Hello,

I have been reading this forum for over 3 months and I decided to join today. I am currently still deciding if I will buy the RX8 or not and this site is great for information.

Today I went to the dealer and attempted to test drive a rx8 GT version and guess what? Yup you guessed right it flooded. I didn't even stall. It just wouldn't start up.

Then I pretended to be dumb and the sales man said oh this car mabe has no juice inm the battery and for me to try another rx8 GT. I went over to that car and I started it up no problem. And once I started the car I waited for maybe 30 seconds and stalled on purpose. Once I did that the sales man told me not to do that. I tried to start the car again and it was flooded. The whole time I was still in the dealership lot.

Anyhow I went to the service tech and started to drill him on questions about the flooding and he wouldn't want to tell me directly about the problem because he can't bad mouth the vehicle when he is at work. He gave me a straight up answer to walk away and not to buy the car. I asked him why? He brought me to the service bay area and he showed me that there is 3 RX8's that are flooded right now to be fixed. Not including the 2 I just flooded on the lot. LOL.

So basically his tip to me was to buy another car.

I was so disappointed to hear that from the mechanic.

Okay I know it is rare for the car to flood but this is the first time I tried to drive the car twice and both they flooded.

This realy scares me. He told me like what every one stated on this forum is to warm it up for 5 minutes then you are fine. Any time shorter then that your car is in a good chance of flooding.

This is why I am waiting for the 05 model. Hopefully this issue will be fixed.

 

He told you to walk away so you wouldn't flood anymore RX8's

I believe I read the colder the temperatures, the more chance it'll flood if it's not warmed up for awhile. Haven't had any problems with flooding so far, but then again, I haven't started and then shut it off within a couple of minutes.

 

The first car could be the battery problem... which I've seen in person.. their showroom car was low on juice. Flooding will always be an issue.

 

It's been 3 months I have my 8 and never flooded (touching wood!).

Usually, when you buy a new car you like it for the fisrt few weeks, but my 8, I still love it like the first day, even more.

Love my 8 forever.

Good luck with your decision.

Simon,

 

<Statement Retracted>

Anyway, forum starter, buy the 05 8 like I'm going to do, hopefully it will be fixed.

 

I hope so too...but I wouldn't count on it UNLESS there is a HUGE PUBLIC outcry.

I think it is interesting that you flooded one on purpose...good for you!

I thought about doing that to a few of them IF they didn't tell me about the problem first.

But you are right...the RX8 has its' faults and quirks. You need to know what those are so you and your machine can live together happily. When the dealer does not mention a few problems the RX8 has and you should know about as an owner, they are doing you (a customer) a disservice.

I would also get them to put on a different brand/type of tires at no cost...the stock ones have thier drawbacks that would make driving in Canada a real pain (read that: dangerous) during the colder months.

 

Well I currently drive a 6 generation Toyota Celica gts which is manual so I know how to drive stick. My main goal was to try to flood the car on purpose. I know if I do own this car I will try to prevent myself as much as I can from stalling it or turnning off the car before it is warmed up. Just wanted to test what I heard from the forum to verify if the info on here is true or not about the flooding issue.

Also just in case someone else drives my car in my family and stalls or turns it off when it is cold.

So tell me how many of you actually warm up your cars before turning it off or you guys just don't care?

It kinda looks dumb sitting in your car for 5 minutes before going back inside. I have 90% made up my mind and I think I'm still gonna buy it cause it is one crazy looking car.

But I'm going to head to another dealer tomorrow to see if I will flood there cars as well.

Planning to buy once the 05 model comes out. Untill then I'm stuck with my modded Celica.

 

I just don't get why they're not fitting the hotter plugs from the factory. Especially in colder climates.

I also think Mazda should've done a better job eliminating this issue before the car hit production. They should've known that there will be a lot of people who buy this car that will not accept these sort of eccentricities in a car, rotary or not.

 

Maybe it has to do with the freakin sub-artic temperatures you have in Canada. I have had my 8 since Sept. and it has never flooded, sputtered, or been hard to start.

 

Right not it is -2 degrees here in Toronto. And was surprised that it flooded.

From what I understand as long as the engin is warm there is no way for the car to flood is that correct? Or will a stall still flood it?

Funny thing is my buddy has a 1995 rx7 and he has never flooded his car. he doesn't even warm it up.

I just hope when I am ready to buy I end up with one of the lucky ones that don't flood at all.

