chcmuzza

Hi all

I've been around this forum for a while now trying to soak up as much information as I can prior to purchasing an RX8, but this is my first post.

Some (ancient) history;

My first car was a 1972 Capella coupe, twin distributor 12A. The car was just over ten years old when I bought it so that dates me

The engine had recently been rebuilt prior to me buying the car but lasted less than 20,000Km. I had it re-rebuilt; the housings were all within spec and I stumped up for new rotors, seals, water pump, re-cored radiator, new oil pump and regulator mods, Holley fuel pump etc, and ported - what we in called a 'Stage 2' in New Zealand (not a bridge or J port). I had the RB 455 CFM Holley and air filter kit, cast alloy intake manifold, front suspension caster kit, twin exhaust system, braided oil lines and other mods. No expense was spared to make the car quick but (in theory) reliable including oil and filter changes every 5,000Km, and new plugs / coils / leads on a regular basis.

Unfortunately this engine did not last long due I suspect (having read these pages) to over-heating issues following a track day. The car started suffering a major lack of compression (very hard hot starting) and eventually it used more water than petrol. According to the guy that pulled it down one of the side housings had become porous.

The point of all this is that despite my best intentions and largesse my then and still current wife suffered huge embarrassment at petrol stations, shopping mall carparks and other locations trying to start a car that didn't want to. That experience, and all the advice from piston-heads about the negatives of owning a rotary means, over 25 years on, she still has a thing about rotary reliability.

However the kids have gone and I am keen to get back into rotaries. Reliability seems to have come a long way in 25 years, and now my wife has another two cars to choose from, owning an RX8 is a reality - but I need some help.

I am considering two options, both ex the UK;

1. Buy a lower mileage S2, probably an R3, and hope for 140,000Km plus from the engine
2. Buy a slightly higher mileage, cheaper S1 (probably a ProDrive), and budget reliability mods and a rebuild into the equation.

I am leaning towards the first as it is way less hassle and has a higher Wife Acceptance Factor, however before I make a commitment I am interested in any evidence (real or anecdotal)of the improved reliability (if any) of a S2 engine over a S1. Given we are 5-6 years on from the release of the S2 I am hoping there are good news stories to share.

Thanks for your help

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

There aren't many threads of people coming to the forum to post "My series 2 hasn't had a single problem".

There HAVE been series2 engine failures, but by comparison there are far far far fewer series2 RX-8s out there in the world than series1s, and they are significantly less mileage on them.


But, even if we tried to just go with series1 "evidence", there is nothing more that guesses.


I personally wouldn't be nervous about either of your choices. Either A) you probably won't have to deal with a failure as long as you take car of everything right, or B) you have budgeted to handle an engine failure already, so it's no big deal.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Where in NZ are you ? If it's near Hamilton you should come for a chat . Not sure I can help with the WAF as I have the same problem , but I do have a lot of experience with the Renesis .

Why are you considering importing from the UK ?

kops

iTrader: (1)

Went through the same thing myself a couple months ago.

I decided to get a Series I based on finding a great deal. Bought a 2006 with about 85km, and most used Series II were around 50km - so not that many more KM. Came with some extras (rims, CAI, 3 sets tires), was well taken care of (every service receipt from Mazda since 2007), compression tested, I really saw no reason not to buy it. With the money I saved, I could rebuild the engine, probably even twice.

That being said, you can find some great deals on an SII too. The R3 has the perks of having an even more refined suspension and beautiful R3 rims among other things. Just be sure you shop around and you'll find the right deal, I'm glad I drove 5 or 6 different ones before I decided.

chcmuzza

Folks

Thanks for the input. I'll take it from the advice that S1 or S2 engine reliability is pretty similar provided they are well looked after. At this stage I'll look for a S2 as this means other items on the car hopefully haven't had quite as much wear and tear as the older S1, and I'm also keen on the R3 goodies.

Brettus, I'm in Wellington so unfortuantely not near you. There are a number of reasons for looking at an import:

• Better choice of colour (Red, White and Silver, in that order)
• Wider range of cars / mileages
• Cheaper. I could land a 2009 R3 with 30,000Km on the clock for $28K whereas TradeMe has a 2008 with 59,000Km for the same price - probably an import, although it has other bits on that I am not interested in.

If there was a Spirit R at the right price

Cheers all

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

S1 and S2 engines are not similar in reliability, the S2 engine is by far more reliable. The couple of S2 failures I know of (local member is a tech at the largest Mazda dealer in south texas) locally have not even been due to normal compression loss engine issues. One had a busted oil cooler fitting and ran without oil and the other had a clogged cat (not common on the S2 but this car was tracked). The couple I have heard of here were failures of an unknown cause (dealer is not allowed to tear apart engines being replaced under warranty) but it was thought one was a cat failure since that car (also an R3) was tracked as well. The other one had a loss of compression.

Most of the 09's have decent mileage on them, if there were engine issues we would have heard about them by now either here or locally.

Looks are subjective but the S2 also offers all of the improvements and quite a bit more options depending on which model you choose.