I've gone for a very dramatic change (at least for me...)... I'm now driving a 2012 Toyota Tacoma!

For a little more on the matter... check out: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...8/#post4262462

 

If you put 200,000 plus miles on your 8, expect to get at least half a million miles from that truck, LOL.

Those toyota trucks are very reliable. Toyota has the reputation of selling the best small size truck in the world. So they have done very well keeping up their reputation with these trucks over the years.

I have an older tacoma (99') with 5" of suspension lift, mud tires, tube bumpers, the whole thing. It has been a blast to drive during camping trips, hiking, off-roading, etc.

Having both the 8 and the truck has been a good idea. The tacoma is actually my daily driver to go to work, whereas the 8 is just for everything else. The tacoma is really modified to be an off-road vehicle to be hones with you, so driving around is quite uncomfortable (stiff suspension, loud mud tires, etc.). Very capable off-road, but not the most comfortable vehicle for long highway rides at all.

Also, I am happy to have the tacoma to deal with the winters around here. When it snows I just park the 8 and keep using the truck.

I think you will have many, many years of fun with that truck. The newer ones are very nice and comfortable. And if you ever get started with suspension modifications....be warned! That's a big money pit, LOL.

 

My 8 always did real well in the snow (once it had its studded Hakkapeliitta's on)... I can't wait to see how the truck plays in the snow!

My sister has had a Tacoma for about 10 years now and loves it as well. She has started to teach me how to do a little off roading, now there is something my 8 could never imagine doing.

As for a lift, I saw a Tacoma the other day with a nice lift, nothing to high... but for now, I think we will be staying at stock height, I'm already within a couple inches of the ceiling of the garage in my building!

 

Hey, Where is Elf, Someone Call up the legend, Is he okay?

 

Yeah, I'm still alive LOL ... haven't been active here since last summer/fall though. The RX been sitting in the garage since then ... needs new tires and the front right damper needs a rebuild.

Gonna get it back in road-shape by spring --- so I can start adding to the 245+K miles it's been stuck on since last year

 

Good to hear. I'm looking forward to updates.

Tigger, why'd you go with the Tacoma (just curious), and how do you like it so far? I have Nokians on the 8 in the winter now, and it's crazy good in even deep snow.

I'm keeping my 8 for essentially as long as it drives. I posted a thread a while ago about how I gave up trying to find a replacement for it after test driving approx 15 or more cars.

None of the potential replacements, whether 22k or 50k, had as good a combination of ride quality, handling, steering feel, interior material quality (the backwards direction in this area on new cars is stunning, especially in formerly good ones like Lexus's and Acuras).

Also, the newest of the new are now really complex to work on, and many new vehicles are going in the direction of smaller displacement motors with turbochargers to try and eek out better fuel economy, but no matter what the engineers now say, I'm leery of turbocharged motors (especially on vehicles like the 2013 Fusion, where a 1.6 liter with a turbo is hauling around 3600 pounds of weight).

I really think most manufacturers hit their peak goodness from anywhere around 1995 (e.g.Toyota) to 2006 (e.g. Acura), and successive generations have become worse than prior generations.

It doesn't hurt that my RX-8 has been tied with the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned (a mid 1990s Honda).

I didn't expect catastrophic reliability from the 8, but the incredible reliability through 7 1/2 years of ownership is really nice surprise.

 

I'm a huge fan of Nokian Snow tires!

I've always owned some sort of small sports car and it was a childhood dream to own a rotory. However, much like you, I test drove a lot of cars and none of them even came close to matching my 8. So I decided, time to go in a new direction!

Needless to say, you can't really compare the Tacoma with a sports car. And I've been doing a lot of camping, biking and other things that a truck is well suited to. So, at this point in my life... it was time for a change. I imagine in a few years, I will have another sports car back in my life... maybe another rotory??? Common Mazda! Let's see an RX-9!

 

i wonder who will want to buy a 200,000 mile + rx8 after reading all the reliability issues lol

 

^

Fixed.

 

Hi i was wondering (from your experiance) how often do you redline(spin the renesis engine to 8000 rpms). Would you do it every 60 miles or every 100 miles. From my research it seems like to me from other people who have already gotten at least 150,000 miles out of there original rx8 engine people spin the rpms to 8000 every 60-100 miles.

Also would you say that the rx8 engine could last up to the 200k mark without doing sohn adapter setup

 

Hi i was wondering (from your experiance) how often do you redline(spin the renesis engine to 8000 rpms). Would you do it every 60 miles or every 100 miles. From my research it seems like to me from other people who have already gotten at least 150,000 miles out of there original rx8 engine people spin the rpms to 8000 every 60-100 miles.

Also would you say that the rx8 engine could last up to the 200k mark without doing sohn adapter setup

 

To get rid of carbon simply redlining the car isn't enough. You have to drive it hard for a long period of time. And that's not going straight at highway speeds in 4th gear.

 

Elf: how's that gorgeous car of yours these days?
ready for Vegas?

 

Well, the car is still sitting in the garage awaiting a rebuilt damper for the front right It still starts up like day-one though hehe.

I'm ready for WHiV, but donno if the car will be --- I may have get to Vegas in a ... Prius

 

Glad to hear it's still running like a champ.
Bummer on the damper, how long did it last? (remind me again what suspension you're running plz)

Come to Vegas, and don't worry... I don't think you'll be the only Prius there.

 

 

From someone who has test driven about 15+ cars over the last 3 years and can't find a single one that he likes as much as his '05 6MT, this warms me heart!

 

I will keep y'all posted on the maintenance and such as time goes by. She runs beautifully, i cream every time.

 

This is very encouraging elf, thanks for the positive info, there needs to be more of it!

 

I made it!

Woo hoo!

 

Wow, congrats. Original engine?

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

 

Bump^ yeah i'd like to know too.

 

I got about 145k on my original 2004 engine before an internal coolant leak prompted me to swap out for a good used 2006 engine. The used replacement engine had about 66k on it when it went in the car. Everything else about the car though is bone stock original.

About the original engine though, I drove it hard and serviced it well. I autocrossed it the very first year I had it and it saw dyno time and tuning too. Here is my first 100k mile thread. https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...e-club-158709/

The original only developed the internal coolant leak after my second coolant flush and refill that also happened about the same time as an intense heat wave where I was stuck in traffic in 110+ degree heat a few days. I suspect that either the flush over cleaned to create the leak or the extreme heat lead to a slight warp inside somewhere.

Bottom line is that after 10 years and 200k miles, I still get a silly grin when I drive it hard and it is still my daily driver.

 

congrats muscle, that's amazing.

 

I don't post very much but I have to give props to the forum and all the posters like yourself who readily offer advice. In the early days when the dealerships didn't know diddly squat and I myself was new to rotaries the RX8Club was invaluable.