Hey everyone. First post here. My name is Zach and I'm a 17 year old concert promoter. In the past few months I've saved up enough money to put a down payment on a new car. After many different options, I chose the RX8, and i'm so glad I did. I love it so much more than my old car, which is given considering it was a Saturn, hahaha. (if anyone is interested in buying a 2001 Saturn L200 with nice interior and all the options, hit me up! haha )

My RX8 is a Silver, 2004 Grand Touring Edition with red and black leather interior with the Navigation / DVD player. It has 47,000 miles on it and I paid around 14 grand for it. I also have a 100,000 mile warranty on the engine. Oh and it's an auto, sorry guys

Anyway, just got a few questions for you guys, that I could use some fellow RX8 owners opinion on:

1. Should i ALWAYS use 91 gas? Sorry if that's a stupid question. It just says "recommended"on my gas cap, so I'm wondering just how "recommended" it is, haha.

2. My check engine light is already on! It's been on since I got it on Tuesday, but the car drives fine. However, sometimes the light flashes at me. Anyone have an idea to what it may be, or maybe it just needs to be reset?

3. As far as gas mileage goes, I know it's not the greatest for a RX8. But how much does a good Cold Air Intake effect it? If anyone has one? Also, any other tips to getting better gas mileage?

4. I'm having a hard time with the Homelink. I know the red light is supposed to flash when I hold my garage remote near it, but it still has a solid red light. Maybe it needs to be cleared? Anyone know?

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to meeting everyone

-Zach

 

1. Your car is not going to blow up if you don't use 91 gas. It's recommend for it's own reasons. People here have gotten by using 87 for 50,000+ miles with no problems whatsoever. With gas prices how they are today.. is it worth it not too?

2. Flashing check engine lights are indicative of misfires. You need new coils and/or spark plugs. 4 coils are about $110, 4 plugs are $80. You can get both from vendors on this forum. Try going with BHR, pm Charles R. Hill. He may offer you a better alternative to the stock ignition system so you don't have to worry about replacing the coils again for another 100,000 miles.

3. Slightly. Cooler air = better mixture = possible efficiency increase. Probably will not be enough to be noticeable so don't buy the CAI just for the sake of mpg. Get it for sound, bling, and possibly minimal top end gains.

4. Don't have a garage, never used it.

I got to this thread before you are bashed for not searching. All of your questions have been answered before. Searching these forums will yield an immense amount of information. Welcome.

 

Ok cool. Appreciate it!

 

really most of what you asked is in the owners manual..

and as alzorz said.. i have been running 87 for almost 100k miles right now, except for track weekends.

she gets a treat then..

btw, alzors. 275. shipped..

i am so getting caught up.. email for photos.

beers

 

Zach, do not feel bad about it being an automatic. R-magic races a silver automatic. But their other pink/white car is a stick.

R-magic has had geat success with their auto. I regret not getting a fully loaded 04 WB auto when I had the chance. But I need the 6spd for business reason.

Ben
-Rotary Extreme

 

Homelink took me about 20 tries to get it to work.

For awhile there I thought my garage door opener was just too old to let homelink connect to it, but eventually it did.

Search the stickies in the forums, all your questions and more are answered there, in more depth.

 

WELCOME TO THE ADDICTION...!!!! anytime u have any questions try the search button u will find everything u need there!!!!

 

what concerts have you set up ?

 

I haven't set up anything huge. Mostly metal / rock shows in the LA area. It's pretty good money though. I usually make between 1k-1,500k a month. Which isn't bad for a 17 year old. Haha. Thanks everyone

 

the owners manual does a great job of explaining how to set up the homelink.

u may have to go through a few senerios depending if you garage changes the code each time for secuirty reasons

welcome

 

1) People run with regular but I've always used premium.
2) If its flashing, your car is misfiring. Not good. Prob needs coils, plugs, wires, or possibly a cat if youre losing power at all.
3)CAI wont add anything, if it does itll be 1-2mpg, I havent noticed any gains.
4) Read the owners manual.

Congrats on your purchase, not to harp on whats done but 14 grand for an 04 Auto with 47,000 miles is a bit high!

Have fun with the car.

