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Three months into owning my 2011 RX-8 R3, suggestions on maintenance.
It’s been months into owning my 2011 RX-8 R3, and I absolutely love it, being a previous owner of a C5 and C6 Z06 Corvette, a couple of Porsche’s, and S2000, and half a dozen Miatas, I rate this car hands down as the most enjoyable car I have ever owned.
The RX-8 R3 is like four of my most enjoyable cars (Porsche Cayman S, Honda S2000, Mazda Miata, Tesla Model 3) all in one plus reasonable practicality. It combines unique features that I loved about all three of those cars. The solid, firm, and direct drivability plus the comfortable ride of the Porsche Cayman, the stratospheric power-band of the S2000 (this thing just keeps on going), the fun and forgivingness of an NC Miata without the body roll, and the no NHV acceleration of the Tesla Model 3.
No doubts about it, I can hands down say that it is the most enjoyable sporting car I have ever owned, but I clocked in 42,000 miles on the car, did my compression test, got 9 bar (130 psi on all faces, both rotors) and I am getting ready to do some major maintenance. I have tried to drive the car as best as I can, mainly highway miles, always premix 1/2 idemitsu, and I run 10w-40 non-synthetic oil, as the 1st owner did.
Catalytic Converters was removed at 6,000 miles.
Transmission oil and brake fluid was flushed at 30,000 miles.
Spark plugs were replaced at 40,000 miles when I did my compression test.
I am considering Ryans Rotary Performance Coils and Wires, and wanted to inquire about replacing the front oil thermostats in the oil coolers with units that open at a lower temperature, is it a worthwhile
investment to replace them? Other than that, I thought about doing the coolant flush at 60,000.
If anyone has any other suggestion of good preventative maintenance and upgrades, I would like to know. I may invest in some aftermarket tuning, namely to increase oil injection rate and lower temperature for when cooling fans turn on (I believe on the S2 that the later is a tunable feature).
I did a complete top to bottom on mine when I bought it 2 years ago at 9500 miles. Diff and tranny fluids, oil, filter, coolant, coils OEM C Spec, plugs, wires, tires, you name it.
Definitely the coils, you're due.
All fluids if original. They're getting to be 9 years old. You may want to check the manual for the recommended change intervals for each, especially coolant. It's due.
Brake fluid wouldn't hurt. Inspect all suspension linkages.
I'd leave the thermostats well enough alone.
9 bar all around eh? Not bad!
Cody I love that color, looks amazing! I'm at about the same point as you, bought my 2004 with 63,000 miles a month ago, am looking at the best path forward with maintenance. The prior owner was very thorough, he changed coils (Bennett Performance) and plugs but I don't think wires and I'm not sure how many miles ago. For peace of mind I plan to change plugs, wires, coils, flush coolant in the near future. I premix same as you, as did the last owner. I'm still undecided on oil I'm going to run, there's so much to read about there. I'll also replace the coolant tank, I get the periodic low coolant light.
I don't see much advantage in changing out oil cooler thermostats, haven't read anything that would send me in that direction. I will probably change out my thermostat, my gauge is rock solid but I don't know what stat is in there and might go a few degrees cooler.
I don't have your sports car experience, this is the first small sports car I've ever owned, so can't compare like you. But, while I knew I'd enjoy the car I had no idea just how much! The whole driving experience is so good from every aspect, the drivetrain is phenomenal and so different from a piston engine, the comfort and handling and smile factor are as good as I could ever have wanted. I think I'll be driving this way more than I anticipated.
I didn't see any mention of spark plug leads in there . That seems to be something even long time owners forget to change. They are actually a big part of the reason that the coils don't last long in these cars . Get some quality aftermarket leads on there and your coils will last twice as long. Hands down the best leads I've ever come across are the Auto EXE leads .... Expensive ...but worth it imo and no need to change to an aftermarket coil if you have those in place. Just get some new genuine Mazda coils in there at the same time and you wont have any ignition issues for a very long time.
While I'm at it .......get your battery checked! A battery in good condition is absolutely vital in these cars!
Also did you get a readout showing starter motor speed when you got compression checked ? Needs to be 250rpm minimum for reliable starting.
Agree with you re the driving dynamics ..... so much so I just bought myself a second 8 ..... I now own a fast one and a slow one and enjoy both of them for different moods i'm in.
Brett, can you elaborate on the point about leads? Increasing resistance with age?
Bingo ! Not only that, but the stock leads will track around the boots once they harden up a bit.
Once the leads degrade coils will fail shortly thereafter from the excessive heat they will generate because they can't release all the stored energy available.
Cody I love that color, looks amazing! I'm at about the same point as you, bought my 2004 with 63,000 miles a month ago, am looking at the best path forward with maintenance. The prior owner was very thorough, he changed coils (Bennett Performance) and plugs but I don't think wires and I'm not sure how many miles ago. For peace of mind I plan to change plugs, wires, coils, flush coolant in the near future. I premix same as you, as did the last owner. I'm still undecided on oil I'm going to run, there's so much to read about there. I'll also replace the coolant tank, I get the periodic low coolant light.
