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If you want the 8 strictly as a "weekend fun car", don't mind a "fussy" vehicle, and love driving for it's own sake, you've made the right choice.
If you are going to use it as a daily driver, kid-wagon, grocery-getter, and expect economy and low maintenence, keep looking. Now, that said, I know some owners will dispute this, so YMMV.
This car is an adult's toy. As such, it performs SUPERBLY.
Location: In the hills between San Miguel and Parkfield - "up in the boonie lands", Central Coast of California, Wine Country
Posts: 733
I would advise, if you are going to let it wait for weekends, then get a new hi amp battery, there are lots of bells and whistles and they suck the juice out of a sitting battery.
Some of the silvers had some engine trouble. My Blue has been very dependable, but you can not just turn it on, roll it out, and turn it off and expect it not to flood. Once it is on, let the engine idle for a while or you will be sorry!.
Use premium gas (91) from Chevron, Exxon, Shell, or Texaco to avoid carbon build up. Change the oil often. Make sure previous driver changed oil often! You might want to run some Techtron through it's gas tank.
For pure pleasure, get the automatic/stick shift. I really don't like the RX8 stick only - it reminds me too much of an old Ford! And my other car, also a Mazda is a stick - and I can drive an old cracker box ambulance, which is also stick But for carefree driving that little computer knows what it is doing.
Make sure you have a mechanic who really loves 8s and knows how to tune them properly.
Toyo tires if you can, but Coopers OK for lots of travel.
1. Battery maintenance: You only need a float charger if you live in a cold climate. A new battery in a mild climate doesn't need it. Start it and warm it up at week-to-ten day intervals, more to keep the engine seals lubed and fluids circulated than for battery maintenance. If you do live in a cold climate, then a float charger isn't a bad idea. It's what I do for the approximately 3 months per year that my 8 is garaged.
2. "Engine problems" were related to year of manufacture, not color. What load of crap. And I point out that many of those older cars that used premix or had the proper reflashes done are still on the road, with over 100K miles on the original engine.
3. The automatic tranny is for a certain demographic who don't truly appreciate the "driving" experience.
I have the 04 RX8 AT with the steering wheel paddle shift & its a hoot to drive. You get the best of both worlds, easy driving cruiser with a smooth driving suspension or you can rip though the twisties with confidence. The AT is not nearly as fast as the 6 speed manual though (4 port vs 6 port engine 04-05 models). If you want a slick shifting manual tansmission with a 9000 redline, than buy the 6MT. Another thing, its harder to make the AT/4 port faster then the 6MT/ 6 port. So if you plan on tweaking the motors, just get the 6MT Honestly, you cant go wrong either way.
It takes a few extra HP just to run the auto, so there's some loss there as well. In all fairness, I admit that some people might prefer an AT, for their own reasons.
But I've always been a stick guy.
The 6-speed MT combined with a short shifter is pretty nifty. Snick-snick shifting.
Linear Mode
