RotoRooter

Now that we have at least 20 rx8's over 1000 miles let's start posting our thoughts. Best, worst, fuel econ, handeling, looks, options, issues, probs, overall opinion.

I will post my review next week since I am not even a member of this club yet 738 miles for me. I have a lot to say but I will reserve judgement until I cross 1000 miles.

RX8-U-UP

We are currently at 1040 miles. We have had our car since the 14th of July. It is a beautiful winning blue, with black interior, 6MT, Grand Touring model. I read every article about it before I got it, and I had extremely high expectations for its beauty and performance. All of my expectations have been exceeded, and its still like a dream every time I drive it 2 and a half weeks after first driving it home. The engine has opened up, and appears to want to rev higher and higher each time I get into it. I babied it for the first 600 miles and got horible gas mileage (16 MPG). I drove it harder after 600 miles, and my last two tanks of gas have averaged 18 MPG. Our car only had three miles on it when we got it. Its nice knowing that everything that has been done to it has been done by me. After watching one of the demos that came into town this week get driven, I would have had nightmares about the 20 or 30 miles that could have been on my car if the dealer had not shown us special attention. All in all I have nothing but praise for the car, the style, the handling, the power, and the stereo. The looks, the stares, the doubletakes, the thumbs ups, the jaw drops are more than I can count. The conversation in parking lots with strangers who genuinely want to know about the car and the ride are in the dozens. People want to know if it drives as good as it looks, and a simple yes answers all their question. The only bad thing about the whole situation, is reading the forum full of people that could not wait for the 8, and thought getting a Z, G35, or S2000 would be just as good. Let me be the first to tell them that good thing come to those who wait, and this car was well worth the wait. If you see a blue streak while in northwest Florida, do not fear I was just slowing down for gas. Zoom, Zoom.

Speed Racer

I picked up my 6-speed Velocity Red GT on July 16th and the odometer read 2046 as I rolled it into the garage tonight. So far it has been 2000+ miles of smiles. Like many others I had waited months before I had the chance to drive this beauty and my expectations grew with each passing day. Fortunately I can say that it has met or exceeded all of them.

As for fuel economy I have seen everything between 14 and 24 MPG. The 14 appeared after having a little too much fun in the car and the 24 was all highway driving with cruise turned on. It is amazing how quiet and stable the car is at speed. During the first week I kept finding myself going about 20 MPH faster than I thought I was going because I was missing the audible cues that give you a sense of your speed (FYI - previous car was a Celica GT-S). In some ways I miss the high RPM snarl and subsequent boost of speed in the Celica. It made you feel like you were going faster but the downside was a very narrow band of useable power (1800 RPMs). This is one area where the RX-8 excels because it pulls nicely from around 3500 RPMs all of the way up to redline. I should note that it feels like it tapers off slightly around 7000 RPMs but that may be misleading because the way that the RX-8 accelerates is very deceptive. It doesn't feel that fast but when I finally ease off the throttle and glance at the speedo I typically find myself going about 20 MPH faster than I had expected. The first time that happened I was shocked!

The handling and steering is superb. The wheel is nicely weighted and it gives you just enough feedback to let you know what is going on without abusing you with every ripple in the road. In 1st and 2nd gears, with DSC off, it is fairly easy to induce oversteer when it is wanted but the car never feels like it is going to get unruly when you decide it is time to play. In other words its driving dynamics are as classy as its looks!

Speaking of looks I'm surprised that it hasn't caused an accident yet. Everytime I take the car out I see lots of people spending more time looking at the car than where they are going! If we are not careful Mazda is going to have to print a warning label on the hood that says, "looking at this car while operating heavy equipment may be hazardous to your health!"

RX22

Just glad you passed on naming it the Mile High Club.

RotoRooter

I really wanted the Mile High Club, but my wife said we would get the "wrong" kind of posts . Well I am itching to type, but my car has only 800miles today. zoom zoom

rxeightr

Have just shy of 1,400 miles on the RX-8, and here are my perceptions to this point:

My comments mirror closely what RX8-U-UP said. I have a copy of every test drive magazine article, religiously read most every post on this board, and watched over & over the videos either I made from TV shows, or shared here on this forum. Then in May I attended the Mazda Rev-It-Up event in Atlanta, so I could see the lines & get the feel for myself. I thought I had done my homework, and knew what I was getting.

This vehicle has done nothing but impress me since, and exceed my expectations. My color choice is awesome - no regrets.

Interior is BMW quality, does not give you the impression it came from the other side of the pond. More room for 4 adults than is looks like it should.

The handling .... what can I say other than I still do not know the capabilities, as I've only been able to squeak the wheels once, slightly. Still need more time to find the car's (& my) true potential.

The ride comfort is astounding, considering how firm the handling is. This is no doubt the biggest surprise to me thus far ! Mazda engineers really pulled off the 'best of both worlds' with their new front & rear suspension systems. Even on bumpy, uneven roads the RX-8 rides so well.

The power....well all I can say here is, it is deceptively fast, and once all the horsepower makes itself available, the RX-8 will only get faster. Impressive.