I don't see much advantage in changing out oil cooler thermostats, haven't read anything that would send me in that direction. I will probably change out my thermostat, my gauge is rock solid but I don't know what stat is in there and might go a few degrees cooler.
I don't have your sports car experience, this is the first small sports car I've ever owned, so can't compare like you. But, while I knew I'd enjoy the car I had no idea just how much! The whole driving experience is so good from every aspect, the drivetrain is phenomenal and so different from a piston engine, the comfort and handling and smile factor are as good as I could ever have wanted. I think I'll be driving this way more than I anticipated.
Interesting first sports car pick, I think the best approach with these cars is like investing in the stock market, when purchasing one you need to go in with the mentality that you are perfectly fine with losing a few thousand, that money being almost exclusively in the form of an engine rebuild/replacement in the course of owning the car if you plan to drive it more than 3000 miles a year.
That out of the way, the RX-8 really is a sports car like no other, it combines the best driving dynamics of every car I have owned with none of the drawbacks in how it drives. I love mine!
Interesting first sports car pick, I think the best approach with these cars is like investing in the stock market, when purchasing one you need to go in with the mentality that you are perfectly fine with losing a few thousand, that money being almost exclusively in the form of an engine rebuild/replacement in the course of owning the car if you plan to drive it more than 3000 miles a year.
That out of the way, the RX-8 really is a sports car like no other, it combines the best driving dynamics of every car I have owned with none of the drawbacks in how it drives. I love mine!
No worries, I did my reading before the purchase, went in with eyes wide open knowing there is a possibility of needing engine work or replacement. To me the purchase is so inexpensive when I look at the amount of car I bought, that even if I have to put more into it I'm happy with the value. I don't look at it as losing money, just part of the overall cost of ownership.
Prior to this I was looking at some much more expensive options, like 6x the price of this car, in which case I would have sold one of my other vehicles. I have a 2007 2500HD crew cab Duramax with 240,000 miles, in excellent condition, and a Dodge Durango Citadel 5.7, so I have choices on what to drive depending on what I'm doing. I really didn't want to part with either of them, enjoy the variety, and so buying this inexpensive sports car allowed me to keep both. I don't mind spending some money on the RX-8 as needed.
One other comment .... I drive around 30,000 miles a year total. If I tried, I couldn't drive this only 3,000 miles a year, it would drive me nuts to have it sitting there and not be driving it. So I expect to put more like 12,000 on it assuming I'm not fixing it too often.
That’s awesome, I looked and looked and looked for months, eventually gave up on finding a series 1 car that I felt was in the shape I wanted, there was a 2004 I was looking at, it looked like new, had 38,000 miles, turned over but failed the compression test. After the fourth S1, I gave up and started looking for an S2.
That’s awesome, I looked and looked and looked for months, eventually gave up on finding a series 1 car that I felt was in the shape I wanted, there was a 2004 I was looking at, it looked like new, had 38,000 miles, turned over but failed the compression test. After the fourth S1, I gave up and started looking for an S2.
I owned an '07 S1 and now an S2 R3, and there's no comparison. The S2 is just a better car. Unless you can buy Jay Leno's S1, I doubt you'll find a good one. They're just getting too old now. There's a few nice S2's around still but they have to pop up. I accidentally found my R3. It got listed on a Thursday morning, and by noon, I had bought it. Have to get lucky.
I bought the 2004 series 1 without really knowing there was such a thing as a series 2! Not to thread jack, but here's the story. I always wanted an RX-7 back in the day, never went for it, a good friend had one and I rode in it often, loved the unique aspect of the rotary. A few months ago I was on a boating forum and one of the guys bought an 80's vintage fishing boat with twin rotary engines, in rough condition so he planned to restore it. A bunch of people chimed in to not bother with the rotaries, just yank them and put V6 4.3's in. I said wait, you've got to get those engines going, what a cool aspect to the boat. And on went the discussion.
Well in the next few days I was on Craigslist out of curiosity, and there was this 2004 an hour away from me. I emailed the guy and couldn't have been more impressed with how open he was, the care he took of it, so I went ahead and bought it. First and only one I looked at!
I bought the 2004 series 1 without really knowing there was such a thing as a series 2! Not to thread jack, but here's the story. I always wanted an RX-7 back in the day, never went for it, a good friend had one and I rode in it often, loved the unique aspect of the rotary. A few months ago I was on a boating forum and one of the guys bought an 80's vintage fishing boat with twin rotary engines, in rough condition so he planned to restore it. A bunch of people chimed in to not bother with the rotaries, just yank them and put V6 4.3's in. I said wait, you've got to get those engines going, what a cool aspect to the boat. And on went the discussion.
