Year by Year Changes
 

Besides the TSBs and recalls, here are the changes as I know them after the 2004 model year for US models.

2005: AC condenser screen added; New starter and battery; Master cylinder changed, ECU updated to 32 bit version; Lightning Yellow dropped; Whitewater Pearl added; Black Cherry Shinka edition added with wider shaft Tokico dampers, Sand and Alcantra interior, and foam filled crossmembers; New key; Washer tank changed to clear plastic

2006: Intake manifold PCV design changed; Interior receives minor bezel brightwork changes; Leather specification changed; Galaxy Gray and Phantom Blue added; Black Cherry dropped for Shinka; Copper Red added for Shinka; Titanium Gray and Nordic Green dropped; Advanced Keyless entry added to Grand Touring model; AT changed to 6 speed transmission and 6 port motor

2007: 6 CD changer added to Bose stereo; Base designation changed to Sport; Sport designation changed to Performance Package; Copper Red, Winning Blue, and Whitewater Pearl dropped; Stormy Blue and Crystal White added; Sand leather added; Black/Chaparral leather dropped; Shinka dropped

2008: 40th Anniversary Edition added with Metropolitan Gray, Saddle Tan interior, Bilstein dampers, and foam filled crossmembers; Phantom Blue dropped

2009: Restyled body; Restyled interior; New fully electric OMP design and oil sump and corresponding engine changes; Dipstick and oil filter location changed; New fuel pump; Foam filled body reinforcements added to all models; MT final drive ratio changed to 4.777; New MT transmission; Different sized halfshafts; Larger 16.9 gallon gas tank; Rear lip spoiler added on MTs; Auto one-touch up and down drive and passenger windows; One-touch slide forward passenger seat added; AUX in added; Performance Package dropped; AT Sport gets 18" wheels and tires and previous sport suspension; R3 edition with 19" wheels and tires, special Recaro seats, Bilstein dampers added, and available Aurora Blue; Grand Touring gains rain sensing wipers, auto on headlights, auto climate control, Bluetooth, power 3 position memory driver's seat with slide forward function, and leather parking brake; Sparkling Black, and Diamond Gary added; Brilliant Black, Galaxy Gray, and Stormy Blue dropped; Dune Biege and Red leather added; Sand and Red/Black leather dropped

If I'm missing anything, please let me know.

This list in one place is a great idea.

You should mention the year that the Auto Trans engine changed from 4 port to 6 port....

Also, the Advanced Keyless entry was added in (06?). my car has it.

A minor point, my 2006 GT came with the Bose and 6 cd (Canada).



I would love to see some of the more technical changes listed. For example, I noticed on the 'seafoam' thread that holes in the intake that are capped-off in earlier models have emissions hoses in later models.

Colors:

I think Phantom Blue was available from '04 as I'm sure it was a Ph-blue that I test drove last year and it was an '04. It's a color I like - too old for bright racy red these days!
Nordic Green was available in '04 and '05 (?) dropped for '06
Copper Red was the special color available only on '06 Shinkas

cheers

Thanks. My list was MT-centric and so I forgot about the ATs. I'm doing this only for the US models; trying to incorporate other countries is too much of a task.

I definitely remember Phantom Blue being a new for 2006 color.

Good list...But my 06 has the Bose 6-Disc Cd changer and I bought it in California.

Mine also has a factory installed Satellite Radio?

The 6-disc was previously a port installed option. It was made standard on all Boses in 2007.

The battery & Start upgrade took effect in March of 2005.

In 06 the Flash that was suppose to prevent the engine failure that was occurring took effect.

The 09 also have a new transmission, and different sized half shafts to help prevent wheel hope. I think the oil pressure gauge was removed (not that it was ever really a gauge).

All I can remember.

Added the updates except for the flashes. Flashes are either a TSB or recall and I'm not going to get into those.

The Shinka was dropped in 2007 (not 08), and the AC Condenser screen was added in 2006 (not 05).

2005 onward added factory SAT radio button to head unit for optional OEM Sirius unit.

All Canadian models for all years have the Bose system with the in-dash 6-disc changer as standard. They also all have headlight washers (but no TPMS).

The AC Condenser screen was a mid-2005 change so I'm counting it for 2005.

Well, the one I looked at was definitely not winning blue, much more of a blue-green color. It had black/brown leather and I was tempted but it had a lot of curb rash on the wheels, and looked like it might have had a smack in the rear as the bumper was slightly off on one side.

What function/benefit does the ac condensor screen provide?

The A/C Condensor and the oil cooler units are exposed to damage from rocks and road debris entering the lower part of the front bumper - the screen was probably placed there to help protect it.

