RE: PH fleet: Mazda RX-8

RE: PH fleet: Mazda RX-8

Monday 2nd April 2012

PH fleet: Mazda RX-8

Dale makes a new RX-8 mate



Since my last update, I've been asked the same question what feels like a million times: "Why on earth did you buy an RX-8?"

At first I was amused and actually enjoyed giving my comprehensive answer, which youcan read here. But now it's just boring. I've stopped answering. Honestly.

In fact the only Nurburgring visitors who seem to 'get' my decision to buy Mazda's rotary-powered oddity are fellow owners, both past and present. And they always have the same questions. "Is that your RX-8? Are you doing a lap today? Can I come with you?"

Now those requests are MUCH more likely to get a positive answer! One such fellow owner was Junji, all the way from Japan. His pilgrimage to the 'ring culminated in a rented Suzuki Swift, but as I walked him through the paperwork, we spotted each other's smartphone screens. Our faces cracked open in massive grins. His phone had a blue Mazdaspeed RX-8 on it, mine had the red one. We both asked the obvious "Is that yours?" question and got the obvious answer to match.

Dale and RX-8 mate Junji hit the Nordschleife
Dale and RX-8 mate Junji hit the Nordschleife
Immediately, Junji declared us "RX-8 mates" and I just had to take him for a naughty lap of the 'ring to revel in some rotary mayhem. You'll see the video below.

Junji's own car is pretty damn awesome, and the spec makes mine sound pretty lame. Every possible part from air intake to exhaust has been replaced with a sportier option. Check out his carm and crazy turn-brake-apex driving style, here.

But being the gentleman he is, he didn't mention my car's inadequacies at all. However, the spec of mine is gradually improving. After doing some internet shopping and disregarding my own advice, I bought some uprated springs with a healthy 45mm drop - and didn't replace the dampers. I also bought a de-cat pipe, but not a full exhaust. Budget is everything right now, and if I were to buy the Koni Yellow dampers I want, there won't be any money to put into 98RON and two-stroke oil - my chosen solution to prevent a poorly motor. The only other upgrades currently fitted are a full set of EBC Yellowstuff brake pads and some cheap OEM-spec discs.

Overall these cheap and cheerful mods have made the car a lot more fun. The de-cat gives me peace of mind that all my track-action and high-rev downshifts won't destroy the aging catalyser. The mild aural benefit is nice too.

EBC Yellowstuffs might not be in the Premier League of brake pads, but they are kind to discs, cheap to buy and work really well on the RX-8 with its huge discs and low kerbweight. The only mod that I'm ashamed of is the H&R springs. Not because of the performance, or even the looks, they're great. I did the Destination Nürburgring trackday Dan and Chris also attended and the whole car functioned superbly.

There's just that nagging feeling that I should have waited on the springs and done the dampers at the same time. Because while the height and strength of the springs have definitely improved the grip and removed some roll, the balance hasn't improved. It was amazing before I fitted the springs, and now it's merely excellent. I'm hoping that adjustable dampers and uprated ARBs will allow me to regain the Mazda's utterly perfectbalance soon because, after all, that's why I bought the RX-8 in the first place...

Photos: highspeedfotos.de


FACT SHEET
Car:
Mazda RX-8
Run by: Dale Lomas
Bought: December 2011
Mileage: 881 since last report - all on track!
Purchase price: £2,800
Last month at a glance: Going sideways at the Nurburgring with fellow RX-8 owners


Junji in action:

Dale at Destination Nurburgring:

Dale and Junji go skidding:

Author
Discussion

UBster

Original Poster:

37 posts

233 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
Enjoyed the balance of my RX8 when I had it , glad you're getting some good use out of the motor!

IAJO

231 posts

157 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
These are tempting cars, looks great on those wheels too. Cheers for the vids

tommy vercetti

11,486 posts

162 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
Great car

UnluckyTimmeh

3,435 posts

212 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
So are you putting 2 stroke oil in with the fuel or running the engine on the 2 stroke oil? I seem to remember we used to provide 5w30 mineral oil for rx8s at the dealers? I was told synthetic oil used to gum up all the ports? Or (if you're using 2 stroke as engine oil) is there some that is mineral?

GTiFrank

625 posts

183 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
That Junji chap does have an interesting driving style! eek

TACottle

184 posts

152 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
I always fancied an RX8... This adds to the want.

cyman

58 posts

191 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
UnluckyTimmeh said:
So are you putting 2 stroke oil in with the fuel or running the engine on the 2 stroke oil? I seem to remember we used to provide 5w30 mineral oil for rx8s at the dealers? I was told synthetic oil used to gum up all the ports? Or (if you're using 2 stroke as engine oil) is there some that is mineral?
one of the ways to make sure the engine rotor seals are well lubricated is to run about 150ml of decent 2 stroke oil in with a full tank of fuel something like motul 710, unlike engine oil this is designed to burn efficiently and doesnt gum the engine at all some people run double that ration on track and if i remem correctly petit racing did some tests with much higher levels of 2 stroke oil and actually got a 4 bhp gain. you add it as extra so the engine omp is still putting in the engine oil aswell smile

Dale Lomas

218 posts

154 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
What Cyman said. Two stroke oil mixed in the gas tank each refuel. About 150ml is all you need for pootling on the street. On track Racing Beat and Pettit Racing use 80 parts gas to 1 part oil. That's about 650ml per full tank. It does give a better seal and actually gives more power through the whole range.