 

It is high, I agree. But the car has literally the options. Which is what really made me want it. DVD player, Navigation, Red and black interior. It already had the Bose sound system with subs and an amp. And it's been really well taken care of, the interior was spotless. The car was originally for sale for 18,990, but then I worked it down to 14 grand. So yeah, I have seen some better deals out there. But I haven't seen many RX8's with all the options this car has. I'll take some pics of it soon. Thanks for all the help!

 

Sounds like you're truly happy with it and that's what counts.

Lets see some pics, careful because the mod bug bites hard.

 

yeah i agree pics or it didnt' happen!!!

 

i'll have a picture of the interior really soon.

 

Congratulations on the purchase! I own a 2004 Brilliant Black GT Auto. You'll love the RX-8, transmission notwithstanding.

On the gas note, I always use 93 octane, but I wouldn't worry about running the car on 91. It's the 87 octane that'll kill it.

For the CEL, I've actually had the opposite happen. One of my coils was burned out but I had no CEL. Odd how these things happen.

I've been averaging a solid 15 mpg with about 60-70% highway driving, but that's mostly because I push the car fairly hard. I wouldn't advise using the automatic on full automatic mode, it likes dropping into 4th anytime you're cruising above about 25 mph (really, it does this even when I'm in my neighborhood... somewhat annoying). Besides, the "flappy paddles" are pretty fun to use.

 

False statement.

 

87 runs like crap in my car. always has. and he's in California where 87 might actually be 87 on a good day and has a good possibility of actually being less. stick to mid grade or better

 

While there is no real difference between the selections at a gas station (the different octane gases being drawn from just a couple of different tanks etc etc so you shouldn't be getting any different quality gas regardless of which you choose), I based my statement on empirical evidence.

I work at a Papa John's with several drivers who choose to use 87 octane fuel in their cars, and as a whole they tend to wear the engine down a lot sooner than those using higher octane gas. Of course this doesn't constitute a true scientific study, differences in car make, year, driving habits, etc need to be quantified and included but overall I noticed a definite increase in car reliability when one of them decides to use mid-grade or premium.

Also with gas so cheap (for the moment), why run the risk and save a few cents? At current gas prices, I would save less than $3 whenever I fill up if I switched to 87. I figure I can give up a coffee or something similarly priced once a week to have peace of mind.

 

why do you have to say sorry that you got an auto? It is MT-folks that feel sorry for you. j/k. Congrats and enjoy.

 

If you are looking to squeeze out a few more miles to each tank, you might want to check out the Racing Beat Air Duct. Its not a guarantee but a few members have experienced 1 or 2 more miles/gallon.

 

can you get tickets at discounted prices?

 

1. I put 89 in mine from about 20K to 30K miles, then switched to 87. I've had zero problems and mine is an '04 (now with 66K miles on it). I actually get better mileage with lower octane. In my mind (and anyone about to rip into my thought process please be gentle, I'm admitting upfront that I probably do not know what I'm talking about)...the rotary has a hard enough time burning gasoline efficiently, seems like lower octane would help it out. It's my opinion that Mazda is trying to cover their a$$es with the 91 recommended on the gas cap, but 87 is fine.

2. I've only had my CEL come on when my gas cap needed to be replaced. Doesn't sound like that's the case for you but just fyi if it is: it takes a good two weeks or so for it to turn off after fixing that problem.

3. Not the person to ask. :-)

4. I had problems too, I can't recall how I finally got it to work but if you are still struggling with this, PM me and I'll check it out for you. I remember there was something in particular that the manual doesn't cover, but I need to go home and go through the steps again to figure out what that was...let me know.

Welcome aboard and prepare yourself to be spoiled and resistant to ever giving another car as much credit. Take care and enjoy!

 

On a side note, on road trips, cruise and keeping rpm's low is the only way to go for gas mileage (obviously). I've found, though, that around town, my car gets way better mileage when I drive it HARD and keep the rpm's ridiculously high. It makes no sense, it may just be my 8, but I love it-keeps a smile on my face. And i mean, in the name of better gas mileage, I HAVE to, right?! Riiiight...

 

Gas Octane thread FTW !