Hi there, new member and former s2k owner. I sold my Honda about a year ago for the simple fact that I was not using it. Mostly because I have a young family and a 2 seat convertible did not fit in my life.

after a long search for another car that can offer the thrills and sublime handling of the s2k while offering four seats I found the solution. Yesterday I test drove a rx8 and loved it. I will be searching for a clean low mile rx8 to buy soon.

I have plenty of car experience but no rotary experience, so I appreciate the support of the community.

 

Welcome!! Keep us updated on what you find!!

 

Nice! Be sure to read through the New and Potential Owners thread, it'll set you up with the necessary criteria to choose the right one.

 

I just did that and found a ton of great info. Thanks. I started to look for rotary specific shops in my area that can do a compression check and ppi.

Where can I look to find a rotary shop in CT?

 

Mazda dealerships have the tool as well if there is one nearby.

 

I also noticed rotary specific compression test gauges can be bought from Australia on eBay. Price seems about $200 to $300 shipped.

 

Yup, that's what I did. Awesome tool.

 

There are group buys advertised here on the forum from Steve at www.rotarycompressiontester.com. I have one of his testers and it works flawlessly. I highly recommend it!

 

So would consider buying an RX8 without a compression check??? Assuming it ran well, started fine. Also with an aggressive enough price that a replacement engine could still be purchased?

 

Depends how risk averse you are. You can save $125 by betting that the engine is going to be fine for a while, and /or if you don't care about replacement cost.

At the same time it's only $125. And if the car is cheap, it's cheap for a reason. Your call utlimately, it's your money.


I bought mine without a comp check. It only had 19k miles and was still under warranty. You don't have warranty.

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These cars are pretty cheap, the risk is pretty low.

I guess what I am asking is how often do you see low compression when then the engine has no other symptoms?

 

These cars are cheap because they are risky to own. A low compression engine can sometimes give no symptoms, especially if it has a good ignition system. You'll get good power, cold starts and hot starts with ease with a failing motor. That's why its important to check it because you could be in for a rude awakening faster than you expect.

 

So it is possible to have low compression yet have no symptoms. Especially if you have good supporting equipment; good starter, battery, coils and clear cat.

The next question, is can a rotary make good power with low compression numbers? Again, assuming good supporting equipment.

 

Absolutely can still make good power with low compression. I ran an RX8 with under 6 Bar and she still screamed just fine down the highway.

 

Also would you really notice 10% of your horses missing? Unless you're keeping time or dyno to keep track of real output, you won't.

Low compression manifests in poor starting because compression increases with engine speed, in a rotary. At 8000 rpm there's enough momentum in the gas to mostly keep it moving. At 250 rpm, it has the time and freedom to explore every orifice before the chamber gets to top dead center.