Hey guys! We got our son our 2005 RX-8 to drive when he gets his license. I’m not totally new to the rotary engine but it’s been a very long time since we had an RX7. He absolutely loves it already and it’s super fun to drive. We’ve done our research and he’s starting to learn more of the rotary engine (he’s in Honors auto mechanics at school also) so it’s awesome to see him research and learn to maintain his car.
Im a little confused because his CarFax report says it’s a Shinka, but after searching the forums here and going thru the ViN check, I’m not convinced it is. Which is totally fine. But trying to confirm if it is or not.
We purchased it about a month ago and it only had 90k miles on it and is in beautiful condition. Only thing it needed is new struts, which we are replacing today.
If anyone has any tips on the car whether it just be regular maintenance or upgrades and maybe even confirming if we do have a Shinka or not, anything would be appreciated.
I love the car and love the forum here for quick tips and searching.

 

Post up some pics! What color is it? I believe the Shinka had some specialty colors, especially Cherry Red Mica. Did you do a compression test on the motor pre-purchase?

 

Read up on rx8help.com or the New and Potential Owners thread here that should give you a primer on what's up. Is that 90k on the original engine?

 

I know I'm going to a lot of grief for saying this, but.....
I got the fact that you love your son and want to make him happy but this is not a car
to give to a (I would guess) 16 year old. (this is a true story) A while ago a parent gave a
Subaru MX ( the hottest one, what ever) to their young son and he killed himself and a few of his friends. I realize that you son is a great student, by what you say, but being an "A" student does not make any difference for his right foot when he is out with a bunch of his buddies trying to impress the girls. Secondly his reading information from this site only adds to the problem/situation. Most of the guys here almost always talk about how to get the car to go faster..
I'm really sorry for saying this and I hope nothing bad comes out of this situation.

 

Wait... you can get this car to go faster? Man I've been reading the wrong rx8 club for 12 years.

You can do stupid things in much worse cars. A Civic has as much power as an RX8 these days, especially if the Rx8 is high mileage.

 

OK, But I was looking for a response a little more related to the topic at hand...
If anything I said was out of line then please explain it to us..
Oh hay, The picture shows the car to be white...............

That being said, back to the Netflix movie...

 

While the RX8 may not be a good first car for a 16 year old from an economic standpoint, they're good cars and safer than many of the FWD toaster ovens on the road today.

They handle well, traction control is outstanding, they're solid and well built.

Kids can kill themselves just as easily in any car.

My daughter flipped an '85 Maxima sedan on I-35 across the opposite lane.
Luckily she missed oncoming cars, had her seat belt on and was unhurt.
If she wasn't wearing one she could've been ejected and killed.

 

FIFY

New member is new.