PhillipM

6,515 posts

188 months

Friday 30th March 2012
quotequote all
I run about 50/60:1 for race use, insides of the last one looked perfect for lube, so could probably get away with a bit less, but the reduced friction doesn't hurt anyway, just the wallet a touch!

Edited by PhillipM on Saturday 31st March 00:18

Gorbyrev

1,160 posts

153 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
What is not to love about the RX-8. When the GT-R came out the local dealer told me they were getting comments that the ticket price was a steal. The RX-8 was also a steal, £20,000 got a lot of car and every attempt to replace the power plant ended up with something heavier or less powerful. Great balance, great styling, if I could afford the drinking habits I would have one in a flash.

Kawasicki

13,041 posts

234 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
I would never of even considered adding 2 stroke oil to a four stroke engine. Well, if it works....anyone have any issues with catalytic convertors?

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
I like the RX8, I must get out and drive one sometime, had a stint at brands in the RX7 and for some reason it was one of those cars i just jelled with, found it very easy to control sideways at 90 which for a muppet like me is unusual

hmm a cheap track toy smile

got no where to keep one frown

Bassfiend

5,530 posts

249 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
I had one of these as a company car for three years and 76,000 miles ... the *ONLY* thing that went wrong with it in that time was the water level sensor in the coolant header tank failed (it was a known batch issue) and was replaced under warranty.

It was otherwise utterly utterly reliable, so incredibly forgiving of my clumsy driving efforts ...

...I let it go so that I could get myself a Chimaera and I'll never regret getting the Chim but it still breaks my heart to think of letting the RX8 go. It's the *ONLY* car I've ever had that I have actually shed tears to see leave ... it always reminded me of a young husky - always wanting to please and work hard and the day I saw mine driven away by someone new I just had this mental image of it looking at me and saying "I don't know who this is but when I get back we'll go have a play on the way home - see you in a few minutes..." and I just crumbled.

Insane huh? frown

Phil

hughcam

411 posts

164 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
I think the handling of the rx8 is fantastic for what it is. IMO it was sharper and more balanced than an e46 m3 i drove recently.

Fire99

9,844 posts

228 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
GTiFrank said:
That Junji chap does have an interesting driving style! eek
I thought that. Not exactly Jenson Button. biggrin

Jakdaw

291 posts

209 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
Why 98 RON? It's not like you can advance the timing without physically moving the spark plugs!

Ali_T

3,379 posts

256 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
Bassfiend said:
...I let it go so that I could get myself a Chimaera and I'll never regret getting the Chim but it still breaks my heart to think of letting the RX8 go. It's the *ONLY* car I've ever had that I have actually shed tears to see leave ... it always reminded me of a young husky - always wanting to please and work hard and the day I saw mine driven away by someone new I just had this mental image of it looking at me and saying "I don't know who this is but when I get back we'll go have a play on the way home - see you in a few minutes..." and I just crumbled.

Insane huh? frown

Phil
Not at all. I felt the same way. Still do. When I had my old 230, I looked at trading it in a good few times and, yet, nothing could tempt me. I came so close to shaking hands on deals yet ended up walking away because I'd take the RX8 out for a drive to say goodbye to it and fell in love with it all over again! That car did, eventually, get traded in.......for an RX8 PZ. I'd still have the PZ now if the last few winters hadn't be so RX8 unfriendly and the government and OPEC hadn't decided to use "the environment" as a means to screw over motorists. Every month I still do a check online to see if any new RX7/8/9 news has been released. I also early bought a low mile R3 more recently, but it was overpriced and the previous owner had managed, in 5k, to do some very poor mods to it.

wst

3,494 posts

160 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
Fire99 said:
GTiFrank said:
That Junji chap does have an interesting driving style! eek
I thought that. Not exactly Jenson Button. biggrin
Effective for the few laps he has rubber I guess! Never seen anyone turn in so aggressively to unsettle the car like that (Well, intentionally anyway)! And he did saw a bit at the wheel out of some corners. Madman.

daz4m

2,904 posts

194 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
Bassfiend said:
I had one of these as a company car for three years and 76,000 miles ... the *ONLY* thing that went wrong with it in that time was the water level sensor in the coolant header tank failed (it was a known batch issue) and was replaced under warranty.

It was otherwise utterly utterly reliable, so incredibly forgiving of my clumsy driving efforts ...

...I let it go so that I could get myself a Chimaera and I'll never regret getting the Chim but it still breaks my heart to think of letting the RX8 go. It's the *ONLY* car I've ever had that I have actually shed tears to see leave ... it always reminded me of a young husky - always wanting to please and work hard and the day I saw mine driven away by someone new I just had this mental image of it looking at me and saying "I don't know who this is but when I get back we'll go have a play on the way home - see you in a few minutes..." and I just crumbled.

Insane huh? frown

Phil
Miss mine a bit too, just looking at those vids reminds me of the good times. For £3000 they are great VFM.

ode

184 posts

201 months

Saturday 31st March 2012
quotequote all
I could easily watch that video all day. Getting more and more convinced that an RX8 will be my next motor.