dmc27

I will believe 9 cents a gallon when some bacon with wings takes flight and lands on my hamburger.


When the prices get jacked up ~70 cents per gallon over a month you need to bump the 9 cent* number to 79 cents. The gas at the station was paid for long before the price per barrel hit $100. Same with the stuff in the tanks the trucks fill from, which means speculation = higher prices per barrel, but the change in price at the pump is just gouging.

delhi

It's interesting to see the perception of this car's gas consumption nature. It is actually no worse that cars in its segment.
Was browsing through one of those Annual All Car & Trucks reviews and I can't help but notice cars like the A4 Avant, 3 coupes, Boxster, Legacy GT, Some sort of Dodge musclecar etc all had gas consumption no better and some are worse than the RX-8. And what's their excuse?
Anyhow to answer the topic's intended question... No. It doesn't bother me one bit. The 8 is my pleasure car right now. My previous car was an STi converted RS and it consumed just as much gas relentlessly. I suppose if I wanted a gas sipper, then I would've looked at a Honda Fit.

MTLbroker

I don't think it's worse for the RX-8 than any other car. I am sure that there are many people who are at their budget limit.
I can afford a lot more car, but I tend to not spend a lot for my vehicle so gas prices are of no concern to me. But I can easily see that for some, the extra money spent on gasoline would force them to consider changing cars or perhaps taking public transport.
I've noticed in my neck of the woods, traffic seems to be much lighter during my daily commute. Due to high gas prices? Maybe....
For reference, we are paying about $1.35 per liter.

CarAndDriver

1 US gallons = 3.78541178 liters

JRichter

I know, segment aside, I think it was a '08 V6 Accord that was rated just 1 mpg better than the 8 at 17/25 (EPA). Shame on Honda for building such a gas-guzzling gas hog...

77mjd

^^^My complaint is really not the gas milage, but the power you get for that milage compared to other cars.

robrecht

I always use my credit card for gas and my wife pays the bills so it hasn't really bothered me too much.

Actually, rising gas prices was the last (and only) argument against my buying my 8 a couple of months ago. Even though I knew about the poor fuel economy intellectually, it was still a shock after driving my '93 Miata daily for the last 12 years.

But I love this engine and I love this car. Closest thing to Miata handling with 4 seats and plenty of power for my needs. Sure, more is always nice but I'm also realistic. Didn't want to wait forever for the 16x.

Bottom line. It's more than worth it for now. If gas gets to be $7/gal or maybe $10 I'll probably drive my Miata more and keep the 8 for weekends.

Jasonawojo

iTrader: (2)

While the rising gas prices are hurting me as a student, I do like the consistent millage for spirited driving and/or autox. If it gets really bad I may look into a 5sp E36 M3, as most of my driving will be highway commutes once I go away to college and that was what I was considering getting instead of the 8.

Soapflake

There isn't enough oil in Alaska to last us 300 years. More like 3 years.

BillK

So if it's only three years it shouldn't be done?

We're also not talking about supplying the entire needs of the US; anything that brings down the percentage of foreign oil is a good thing.

Personally I think you're going to see more and more drilling like Mexico and now China will be investing in where the rigs are located as close as possible to the US in international waters and diagonal drilling is used to access oil reserves "technically" in the US but that we do not have the will to exploit.

Bottom line is we'll be buying our own oil back from Mexico and perhaps China, if China doesn't just keep it for their own use.

Ironically enough if China does keep the oil, it could bring down the price of oil anyway as they would need to buy less on the open market, but it would do nothing to reduce our reliance upon foreign oil.

mikko79

Simple math:

1 liter of 95oct Gas cost's here (Finland) 1.42€ *3.78541178 =5.375284728€ per Gallon.

5.37€ in US dollars is: 8.31$ per gallon.

Very nice...

champi0n

iTrader: (1)

The world isn't short on gas, so it's unlikely we'll have any main stream alternate fuels anytime soon... although there will be the point at which doing a hydrogen hybrid to the RX8 will be worth the additional cost. And technology is improving in this area (Slowly but surely).

Gas prices are set by demand, nothing more. So prices will continue to rise until they notice a considerable decrease in demand. Gas companies and governments will lie.

Remember how at one time smoking didn't cause cancer? Remember how insurance companies complain about losing money and jack the price, then report an all time record profit of over 3billion?

Selling your car to get a more fuel friendly car is not always worth it. How much will you lose on the sale of the RX8? (yes you always lose when selling a car you owe money on). Is the "newer" car more expensive? Blah blah blah.

