RE: Mazda RX-8: PH buying guide
Discussion
I have a 231 RX8, and a former Mazda tech..so a glutton for punishment! A lot of people have opinions on what is best for an RX8, buy one with a knackered lump, pay for a motor rebuild with warranty and enjoy a well balanced, four seat sports car. Sure it's not massively fast, but a nice, sorted RWD car.
I mix a little 2-stroke synthetic oil with the fuel, replaced the coils, leads, plugs when I got it, and bought if from a dealer with a years warranty.
Few little gremlins to add, coolant sensor can give erratic readings (most cars should be sorted now), headlight leveling sensor link rods can snap, cars modified with ebay bits can be more trouble than they're worth..
I've seen a few with shagged engines after de-catting, genuine Mazda cats seem to flow the best, avoid cars with budget tyres, will handle like bambi on roller skates.. designed to run Bridgestones, but good sensible tyres a must.
Yes, I rag the nuts off it, shut it down always when hot, but even after 35,000 miles, my engine still has great compression.
Ignition failures are the biggest killer, sometimes hard to feel a misfire, so consider ignition coils an annual replacement etc.
VW do their Synta oil, to same spec as Dexila Mazda oil, for £12.50+vat per 5L on trade special offer, so cheap enough for 2000-3000 mile oil changes.
I mix a little 2-stroke synthetic oil with the fuel, replaced the coils, leads, plugs when I got it, and bought if from a dealer with a years warranty.
Few little gremlins to add, coolant sensor can give erratic readings (most cars should be sorted now), headlight leveling sensor link rods can snap, cars modified with ebay bits can be more trouble than they're worth..
I've seen a few with shagged engines after de-catting, genuine Mazda cats seem to flow the best, avoid cars with budget tyres, will handle like bambi on roller skates.. designed to run Bridgestones, but good sensible tyres a must.
Yes, I rag the nuts off it, shut it down always when hot, but even after 35,000 miles, my engine still has great compression.
Ignition failures are the biggest killer, sometimes hard to feel a misfire, so consider ignition coils an annual replacement etc.
VW do their Synta oil, to same spec as Dexila Mazda oil, for £12.50+vat per 5L on trade special offer, so cheap enough for 2000-3000 mile oil changes.
Thanks cib24 and tombstone. 
cib24, you answered a lingering question I had. Thank you.
tombstone, you've not considered the sohn adaptor Dale Lomas referred to here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/25094.htm
You see no benefit doing in that?
cib24, you answered a lingering question I had. Thank you.
tombstone, you've not considered the sohn adaptor Dale Lomas referred to here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/25094.htm
You see no benefit doing in that?
Zoin said:
Really? I had an A3 2.0TFSI quattro for 6 years and all it needed was a top up (less that a litre) between services in the first two years, after which it settled into zero oil consumption.
My sister's RX-8 was similarly frugal with oil once it was run in. I guess it's pot luck whether or not you get a good one.
I had a Civic Type R that used 1 litre every 1000 miles. The RX8's 1 litre every 2000 miles came asa relief.My sister's RX-8 was similarly frugal with oil once it was run in. I guess it's pot luck whether or not you get a good one.
LotusAlfaV6bloke said:
Love Mazda rotary's since my RX7 FDS3. Great cars, terrible mpg for the power, but fun fun fun.
How has no one mentioned the tax issue yet??? For such a cheap car with relatively low power, the road tax (every year) is a real show stopper
To be honest the difference in tax price between a pre March 2006 RX8 of £270 vs a later RX8 of £475 is like three trips to the petrol station. An extra £205 per year for an average ownership life of 3 years is only £615. And when the car only costs £5,000-£6,500 then its not a huge issue, when a car with comparable performance...lets say a renaultsport clio 200 (I know front wheel drive but similar in speed and lap times)used with low mileage will run £11,000-£13,000. You are still saving quite a bit in comparison even if the road tax is higher.How has no one mentioned the tax issue yet??? For such a cheap car with relatively low power, the road tax (every year) is a real show stopper
cib24 said:
First, I think one comment in particular in the article is definitely inaccurate. You DO NOT want to use the Mazda recommended 5W30 Dexylia mineral oil in this car at all. It's a horrible oil and you are better off using a proper semi-synthetic or full dino oil that is at least 10W30. Also, NEVER USE FULL SYNTHETIC OIL. That is a huge mistake.
