With all of these problems and recalls that I am reading about, is it a bad idea to be adding mods to my RX-8 right now? I've been looking at the RB intake and ram air duct, new wheels and tires and the RB body kit. But if Mazda is going to have a recall and just park the cars until Mazda comes up with a fix, I am afraid that there is going to be a huge buy back or class action suit or something, and all that money will have been wasted. I'm probably overreacting, but I don't want to gamble on it.

 

calm down, i really don't see why you should be worried, this recall is purely precautionary to prevent idiots rev their perfectly fine RX-8's to death.

go enjoy the car, drive it like it's suppose to be driven, modify as you wish, stop worrying!

 

Trust me, that is what I want to do. But these issues with the RX-8 seem to be snowballing.

 

what issues are making you nervous?? none of the outstanding TSBs or even the impending recall is really an 'issue' IMO.

 

^i agree totally :D..none of the tsb's have stoped me from modding my car..and the recent ones haven't made me lose any sleep abotu the mods i have done or plan on doing. :D and i've had zero problems from the car (one dealershp messed somethign up....but that was b/c they were morons )

 

I went into my dealership when I had the cat back exhaust, hi-flow cat. Rotary Extreme air intake & pullies on my car. they didn't even look sideways at me. Might be a bit different now. It depends on each different individual dealership & service manager. Some are cool about mods, some aren't. Next time you go in talk to your service manager & find out what you can & can't get away with.

 

fanmans reccomendations are very good i'd also check your local forum to find the dealer that has the best service in your area too.

 

Well two of my mods will interfere with the repair procedure for two of the most recent issues.
I have the AutoExe Member brace, the rear section covers the fuel tanks. It will need to be removed to drop the fuel tank. Will Mazda remove an aftermarket part for me to do recall work?? I don’t think so, so looks like I will have to do that.
I that the RB front end links which requires drilling the lower control arms. If Mazda has to replace them I doubt they will be nice enough to drill the larger holes needed.

 

Your dealer should be able to check your vin # to see if your car even falls into the category of possibly being recalled. Also, if youve had all the updates (flashes, plugs, battery, etc), you shouldnt have anything to worry about.

 

on the first part, i would take the rear brace off yourself, the mazda dealer will do it for you to perform the recall, but will charge you the labor time but the regular recal service would be free.

as far as the front, again I think the dealer would do it (although since its drilling, possibly not) and just charge you the labor time. the rear brace shouldnt affect the warrenty but since the front endlinks cut/drill into the metal of the car it could affect your corosion warrenty.

 

I already checked my VIN, and I am in the range for the recall. I've been a big believer in the RX-8, but I am starting to have doubts about the longevity of this car. Not only because of the past TSB's (at least the more serious ones) and the current recalls, but I am definitely experiencing power loss due to the heat where I am at in Texas. Honestly, where was this car designed to be driven? I've read that it has starting and flooding issues in cold weather, and lots of people are having problems in the heat. Plus I don't like the fact that the Mazda engineers are having problems determining how to fix this stuff. They'll just park it until they come up with something. Meanwhile, I'll probably be stuck in a Cavalier or an Escort.

 

hang a for sale sign--problem solved.

 

I think you're overreacting, many bros in Sing, about the hottest and most humid place to run an 8, have been tracking, driving hard, modding to the hilt, etc and without any problems. Provided you take the normal steps to service your car properly and change the oil/filter frequently you can enjoy a long and satisfying relationship with your 8...take a deep breath and just keep driving

 

Yes....because all of the aforementioned things have done wonders for the resale value. I don't necessarily want to sell it, I just wanted some unbiased, honest opinions about the future dependability of this car.

 

unbiased honest opinion?

ok here's mine.

the car will be just fine.

there you go.

now go drive the car and stop worrying.

 

I'll suck it up and see what happens. Maybe it will be even better after all of the recall work is done.

 

cut the guy some slack for asking some very legitamate questions. You hear of no other mfgr. who's car engines fail do to heat. If this problem (of engines failing do to heat) is determined to be true then the engine design or some facet of it is ill designed. Therefore adding any mods that would increase power would only make things worse. When you read of all the engine related problems on this site for such new cars it really is scary.

And telling someone to "sell they're car" b/c they are concerned make no sense at all. Who would of thought when orginally buying the car that they couldn't take the elements. And where just seeing the engines begin to fail in my opionion (based on heat), we've only had two summers to live with them and the milages are now between 15k and 30k on most cars and lots of the engine problems are in that range.

I wonder how many people would have bought the car if the salesman would have said. "yeah, its a great car, but be careful on hot days, dont rev your engine or sit in traffic too long, and don't take it to 9k too much b/c no one is sure if the MOP's are working up to snuff, and. . . well you get the point.

Get your collective heads out of the sand (not trying to be mean) and look at this with UNBAISED eyes. If this was any other car you probably wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. But b/c it handels great and has a cool power band one shouldn't over look something as simple as reliablity.

So I would suggest no mods to the engine until this power loss is resolved. At least one member has data for loss of compression in a high heat city - Vagas I think. Here is what I figure, he lives in extreme temp now so the engine problem showed its ugly head early. But I believe over time in "less hot" areas - like where I live, where temps run in the 90's seeing these problems will take a little longer. I KNOW my egine is making sounds it didn't make when I bought it, similar sound to the fella who lost his compression. The only thing I've got going for me is its a lease.

 

My car hasn't had a single problem to date (knock on wood). Maybe the climate in Hawaii helps, not too cold, not too hot. A breezy 80 something degrees almost all year long. If Mazda remedies the "potential" issues with these recalls. I don't see any reason why I couldn't keep it 10 years or more if I wanted to.

If you want my "unbiased" opinion, the car drives great just the way it is stock. While it's quite tempting to mod it, a catback exhaust and intake won't change it in a huge way. So why not just wait a month to get the recalls out of the way. Then mod the hell out of it if you like.

 

ok lets be realistic here...mazda sold how many 8's in the last 2 years?.....some 50k+ units im sure.....and how many are haveing engine issues?....less than 100?....i say thats a pretty damn good percentage if you ask me....also these message boards dont account for even 1/3 of the total owners out there....even if it does i saw near 20k members and how many engines blowing up?....you are only hearing from a very few people here and are all getting too damn worried....i took my car in for all types of power loss and other issues and i have mods done to mine...my dealer reflashed the computer and tweaked a few things and its running like a champ....nice and stron...just got her back this afternoon as a matter of fact...the recall will be done..almost every manufacturer has one or more any way....this is just mass hysteria here and doesnt need to happen....enjoy the car you loved a month ago before this recall stuff happened....IT WILL GET FIXED....there is a reason you fell in love and bout the car....just keep zoom zooming!

 

I believe Canzoomer estimated there were over 100 replaced in North America within just a few months after release.

 

sucks for them, mine works fine(probably not for too much longer though, mazda's cars are pieces of crap)