A little help on RX8 pros/cons
 

Hi guys,

I have a small dilema in regards to my current car, 1998 UK DC2, basically it's rusty! The car is great mechanically and I love it, but the rust is really starting to aggitate me.
I'm sure you have guessed what i'm about to ask....

Has anybody driven both a DC2 and a RX8? How do they compare? Noise/experience/involvment?
People mention that the RX8 has no torque and it's acceleration is linear, i'm obviously used to this kind of behaviour and understand the key is to use high revs and the correct gears.

The hardest part to overcome for me at the moment is the fuel costs for the performance, it seems to be ~ the same 0-60 as a dc2, and the same 1/4 time, so that's all I can go off by how it drives!?

My DC2 is getting about 35mpg when driven normally, using 98 octane, my daily commute is 15 miles each way.

So my dilema is.... spend alot of ££££ fixing my rust issues, and probably should do a suspension refresh (shocks), or try and find an RX8 and *hope* its been looked after?

My gut feeling is the keep the Integra to be honest, but the RX8 is really tempting me, i'm just worried about the fact it's essentially the same 'speed' car but gets 10mpg less?

Also, is this stop start issue really an issue? Can I start it, move it on the drive and stop it? (and it will start again!?)? How about cold starts in the winter?


Any advice/input would be appreciated!!!

Thanks! :)

There's some cars out there that I would trade my 8 for. However, an integra is not one of them.

And yes the start stop thing is an issue. NEVER start and stop an 8 without letting it warm up. And as long as your 8 is in good shape it should start just fine in the winter. And if you're getting 35mpg, expect to get less than 20. I'm not here to tell you which one you should get or keep, so if your gut feeling is telling you to keep the integra, why would you not follow it?

Also forgot to mention, my mom drives an 06 6 speed 400HP CTS-V, and I enjoy driving my RX8 more than that.

Ok cool, the reason I am not following my gut is that I could spend £3000 fixing my DC2 (and that would actually buy me a RX8 in the UK at the moment). I kinda fancy a change, but want to stay jap ideally.

I like the look of the RX8, and the idea of having no rust is appealing, it's like a fresh start.

How do you find the DC2 on general road driving compares to the RX8? (I mean like 3rd gear to safely overtake a slow car etc)?

So really it just comes down to fuel I guess :(

Well idk what the specs are at all on your car, or what you have done. please give me an idea of what you've got. and trust me overtaking cars is not a problem in an RX8, you will find that they are actually quicker than most think. Those who say they aren't fast have mustang GT's and such. The RX8 is a very well balanced and fun car. Far better driving quality than a Mustang IMO. Also, my fuel consumption may be worse than others because I run a thicker oil just to be safe, you should see 20 on the highway.

Ok thanks! my car is stock, everything is standard, 190bhp for UK DC2/~1150kg (I would plan on running a stock RX8 aswell).

I'm not really worried about 'my car is faster than yours' or anything like that , i'm old enough to realise that bhp figures and stuff don't really matter, aslong as you enjoy your car that's the main thing!

Sounds like from what you are saying the RX8 is fine for me, I just need to work out the extra fuel costs. In the UK unleaded is ~ 140p a liter (about $10 a gallon I think).

The reason i'm asking on the forum here is obviously to ask real owners, theres alot of stories floating around on the web and as soon as you mention rx8, people say 'oh they burn oil and are not reliable', but from reading online it seems they are reliable as long as you take care of them (reving to clear carbon deposits, letting them warm up fully , checking oil religiously etc).

Cheers!

they are plenty reliable as long as you maintain them correctly. theres dozens of threads on this forrum discussing how to do so. and as far as burning oil, yes they do inject oil into the engine so you need to keep up with it. about a quart or so between changes. but i find it hard to believe people would complain about having to spend 5 dollars on a quart of oil.

Yep! I service my DC2 around 6000-8000 miles and usually buy 5L of silkolene pro s 5-40, then it leaves me about 1liter in the boot to keep it topped up if needed.

I don't mind putting oil in, it doesn't worry me at all.

In your initial post you mentioned 0-60, 1/4 mile (drag I assume) and MPG.
Though I'm not aware of the DC2 times for the first 2, but I have no reason to not believe you, and the MPG of the 8 is surely worse that the DC2, you might be making the mistake that many do, which is choosing the battleground you want and then go "AHA! This is worse than that" or something similar.

Don't get me wrong, not saying you did it on purpose, but I'll put down a rhetorical question for you to make a point. The 2 cars have similar 0-60 and 1/4 lets say, for arguments sake. What happen when you show them a corner? Or the track in general? My point here is that the things you mentioned, though probably valid, are not telling half the story when comparing. :)

Besides daily commute, you may need to first ask yourself what else you want to do with your car. Once you know that, it would be easier for everyone here to give you a better educated advice about replacing the DC2 with an 8. The RX8 is NOT a drag race car (unless you spend considerable money on it) and it is NOT an economical car either. If these two are important to you, then the 8 might be something you won't enjoy. On the other hand, it handles like a dream, it has the correct wheel drive and it's generally a very nice package from the get go and, like many will tell you, is really nice to drive around. Though I'm still a relatively new owner, I still feel the same way when getting in the driver seat, as I did the first time i got in.

In either case, before making a decision, spend hours reading the stickies here and other threads that might mention things that might be on your mind. The community will answer most questions you may have (actually most have been answered numerous times so the search button is your best friend).

No problem, thanks for the reply!

I only mentioned those times because it was the only way for me to 'compare' them as I haven't driven an RX8, that was the only reason I did it.

I was worried about this thread turning into a vtec vs rx8 and all that rubbish etc after i posted it (I expect theres alot of that go on which is just childish).

The main purpose of my thread was to find somebody who has driven both the DC2 and the RX8 and then they could tell me what they felt about each.

If the DC2 still feels 'just as fun' or 'nearly as fun' then it would make sense for me to pay about £1500+ to get it repaired (obviously this depends on the driver, but somebody who has driven both is still going to know more about me who has only driven the dc2 and not the rx8).

Cheers! :)

The best thing to do is find an rx8 you can test drive. If you don't fall in love with it right away, there is your answer.

Most Rx8s are poorly maintained and in crappy conditions.
If you really want one make sure that:
it has good compression
runs on the latest flash
the catalytic converter is still good
Also search for ignition here, it will teach you a lot :)

It's easy to buy a 3000£ rx8 and spend other 4000£ just to fix it.

Gotcha! I've ready about the compression thing, best to get a mazda garage to do a test and print off the results I guess, peace of mind!

I'm still thinking about this.. will post back if I get one! haha

Thanks guys!

sorry to go ot but

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1339013053

nice mom pic:) got any more? :rock::fingersx:

DC2 what the hell?

I had to look that up on the net.

Now I know why?

Crap car.

Indeed, If you don't fall in love on the test drive, it's probably not for you. RX8s in general have higher ownership costs than most other cars, and not just gas mileage. Read that in consumer reports a while ago.

But for pure enjoyment, as many other people on this forum can attest, you can't beat the RX8!

hahah, that's my girlfriend not my mom;)

^ Prove it, show the face...lol

please excuse my cars stockness. i think i might get her to take some pictures with it tomorrow. after all it is bikini weather:)

Attachment 232769

Thanks guys, think i'll ask to sit in one and have a ride maybe (I know a few people who have one but haven't managed to speak to them recently!)