Say! has Mazda had any improvements on fuel mileage for the RX-8? been reading and hearing about poor fuel consumption. have they done any updates on the Engine computer module? Sounds like this is the only major concern. Any information on this subject would be great. have a nice day..

 

No, they haven't.

 

Not yet. I guess as time goes by and engines are broken in, hopefully it'll get a little better.

In all honesty though...this situation is a ant hill made into a mountain. Seriously. Yes, there are people averaging 13 MPG as opposed to 18 on the streets, but there are too many factors.

I have a 2000 Honda Civic. Advertised gas milage on it is 25/30 MPG. Did I ever get 25/30? Hell no. It was more like around 18/25 because of the way I drove. The sticker milage is pretty much what it would do in the absolute ideal conditions.

Yes, there might be those with a very light gas pedal foot, but gas milage isn't simply dependent upon how gentle you are on the gas, it's also dependent upon how easily your motor can get up to cruising speed. Going light throttle all of the way up to cruising speed puts extra load on your engine, because it wants to speed up, but isn't getting the air-fuel it wants to do so easily. I'm not saying floor it until you get up to 45 MPH either though.

 

Grandpa,

There is another extended thread on this in the discussion area.
".... 13mpg on first tank"
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=14961
The data below is copied from there.
quote:
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Highway 20 possible. No highway, you' get 14-16. That isn't close to what was advertised and I think there needs to be a recall.
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Ya know this just never stops. I do not know why some folks are getting lousy mileage. Whether it is their driving style, the type of route taken (city/stop and go...), the gas sold in a particular area, or maybe the ECU and gas mapping out of adjustment.... obviously there is something wrong. Having read several responses, there are a lot of folks that do not drive their cars the same way it would be driven in a mileage test. I also note that a lot of the mileage problems are in California and the northeast. Both these areas sell reformulated gas and corn gas.

Whatever the root problem, I think Mazda should be more open and work with the customer. But until you can show a design flaw that can cause some to have a problem and others to function perfectly well. There is no basis for a recall.

Lastly with two 8s, we do a lot of comparison and if memory serves me, the mileage advertised was 18/24 well that would average to 21mpg with a wimpy driver. I drive more aggressively than most of my friends and getting 20.5 to 22 on most tanks. There are times when I screw up and sit in 5th at 85 and this will knock the mileage down. My wife drives in 3rd and 4th more than I do and here mileage is slightly worse. With this said, there is no way I could justify a recall.

 

One of our other threads (I don't remember which one - there were many) asked for a bunch of data regarding the model (AT or MT) and driving habits. The data was input to some math formula and guess what: most of those that drove a high percentage of highway travel and within the speed limits were getting 20 to 25mpg.

My best was 24.5 but I'm always getting at least 20 with about 65% highway driving and keeping within the speed limits. I have 2044 miles on my AT and loved every minute and every mile of it.

 

Ditto on our A/T.
Did have some CEL problems but, MPG has improved significantly since replacement of the upper intake (remedy to CEL) and the 8 now has over 5K miles. AVG 21mpg at this point and seems to keep getting better. Driving habits definately have major effect on your MPG. We just need make some choices! Go fast.......or Go far. either way, we need to get over it!