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New Member - 2004 Lightning Yellow "GT" - 13k Original Miles!
Hello All!
I just recently acquired a 2004 RX8 in Lightning Yellow with the "Grand Touring" package with under 13k original miles (even came with the original window sticker)! The first owner purchased the vehicle brand new in his 70s and passed away in his 80s only putting ~10k miles on. The second owner purchased it through the estate sale. He put snow tires on it, was looking into putting a trailer hitch on her to tow a small utility trailer and was going to use it as his daily driver. Upon bringing it to his mechanic he was told "oh you bought one of those" where he was immediately scared off. Luckily for me I was able to swoop in and take this "problem" off of his hands! Since it had brand new snow tires on the stock 18s I removed the wheels/tires and saved those to put onto my wifes Mazda 3 for the winter. I found a used set of 19s from a newer Mazda 6 and wrapped them with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S (225/40ZR/19) max performance summer tires. I am happy to say she has a permanent spot in the garage and at no point will she see snow or do any towing. This will act as my summer cruise/track day car. Located in MA and open to meeting fellow RX8 enthusiasts in the New England area!
That's an incredible find!! It's literally as close as you can get to buying the car new. Its amazing! I'm with Team though on the wheels. They just don't quite look right on the car. In my opinion, I would put the original wheels with summer tires on the car and enjoy the car. I wouldnt alter or modify anything. It's just too nice for that.
Make sure you read the sticky above New Owners Start Here. Read it several times. It will help you keep the car healthy. Vital info there. Also, I would recommend upgrading the starter. It will save you from a world of hurt. Original starters in 04 & 05 were weak. My original starter cranked at 250 rpm's. The upgraded starter cranks at 330 rpm's. Premix as well which you will find in that sticky. We are here to help you in anyway we can. A lot of knowledgeable people here who have helped me tremendously.
And for what it's worth, I don't have a problem with the way the tires/rims look. It did take a few minutes to get used to it but the more I look at it the more I don't see a problem.
And for what it's worth, I don't have a problem with the way the tires/rims look. It did take a few minutes to get used to it but the more I look at it the more I don't see a problem.
They would work fine, the offset is good enough at +52. It's just looks but the stock 18" would be better. They are designed for the car and it looks better in my opinion anyways. You already got really good tires so just stick with the 19" for now but down the road consider changing them out.
Last edited by CaymanRotary; 07-14-2020 at 11:36 PM.
Its all good...The beautiful thing about life is we are all entitled to our own thoughts and opinions which make all of us different! It'd be a boring world if we were all the same....I needed some cheap rims so I could actually get her on the road and enjoy driving it (she handled like a boat in 90 degree weather with snow tires). Are they my first choice, no, but I also think it looks fine as is and whats more important is I have max performance tires to keep me planted to the road. Once these tires are toast I'll drop the $1-2K on some lightweight aluminum rims to go with the new tires. As a side note, the R3 version came with 19s stock and I think those look great which is why I went up to 19s and reduced tire size to compensate, but once again, personal preference.
Great find! I recently picked up an 08 Anniversary Edition with 19,500 miles and am absolutely loving this car.
Thanks and I hear that! I bought it as my 3rd vehicle (2nd "toy") and I find myself going for the RX-8 keys more often than my 2017 Mazda 6 Touring daily driver haha
I would just put in BaT and sell it for stupid money. Folks over there trip over themselves for pristine low mileage of anything remotely sporty.
I thought those Mazda6 19" look great. The spoke design mirror the rotors.
Maybe I'm just a snobby purist but I don't like the look of those rims. They don't look bad or anything, I just feel the stock 18" rims are perfection.
They would work fine, the offset is good enough at +52. It's just looks but the stock 18" would be better. They are designed for the car and it looks better in my opinion anyways. You already got really good tires so just stick with the 19" for now but down the road consider changing them out.
I have the exact same car in titanium grey. What year is yours? I have an 05 with black leather interior.
68000 currently. I did a lot of work to make it look good on the exterior. Working on fixing the interior now. Got it for $1500 and I've been daily driving it for a year now hard. Love these cars.
68000 currently. I did a lot of work to make it look good on the exterior. Working on fixing the interior now. Got it for $1500 and I've been daily driving it for a year now hard. Love these cars.
Any starting issues or indication of potential compression issues? 1 rotor is low 7's and one is low 8's. Every once in a while it takes a few seconds to turn over when hot and has been sitting about an hour. Usually doesn't happen if hot and has only been sitting 10 - 15 minutes. Starts right up. So I'm not sure if it is a compression issue.
Any starting issues or indication of potential compression issues? 1 rotor is low 7's and one is low 8's. Every once in a while it takes a few seconds to turn over when hot and has been sitting about an hour. Usually doesn't happen if hot and has only been sitting 10 - 15 minutes. Starts right up. So I'm not sure if it is a compression issue.
those numbers are good, with my experience, anything over 6 bar is still fine. Mine cranks up no problem every time hot or cold. On occassion, can take a couple seconds but I think that's normal as these are not new engines and have been used for a long time. Power is diminished a bit but she still pulls enough speed to keep a smile on my face.
07-09-2020, 10:34 AM
