Mazda RX-8

Rotary_Boy · 09-09-07, 03:39

Does anyone drive a RX-8? If so, can you post your opinion of this car? I am not looking for an all-out sports car. But, I want to get a fun-to-drive car with some daily practicality and am leaning toward the RX-8.

FXDWG3 · 09-09-07, 04:20

I don't have an RX-8, but looked at the car in the past. Suggest you look into fuel mileage and oil consumption issues. Also, I believe adding oil is a PITA, and the engine does use it.

jsatek · 09-09-07, 04:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by FXDWG3

I don't have an RX-8, but looked at the car in the past. Suggest you look into fuel mileage and oil consumption issues. Also, I believe adding oil is a PITA, and the engine does use it.

100% correct. One of my sales guys had one last year. Horrible fuel economy and it drank oil. He would call it a Hummer. He sold the car at a MAJOR loss because they have horrible resale.

cjv998 · 09-09-07, 07:34

Hmm...they're cool cars, but you need to make sure you're aware of the "quirks" of the rotary engine. First off, as mentioned above, rotary engines are designed to burn oil; if I remember correctly, the carbon residue it creates helps lubricate the seals for the rotor (or something along those lines). Also, they need to warm up for a few minutes before you drive them, or you WILL foul the spark plugs. (Funny story about this further down). The problem with fouled plugs is so common that they even give you an extra set of plugs if you buy a new RX-8, apparently. I've also heard gas mileage is not very good. All these things are unfortunate, because as I said, they're really cool cars in my opinion. I'm going to have to suggest staying away from them...but then again, I have no personal experience with them.

Also, the post below reminded me of a voluntary recall Mazda performed on the '04 and '05 models (we're probably thinking of the same thing). Basically, if the car doesn't pass a vacuum test, the engine gets replaced. Here's a link:
Mazda Plans Recall of Troubled RX-8

Funny story: My dad manages a collision repair shop. A middle-aged lady brings in her RX-8 for repairs, and she mentions how it needs to warm up before driving. Of course, my dad thinks, "Whatever...sounds like dealer-based hype, or some equally stupid statement out of the owner's manual." So he ignores that, starts up the car to move it, waits like 20-30 seconds, pulls it inside, shuts it off. Tries to start it up the next morning, and bam...fouled plugs. He put his foot in his mouth on that one...I found it pretty amusing.

blkbb6 · 09-09-07, 07:41

There has been a lot of engine recalls in the last year on them, which explains why they're giving them away. Just the thought of always trying not the flood the engine is unacceptable. It has the bad cons of a fully blown car even tough its stock.

White_07_G6_GT · 09-09-07, 08:52

I had one for 7 months it was a great drivers car but drank fuel like a truck. I also had problems with the satnav, part throttle, cold idle and oil use.

It wasn't worth keeping and I lost about 4 grand on the trade in.

sleestak · 09-09-07, 03:12

I looked at one a couple of years ago. I took it on a long test drive. Its a neat car but it has no power down low. Not a lot of headroom inside if you are tall. I'm 6'3 and my hair was just touching the roof and no I dont have a Pompadour.

Go here and read what the owners are saying. RX8Club.com - Powered by vBulletin

mgm121499 · 09-09-07, 03:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by FXDWG3

I don't have an RX-8, but looked at the car in the past. Suggest you look into fuel mileage and oil consumption issues. Also, I believe adding oil is a PITA, and the engine does use it.

My neighbor runs a local Honda/Mazda service center, and said he sees a fair share of RX-8's in the shop. He did mention that many of the 'rouge' problems in seen in the 1st-2nd model year have been corrected. That aside, the poor fuel economy and oil consumption seem to be the biggest negatives. They are fun cars to drive and handle well, but could use a little more power. At the end of the day if you pick up a new one, you have a warrently that covers you in case you do have problems.

Booyah · 09-10-07, 12:17

WOW didnt know the RX8 was such a crappy car--guess thats why I never seen any on the road or hear about them

simracer · 09-10-07, 11:49

I'm glad to see someone use pompadour in a sentence!

Rotary boy, what's your budget and can you define what you mean by "daily practicality"?

Rotary_Boy · 09-12-07, 07:36

Thanks for the comments. Despite some negative comments, I decided to go with the RX-8. It seems the spark plug and carbon build up problems are typically for the earlier models. For the spark plug issues, the dealer told me to crank the engine fully and give a few extra seconds before release the ignition switch. For the carbon build up, the occasional revving the engine will get those carbons out the pipe.

MikeTyson8MyKid · 09-12-07, 07:18

Haha. How about some advice from someone that actually owns one.

I've owned one for about 18 months now (35,000 miles). I have not had 1 problem.

First off, oil consumption. Its not a big deal. Check your oil level once every 3 or 4 gas tanks. I change my oil every 2000 miles, and over those 2000 miles, I'll average about 1/2 quart of oil burned....so I never need to top off my oil level. Still check it though just to be safe. Adding oil is not a PITA, its right there on top just like any other car. If you drive it like a race car, it'll burn more so check it more often. Don't be afraid to open it up and let it run...rotary's love it.

Gas consumption: Highway driving expect to get 20-22 mpg, in town around 17-18 mpg. Its a sports car, not an economy car. It burns gas.

Recall: All 04's and 05's were recalled. Some ECU's were not operating the OMP (oil metering pump) correctly, therefore not injecting oil (or not enough oil) in the combustion chambers. The seals would dry out and the engine would lose compression and eventually wear out. Less than a half percent of RX8's had these problems. Most of them were 04 Automatic Transmission models. That year the auto's only had 1 oil cooler and that was the problem. All manual transmission models had 2 oil coolers the whole time. All auto's after 04 have two oil coolers as well.

Mine did not come with extra plugs. I short drive mine sometimes too (less than a mile), and never had any problems with flooding or fouling plugs. Just rev the engine right before you shut it off and you'll be fine. Plugs dont last long though...about 35,000 miles. They are easy to replace.

Things you probably wont like/quirks: Make sure your's is not part of the recall. Its all done for free, and they remap the ECU, check the cat, and vacuum test. Like I said, it was something like .5% of cars that had problems...most of those being 04 AT's.

Rear Hubs will rust slightly after a year or so. I painted mine black with caliper paint. Works great.

About all I can think of. If you want to know anything else, just let me know.