edwinjung

Now I've been browsing the forums for a couple months now and just signed up recently. I've seen a few "New to RX-8" threads but many of them lacking content and pretty much just asking "Help me" without any specific details, so I decided to make my own topic hoping to get more information as far as things I need to know.

I'll design my topic in a list so that it's easier to navigate through and hopefully I'll get some solid answers instead of a bunch of mixed up ones that would just end up confusing me more than helping. After each note I'll most likely have a question which I am curious about and hope that someone here can help me out.

Well here goes!

My Situation

I have been driving in Calgary, Alberta for about 2 years now (previously drove in London, Ontario). I know how bad the weather can get and have a good idea of how to handle myself while on the road. So as far as driving experience I would say I'm good with that part. However, my car is a Corolla LE 2009 which is pretty much 100% different from the Mazda RX-8 2009/2010. Now, as far as driving a manual car goes, my friend is willing to teach me over the summer on how to drive his Acura RSX so I'm hoping that it won't be too hard to learn (I've read and studied on the HOW to drive manual, but have not actually done it myself yet).

Question 1: Is it sensible to buy a Mazda RX-8 as my second car?

Question 2: Should I not drive my car in the winter because it can get pretty bad here as far as the weather goes since I live up in the North?

Mileage

I've read in multiple places that the RX-8 can get like 400km or even as low as 300km in the city. I checked the specifications for the RX-8 and it has a 60L tank and it's shown that it gets 100km per 12.8L which gets me roughly 470km's.

Question 3: So is the rough estimate around 400km per tank or does it fluctuate a lot?

Redline

Redline for the MT 2010 is 9000 RPM. I read in the RX-8 FAQ that you should redline it at 7500 RPM (older year) and from another poster here he says 4000 RPM.

Question 4: Should I redline it everyday to 9000? If so, before I drive or after I'm done driving?

Question 5: Does it ruin the engine or decrease the life span of the engine in anyway?

Maintenance

I've done maintenance on my own car (Corolla 2009) for about the 2 years I've had it. This would include things like oil changes, air filter, brake pad changes, etc. However, the car IS an automatic so I would believe that there are huge differences between the one I have now and the RX-8 I'm planning to get.

Question 6: Am I going to need to learn a completely different skill set to maintain my own car?

Question 7: If I take the car to shops to get it fixed I know it costs a hefty amount of money so doing the fixes (assuming small), is it reasonable?

Question 8: I hate buying used things, so I'm planning to get a new one from a dealership. It costs around 50,000 CAD with what I want extra in/on the car, is this a reasonable price?
NOTE: I'm not factoring in any deals they may have like the $5000 off at the moment.

Question 9: I average about 10,000 km per year and I'm financing the car, is this is a good decision or should I lease it?

I guess that's all I have to ask for now, but I'll be lurking around the forums a lot trying to soak up what information I can and hopefully by the time I plan to get my car I'll be ready for it.

P.S. If anyone would be kind enough and maybe we can chat on MSN or something to talk about RX-8 things, as I believe that will help me improve my knowledge faster than just reading things and posting on forums, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance guys!

edwinjung

Could an admin change the title to "Need Help Buying First RX-8"? Seems like people help more when the word "Help" is placed in the topic and no one seems to care about it when I'm just posting that I'm buying a new one. Thanks.

Lunacy

Sorry, the metric system is so confusing.