RxHeaven

The time has come for me to rejoin the ranks of the rotary owners club. It has been far too long since I have felt the distinctive rhythm of the rotors revving up and smiled at the muffled exhaust waiting to launch @ 7500. I really can't explain this. *Maybe this is my midlife crisis? *I'm 35 so I hope this isn't the middle of my life but if it is THIS is the car I want to go through it with. *Maybe this sounds a little sappy, I don't know but I haven't been this excited to buy something (other than the house my wife and I built but that's a different kind of excited) in so long. *I'm going to start with the wait and then I do have a few questions.

I'm trying to do this the right way. My first rx was a 1984 gls-se that I bought in 1997 and I absolutely loved it. So much that I rebuilt the engine once and even after that experience I still loved it. *Sadly in 2000 after numerous trips to and from school (and down the track) it died a slow painful death. I had not heeded to the warnings that something was wrong with her and had catastrophic engine failure. *Oil injection system had bugged up and the premix I was putting in wasn't sufficient. *My next car was an 86 project. *The only thing that was salvageable from the original engine were the housings. Just after I got it running smoothly I had to sell it because I joined the military and got married and had to put aside my desire to get another.

I had to have something more reliable than a 7. *It had to have room too. *I tinkered with the idea of putting a rear seat in it but it wasn't to be. Over the next several years I stopped in periodically to check on the progress of the 8's. *It wasn't a 7... sure... but it was a useful car with enough room to put a couple of things in if I had to. *I almost talked myself into one a few years ago. In 2010 I sat in the dealership in a black 8 about ready to sign on the dotted line. At that time I was a single father of a seven year old and visions of running a soccer team out of the trunk of my 8 forced me to go buy a Rouge instead. There isn't room in an 8 to put my son's bicycle or sneak home any large boxes for Christmas. *Plus I was 33. *I convinced myself that I was past my "fun" stage and that I had to do the "responsible thing", *begrudgingly I did. *A year (and 30,000 miles later) it was again time for something new because the rouge wasn't going to hold up at that rate. *Again, I did the responsible thing and upgraded to a Murano. I really didn't even look at the 8 that time. *I had stopped going to the dealership and looking/test driving them because I was convinced I was past that stage. *I even talked about how I really wanted the "luxury" ride of the Murano. *A little over a year ago I got married. Now we are a 2 SUV family and that is redundant. *She has an older Santa Fe and I have my 2011 Murano and it is time for a new car for her. *It doesn't make sense however for us to have two SUVs with a family of three and we decided we were going to get rid of the Murano and get a more "practical" car. *So she's getting a (she hasn't decided between an Explorer, Durango or Pathfinder) and I'm going to get a car. *I have driven a Taurus, an Avalon, a Fusion, a Maxima and a few other cars. Nothing really wowed me but the Taurus had a nice ride and that's what I want right? *Well its got to be that or the Maxima. Right?

So we're at the Dodge dealership a couple of days ago and she expresses an interest in the Charger. *Cool right? *"Go test drive one and tell me what you think". *(sorry this is so long but its about to get interesting). *I sit in the charger with the world famous "hemi" engine and the guy tells me "punch it, you're gonna love it". *Have you ever met someone that reminds you of your first love from behind? I stomped on the gas and heard the engine rev, I even felt a few g's hit my chest and THAT is when it happened. *I wanted it. *Not the Charger, the Rx-8. *When I drove my 7 and test drove the 8's those g's hit your chest and you grip the steering wheel tighter. *It was like muscle memory but it wasn't. *I moved my hand to the front of the shifter and got ready to hit the clutch into 4th gear. *There wasn't a clutch and the shifter wasn't going to go down. Its kind of like when you see that reminder and then they turn around and they are hideous. *That was the charger. *Now it is time for an 8.


I tell you all of this partly because my wife doesn't understand how I feel. *I'm not a "new" owner, I'm a long lost family member. *With an SUV in the family I don't want to spend 25-30k on a car that I feel "meh" about. *I will never be able to buy a new "8" again and if I buy something else now the next time I buy a car there won't be enough 8's in pristine condition to buy one. *I'm aware of the reality that I won't be able to rip apart an 8 the way I could a 7. *One day I will find a first gen frame and build an rx7 but I don't have that kind of time yet and this has to be a daily driver for me, albeit a pampered daily driver.

The biggest question I have is if it is possible to buy the MEPP if I buy a 10 or 11 with the factory warranty still intact. *You can get online and buy the original Nissan extended warranties (1400 for a bumper to bumper 96month/120k mile extended warranty on my Murano) and I'm curious if I will have that luxury if I spend a little more on the 8. *How do I go about doing that?

My second question is, other than a compression test are there other signs that a person has not treated their 8 well and what is the break in period of the renesis? *I'm assuming that if I buy an 8 that has 2-3k miles on it and the guy tells me how much fun it is to race that he has driven the car hard and probably didn't break the engine in correctly. *With the 7's that was critical. *Is that as critical on the 8's?

And lastly, are there any assumptions that as a former 7 enthusiast I might make that are false about the 8's? *I know it won't be a 7 and I'm fine with that. I've driven them and man are they fun but are there maintenance techniques that I would have followed on my 7 that will translate to the 8?

