Hey guys,

I've been lurking around this forum for the past year now. I've been wanting an RX-8 for just as long. The VW Jetta just wasn't cutting it for me anymore so I decided to pick up my new '05 on November 25. I figured I wouldn't register for this forum until I had one, and now that I do here is my first post!

So far I absolutely LOVE the car. I picked it up from Royal Moore Mazda in Hillsboro, Oregon. The sticker was $34,044 and I paid $28,000.

So far the only thing I dislike about it is the gas mileage. I knew it was bad before buying it, but wow, I didn't know it was going to be this bad. I barely manage to pull of 200 miles a tank. I calculated that to be roughly 14MPG!!! I'm in the initial break in period so I try not to shift above 5,000. (it's not easy), so maybe my low shift points bog the engine down therefore causing it to consume more fuel?

Anyway, is there anything I need to know about my 8 that I don't know already?

Here are a few pics of her outside the tint shop. I put 30% all around. I'll try and get those up sometime soon. After the tint job my girlfriend dubbed it the "Batmobile" LOL Hope you enjoy my pics.

 

Congrats on your new car, and welcome to the club!!!

Gas mileage is a small price to pay for the joys of driving this car, and might improve some as the two of you get to know it each other better. Depends a lot on what kind of driving you do, and how. I'll get as little as 12 mpg on short trips (5-10 miles), low speed, stop 'n go, with inadequate warm up. 19-20 on the highway at 80-85 with short runs of 100+, and as much as 24 if I can hold her down to 75 or so.

Beautiful car--you must be very proud.

 

Is it an auto? Congrats on picking up the 8 . I will never forget the day I bought mine. Break in periods suck lol. Stay on top of getting your oil changed and let it warm up and I don't think you will have many problems.

 

I noticed my gas mileage improved after i broke the car in. Idk if they did this before but your rear brake disc's might rust so you can get them sanded and repainted by the dealship under warrenty. And i really like that app. package i wish i had gotten it on mine which is also black.

 

Its a manual. You can see both his oil coolers in the 1st pic. LOL

 

Congrats proud new owner!! And double kudos on your color choice!! It's a little known fact but black is by far the fastest color,and the sexiest!

 

Wow really good price. What options did u get with it?

 

Congrats! Hope you got stick.

You'll learn a lot if you stick around the forum.

First thing you need to know...your car uses a rotary engine, unlike 99.9% of the other cars you see, in case you didn't know

edit: Nvm, you've been lurking for a year

 

^mmmmm, buttery smooth rotary goodness!

 

Correct, it is a 6 speed.


It has every option except the Navigation system. Most of us are males in here, we don't need that trash. LOL. Although they are pretty fun to play with.

 

Congrats man!

 

Rims looked small to me, so I never even thought to check out the oil coolers. Actually till I read your post I forgot that the autos only came with 1.

 

A very nice car indeed. Congrats and welcome aboard. You'll get used to the mileage and it will improve as you drive it. When you first drive one you don't realize how fast you are really accelerating. It's deceptively quick.

You might try different brands of gas. I normally use Arco or Chevron and get around 260 to 280 per tank, mostly city using @14 gallons. However, I started filling up using shell gasoline because the stations are less packed cause they are a few cents higher. Now my mileage has dropped to 220 per tank. I have run through 2 fillups so it's consistant. Just a thought to try.

 

congratulations on your new purchase! that black looks sharp! here's to many happy miles in your 8!

 

Congrats! I love black. I walked in the dealership wanting black and walked out with yellow. 14mpg is pretty low, see if you got all the current flashes and your tires are inflated properly. I haven't gotten below 18mpg for a good year now.

 

I've been using Shell V-Power, think its 91 or 92 octane. I really hope the 200 mile per tank thing resloves soon, going to the gas station 3 times in one week is painful. Not too many Arco stations near me, but I'll try chevron and see what happens. But I'm assuming once the engine is broken in and everything loosens up a bit things will be better.



How do I go about seeing if I have all most recent flash? I'm assuming that will be something the dealer will do. I'm supposed to take it back to the dealer at the 900 mile mark so they can make sure everything is ok with it, so maybe they'll do something to it then.....

 

Congrats on a super nice looking car!

I really liked the picture of the front, it looks so clean and cool with out the front licence plate...

Cheers, Niclas

 

Does everyone usually get a message from the dealer that you have to bring it back at the 900 mile mark just to check the car?

 

Congrats and welcome to the club!

1. Do not run summer tires in snow (and be mindful that the stock Potenza tires' grip is reduced at below 40 degrees F).
2. Rotaries consume oil by design; check it every ~1000 miles and be prepared to dump a quart in every ~2000. You do not need to constantly top it off as there is a full 1.8 quarts between high and low on the dipstick, but you might want to keep a spare quart in the rear-seat/trunk pass-through (suggest Castrol 5W20).
3. There is a cold-engine-shut-down procedure for rotaries: if the engine has not warmed up, rev it at ~3000 RPM for 10 sec right before you shut it off. You risk flooding the engine - especially in cold weather - if you don't do this when the engine is cold. When the engine has warmed up, you can just shut it off normally.
4. The tires do not offer much protection for the rims... watch out for those curbs and potholes.
5. If you need to get towed, read the manual to see what kind of tow-trucks can be used.
6. The RX-8 is very forgiving, but if you're used to FWD, be warned that the RX-8 has less understeer and can snap around on you (especially if you're not experienced with a car like this). From your photos and description, it appears you have TCS/DSC... suggest you leave it on (at least in uncontrolled situations and until you're familiar with the car).

Lots of additional info can be found in the manual and here ala the search. Enjoy your car!

 

congrats

 

Congratulations! Your car looks great.

I just got my 8 on November 11th. I never got to look at a black one around here. I fell in love with the Whitewater/Snowflake Pearl when I saw it. Had to have it!

I have the same set-up....everything except NAV. I also got mine for $28,000.

I just got past the break-in. Sitting on 695 miles now. Finally got to DRIVE it today. This car is awesome when you get to drive it in the powerband. I'm getting around 220 miles per tank right now. Strange thing is my first tank went to almost 240 miles, the second tank was 200 miles, and the last few have all been 220. Cold weather warm-ups, and driving 80MPH to work are why I think it has dropped. I also noticed the oil had dropped 1/4 way down the dipstick already. Topped it off. Didn't overfill!

Now it's cold and will sit most of the winter once it starts snowing

Good luck and enjoy............after the break-in.

 

Well its good to hear that everyone is getting better gas mileage than I am. That just gives me something to look forward to because I'm really not sure I'm going to be able to afford filling the tank 3 times a week. So I'm crossing my fingers.

 

Mine is a 2005 and I get about 17-18mpg city driving... I think it comes out to over 200 miles a tank, sometimes 210 without running it too close to the E light. The highest I've gotten was 21mpg highway.

How are you driving and where are you shifting? Give it a couple more tanks and let us know how you fare.

 

congrats on your new buggy!! I jumped Ship from VW as well , long story as of why..lets just say they could careless about customer loyalty, I love my 8 almost liek driving an exotic and once you can get that engine up there and her that rotary whine!!! like a formula one car it is sweet music!!

 

In the morning I warm the car up until the RPM's drop below or near 1,000. After that I take off and don't shift above 4,000 until the engine warms up. Once the engine is warm, since I'm in the break in period, I don't shift above 5,500. I've gone to 6,500 once or twice, I just couldn't resist!