Racing Beat sells a set of screens to cover all three areas. You can see them here: http://www.racingbeat.com/resultset....ber=screen set

Phantom Blue was definitely a new for 2006 color.

This is an awesome post, I'd love to see it stickied! Also, it would be even better if you edit the original post with updates frequently.

Cheers!

maybe add units sold for each model year...just saw a related post about that though seems it is hard to nail down how many of each model type are sold.

and just to be a pain, add a link to the colors; rather make each color listed a link to a pix for that cars colors.


last, what about my 07 red & black leather interior...with red door panel inserts. seems prior years when they did red & black they did not put the red on the door panel inserts. also note what years had what steering wheels...mine has the black & red leather wheel. also, prior years had leather seats with 'ripple' effect on the leather (black for example) while later years (at least mine) is all smooth leather.

You are correct my car was made in August 05 and has the screen.

Also the Ignition Key went to a Switch blade design in 05.

no one ever reads stickies...not the noobs, anyways...

My 2005 has the Bose with 6 CD. I think that was available from the beginning. MP3 with Bose wasn't (nicely fixed with an Audio Link kit). I don't know if they have that now ...

Read post number 7...

I have a 2004 R&T article and the test car has the red and black leather with red door inserts.

my 04 has a red/black seats, door panels, and steering wheel....

2005's + got the uber cool translucent windshield washer tanks!

Awesome list, and very informative. Nice!

or if you look at it another way.. 05+ lost the uber cool stealth black washer tanks :squint: :squint:

man, maybe i should have waited for a 2009... ;(

For anyone with an 07 red & black interior: do you also have the metal rotor symbols in the headrests? I haven't seen those on other 8s I've seen in person...

Werent phantom blues available mid year 2006 because they started production on the '06 models late, I remember reading up somewhere that 2006 had the least amount of production vehicles because they started in january as opposed to september. And then they dropped phantom blue mid-year 2007 making it only a one year run for the color.

Galaxy Gray 06 Shinka with Alcanta.:)

yes but I thought that is because I got the Accent Package...

Hum...wonder what the difference was between 'whitwater pearl and crystal white? I had thought crystal white was sort of a mother of peral color but have not seen a whitewater pearl.

maybe add info on what comes on the 40th ann edition...special emblem, etc

also for 08, the leather choices for the different colors are different.

You've got "rain sensing mirrors", pretty sure you mean "rain sensing wipers"...

Thanks.

There have been some good suggestions above, but I'm trying to find a middle ground between being informative and conveying too much information. For example, 2008 interior choices were changed, but it was mainly several interior color options were no longer available with certain exterior colors. That makes a bit of text to explain and might be too much information, so I'm debating whether to put it in.

You would think someone would have a site for that expanded information...
web page for colors, page for interior shoots. Then again only obsessed rx8 owners would care about such things right. None here I'm sure...

Will check this site to see if it has a 'other links' page that point to private people's pages about the rx. Would not be that hard to do I think.

Great list
 

Thank you!

Is this to address the crazy squeaks? I never shut mine up finally gave up:icon_no2:

04 6 disc bose here...

No. It's supposedly for added stiffness, but some people feel it's more for NVH.

The 6 disc was previously an accessory, but then become a factory option. I'm not listing accessories as they're just too hard to keep track of and aren't mentioned in the spec deck.

Same here. Texas

Don't forget i think in 05 they added the projectors.

What projectors? If you're talking about headlights; they haven't changed since the first year.

'08 40th Anniversary
 

Recently changed from an '04 MT GT to the 40th Anniversary Edition ;) Appart from the decorative things like color, funny colored leather (though very nice texture), rims, that look a lot like those on the 09's it has suspension with Bilstein dampers and Urethane foam-filled front suspension cross members as available on the '09 R3... very nice!

Can you comment on the differences in practice?

More refined? Handles better? Doesn't squeak as much?

Firstly, thanks for posting this thread - I'm looking to buy an RX8 and I'm really not sure if I should buy used 05-08 or a new 09.


Secondly, Why compromise when you can do both? Give as many details as you can, but also include cliffnotes

does the 09 come with an additional oil injector per chamber?

Antontoo:

What I can tell between the 40th aniversary and the 04 models is that the engine performs better... gas mileage is much better.. at least 10%... after 2000 miles... it has never flooded... the 04 would flood after sitting in the garage for more that 5 days...(I travel a lot)...

Handling... is better on the 40th aniversary but not by a whooole lot... performance seems slightly better... I beleive because of better EMU settings and more experience with the Renesis engine...

From what I can tell there is not much difference in powertrain between the 08 40th aniversrary and the 09 R3... it is mostly interior, 19" rims (that should provide something...) and some external changes...


Regards
KO