I bought my 2008 RX8 in 2011 with 17k miles. It now has 104k and has had several modifications made. K &N intake, aluminum radiator, dual 12 inch fans, new overflow bottle with high pressure cap, racing thermostat, 20 inch wheels and tires, replaced all 3 solenoids, BennettBuilt LS ignition system upgrade, new plugs and wires. I had been having an over heating problems and throwing codes; turns out the guy who did my ignition system upgrade installed it incorrectly. Coils were wrong, wires were wrong and the plugs were wrong. L/T, T/L. I re- installed the ignition system correctly, replaced the solenoids, plugs and coils now the car runs great initially and the loses power in 1st gear from standing start, the just shuts off in 1st gear after about a hour. The car will restart and you can rev it in park and eventually get it moving past 1st.
Once it is out of 1st the car is fine. I drive it in manual mode always, but I don’t know why this is happening. Any ideas out there ?

 

not sure about your issue but get rid of the k&n hot air intake

 

ok us 4at guys have to stick together my first thought is the tcc solenoid is sticking when warm. that keeps the torque converter clutch locked up when you come to a stop....stall. when it stalls does it start right up and go or do you have to wait a few mins. my best advice is go buy 6 qts of mercon and about 6 cans of brakeclean drop the pan and pull the solenoids and wash them out and the screen/filter. if you are paying some one go by mazda and get a tcc solenoid.start there

 

The car starts right up after the stall. If I rev the engine in park then
quickly drop it in gear I can get it going again. Once it is in 2nd gear
no problems at all. Sounds like you may be right. There are no CEL
codes, but I will check and clean the ESS and the TCC solenoids.

 

i put up a atsg manual for our car if you need it

 

Thank you for the manual, it has provided some good information. My RX8 has a 6 speed transmission, but I am assuming the internal set up is the same. After I removed and cleaned my ESS the stalling issue in 1st gear when warm has
been resolved. Occasionally the car will bog a little in 1st gear, but nothing consistent and you can power through it by getting the revs up. Thanks again.