fz112

Hello, im new and this is my first topic so please bear with me.

I dont have an RX8 but am looking into one. Im 19 1/2 so I am looking at the 04's because of the price. But I have a few questions if you all could please help answer for me...

I've read about the rotary engine and everything, and im wondering if the RX8 is a car you can take on 10+ hour trips. Im not talking about comfortability or anything like that. It may seem like a dumb question, but with some things ive heard about this car, I just want to make sure.

And the same with short trips, like up to the store, ect. I read that you should let the engine cool down before shutting the car off. But what if I need to just run up to the store? I dont want half my trip me idoling my car until it cools down in the parking lot.

Sorry if this is long! And these are two polor questions but im just very curious of them.
Thanks!

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

we've had members drive their RX-8's across the COUNTRY with no problems.
don't worry about short trips, that was fixed a long time ago by Mazda with an upgraded battery, starter, and a redesigned spark plug.

at the end of the day: it's a great car
Just make sure you are checking your oil every two weeks or so and I'm sure you'll have no problem with finding the redline every day.

slvrstreak

iTrader: (3)

long trips arent a problem...the engine gets hotter than most yes but, many people here go cross country in their 8s with no problems
shorts trips are fine as long as the engine has time to warm up properly...idle lowers

someone else chime in with more knowledge an detail lol

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I've taken 4 1000+ mile trips (one way) stopping only for gas. They were 16-18 hrs long. I had the fuel pump start to go bad on the last one, but I wasn't completely broken down. My typical trip, to my mothers, is 5hrs each way.
The ride will be comfortable unless you start putting on stiffer springs, louder exhaust, ......

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

This was me

8,330 miles in 12 days with zero problems. Looking back, I've only put ~25,000 miles or so on my 8 in daily commuting or short trips, the rest of the 84,000 miles were all long trips (>400 miles typically).

There is no car I would rather have for a long trip than the 8.


Short trips are the only ones to pay attention to, as they can give you problems with excessive carbon (if you don't keep it clean) and flooding (if you ignore the ignition health).

Notice the theme though....this isn't a car you can ignore. Pay attention to it constantly, and it will treat you well. It doesn't suffer neglect at all, and even ignoring it for a few weeks/month can snowball into larger issues.

You may wish to read up on my New Owners thread: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

CrazyJek

buy it

I finally got my dream car right around my 22nd birthday. Im 23 now and will be 24 this december. Just keep up on your reading and self teach yourself as much as possible. The more you know, the less problems you may have and more potential problems you may be able to prevent. Oh, and if its an 04, make sure it has the MSP-16 reflash done to it. Also ask the owner you buy it from if it was ever de-carbed. If not, get it done.

I spent from the year 2004, all the way to 2009, without the car, and still read up on it and everything that has to do with it. The knowledge really comes in handy.


Oh, and if you do buy this car you need to promise this community ONE thing. Read up on the thread "What not to do to your car" and make sure you DO NOT DO ANY OF THAT KIND OF ****!

That is all and good luck.

HiFlite999

iTrader: (2)

Comfort is reasonable for its size and quite good compared to other sports cars. There is a caution though, and that is the RX goes right where you point it, and it does so immediately. As such it is one of the worst locations for eating a chicken sandwich while underway. Same goes for messing with iPod, phones, and other distractions of (most generally) youth. Attention errors that you can get away with in a Camry may kill you in an 8. It's also not the best choice for heavy duty urban driving where sitting low limits both your own visibility and the ability of other drivers to see you. I love mine, but there are times I choose to take my cushmobile instead. YMMV

User24

iTrader: (1)

Startup cycles, for whatever reason, burn a lot of gasoline in the rx8. More than any other vehicle I know of. Something to keep in mind if it matters to you.

I have done 5 or 6 cold startups in an rx8 to full coolant temp and driven it 0 miles, already 1/4 tank down.

Overall mpg expenditure is totally dependent on distance. For example, 15 miles to work gets me 15 mpg and a fillup every week. Yet with my new job location being only 1 mile to work, I get 10 mpg but only fillup every 3 weeks. 33% worse mpg and yet only 1/3 the gas expenditure.

monchie

Never driven my rx8 long distances because everytime we go out of town, we rent a car and i could just abuse it and put the lowest octane gas on it. Mines an 05 with 32k miles only. Have few problems like motor mount vibrations and extreme heat (over 100 degrees) idle issues, but overall, the car is fine.

PeteInLongBeach

I would never drive this engine only 1 mile at a time from cold. Asking for massive carbon build up. I would get a bike or walk before doing that.

I'm having a hard time understanding how your car appears to use almost a GALLON of fuel over the course of a full warm-up cycle.

Robonaut

My 2007 RX-8 (which I've owned since 2008) just hit 20K miles, and it is my daily driver.

Obviously, I do a lot of short range driving (my work is only about five miles from my house). I have never had a problem with the car flooding, or anything like that.

I've taken it on a few longer trips (400+ miles roundtrip) and also not had an issue.

If you're going on a longer trip, though, be sure to bring oil with you! You will probably need to top off the oil at some point during your journey.

