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Article gives insight into just how many RX-8 engines have been rebuilt

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Old 08-16-2013, 11:31 AM
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Originally Posted by hoss -05


It would not be a RX if it had anything other then a rotory.
Not trolling, sorry as i seem to be taking devils advocate just for the sake of being it at this point.

You're right about it not being an RX, but it would only "not" be to us RX fans. The rest of the world, if they even knew what a rotary was probably could care less if mazda dumped in a piston engine.

Hows this for speculation. What if the RX was slated to be a new sort of pioneering car and they did something like what Tesla is doing? Would it still be an RX at that point?
Old 08-16-2013, 11:33 AM
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"gasoline engine that runs on diesel only".
Like the Oldsmobile diesels of the late 1970s, where they just stuck diesel injectors and stuff onto a conventional V-8. Don't know the actual failure rate, but it wasn't pretty.

Ken
Old 08-16-2013, 11:33 AM
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If manufacturers always stuck with what was known to work, and not try something different and across the grain, we wouldn't have the car choices we do today. Mazda has a history of pursuing the impossible. They even achieve it from time to time.
Old 08-16-2013, 11:33 AM
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They would probably abandon the RX moniker as that will always have an association to rotary engines
Old 08-16-2013, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by RIWWP
If manufacturers always stuck with what was known to work, and not try something different and across the grain, we wouldn't have the car choices we do today. Mazda has a history of pursuing the impossible. They even achieve it from time to time.
Not to mention that without the rotary Mazda probably wouldn't be around today. The rotary if anything helped Mazda stay afloat through the "dark ages" of the automotive industry and especially in the motorsport industry.

Some even attribute their innovation with the RE to the success of Skyactiv.
Old 08-16-2013, 06:25 PM
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EU

For your information:

Poll about original or 2nd engine question of the official German RX-8 Forum:

74 units 192 hp 42,77%
99 units 231hp 57,23%
173 units total 100 % (all manual transmission because automatic transmission was not offered/sold in Europe)
............................................... of which 12,85% have a second engine (only 1:8)
Specification of units x building year
19 x BJ 03
76 x BJ 04
33 x BJ 05
26 x BJ 06
11 x BJ 07
5 x BJ 08
2 x BJ 09
1 x BJ 10

Total: 15.893.921 km's (9.933.700 mls)

For total running distance of each individual RX-8 see link:
http://www.rx8forum.de/index.php?pag...7e03db0df6f3b9

Last edited by Rudolph; 08-16-2013 at 06:30 PM.
Old 08-16-2013, 11:36 PM
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Originally Posted by nogoer
The day reporters fully research and confirm their information will be a great day for the world. What's that saying...believe none of what you read and half of what you see or something? Even if the reporter got the numbers right there is still the possibility the person who typed the article transposed information. Yeah i have my tin foil hat on, but the day i believe facts from reporters is the day they report my death.
So true; the "facts" on internet forums like this one are far more reliable.
Old 08-17-2013, 06:22 AM
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Originally Posted by nogoer
I.E. design limitations, although i admit i originally meant rotary in general not renesis specifically. Mazda will never get the kind of performance from a rotary like they can from a piston engine and still have it cost effective.

Honestly i don't know enough about rotaries to understand why mazda even kept them around as long as they did. With the failures i'm sure they asked themselves the same question though. It'd be interesting to have seen what the RX8 would have been like had they opted for a FI piston engine instead. Maybe if the Rx series comes back we'll get to see just that.
The only thing you "got right" is that you "don't know enough about rotaries". Frankly, I've had enough of the rotary disinformation that somehow continues to riddle this forum to this day:

http://m.autoblog.com/2013/08/16/mazda-16x-rotary-engine-two-years-away-all-new-model/?post=1&icid=autoblog_river_article

Last edited by New Yorker; 08-17-2013 at 06:25 AM.
Old 08-18-2013, 11:30 AM
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Originally Posted by nogoer
They already had plants in japan so why build one in the US as building a new plant no matter how cheap still costs more than using or retooling what you already have.

My basis for that argument was having it in the US means its easier and cheaper to supply your largest market which is why i think they opted for it here even if they could have built it cheaper elsewhere. Building here and then building in the UK or Canada as well just adds to the cost instead of just shipping them out from the US.