Economy -- The worst I got was 17.4 mpg cruising the gut in Panama City Beach, and my best was the last tankful at 23.21 mpg, which is quite close to EPA's 24 mpg Highway. My former daily driver was getting 26 mpg, and I actually budgeted gas money based upon getting 20 mpg, so once again I am nothing but impressed. 4 yr/48K Mazda warranty is better than the 3 yr/36K for my former New Beetle, and 2 yr/24K of the Nissan I am now selling.

Just last night my wife & I had an errand to do, so she drove. Mind you, she was not part of the buying decision, as I am paying for the RX-8, and it is my daily driver. While through the whole pre-order process I only shared with her highlights of the progress in getting the car, she at best, was stand-offish to the RX-8. She has never visited our beloved forum, and to her, cars are little more than transportation to get from point A to point B.
When she dropped me off, she told me " I can really have a lot of fun with driving this car."

Purchasing the RX-8 was worth every penny, just to hear those precious words I NEVER thought I would hear. I think she is starting to get it.

wakeech

*chorus of angels*

RotoRooter

Anyone out there with over 1000miles want to share their experience with the 8? Any regrets. Noobies, this is a great thread for you guys since these are the guys who probably know the most about the 8, having ordered it 6months ago, read every article, every thread of every forum. These guys have friends in Japan and Europe telling them about the car, and many have connections to Mazda dealers, warranty, techs, etc. Mine still has less then 900miles. zoom zoom

JR_TX

1200+ miles... Every time I drive my car I like it better -- and I loved it when I picked it up.

I searched for every shred of info since the Evolv, was 1st in the area to pre-order (put down a $2k non-refundable deposit, with no hesitation). Drove my 2nd gen RX7 past 321k miles while I waited for the next Rotary.

I agree with every glowing report posted. Every aspect of this car has exceeded my expectations. This car was extremely well planned.

On the road, I get thumbs up, whiplash looks, big nods from RX7 and Protege guys. Had greasy hand prints on my window the other night from someone peering inside.

Lots of questions and looks from strangers, lots of style, lots of go. This car wants to fly, drives like a predator. I would have been happy simply getting into a brand new Rotary powered car. This car and this experience have been beyond belief.

No problems, no issues, nothing overlooked, no regrets.

Unexpected pleasures:
Ya gotta love the dash and steering wheel lights at night.
The dash is too pretty for my Valentine 1 power cord. I'm going to hard wire it in and hide the wire.

18-21 mpg, lots of city driving
ice cold a/c, even with 100+ degree temps outside
Lightning Yellow, GT, leather (excellent seats), 6mt

Mazda absolutely got it right. I'm thinking Car of the Year.

Racer X-8

I'll be in Destin from 9/27 to 10/5.

I just got word tonight my baby's already departed from port Jacksonville & I will HAVE IT next week - early next week! Yee hah!

So, you might be seeing some red streaks down your way during that time:D :D :D

RotorMotor

Ok, I'll add in my two cents. I've had mine for just over 2 weeks now and I'm pretty darn close to 1500 miles. I put 1500 on my last vehicle (POS Explorer) in about 6 weeks. If that's not a testament to how much fun this car is to drive, I don't know what is. I can't stop looking for excuses to leave the house.

Power
This care moves!!! Is it lacking torque? If all you want to do is stop, start real fast and drive in a straight line for 1/4 mile, maybe. But I don't find much fun in that anyway. I do like quick acceleration and this car is not lacking there at all. It's fun to hit an empty freeway onramp and be up to (maybe past ) 70MPH with enough umph to push you back into your seat and all without shifting into 3rd gear. Even at 65 in 6th gear the car has plenty of pull to pass that guy infront of you and shifting down to 4th will blow his doors off! After reading the reviews I was a little bit worried, but it's so much better than I thought it would be.

Handling
I keep checking under my car to make sure somebody didn't accidentally install aftermarket suspension. A bunch of So Cal RX-8 owners took our cars out last Sunday (see this thread) and took a spin up through the local mountains. There were plenty of opportunities to push it hard and see how it reacted and this car grips the road like crazy. The twisties are an absolute blast and the car responds to input so quickly it feels like an extension of your arm. The DSC is totally non-intrusive and really only kicks in when you need it to (unless you spin the tires going into 2nd gear. I've never had the urge to turn it off.

Gas milage
Avg. 18.5 with my hair on fire, 21 when I keep the RMPs under 6500 or so.

Issues
Nothing major except for the rock chip I found a few days ago. There's not enough room to stash things (CDs, etc), but I can deal with that. I get a really slight rattle in the drivers side door with a few bass heavy Incubus songs, but I'm having my dealer look at that when I get back from vacation. For somebody who parks behind other cars in the driveway, the cold shutdown procedure is a real pain at 5:15am. Would any of this come even remotely close to bothering me enough to even mention it if I wasn't thinking about it for this little review? HELL NO!

This car is amazing. No buyers remorse, regrets, or disappointments here at all. The car is all I hoped it would be and more.

RM

MadMax Rotor4

AWESOME!

Prowla

Can anyone give a review of driving the auto version of the RX-8 past 1000 miles? I only ask this just because my mother ordered a Winning Blue AT and I try to relay as much info as I can to her. I'm glad I convinced her to go for the RX-8 instead of a Mustang.