Cost analysis would probably show that you won't start "saving" money for a year or more. But it all depends on if you get a crappy little 2nd hand chevette or something.

Even if you did a hybrid hydrogen and spent like what (5-6k) on a convert, you wouldn't save money for a few years at best.

just steal your gas. problem solved. (not pump and run cuz you'll get caught), but syphon at 3-4am.

neXib

My first post. Threads like this make me realize how much I sacrifice to drive something like the RX-8 in terms of money. 8,5 dollars per gallon of 95 octane gas isn't gonna be cheap. It's silly the gasprices we have as a oilnation in Europe (Norway).

I am currently waiting for my RX-8, imported from the states. Over half of the final price of the car will be tax and import fees to the government. So it's over 65,000 dollars in total for the car for me, which probably sounds really silly for everyone of you in the US :P But it's not an affordable car in Norway, because we have huge penalty for cars that emit a lot of CO2. One can get around that by importing from the states, but you still have to pay a lot of fees for weight of the car and the horsepowers.

So no, guess I won't care what the gas prices are. It's one chance to have a fun car for a few years. And I won't daily drive it, but sadly no garage either. So a lot of washing and care If you love cars you'll always be a bit mad.

CarAndDriver

I think that is the main beef.

New Yorker

The idea of trading mileage for power—or giving up power for better mileage—applies to piston-engine cars. The rotary offers a different trade: mileage for amazing feel, agility & handling*—courtesy the lightweight, tiny engine placed low and far back in the car. That's "the deal" with the RX-8. (What's more, 0-60 in 5.9 seconds isn't exactly slow.)

*The editor of Sports Car International recently said the 8 is one of the world's 5 best-handling cars. At any price.

champi0n

iTrader: (1)

The world is not short on gas or fossil fuels.

Production costs are not what determines the price per barrel. (The production cost increase is marginal at most and wouldn't effect the price we see today)

The price is set on demand. Gas companies AND the government know they can keep raising the price and making BAJZILIONS of dollars.

What are you gonna do? just stop driving? unlikely a large enough percentage of people will stop driving or purchasing fuel to cause an impact. Especially since a large fuel consumption market is commercial.. meaning the cost they pay in fuel is reflected in the increasing price of their products.

Gas price hikes are small yet steady. This is so its "only" a few extra bucks a week... and companies have time to also marginally increase their product cost. Otherwise if here was a HUGE spike in price, many smaller companies would pretty much halt.

If i was the government or an oil company, i'd do the same thing... But since I'm just joe consumer, I'll start stealing half my gas to bring my price down. Home DIY fuel siphon kit made with universal fuel pump and battery... cost less then a tank of gas and saves me a good thousand plus per year or more.

Pass the cost onto someone else and throw your morals out the window. Or get your suicide vest and fly a chopper out to some oil tankers.

db_8

anyone here have the mazda protege 5? how's gas mileage and maintenance cost on that one?

NotAPreppie

Uh, the Federal gas tax is $0.18/gallon. Flat rate. The oil companies' profit are based on a percentage of product cost.

The problem is that it's speculator demand that is pushing up oil prices, not consumer demand.

Really, we should be resurrecting Isaac Asimov to see if his "psychohistory" idea in the Foundation novels can be adapted to a economics.

nt5k

How you liking the Fit so far? I'm thinking of getting one too. Right now I walk to work so I don't care about gas prices so much. But there is a possibility that I might move and if I can't bike to work, I will consider the Fit or the MP3 500 in addition tot he rx8.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Its alright, I mean it can hold a lot of stuff in the back, sits 5 including me of course, decent mpg.

I am driving a Manual tranny model, I cant stand any Automatics.

CosmosMpower

It wasn't the cost of gas that was annoying for me, I got tired of filling up every 230 miles so I bought a Miata. I can get about 280-300 miles on a tank and from empty to full is only 9 gallons. Also it uses regular instead of premium but I only drive 5 miles a day round trip to work so it doesn't really matter.

lopezian2004

Well hopefully soon I'll be getting either a company car with a gas card paid for by the company I work for... or just a gas card. That should cut the costs of filling up once a week!!

I suggest you all do the same

RotaryP7

It's $4.49 in Miami Beach.

nt5k

That's cool. How's the braking? The whole rear-drum thing has me wondering if it will be a bit weak in that regard. The rear-disc conversion kits seem a bit pricey as well at 850 or so. I guess I'll see what happens next year, with the new Mazda3 coming as well.

alienRX8

filling up once a week would be awesome. Right now I fill up twice a week

I drive around A LOT