no break in period...

Psylence

Could it be that the engine doesn't require as much breakin cause you know.. it doesn't have all that fiddly **** that a standard piston engine does?

I refuse to torture myself with an artificial break-in period that only exists in the minds of a few owners, not even the minds of the people who wrote the Owners manual..

Drive it "sanely" for a tank of fuel, then just drive it like you plan on driving it. Change the oil at 1000 miles and then you should be all set. You do realize that all engines are run prior to leaving the factory, right? When you get the car it is NOT the first time the car has been run.. I can just about guarantee you that your Renesis engine was thrapped around to redline prior to leaving the factory..

But if it makes you sleep easier at night, go ahead

spdspappy

All I have to say is... 558 miles.
I'M SO CLOSE!!!!

It's been a month since I bought it today...

miata2rx8

I have the pleasure of TWO breakins- I picked up my car 7.17 but just had my engine replaced. So 3 months later, I get to do another breakin! However, last time I completely babied the car the first 600 miles- I might rev a little more this time, since babying the car didnt seem to help- I did have worse MPG than most people on this forum- (13-15)