Ah of course because what the engineers (actual engineers who designed the car, not fake 'heating/technical/bulls
t' engineers like this country is full of) wrote in the car manual is meaningless and there to destroy the car - my mistake, I keep forgetting to listen to smartypant-knowitall morons.cib24 said:
Seventh, in my opinion the RX8 can be a very reliable car when properly taken car of and maintenance costs on a healthy motor will not be much more than your typical vehicle.
At least you know something of use. +1 (not being sarcastic, what you say is certainly true)V8 FOU said:
I would really love an auto one of these. But there are so few of them. A lot of tw*tish dealers advertise manuals as autos - very odd.
You seriously don't. 9 seconds 0-100kph. They are 4-speed gearboxes I believe. If you have a manual license, avoid these AT RX-8's at all costs (also, the gear shift looks ugly).V8 FOU said:
I would really love an auto one of these. But there are so few of them. A lot of tw*tish dealers advertise manuals as autos - very odd.
The automatic cars are likely to have more problems with their engines than the manuals because the typical automatic RX8 purchaser was a woman who would only drive the car around at low speed and revs and never pay attention to the oil. Therefore, I would be wary of buying a used automatic RX8. The thing with the RX8 that gets lost in arguing over their reliability is that the rotary engine is actually very reliable when maintained properly like a typical automotive enthusiast would maintain any car (with extra care). For example, it is not uncommon in the US to see rotaries last over 150k miles, but the US is a huge car culture that is very hands on with them, so the average owner puts more TLC into their car than the average UK owner. For example, a typical UK owner will have their cars serviced at the dealer according to the service manual, whereas a typical US owner will service their car much more frequently. A lot of new cars have oil change intervals which are now as much as 10k-15k miles, but a US owner will likely service the car every 3k miles out of habit.
The reason that you see so many RX8s for sale for so cheap is that they weren't properly maintained. This is Mazda's fault for marketing the car to the masses and trying to claim that it could be driven and serviced like every other car in its class. They should have sold it as an enthusiast vehicle and had a more rigorous service schedule built into the manual but they didn't. Hence, the average person buys the car because Jeremy Clarkson gives it great praise on Top Gear, drives it at low revs and on short trips to Tesco thinking it will behave like a normal piston engine, and assumes that they can forget about the oil, spark plugs, etc. For thousands of miles and it will still run just fine. The result, low compression or completely failed engines.
The reason you don't want to use Mazda Dexelia 5w30 is because it is an oil designed for piston engines. The rotary is much more like a 2 stroke engine in the type of oil it likes. There have been studies by rotary shops that rebuild engines and when they are taken apart, the ones using Dexelia typically show more wear. Ask a rotary specialist and they will have certain oils they recommend and none are full synthetic or dexelia.
cib24 said:
First, I think one comment in particular in the article is definitely inaccurate. You DO NOT want to use the Mazda recommended 5W30 Dexylia mineral oil in this car at all. It's a horrible oil and you are better off using a proper semi-synthetic or full dino oil that is at least 10W30. Also, NEVER USE FULL SYNTHETIC OIL. That is a huge mistake. The cheap dino stuff is much better for the rotary.
so you know better than the guys who designed it and have been designing wankels for the better part of 40 years?Edited by cib24 on Thursday 28th March 16:29
gosh you're clever.
canucklehead said:
so you know better than the guys who designed it and have been designing wankels for the better part of 40 years?
gosh you're clever.
I never said I knew better than the engineers. I said that based on evidence of these engines being run over time since release and them being torn down for a rebuild, that engines using dexelia exclusivley showed more signs of wear than using a motor oil recommended by someone like Ben at RotaryRevs (as an example). gosh you're clever.
Learn to comprehend sentences correctly bro.
Mazda messed up by writing a flawed service manual for the end consumer to follow.
Why didnt Mazda do a turbo version ? seems a massive opportunity as people seem to either put up with the Rx7's issues or it has less issues, I would hate to fund an RX8's engine rebuild if it was only going to be slightly brisk, I remember one having a go when I had a remapped Saab 9-3 Aero, the Saab dropped it like it was stood still, had fancied and Rx8 but it just looked slow next to a mildly fiddled with Saab, I know the RX8 would have the better chassis by some margin but it put me off.
I wish someone would do a sensibly price drive in, drive out conversion for these, how is the VW 1.8 T engined one comign on ?
I wish someone would do a sensibly price drive in, drive out conversion for these, how is the VW 1.8 T engined one comign on ?
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