Well in the next few days I was on Craigslist out of curiosity, and there was this 2004 an hour away from me. I emailed the guy and couldn't have been more impressed with how open he was, the care he took of it, so I went ahead and bought it. First and only one I looked at!
Yeah I would love to buy an FD and build it from the ground up. I'd try to go the 3 rotor route. One day.
I owned an '07 S1 and now an S2 R3, and there's no comparison. The S2 is just a better car. Unless you can buy Jay Leno's S1, I doubt you'll find a good one. They're just getting too old now. There's a few nice S2's around still but they have to pop up. I accidentally found my R3. It got listed on a Thursday morning, and by noon, I had bought it. Have to get lucky.
There are some very very clean S1 cars around. However they will be 3 times book value. Having driven both types, I feel the condition and mileage has a much greater impact than S1 vs S2.
The most interesting thing about the S2, is the book value does not seem to suffer as much as the S1s. Is that because it has a better reputation, rarer, or is it just because it is newer?
I owned an '07 S1 and now an S2 R3, and there's no comparison. The S2 is just a better car. Unless you can buy Jay Leno's S1, I doubt you'll find a good one. They're just getting too old now. There's a few nice S2's around still but they have to pop up. I accidentally found my R3. It got listed on a Thursday morning, and by noon, I had bought it. Have to get lucky.
Without a doubt, having driven S1’s and S2’s, the S2’s just a better car, more refined, more mature in its aesthetics, better shifting transmission, just all around better, it’s kind of like the AP2 S2000 vs the AP1 (I like them both, but what little edginess the AP1 gives up, you get loads more refinement, drivability, comfort with the AP2.)
The S2 is honestly what the car should have been from the beginning of its marketplace inception in 2003...
I guess I'll have to drive an S2 one of these days. With as much as I'm totally enjoying the experience in my S1, I'll be curious to see the difference/improvement in the S2.
Probably the only gripe I can come up with so far is at times the shift gates seem a bit sticky, not as smooth as I'd expect.
I guess I'll have to drive an S2 one of these days. With as much as I'm totally enjoying the experience in my S1, I'll be curious to see the difference/improvement in the S2.
Probably the only gripe I can come up with so far is at times the shift gates seem a bit sticky, not as smooth as I'd expect.
I dunno what those guys are on ....... The s1 with good suspension is just as good as an s2 R3 .....The S1 is quicker due to being lighter , the S1 interior is nicer (IMO) . Few of the S2 modifications made any real world improvement ...aside from the fuel pump. The only big advantage is it's newer ........ Flame suit ...on
I dunno what those guys are on ....... The s1 with good suspension is just as good as an s2 R3 .....The S1 is quicker due to being lighter , the S1 interior is nicer (IMO) . Few of the S2 modifications made any real world improvement ...aside from the fuel pump. The only big advantage is it's newer ........ Flame suit ...on
IIRC S2 gearing i requires an extra shift to get onto 60mph. Therefore it's technically slower 0-60 if you care for the sort thing.
Apart from the R3, the s2 Plain edition is not exciting to look at frankly.
There are more aftermarket support for S1. The I that's an important factor I feel.
I dunno what those guys are on ....... The s1 with good suspension is just as good as an s2 R3 .....The S1 is quicker due to being lighter , the S1 interior is nicer (IMO) . Few of the S2 modifications made any real world improvement ...aside from the fuel pump. The only big advantage is it's newer ........ Flame suit ...on
Agree... been doing a lot of test driving. Drove a 39k s1 that was in ok shape, a 60k s2 that was very clean and a 19k s1 that was like new. The 19k s1 felt more similar to the 60k s2 car than the rougher s1 car.
between the three the 39k car was the outlier, however it seemed more typical of what the used market has to offer.
I am not saying the s2 isn’t better, it is, but the difference is small when comparing overall used condition.
IIRC S2 gearing i requires an extra shift to get onto 60mph. Therefore it's technically slower 0-60 if you care for the sort thing.
Apart from the R3, the s2 Plain edition is not exciting to look at frankly.
There are more aftermarket support for S1. The I that's an important factor I feel.
This right here. S2 gearing doesn't favour 0-60 time, but practically speaking, it's faster when you daily drive. If you want to be the drag strip king, don't buy an RX-8.
S1 IMO is a bit too round for my taste but that's me, but yeah if you are into modding it's hands down the better choice.
01-06-2020, 10:13 PM
Not to thread jack, but here's the story. I always wanted an RX-7 back in the day, never went for it, a good friend had one and I rode in it often, loved the unique aspect of the rotary. A few months ago I was on a boating forum and one of the guys bought an 80's vintage fishing boat with twin rotary engines, in rough condition so he planned to restore it. A bunch of people chimed in to not bother with the rotaries, just yank them and put V6 4.3's in. I said wait, you've got to get those engines going, what a cool aspect to the boat. And on went the discussion.