 

I stalled mine right after I started a a few times in the morning, but I didn't have any problem. All that fuss about flooding kinda beats me.

 

Flooding isn't just a problem with the 8. It is/can be a problem with any rotary if you don't take care and do what you are supposed to do. Never flooded my '82 RX-7 or, knock on wood, my 8.

 

dont be a *****. he likes it and thats what matters. theres nothing wrong with it anyway.

 

I don't want to hijack the discussion but is it possible that Adrian's red bar is a play on Gort's visor in The Day The Earth Stood Still ? Klaatu barada nikto.

 

Here in Spokane, WA. we have similar weather as you do. I started and drove my car in -25* F temps without any flooding. There have been a few times that the car took about 2-3 seconds to fire up while I was starting it but that is all. I have had the car since 10/20 and put over 6,300 miles on it. No flooding. Did you crank the car for 8-10 seconds to see if you could get it to fire? Or did you just crank it for 2-3 seconds several times giving up if it didn't fire up right away? I have heard that the second option is a contributing factor in the flooding issue. And trying to start the car is shooting more fuel through the injectors for sure and will flood the engine. My wife discovered this on her Audi when she tried to start it in the cold. I asked her to wait a half hour before attempting to restart and to give it 8 seconds to fire up. She did and it took about 6 seconds before it started. But it did start.

 

I don't know - are you for real, White-GTS? I mean, most people say that if you stall the car and try to start it right back up, it won't flood. Maybe I've missed some posts, but it seems like it's more of a problem if you shut the car down cold, walk off and come back later on and try to start it.

For what it's worth, I've stalled mine a few times and it's never flooded - so far. It's just hard for me to believe that you managed to flood two right in a row when most of us have never flooded our cars in the months of ownership we've had. I guess the extreme cold might have had something to do with it ??

 

I am ultra-paranoid about flooding...

I do not let people drive it without making sure they know what is up.

I do not valet park

I do not turn off the engine until the little temp meter is up to the 3rd little bar.

 

Three times today my husband either stalled my car or turned it off after running it for less than three minutes, twice when it was cold. Never had an issue in 7 months and 10k miles, and I don't take any extra precautions. Not really sure I believe flooding was the issue, White-GTS.

And Nigandahu, you are a new member, so I'll give you a break this time. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean someone else doesn't. We don't tolerate bashing other members just because someone doesn't like what someone else has done to their car. If he wants his car to look like Kit, so be it.

 

Well I know for the first car it was a flood for sure. But on the second car it might of been me not cranking long enough. I cranked it for a bout say 3-4 seconds.

The only reason why I cranked that short was because I didn't want to damage the starter or anything. Cause on my actual car if I can't start it by cranking for atleast 3-4 seconds then I know something is up for sure.

Does it actualy give you clear instructions on the manual onhow to operate the vehicle as in to warm up the car before turning it off and telling you to crank it for atleast 6-10 seconds to start the car up at times?

Remember I love this car and I know I will buy it but I guess today was just bad luck day for me

 

Right on, Elara! You GO girl!

 

I do have to crank it for a few seconds sometimes, especially when it's cold. And in the Quick Tips guide, it says something about warming the car up and not shutting it down cold. Something else I've found is that if you don't hold the clutch all the way to the floor, the car doesn't do anything- I've scared myself a few times, thinking I flooded, when in reality I just wasn't being careful about how far in the clutch was.

Maybe you did just get the unlucky cars today, though.

 

uhhh... how do you know the first car was flooded for sure??
If a car, I don't care what car, can be flooded that easily these days it would be rediculous to actually sell them. I mean... I don't know. I just don't get it.

 

White GTS, I don't understand why you would intentionally try to stall and/or flood a test vehicle -- that's just inconsiderate, in my book.

It's a known operational aspect of these cars and rotaries in general. A real owner would be cognizant of the issue and take measures to avoid it. Not saying the renesis would always get flooded (doing the things you're claiming to have done), but you certainly run a higher risk of flooding if you're careless about it...

 

Well, I would still buy the RX8... for all its little "quirks".... its the most incredible car I have every owned.... Granted, its not a Ferrari... but for $33k... it gets more looks than a Ferrari.... at least in Indiana =)

 

Gotta love classic sci-fi! Kewl reference...
:D
Could also be a "Cylon eye" form BStar Gallactica