am planning to purchase the 8. but i need some info. i have been driving a corolla 09 and am planning to give it away for a 03 rx8. its about 35,000km done and is a manual transmission. i will be driving it for about 40-50km everyday and more likely never hit more then 80-100km. which means i will be driving it more like an everyday driver rather then a sports car.

1) can i use the same spark plugs as in normal cars? i dont really care if the performance drops down as long as the engine is safe

2) can i use normal engine oil (shell helix is wat i use) for this car?

3) can i use normal unleaded petrol or do i have to use high octane?

 

High octane only or the engine may detonate. "Normal" engine oil is fine as long as its 5w20/5w30, depending on your preferences on going against Mazda's recommendation (5w20).

There's only really one real choice for spark plugs unless you go FI, and that's the OEM plugs, made by NGK. They can be pretty expensive, but you swap em out like every 10,000 mi only, so it's no big deal.

 

not true.....

 

Pretty sure that's every 30,000 miles on switching spark plugs.

Also, I've been running my 04 on 87 octane for 5 months with no problems.

 

How many have said this? Just get in the car, turn the key, and then see how difficult it is to behave yourself

 

IIRC, the RX uses platinum plugs. Considering how long they last, they aren't terribly expensive.

Run standard oil. The manual says 5w20, but as most everyone knows, 10w30 or 10w40 are the way to go.

91 octane is recommended. I have experimented with lower octane and noticed degraded performance, so I recommend 91 or 93 (depending on what's available in your area).