RE: Shed Of The Week: Mazda RX-8

[Fire99]

Slightly off topic, A chap I was talking to waiting for the ferry yesterday has bought a Mazda Eunos Cosmo, which is pretty rare.
That has a triple rotor rotary engine (Same as the RX7 but with a 3rd rotor) with twin turbo's, running 300bhp straight out of the box.

I'd never heard of it but it definitely exists..

[V8RX7]

Kentish said:

Somebody I know has successfully put an Lexus LS430 V8 engine into his RX8.

He said it was quite straightforward, the worst part being the electronic engine management.

Any more info / links ?

[irish boy]

Have to say It's a car I've never even sat in. Maybe one day, not sure id own one after this thread tho….

[RobDickinson]

Enjoyed 3 years and about 50-60k in mine when they were first released, great handling car.

[leedsutd1]

I think you have miss read this, the 2006 RX8 had the engine fully rebuilt 5,000 miles ago
it sold for £1,630 ,

marshall100 said:

leedsutd1 said:

have just looked on ebay there is a 2006 RX8 with a rebuilt engine 5k ago ,car has done 60k its at £1,480
with 5 hours left (on ebay auction) that would be a better buy ,obviously does not fit into shed money
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-MAZDA-RX8-192-COUPE...

Edited by leedsutd1 on Sunday 2nd November 19:30

But then there's plenty on ebay that have the same issues and are half a bag of sand...

[beefykeefy]

Harji said:

I'm into my fourth year of ownership of an RX-8

Issues:-

None

Oil Consumption:-

My GTI 1.8T drank more

Fuel:-
Don't bother calculating anymore which is liberating, but what do you honestly expect when the car easily rev's to 9000? You certainly do drive this car differently it handles far better than ALOT of cars at any price range.

Plus's : Handling and that instant throttle response, the best I've felt so far.

instant throttle response ???
we driving the same car ???

[otolith]

beefykeefy said:

instant throttle response ???
we driving the same car ???

Don't confuse throttle response with the shape of the torque curve.

[Fastdruid]

otolith said:

beefykeefy said:

instant throttle response ???
we driving the same car ???

Don't confuse throttle response with the shape of the torque curve.

I remember the salesman telling us we "could run it on super for better throttle response", I didn't dare, it was immediate enough as it was.

My only beef with the throttle response was that full throttle was slightly disappointing in comparison to part throttle, it felt like it was mapped to give ~90% of torque at ~3/4 throttle and that last 1/4 throttle didn't give as much as you felt it should.

[Zircon]

I do like the RX8 but Mazda should be shot for making a car with a problem this catastrophic.

Did they not do high mileage engine testing? Wouldn't exactly take long to rack up 50k if that was your job?! It isn't like this was their first Rotary engine either!

I could handle chucking oil in as well as petrol if the cost of both didn't make it a ridiculous proposition.

Makes you weep for Rover who's reputation took a massive hit due to a weak head gasket. Pails into insignificance compared to this!

[ally_f]

colonel c said:

Bought one 3 months ago. So far so good. Perhaps I might change my mind if things go badly.
Right now though. Miles per gallon bad.
But smiles per mile worth every penny. .

Ditto, had mine a couple of months... and I only use it at the weekend so at least most of those expensive miles are fun ones! It's nowhere near as quick as some cars I've owned but it covers ground fast enough and puts a smile on my face.

If it does go pop I'll stick in a new enge @ £2k and have 3 years of driving covered by an unlimited mileage warranty (including track days) - what's not to like?

To write off a car for poor mpg isn't very PH is it. And to argue a different car with similar mpg might have 200 bhp more is also a bit pointless when that car is also 3 times the price in the first place!

[Iklwa]

I don't get these cars, I had a gen 3 RX7 twin turbo and you could forgive the fuel consumption and fragility of the engine because it pushed out big power and torque, but the 8? A pretty paltry 220 BHP for under 20mpg and massive emissions make this engine a failure.

