Hello from Bishops Waltham (Winchester ish..)

[ClarkeyST]

Hello! I'm a new member and new owner having picked up an 07 velocity red 231 about a month ago.

She's on 38k, has excellent compression and low to no rust and it's been magnificent so far. I've loved these cars since they were first shown nearly 20 years ago and it's been my goal to own one ever since. When I was a kid, most of my mates had a Gallardo as their desktop wall paper, but I had an RX-8. I've had loads of Mazdas over the years, 4 MX-5's including a launch edition RF, 2 x mazda3's and a mazda6 (currrent daily) and I did at one point have my boss' old 192 for about 3 months, so I am a bit of a Mazda fanboy.

Anyway hope to see a few of you at meets etc and I'll be at Castle Combe next month, albeit I missed the club stand, including some track time first thing.

[GreySilver Beast]

Hi & to the RX-8OC

Please check out the EVENTS SECTION's for anything coming up soon in your area

Events Team

[ClarkeyST]

Hi and ClarkeyST. 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 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.

Thanks for joining the club you have saved me adding tip number 5
See you at Castle Combe - come over to the stand and introduce yourself.

[ClarkeyST]

Thanks Shagrington. I'll be honest I've been lurking on the forum for so long I'm familiar with those points and rest assured the car gets a good spanking once up to temp.

I also plan to get a mini map and a decat over the next few months to add a little more peace of mind.

Any way I didn't post any images last time so here she is.

[Shagrington]

Looks good and no worries, I post my tips just in case, but as I said "just ignore me if you know all this already"