RE: Shed of the Week | Mazda RX-8
Discussion
Absolutely loved mine. OK, the rust, the fish tank in the rear lights and the thirst, but the handling was exceptional and the practicality was extraordinary considering the size and weight. I had a "naughty" exhaust on mine and have some great memories of nighttime country drives and seeing the verges light up yellow in the rear view mirror from the flames 
We had one of these a while back, a 40k mile 2 owner car with a huge pile of bills with it.
We refunded in full due to constant hot start issues
Plugs, coil packs, cat starter motor all replaced to no avail.
We sold it as a breaker for circa £800. The guy who bought it had plans for a 2litre duratec.
Other power plants really are the only way..
We refunded in full due to constant hot start issues
Plugs, coil packs, cat starter motor all replaced to no avail.
We sold it as a breaker for circa £800. The guy who bought it had plans for a 2litre duratec.
Other power plants really are the only way..
waftycranker said:
I don’t like that RX8’s are being treated as disposable. The engine is essentially just eight big lumps of metal with some seals inside. There is loads of room in that engine bay I don’t see it being beyond anybody reasonably competent to change the seals themselves when it starts getting compression issues. I’d certainly attempt it and I’m a lazy, lazy man.
Not the simplest of jobs and new seals won't fix compression issues. By the time the seals have worn they'll also be corresponding wear in the rotor casings. These cannot be machined/recovered and will also need replacing... My brother had one from new, I drove it a few times including at track day, lovely thing to drive, quirky styling with suicide rear doors and well finished interior made it a unique prospect at the time. He sold it after 2 years as he just couldn’t cope with the fuel consumption. The significantly more powerful and 4wd Impreza I had at the time used less fuel, in fact I think a contemporary C63 would have been more frugal!
Weekendrebuild said:
What a pile of junk these are ( my opinion ) slow , not particularly nice looking . I could forgive it with the usp of the wankel engine but were is it ?? Covered in the most hideous plastic engine covers 
To be fair they are buttons to buy. But just save up an buy the rx7
They aren't slow. Even if they have only got sub 200bhp in the 231 as people suggest. Mine felt a bit quicker than a mates EP3 Type R and they aren't slow. To be fair they are buttons to buy. But just save up an buy the rx7
I don't think certain colours and the standard wheels do them any favours, especially in photos. Mine was Galaxy Grey and had special edition, or at least optional 'Radius' alloys and it looked damn sexy on my drive.
Agree about the plastic engine cover. The engine actually starts right near the back of the cover. And why in this day of 'eco' cars do manufacturers insist on pointless plastic covers? Somebody should start a petition. Not me though. I'm busy.
cerb4.5lee said:
22 mpg for a 0 to 60 of 7.1 seconds and only 228 bhp must take some swallowing that is for sure.
I've always liked the RX-8 but Mazda did scupper it somewhat with its quirky rotary engine. This car makes me really appreciate the MX-5 to be fair.
Yes, they did comment on that aspectI've always liked the RX-8 but Mazda did scupper it somewhat with its quirky rotary engine. This car makes me really appreciate the MX-5 to be fair.
When they were new they seemed to be popular with a lot of mums round here - sporty looks, cheapish and the extra doors handy for kids no doubt
Weekendrebuild said:
What a pile of junk these are ( my opinion ) slow , not particularly nice looking rx7
They are certainly not slow, I was driving a Focus RS 4wd at a recent track day and I had some fun battling with one of these, I was very surprised how quick it was on track, even quite quick off the hairpin and down the back straigtht so certainly not slow on a track as the Focus RS is not slow with over 300 bhp.waftycranker said:
They aren't slow. Even if they have only got sub 200bhp in the 231 as people suggest. Mine felt a bit quicker than a mates EP3 Type R and they aren't slow.
I don't think certain colours and the standard wheels do them any favours, especially in photos. Mine was Galaxy Grey and had special edition, or at least optional 'Radius' alloys and it looked damn sexy on my drive.
Agree about the plastic engine cover. The engine actually starts right near the back of the cover. And why in this day of 'eco' cars do manufacturers insist on pointless plastic covers? Somebody should start a petition. Not me though. I'm busy.
That’s your opinion an I respect that but you can’t deny it went very wayward when you look how well the rx7 has aged ! I don't think certain colours and the standard wheels do them any favours, especially in photos. Mine was Galaxy Grey and had special edition, or at least optional 'Radius' alloys and it looked damn sexy on my drive.
Agree about the plastic engine cover. The engine actually starts right near the back of the cover. And why in this day of 'eco' cars do manufacturers insist on pointless plastic covers? Somebody should start a petition. Not me though. I'm busy.
I had one back in 2006, bought at 1 year old and sold just before Mazda dropped the UK list price a year or so later, so didn’t lose much on it.
Handling was good and rear seats were great for additional luggage space and occasional passengers.
MPG seemed poor regardless of how it was driven which was the perfect excuse to rev it hard all the time. Oil was required but it was mineral and cheap.
Big downside for me was that the engine sounded dull, replaced it with a six cylinder BMW which sounded much sweeter.
Now have 2 kids and did briefly consider one as a cheap runaround, but am getting the feeling that a GT86 might be a better alternative, albeit with an equally uninspiring engine note.
Handling was good and rear seats were great for additional luggage space and occasional passengers.
MPG seemed poor regardless of how it was driven which was the perfect excuse to rev it hard all the time. Oil was required but it was mineral and cheap.
Big downside for me was that the engine sounded dull, replaced it with a six cylinder BMW which sounded much sweeter.
Now have 2 kids and did briefly consider one as a cheap runaround, but am getting the feeling that a GT86 might be a better alternative, albeit with an equally uninspiring engine note.
I had one of these about 10 years ago and never really gelled with it. It was very nice, very competent but it never really excited me or felt particularly special.
I had an interesting moment with it one winter though when I suffered the engine flooding issue. Not knowing how to fix it I called my breakdown provider who came out and told me that the cambelt had snapped! Common problem apparently! I cancelled my cover after that...
I had an interesting moment with it one winter though when I suffered the engine flooding issue. Not knowing how to fix it I called my breakdown provider who came out and told me that the cambelt had snapped! Common problem apparently! I cancelled my cover after that...
Considered one many times, but I wasn't that much of a fan when it came to the look of the car externally. Inside they are very boring too. Performance just left me a bit underwhelmed, and the running costs were ridiculous.
Stayed with fast BMW's instead, even my M50 manifold'd/remapped/induction kitted E36 328i would destroy even a 231 version.
Would I buy a cheap one like this as a 2nd car ...... nah....
Stayed with fast BMW's instead, even my M50 manifold'd/remapped/induction kitted E36 328i would destroy even a 231 version.
Would I buy a cheap one like this as a 2nd car ...... nah....
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