I'd stay away from the 2004's, though. Actually, I'd stay away from the first model year of any vehicle. They obviously tend to have the most issues because the manufacturer hasn't worked out all of the bugs yet.

ken-x8

It's not that the car needs to cool down after driving. It's that it needs to be driven long enough to be warmed up. I've never had a flooding problem, but I'm paranoid and always let mine warm up before shutting down. The grocery store is about 1 1/2 miles from my house, and that's far enough to warm up, even in the winter.

The car is great on highway trips. Longest I've done is 400 miles each way, but it's fine. Not so sure about needing to carry oil. If you were a firm believer in 5w20, you won't find that at every gas station, but almost any grade will be OK for top-off. See the myriad oil threads for further details.

I second HiFlite999's recommendation against distracting activities while driving.

Ken

Novoken

iTrader: (7)

Driven to NJ and NC with no issues.

monchie

Any car that is well maintained could be driven anywhere without issues...just sayin'

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Incorrect. My RX-8 wouldn't do very well mud-******* it in the backwoods of Tennessee, or hill climbing in the desert, or driving to Jamaica.

And it has nothing to do with maintenance.

fz112

Wow thanks for all the replys guys!

Ahh ok so now I kinda get the whole warming up thing..so its best to start the car up and drive long enough to warm it up. THEN i should turn it off?
This is all very helpfull!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

I would use the rule of thumb to turn it off:
A) When it is warmed up
OR
B) When you get to your destination

Whichever comes last. I wouldn't turn it off before getting to your destination just because it's warmed up.

monchie

Why do you keep following me? Are you my shadow or something? Anyway, i think your car is ate up.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

You spew so much bad information on the forums that I feel obligated to correct to keep you from influencing new or gullible owners down the wrong diagnosis path or into costly repairs needlessly.

None of us appreciate how much you crap on forum posts specifically to raise your post count when you still don't know very much about this car.

It's dishonest
It's insulting
It's retarded
It's troublesome
It's unwelcome

diabolical1

if you get the car, there's no reason not to drive it anywhere unless it lacks maintenance or good repair. i've taken many 1000+ mile one-way trips in mine. at one point i used to commute to work about 100 miles. i, too, had fuel pump/filter issues - but never got stranded.

as someone said earlier, reseacrh and get familiarized with what the car will need and address it accordingly. i would recommend addressing the ignition coils when you get it because so far that's the one thing that led to most (if not all) of the grief i experienced with my car.

fuztupnz

iTrader: (4)

+1 The truth!!!


Back on topic. My car has been my daily for over 2 years. I've never had a problem on a road trip. It's been to my parents about a dozen times (600+ roundtrip), Florida (2200 round trip) and down to the Tail of the Dragon (1500 miles roundtrip), just to name a few. I've done multiple 200+ mile backroads drives in it as well. The car loves it.

The gas station i stop at all the time (almost every day) to get smokes and gas when needed is only 1.5 miles away. I've never had a problem with flooding or hard starts regardless of weather.

The only thing i have to add that hasn't been said is get a compression test before you buy. Make sure you're getting a car with a healthy engine. Since you're looking at 04's your engine core warranty will be quickly coming to an end. A low compression engine isn't the best way to start.

bse50

Keep in mind that not all the 2004 were kept in good conditions by their previous owners.
It's true that a well kept, healthy rx8 won't give you problems in both daily driving and long distance cruising but... and there's a but:
What If you buy a cheap 2004 rx8 only to discover that the engine has low compression, the catalytic converter is choked and the ignition system needs to be replaced?
The bottom line is that all the issues are usually related to poor maintenance\bad engine or engine related parts.
Don't be afraid to spend 2000$ more for a better kept car with good compression and some fresh parts

New Yorker

The 8 has zero issues with long distance drives. Just like any other car.

There's also no issue driving "short distances". None. All you need to remember is to NOT start the car up when it's been sitting for several hours, move it 10 feet, and turn it off. That might cause it to flood. Might. So if it's Saturday morning and you decide to wash your car, don't start it up, pull it out of the garage and turn it off. That's the only "short distance" you need to avoid, because it doesn't let the engine warm up at all.

So… even driving it a just a mile and a half to the 7-11 is enough to warm up the car to the point where there's no chance of flooding. So is letting it run for 4 or 5 minutes in your driveway.

Funny how having to remember not to "start it, move it a few feet, and turn it off" grew – through misinformation, misunderstanding and exaggeration – into "the 8 has problems with driving short distances". It doesn't.

Mazurfer

New and Potential Owner’s, Start Here:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=202454

Congratulations, you got an 8:
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/congratulations-you-got-8-a-202548/

New Owner FAQ’s:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.ph...&highlight=FAQ

FAQ’s:
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/rx-8-faq-please-read-before-posting-959/

Above all, please don’t make threads on subjects that have been covered a thousand times, use the search function on this site, or click this link that might work better for you -----> Search rx8club via Google

fz112

ok sweet! thanks people!

And yeah, i have read those forums, I just feel like I needed to get a few things clarified.
Thanks!