Hello, new owner in stratford on avon

[wilmington]

am a 40 something, I got a black R3 a couple of months ago as a second car, 65000miles on.

all goins as expected, think ill have it a good couple of years, hit a deer with it last month... (do ineed loiuder pipes?)

a few issues air con & fault codes, ill put questions in the other categories.

so hello

[New Duke]

Welcome

[Shagrington]

Hi and wilmington. Have a good read through whatever in the FAQ section you didn't already read and then (and just ignore me if you know all this already) here are my best tips for keeping it all running sweetly:

1. To start up turn the key to position 2, wait for most of the lights on the dash to go out (I watch the airbag light by the glove box), press the clutch to the floor (optional, but reduces drag), turn the key to start and do not touch the throttle until it has started. You can drive off straight away, just keep the revs down for a bit (see #4 below).

2. Never turn off the engine before it has reached at least somewhere towards normal operating temperature (should only take a minute or two, but best to go for a short drive if just swapping cars round on the drive etc). Switching off cold risks flooding, which is a real with a rotary engine. Mazda recommend rev to 4k and hold it for 8-10 seconds switching off while still revving if you have no option but to switch off cold (it is not necessary to do this in any other circumstance).

3. Check the oil level regularly (use the dipstick - the oil gauge tells you nothing other than that you have or don't have pressure) and top up if necessary with semi synthetic 5w30 (most people and specialists are advising to use 10w40 now though) ... small amounts at a time, no more than ½ a litre then check the level again before adding more as you don't want to overfill it.

4. Use all the revs once the engine is nice and warm (don't sit idling to warm up, start up and drive but keep it below about 4k until the needle on the water temperature gauge is pointing straight up, then give it another 10 minutes for the oil to warm up too before really thrashing it although with the R3 you do have a red line that rises with the coolant temp and indicated by the lights on the dash, I believe this is still good advice) and hit the beep often. Best acceleration is from 4k revs up - to pull away you really need to rev to 2k - you can let the revs drop after lifting the clutch if you are in traffic, cruising steadily at 3½k revs and changing down to go up hills or accelerate gets you the best mpg ... which still won't be great.

5. Join the club for discounts on all sorts of things (you will very quickly get the cost of membership back - and then some), loads more info in the members only sections (including access to all the workshop and technical manuals), local meets (or if you can't find one exactly local it is a good excuse for a drive if you come to one a bit further away), a sexy keyring just for joining and more.

[Scotty PZ]

Welcome to the club! And yes, anything that makes your car louder, faster or is shiny is necessary and integral for safety. Especially for wildlife.

[GreySilver Beast]

Hi & to the RX-8OC

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[Dr. FrankenRex]

Hi!

I'm just outside Evesham, so not a million miles away and have a code scanner if you ever fancy popping by for a brew and a chat