Point is they aren't going to build a plant in every country they need to supply remans for. Someone needs to supply the global demand even if it's shared. The failure rate being whatever it is can't possibly be a burden only the US cars have. Maybe japan is supplying the rest of the world maybe they aren't. Maybe they have secret plants built all over supplying supply for the plants we know of so they can secretly control the perceived rate of failures. We all know japan has fooled us once before.
We get reman engines in the US because Mazdas license for the wankel engine did not let them sell new engines in the US.

in the rest of the world they do not do reman engines, you would get a new one.
Old 08-18-2013, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8

j9fd3s,

I think you are wrong on the 09's, our local guy inquired (he was demanding a new engine) and instead he got a reman, they told him that was all they were required to do and the told him it was coming from the same reman plant. Mazda NA told him the same thing. There was also a thread here from an R3 owner who's story was very similar. They both got remans. I never did see his car though after the engine was replaced because he sold it.
hmm could have sworn the reman list says that the 09 engines aren't remans. Mazda generally supplies new engines for the first year or two, and then switches to remans. occasionally they have a reman part number, but supply new assemblies, this has been the case with the FD engines. possibly for their license agreement, and possibly because there usually aren't enough usable parts in an FD engine after 100k to even bother rebuilding it
Old 08-18-2013, 11:40 AM
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Originally Posted by j9fd3s

We get reman engines in the US because Mazdas license for the wankel engine did not let them sell new engines in the US.

in the rest of the world they do not do reman engines, you would get a new one.
Do you have anything to back up any of this? That sounds like complete bullcrap
Old 08-18-2013, 12:17 PM
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Originally Posted by J8635621
Do you have anything to back up any of this? That sounds like complete bullcrap
Curtiss Wright bought the rights to the wankel engine in north america, P163 in the book 'the wankel engine' by jan norbye

and "mazda motorsports" page 16

oddly the other place it would show up, is with the class action lawsuit from the 70's where Mazda had to replace everyones Rx2/Rx3 engines, but i can't find any references to it.

the winners write the history books.
Old 08-18-2013, 03:21 PM
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Does Mazda sell Wankels here via sub-license from Curtiss Wright? (Or John Deere, then Rotary Power International...I'm guessing the rights went along with the sale.) I'm curious about the arrangement that lets Mazda bring in the engines as part of a car but not as replacements.

Ken
Old 08-18-2013, 03:35 PM
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Originally Posted by ken-x8
Does Mazda sell Wankels here via sub-license from Curtiss Wright? (Or John Deere, then Rotary Power International...I'm guessing the rights went along with the sale.) I'm curious about the arrangement that lets Mazda bring in the engines as part of a car but not as replacements.

Ken
Mazda got the rights directly from NSU. I don't believe that is an issue any longer, as the patent rights for the original engine would have run out. Mazda would have patents, for upgrades/updates to the original, that would still be valid.
Old 08-18-2013, 08:30 PM
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TX

Originally Posted by j9fd3s
hmm could have sworn the reman list says that the 09 engines aren't remans. Mazda generally supplies new engines for the first year or two, and then switches to remans. occasionally they have a reman part number, but supply new assemblies, this has been the case with the FD engines. possibly for their license agreement, and possibly because there usually aren't enough usable parts in an FD engine after 100k to even bother rebuilding it
It's very possible the 09+ engines are rebuilt using completely new parts but are still assembled by the reman plant thus considered a reman I guess.
Old 08-19-2013, 06:28 AM
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I have a friend (more of a local autoX acquaintance actually) that had an engine failure in an 09 and the dealership told him that the replacement had to be a new engine
was the guy lying? maybe
was the stealership lying? maybe
but that was the story I was told
Old 08-19-2013, 06:34 AM
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Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8
I know tons of RX-8 owners and I only know of one person who has not had an engine replacement and that is in her 07'. In our group we have had just about every year covered from 04-08 and all of them have had at least one engine replacement and many of them were bone stock and a couple of them have been low mileage 07's. We have had only one member with an 08' 40th and he is no longer around.
this would be a good time to mention over 150,000+ rotary miles and not a single failure with ~5,000 of those being hard track miles...yes I am very lucky
not everyone has bad luck with these engines
Old 08-19-2013, 09:31 AM
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Your recent 8's don't count they were not Mazda built engines. Your first one was a 6 port auto and you were the exception to the norm.
Old 08-19-2013, 09:33 AM
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aww man
ok only 130,000 miles then
couple hundred track miles
Old 08-19-2013, 09:43 AM
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Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8
It's very possible the 09+ engines are rebuilt using completely new parts but are still assembled by the reman plant thus considered a reman I guess.
if they aren't reman they will be shortly
Old 08-19-2013, 12:29 PM
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It's called anecdotal evidence

"A person sees several news stories about cats leaping out of tall trees and surviving, so he believes that cats must be robust to long falls. However, these kinds of news reports are far more common than reports where a cat falls out of the tree and dies, which could be more common."
Old 08-19-2013, 12:53 PM
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Yes, 5,000 Renesis rebuilds a year is nothing. How many miles are on your 8 again?
Old 08-19-2013, 02:47 PM
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Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8
Yes, 5,000 Renesis rebuilds a year is nothing.

Seriously...wow! I'm still on my original engine with almost 40k miles...
Old 08-19-2013, 03:09 PM
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It's hit or miss, I have seen well maintained low mileage 07's lose compression with no warning. We recently compression tested an 04' RX-8 bought second hand that was a complete mess and not maintained well at all before the current owner bought it, and the compression numbers were the highest we have seen,
Old 08-19-2013, 04:37 PM
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so the trick is to not maintain the car? lol


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