I think we in the UK are now starting to benefit from the 8's earlier release in the States with good feedback from more than just a one-off tests drives.

Seems the main gripes are;

- bad petrol consumption (worse than forecast in many cases)
- inferior interior quality (described by some even worse than the 6)

No real mention of torque although I can imagine if driven with high revs would explain low petrol figures.

Overall those who have posted are very positive although many of those seem relatively young (1st or 2nd cars) and I wonder what comparisons they are making. But I am still surprised of the few posts we are seeing. Considering the 8 is now out in Japan and parts of the US we are not seeing that many.

rael

 

Have you read that one of the major gripes is that (it looks like) Mazda has put a really rich mixture in the fuel map to ensure a slow break-in? Top power is down roughly 20%, and no one has any idea how many (thousands) of miles this will last.......

Hope they get that one sorted before you 'euros' start wasting your expensive high-octane!
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doc

 

Also Rael, make suer you know what GALLON their using.

US gallon is smaller, so MPG will be lower for them than us. I think 20pmg/US willb ebout 25mpg for us.

 

............
Hmmm, I wonder if this is ever going to be confirmed by Mazda. It could well be true, and if it is, I would see no reason why Mazda should not tell the owners about it. If it is not true and the car runs excessively rich at high loads even after run in, it would be kind of similar to the way it is with the MX-5, which starts to drink really heavily at high RPM and high load (compared e.g. to a 6-cylinder BMW.

FWIW, us Europeans will have to wait and see anyway.

 

It can't be long before the lawsuits start flying on this one.

Apparently Mazda were sued in the US in the past over MX-5's that were only slightly underpowered. If there really is a good explanation for this 20-25 hp deficit then Mazda need to come out with it pretty damn quick.

 

Did I miss this??? The owner reviews that I've seen say the interior exceeds expectations and is near BMW quality.

 

Second Lensmans Statement!

poor interior, no!

 

Whats worrying me the most is the apparent lack of power.

179 dyno'd RWHP. thats on the 250ps version, we'll be seeing 160RWBHP if were lucky.

Engines runing ritch at higher RPM too, causing soot/carbon buildup and poor(er) fuel economy.

Whats worse is people who've tried to time 0-60 etc have got high 6's even with high RPM clutch drops (again in the US).

I'm prety sure I could get my 1.8 focus up to 160 by spending about £1k, ok , not at the wheels), but I get 35+mpg out of it..

 

The Mazda will be my 12th vehicle: Peugeot 309 GTi, Opel Manta GTE, BMW 320i, Audi A4, Saab 900i in the UK (all used), Prelude in Singapore (used), Integra GLS, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Lexus RX300, Lexus IS300, Acura MDX in the USA (all new except Integra).

I have test driven the RX-8 a few times (once quite enthusiastically!) and hope to pick it up soon. Before my first test-drive I had a 30 min wait during which I just sat in a Mazda 6s (with leather) and nit-picked the interior. I then did the same with the RX-8 before driving it (touched, thumped, stroked and generally 'felt-up' all surfaces including headliner, door pockets, glove box, stalks etc. I can state that the RX-8 quality, look and feel is overall better than the 6 except for the hinge on the center tunnel storage areas and the passthrough hatch which felt very flimsy. I also hated the rigid solid platic sunvisors with little holes in them and the headliner was not pleasant to the touch - the materials used were 'unusual'. Everything else was as good or better than the Mazda6, especially everything the driver interacts with (dials, gearshift, pedals, AC/NAV/Stereo controls etc).

Also the RX-8 was the quickest and best handling/steering/braking vehicle I have ever 'owned' (even with 4 adults on board), and better than almost anything I have test-driven - I would prefer it to a BMW 330i, A4 3.0 quattro, Boxster or WRX for sure. I am very concerned about the horsepower issue even if the '210hp' car is fast enough for me, and have spoken to Mazda and to my dealership about it (they were both unaware). I think it will be resolved somehow (fix it or at worst give us money back or free servicing for life or something) and hopefully before too much damage is done to Mazda's reputation in the USA.

 

I have no problem is seeing such glowing comments as above. Whilst some US comments have suggested BMW comparable quality, other suggest flimsy fits.

We will see.

rael

 

I really have no idea about quality of the 6 and the RX8, cause I havent seen either car.....

.....but I can tell you for sure, that those of you who were expecting "normal" fuel consumption from a wankel engine will be rather disappointed. The rotary was NEVER a fuel-efficient engine, simply because it needs fuel to produce power !!!
The fuel-rich maps could explain the low fuel mileage, but this should be very easy to remedy. However, its a known precaution of the Mazda rotaries, in order to avoid detonation (especially in the latest turbo "versions" of the 13B).

 

We were expecting the stated 'normal' fuel consumption for the Renesis side port rotary engine. The side porting reduces consumption and the cars aren't (yet) matching Mazda's statistics. We're not comparing this engine's consumption with a 2.6 litre boinger.

 

Most seem down on power, running fuel rich over 5/6krpm and getting poorer than expected fuel economy.

Also looks like exauhst is producing more soot than it should too.

Although some look like there getting 20-22mpg - not sure if a fuel efficient 'version' has meen dyno'd.

I cant believe mazda would ship all the cars with bad ECU maps, cars been in development for to long for that.

Its either a 'break in' ECU setting (like the rx-7's?) which may or may not be documented in mazda's service manual (not owners manual).

Or a real problem.

If its a real problem it could be caused by quite a few things I guess. Isnt 5/6k where the other fuel injectors come online? could they be wrongly calibrated? who knows.

I'm sure it'll be sorted but I'm worried this will come here to UK too. And most are happy with the cars performance on road.

We've already taken a hit on fuel economy AND performance , another , especialy 20-30bhp extra loss - that's be 150-160 whp.

Whats just as interesting is what this fuel rich mixture is doing to the engines internals, if its not 'programed in' by mazda then it could be coking up the engin good and proper.

 

Oh and as for general comparative fuel consumption heres a quote(sort of) from one of the yanks :

"The RX-8 is like a V6 with the torque of a 4pot and the fuel consumption of a V8."

I'd rather it was the other way around I think... Now I now its not a fuel efficient engine design, and its been under-developed in comparison to piston engines (prolly 20-30 years behind?). But it still in a car that has to compete.