A focus ST puts out more power yet has half the fuel consumption, so what are you gaining from a rotary? Even an old Honda s2000, which revs just as high can manage 10mpg more. Can't understand who would buy one, but sorry to say it seems a stupid choice given what else us out there.

[Fastdruid]

Iklwa said:

A focus ST puts out more power yet has half the fuel consumption, so what are you gaining from a rotary? Even an old Honda s2000, which revs just as high can manage 10mpg more.

No they don't, the S2000 is lighter and only a few mpg better. 20mpg urban / 36mpg extra urban against 18mpg/32mpg.

The ST does not have half the fuel consumption, it's only better because it's turbocharged and even then it's only marginally better, 20mpg urban again (although 40mpg extra urban which admittedly makes a big difference if you're doing motorway miles).

We replaced the RX-8 with a Mazda 6 MPS, it gets 2-3mpg better with the same use. Big woo.

[Escy]

Fastdruid said:

...against 18mpg/32mpg.

I'd like to see the RX8 that manages 32mpg.

[otolith]

Iklwa said:

A focus ST puts out more power yet has half the fuel consumption, so what are you gaining from a rotary?

Interior space combined with a low centre of gravity and small moment of inertia with straight six refinement. That's it. That's what you get for the mpg and fragility, take it or leave it.

If you don't care about that, buy the Focus. Or if you hate turbocharged engines (I do, in anything sporting) a Civic Type-R, Or if you don't like front wheel drive, a 3-series coupe. Or if you don't care about rear seats, a Z4 or an S2000. Or if you need rear seats and handling but don't care about rear leg room and nasty four cylinderness, a GT86.

It fills a niche. I bought one because I wanted a rear drive sports car but the Mrs had already bagged the two seater slot with an MX-5 and I needed something more practical. The RX-8 meant that I didn't have to compromise on how it drove. Once we had room to park three cars, I bought an old estate car and an Elise.

[Fastdruid]

Escy said:

Fastdruid said:

...against 18mpg/32mpg.

I'd like to see the RX8 that manages 32mpg.

In the same way I'd like to see my Mondeo do the claimed 42mpg as well. It doesn't outside the artificial test.

That doesn't mean it *can't*, just you can't drive it that way and not die of boredom (I managed 40mpg out of mine on a long run at 60, the 42mpg claimed is doable but it takes someone with far more patience than me).

We got about 15mpg out of the RX-8, the MPS in exactly the same use gets 18mpg. Hell I've got a sub 16mpg average out of the Mondeo before when just doing round town driving.

[Warnie]

I take it these would be out the question for my wife to use to get to work in as she only works 2 miles away?

[otolith]

They are particularly uneconomical on short journeys. It's about the worst choice I could imagine for a two mile commute.

[Lloyd71]

I had an RX8 for 6 months before selling it to move house, it never caused me any bother and barely used any oil really. Sure I had to let it warm up even for short journeys but they can definitely put a huge smile on your face for a weekend car. Mine only ever needed new coils which I did myself for about £150 IIRC, besides that the only major cost was summer tyres. If I had the money to buy one with a rebuilt engine I'd definitely have another.

If the seller doesn't know how to run them (they love to be 'beeped' (driven up to 9,000RPM) on each drive) then walk away as it's likely to be a dud. If you get one that's been rebuilt or has been looked after with strong compression you could get a bargain.

[colonel c]

Warnie said:

I take it these would be out the question for my wife to use to get to work in as she only works 2 miles away?

Tell her to take a longer route or buy a bicycle.

[KuroKeeper]

Fastdruid said:

I remember the salesman telling us we "could run it on super for better throttle response", I didn't dare, it was immediate enough as it was.

Just FYI, and this isn't specific to RX-8s, you will not see any difference in throttle response by running on higher octane fuel as it is calibrated to 95 RON - just like most European cars. Only in cars that are calibrated for higher octane fuel will you see a difference, and then it's more a case that you shouldn't be running regular fuel.