I decided to email Mazda in hopes to end the controversy about the horsepower rating in the RX-8. Here are the emails... I think we should stick together and get these people some numbers and get their attention. There is no way this is accurate, and I don't like the response I got:

My Message:

I bought an RX-8 about a month and a half ago. Overall I
have been fairly pleased with the car, with a few small complaints. I do have on major complaint though. When I purchased the car 238 hp was advertised. After joining a local RX-8 group in Dallas we started to discuss this. Several of us actually had our cars dyno'd . The horsepower doesn't quite match this. One of the guys said he had is dynoed at the crank and peaked at 215 hp. Everyone else get about 190-195 at the wheels. After asking my dealer he said "Well, they really nly put out 220." What is the case here? Why the different numbers?Where does the 238 come from? On the other hand, the Dodge Neon SRT-4 is dvertising 230 and is being dyno'd at 230-240.

Thanks,
Brian

Mazda's Response:
Dear Brian,

Thank you for contacting Mazda North American Operations. I appreciate the opportunity to respond to you.

In regard to your inquiry, according to our Product Engineers, the RX-8 with the 6-speed manual transmission puts out 238 horsepower at 8500 rpm. This is the only information we have. Everyone there who has had their RX-8 dyno'd has come up with different numbers. Mazda stands behind our specifications.

Again, thank you for contacting Mazda. It has been my pleasure to assist you. Please feel free to reply to this message with any further questions or comments.

 

Mazda has said more than that. Check out https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=11614

 

Stop bothering them about it and let them concentrate on developing the turbo.

We live in a free market economy, if it trully was an issue, it will correct itself in some fashion.

Personally I think it's time to move on.

 

Well, I hate to step on any toes, and I'm sorry I mentioned this here. I should have kept it to myselft. I just got my car and thought I had the right to know what was going on. I was told 238 by Mazda, 220 by the dealer and less here. I'm not trying to irritate anyone, I just wanted to know what the real numbers were, why... I can move on just fine.

 

why bother not trusting mazda's records? you have no proof to tell you one way or the other...

your friends dyno's do not prove squat because that is all hearsay...something you heard....they also may not have the equipment mazda has in identifying how much hp there is...

i wouldn't worry...if it is 238, it is 238...

 

You're only about 9 months too late! The rated HP controversy took place last August/September, when Mazda downrated the RX-8 from 247 hp to 238. There were dozens of threads about this at that time. Now, 9 or 10 months later, we don't care anymore.

As for the dyno testing - again, it's been proven unreliable for RX-8s, since people are not dyno testing consistently and mostly are not disabling or circumventing the nanny systems (DSC, etc), and don't understand the safe modes built into the RX-8 PCM. If ANYBODY short of Racing Beat claims to have dyno'd at the crank, call BS on him. Who really pulled the engine out of the car, along with the PCM, wiring harness and sensors, cooling and exhaust systems, and rigged up fooler systems for the sensors, and mounted all the above on an engine dyno and followed the SAE test specifications? Pure BS.

Anyway, it's an old, old discussion - feel free to go back to late August and September and read all the HP threads from then to get up to speed!

Regards,
Gordon

 

Sorry guys, I apologize bringing back old controversies... Go ahead and close this discussion before it gets started again. I am very pleased with the car and really have no complaints. I'm not saying the car doesn't have enough power... I guess I was just complaining about the numbers. Numbers don't really matter, it's still a great car.

 

its cool.. lots of info here.. takes a while to find it all

 

Gordon, RB measured 211 H.P. at the crank on their chasis dyno, but that doesn't proove anything. Mazda could have dynoed the RX8 200 feet below sea level! Seriously, Mazda might have dynoed in much cooler temperatures while racing beat performed testing in much warmer conditions or the chassis dyno might be different, along with other multiple factors. We will never know, but we still have one heck of a car, huh fellas.

 

ByeByeHonda, I understand though. I wrote to them a while ago regarding the H.P. and M.P.G. and got the same response. I feel the same way, but I have been trying to look at the positve side and thinking that the Rx8 is still a fantastic car, but more H.P. and better fuel economy would top it off.