Oh and tires. *If I decided to go with a slightly older car and I put new tires on it any recommendations?

Thanks.

Mike

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

G's in an Rx-8 we still talking about the same car

That out of the way, welcome back to the rotary world, and first things first regardless of your past ownership and knowledge start here.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...t-here-202454/
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...rx-8-a-233937/

And 99.9% of questions can be posted and answered here

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...llowed-208221/

Also since you have previous rotary experience things will be a lot easier for you to get back into the grove of ownership, similarly the 7 and the 8 are two completely different animals that only share a similar core. As far as pre purchase inspection thats completely dependent on what you look for in a car, but if it doesn't have compression than regardless stay away (Trust but Verify).

You also should research S1 04-08 and S2 09-11. Personally I like the S1, cheaper, easier to mod, IMO better styling. But the S2 does have some key advantages in the reliability sector, but little aftermarket capabilities.

Welcome and Good luck

RxHeaven

Thanks for the info. About the Gs. In my 7 dropping to 3rd and punching it resulted in a couple. Not hold you back can't move but enough to say "grab the wheel". Top end acceleration was never a problem.

Mike

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Good luck with your search.

You won't get that feeling in an 8 unless you go forced induction, which is not for the faint of heart. A COMPLETELY different engine to turbocharge. See the Newbie Modding Guide for the basics on why. The 13b-MSP changed in a few critical ways from the RX-7 13b, and those changes make it significantly harder, more costly, and far more risky to turbocharge. And you can't get nearly the same power out of it.

The best an N/A 8 does is a calm and quiet song of power that just is a modest/gentle push backwards that just doesn't stop.

If you haven't driven one yet, do so. Some of your perceptions of what you might be getting will be shifted if they are as heavily based on the RX-7 as it seems.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

First one would be to don't write so much if you want to get people to answer questions. Look up TL,DR.
While there are suggested break-in procedures from places like Racing Beat, I don't think there is one for the newer RX8's. I know there isn't one for my 04.
As the former owner of 2 1st Gen RX7's, I would say it's pretty much the same. The only difference is the coils. The 8 has a coil pack for each L/T plug. These go bad and figuring out if it's a problem isn't easy. Replace them along with the plugs every 30,000 mi. Plugs are roughly $20 ea and the coil packs are $30.

RxHeaven

OK. 2011 r3s one has 8k miles on it the other has 24k. I have all of the service records for the second oil every 2.5k miles. etc Both have compression tests available (being emailed to me in the morning) from mazda dealerships.

I kind of wanted the grand touring but I really like the look of the r3, I won't miss the sunroof at all, I've had one in my last two cars and over the last 3 years I have opened it twice. It is always either >100 or less than 50 here, just not really sunroof country but I would like the nav (I am confident I can fix that at a later date). I also like not having full leather (again when its 100 outside you don't want leather.

Any suggestions on choosing between the two?

Thanks again,

Mike

rickeo

iTrader: (1)

It seems like the options your're torn between are personal preference. I like having the "luxury" items even though my 2004 has an all but useless 2003-era navigation system. You seem like you'd be OK without that.

Grab that R3 unless you feel that we'll all influence you and you'll end up sorry you didn't grab a series 1. They're a ton cheaper but quite hard to find a quality example.

RxHeaven

Well both of the ones that I'm looking at are r3's. I could wait for a grand touring but the more I think about it, it is not what I want.

This comes down to the mileage. The first, with 8000 miles vs the second with 24000. I can probably get the latter for about $1500 less than the first and it was bought from and sold to the same mazda dealership but it has over a full years worth of miles on it. I'm going to drive both of them and ultimately the compression tests will tell the story I guess.

If I really want navigation I'll put it in afterwords but I carry a heavily modded razr and have used it for nav for the last two years so I'll probably stay with that for now.

Oh and in this case the money isn't really that important, at least not between the two. I won't overpay (statistical analyst now, car salesman 10 years ago) for either and the price between them is not that significant. I am really leaning towards the first one because of the low mileage unless I get there and it looks like someone abused it. My fear is that the longer I hold off the less likely I am to get one that doesn't have 30k miles on it.

Mike

rickeo

iTrader: (1)

Then I agree with you, let the compression test tell the story. I never use my nav system apart from "wowring" people as it pops up from my dash and rather rely on my modded Galaxy SII attached to my windshield via the OEM dock.

RxHeaven

Went and picked it up today. Compression was great and the car drives like a dream. It was a 4 hour ride back home and my son absolutely loved it. Glad I bought it, just tucked her in.

One question. With only 8k miles on it is there any reason to do anything other than an oil change in the morning?

Mike

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Hi,
I'm not trying to hi-jack, but I really like the modifications people are doing by installing tablets in the existing nav hood. I would do that if I wasn't tech challenged.

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

Waiting for pics................

Check out the appradio 2 with the dashcommand app, very clean been running it almost a year with no issues.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Hi, thanks for the input. From the little I just read, is this a Pioneer replacement radio?
I was talking more about replacing obsolete nav system with Bluetooth tablet to make use of the nav hood, which I think is pretty sweet with the Torque app display.
Thanks again.