RE: Mazda RX-8: PH Carpool

RE: Mazda RX-8: PH Carpool

Author
Discussion

NJ72

183 posts

97 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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Frimley111R said:
RFL at £515?! Ouch!!
When you spend as much on petrol as I was doing, £515 a year doesn't seem all that much... :P

Especially when you can pay it monthly. That said, it is fairly crippling...

the_hood

769 posts

193 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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I like the look of them, especially the R3. It's just the running costs and potential engine failure which would put me off.
If I ever have a few quid lying around, I might take a chance.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,248 posts

149 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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Redgate said:
I have always had a soft spot for those,
Me too, a large patch of quicksand. Not for me I'm afraid.

Stokemon

76 posts

194 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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I've owned my 192 (in winning blue... best colour!) for a year and a half now. With daily driving I can say it is the most rewarding experience you can have in a car. It isn't fast, but it doesn't need to be, it is utterly fantastic in the corners.

I've added a miltek exhaust which is quieter than the cobra or toyosport but still has a great sound. The fuel consumption is terrible but doesn't get better if you drive sensibly, which gives me a go to excuse on b roads.

Other than the oil cooler lines failing me (rotary revs saved the day, highly recommend them) the car has given me no problems. It doesn't use much oil, my mates gti of the same age was using just as much, By checking it all the time makes for good car maintenance practice in any case.

I couldn't sing its praises enough, and for me there currently isn't another car that will fit the bill (rx7 but as mentioned, too expensive). I've only looked at other rx8's.

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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I enjoyed owning mine, and owning a wankel powered car is an itch that may get a lot harder to scratch in future.

Should probably own a V8 too, before those join the ranks of the dinosaurs.

KJH

156 posts

203 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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Get a streetport done (keep the stock ECU) when you are rebuilding it. Type C rev OEM coils or BHR. Sort out any cooling issues and put on some nice Ohlins or KW V3 on it. Put some new swaybars and all it a day.

Maybe find a Spirit R in Japan or NZ if you are lucky and keep it stock. smile

Edited by KJH on Monday 20th March 19:04

KJH

156 posts

203 months

Monday 20th March 2017
quotequote all
Get a streetport done (keep the stock ECU) when you are rebuilding it. Type C rev OEM coils or BHR. Sort out any cooling issues and put on some nice Ohlins or KW V3 on it. Put some new swaybars and all it a day.

Maybe find a Spirit R in Japan or NZ if you are lucky and keep it stock. smile

Edited by KJH on Monday 20th March 21:20

Nickp82

3,165 posts

92 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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Nice write up, I have an older style RX8 231 as a weekend car and love it to death (probably literally!), I wonder whether the RX8s unique features combined with its notoriety for bills and heartache will help make it a bit of a classic pretty quickly?

delta0

2,334 posts

105 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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I have an R3 also. It is an absolutely stunning car. The short ratio gearbox on the R3 gives it an extra kick compared to the series 1. Revving over 9,000rpm is very additive. The car feels pretty special to drive. Also great to see 2 car magazines recently identify this car as a future classic. Numbers are very low especially for the R3.

JTN358AT

136 posts

137 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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I've had mine since 2011; cost just over 6 grand, 2007 with 17k miles on the clock. Reliability issues have been limited to minor stuff like oil cooler pipes and a lambda sensor. The RX8 goes out on track on a regular basis, never the fastest thing out there but far from the slowest. I put 170 miles in a day on it at Oulton, worked without fault. The only track mod I've made is to put track brake pads on. I hear all the stories about them being a nightmare to maintain, not true. The chassis is just a big MX5 and poses no special problems. The engine just needs the coils changing every 30k or maybe just the once if you use certain ones. Bank on changing plugs every 10-12k and ignition leads every 20-25k. Oil is best done every 3k with cheapo mineral, semi-synthetic. All stuff that you or you local garage can do very cheaply and will make the engine last 100k.

I noticed that at the moment there are some good ones for sale on ebay, £2300 for a 2006 with 35k miles with an owner that is making all the right noises about how the car has been maintained. In my opinion the market has grossly overcompensated for the exaggerated failings of the RX8. These cars have been an amazing bargain for some time and a great buy for those in the know.

mac96

3,715 posts

142 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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JTN358AT said:
I've had mine since 2011; cost just over 6 grand, 2007 with 17k miles on the clock. Reliability issues have been limited to minor stuff like oil cooler pipes and a lambda sensor. The RX8 goes out on track on a regular basis, never the fastest thing out there but far from the slowest. I put 170 miles in a day on it at Oulton, worked without fault. The only track mod I've made is to put track brake pads on. I hear all the stories about them being a nightmare to maintain, not true. The chassis is just a big MX5 and poses no special problems. The engine just needs the coils changing every 30k or maybe just the once if you use certain ones. Bank on changing plugs every 10-12k and ignition leads every 20-25k. Oil is best done every 3k with cheapo mineral, semi-synthetic. All stuff that you or you local garage can do very cheaply and will make the engine last 100k.

I noticed that at the moment there are some good ones for sale on ebay, £2300 for a 2006 with 35k miles with an owner that is making all the right noises about how the car has been maintained. In my opinion the market has grossly overcompensated for the exaggerated failings of the RX8. These cars have been an amazing bargain for some time and a great buy for those in the know.
To add to this: If a rotary does need a rebuild, it's a lot cheaper than a lot of performance engines!

The idea of a remap to increase the rev limit sounds really cool- I found it easy to hit the rev limiter as the torque was barely dropping off at that point(usually through having the window open and not hearing the beep). There is a caution though- I understood (happy to be corrected) that although the engine could in theory rev to well beyond 10,000, the limit was to protect the gearbox.

Simon Owen

798 posts

133 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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https://youtu.be/v3uGJGzUYCI

Love the packaging but eeek !!

RoadRunner220

940 posts

192 months

Monday 20th March 2017
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JTN358AT said:
These cars have been an amazing bargain for some time and a great buy for those in the know.
I was looking for a new daily hack/shed about 6 months ago but wanted something interesting/fun and ended up with a 231 with £50k on the clock and a folder full of receipts for just £1,500. To get such a great car for little over shed money is amazing, I'm loving it so far.

Redgate

325 posts

146 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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TwigtheWonderkid said:
Me too, a large patch of quicksand. Not for me I'm afraid.
LOL! I see where you're coming from. Granted, it's an acquired taste and ownership can come with some unique drama and considerations.

NJ72

183 posts

97 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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mac96 said:
The idea of a remap to increase the rev limit sounds really cool- I found it easy to hit the rev limiter as the torque was barely dropping off at that point(usually through having the window open and not hearing the beep). There is a caution though- I understood (happy to be corrected) that although the engine could in theory rev to well beyond 10,000, the limit was to protect the gearbox.
I believe it was originally to protect the clutch, although Mazda never stated anything openly about it.

There are quite a few peeps who are running 10k limits on the RX8 Owner's Club without too many issues, but it's like anything, if you spend all your time up at 10k rpm then you're going to reduce the shelf-life of the components smile

Jimtasteek

29 posts

104 months

Tuesday 21st March 2017
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Re: that last comment about a V8. I had an RX-8 and have since switched to a Charger (6.4l V8), now have a hankering for something small and light... The grass is always greener!

Noyzboy

93 posts

217 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
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I agree about the standard RX-7...but then I would say that would't I.

See Classic Car Mart this month for a RX-7 -v- RX-8 comparison