For fun I cruise at 5000-6000 rpms and ask passengres to guess what the revs are. They always guess around 3k. I can't imagine what's scary about 6-9k. What's scary is lugging this engine at less than 3k. Keep the revs high and keep carbon build up out.
--R.

 

I usually find it easier to drive the 8 around at higher rpm than my rsx-s, cruising speed with the RSX is roughly the same RPM as the 8 however, it feels a lot rougher on the 4 banger than the rotary. With the rotary, I just want to keep reving it and it feels like I can rev past the redline while the piston engine, it sounds painful at high RPMs...

 

Vibration????

A while back right before the RX-8 was first released Mazda engineers were showing off the Renesis and had it running on an engine stand. They then put a glass of wine on it and revved the engine to ~7K and held it there. The glass didn't move or shake and it was reported the wine barely even rippled. (I think this was in the R&T back in '03 where Sam Mitani wrote the lengthy article when it was still in pre-production, it had the yellow 8 on the cover.)

 

The Renesis was built to rev, so hitting the redline now and then doesn't worry me a bit. I make it a point to hear the beeper several times a week. I remember when I bought my first rotary, a base model 1985 RX-7 (12A engine), and the salesman's parting words were, "this car was made to be driven hard, so don't feel like you have to baby it. Have fun!" And I did have fun. That car gave me absolutely zero trouble during the 3+ years I owned it.

1.3L

 

The only thing scarry about 6000+ rpm is:
How fast the fuel goes down
How smoothly the car pulls
How slow the rest of trafic seems to get
and how stupid we look grinning and smilling at the tach.

 

Ohh but remember,

Rev it while driving, not parked.

 

Yep

PS: Not to hijack, but how does your R-Magic front lip spoiler handle RPM's from 6K and up?

 

Once I hit about 70MPH and up, the car seems to feel firmer and solid. On the track, at about 95 to 140 is when I really feel it the most. Instead of feeling light or floaty, it seems to settle in and get real solid and firm. Seems there is just the right amount angle on the spoiler to put the needed down force to maintain good control.



At least that is my interpretation of the feel of the car a high speed.

And yes I am at 94K when I shift through the gears from 1st to 5th to get over 140mph.

I have yet to get higher speed in the straights. Run out of road.

I am hoping the new tuning and the REVi intake and ram air duct will give me a little bit quicker acceleration.

You may not be able to test a ram duct on a dyno, but after watching the news regarding the hurricanes, if winds of 60 to 150mph can do that much damage, creating that type of force artificially by driving the car that fast has got to really ram some air into the car. It just stands to reason.

I am also toying with putting in 5.+ ratio rear end to help get the car quicker in the straight and up to high RPM faster.


When I first got the car stock, it could out run anyone else in the corners, but in the straight it had a bit of a challenge against some of the turbo cars.

By the way, against the Boxter, that Porsche could not come near the 8 under any circumstances.

After I took out the stock exhaust, the 8 just walks away from everything else in the straights. Right now I need to be able to hold my own in the straights so I don’t lose the gains in the corners.


I also need to trust the car more coming out of the corner leading into the straight, I might carry more speed into the straight and get better times. But all in time with more practice.



For the record, it runs silk smooth to redline. So much so, I have to keep an eye on the tac to insure that I don't hit the limiter.



Since I talked about high RPM we are still more or less on topic. More or Less.

 

My dealer actual said shift when you here the beep on acceleration, The motor is happier up there.

 

i redline my car everyday when i drive home from school, it's fun thing to do and i don't really care if the engine blows up, it's warrenty anyway.

 

My experience exactly.

The 8 revs more smoothly at 9k than most piston driven engines at 4-5k.

 

lol, easy to say when mommy and daddy paid and they sure as hell Mazda doesn't find out you overrev it all the time Is fun though, just sounded lame

 

I'm more scared to take a piston engine to 6000 rpm (any piston engine) than I am to take a rotary to 9000 rpm. Big deal. You could drive around all day there and be fine.

 

You might want to recheck your logic there. One revolution of the crankshaft is 2 rotor faces fired off which also a 4 cyclinder engine fires off 2 power strokes in one revolution too. Just because the rotors revolve 2,000 times at a crankshaft speed of 6000 rpms is not a direct correlation to a piston's crankshaft of 2000 rpms.

13B at 6000 rpm's = 12,000 combustions per minute
4 cyclinder at 2000 rpms = 4000 combustions per minute

Not equal...

 

Which car is faster. Are they comparable ie. both stock & man trans? I considered an RSX Type S. Much cheaper than the 8.

 

Not that much cheaper. With current Mazda rebates you can get a sport package RX-8 for 23.5-24, RSX type S is only 1k below that. I think you're getting much more car, more hp, faster 0-60 by about half a sec, better cornering ability and rear wheel drive, I wouldn't even compare.


Edit: this is all of course assuming you live in the US and not the UK

 

The "Renesis" is much smoother up to redline compared to the F20C in S2000, IMO.

Yes. Fun begins at 6000 rpm.

 

Comparably equipped and adjusted for all the standard stuff, the RSX Type S is about a couple of grand cheaper than the RX-8 and is cheaper to maintain. In a straight line both cars are pretty close. The RX-8 is faster and more balanced in the turns and has better brakes. One is FWD and the other is RWD. So it is not a fair comparision. But, both cars are fun to drive.

 

Yes the renesis is smoother at high rpms. The 2.0 and 2.2 liter honda 4 cyls are not as smooth, but once the VTEC/iVTEC kicks in.... whoa!!!