High mileage RX8
 

This made me feel really good about my car.

One of my customers just dropped off his car for service and he has 92,000 miles on it! Just bringing it in for the recall and an oil change. No complaints of power loss etc...He says the car still runs great!

Its really good to see this!

absolutely. I think that this car will be reliable - above average if properly mantained...The NA renesis engine should give us good reliability.

im very happy to hear this! i heared from others and thought my engine would only last 80,000 milles!!
who own this car? was it a kid or older person who didnt beat on it! like we do hehe

Damn I thought I could cry again.........

Hell, maybe I can cry with :tear: of joy.

Sincerly,

Biggest cry baby on the largest cry baby forum your RX8 club member

8CRYBBY

hey,
i am an older person and i beat the crap out of mine...:Eyecrazy:

beers :beer:

Well it is no surprise to see that kind of mileage.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.




:werd:

Yeah, I'm older too and push it hard (not a viagra joke). I pushed my last rotary in 72 pretty hard and it lasted till 96K when it started using as much water as gas.

Water is cheap Hoosier. You shoulda kept it. Maybe it was switching over from gas to water. Now there's a thought. :mdrmed:

It was probably a younger person, and driving it hard probably contributed to it lasting so well. Not that 92,000 is extremely high or anything.

But good to hear. I feel better seeing as how I"m sitting at 38k right now. I"ll be at 50k by the end of this year I bet. Ok maybe only 45 ish.
________
Sunset Boulevard Residence

It's a myth, Ike says they all go BOOM at 80k. Ike's word is TRUTH!

;)

Ike also told Chuck Norris he'd live to 80...

Remember Ike, Chuck Norris has two speeds. Walk, and Kill.

I have a litltle over 80,000 right now. Runs BETTER than before. Gas mileage has gotten better.

You guys bought these cars expecting less than 80k miles?

Update:

The car does need a clutch, which we are doing. Also, the plugs were the original plugs! Very worn out...The car is owned by someone my age (45ish). Performed the recall, just reflash and plugs. I will test drive after all work is performed to make sure everything is good..

great to hear that otherside! Certainly this cannot be a Silver RX-8....

Any new posts, or did all cars die? Mine's up to 68k, only needed new coils so far. I'm curious what might be in store for me with more miles.

Is there a new recall I dont know about?

mines at 75k its an 06 :tear:

so far so good, switched to using royal purple and idemitsu, and replaced used coils for slightly less used coils at 70, replaced plugs 2x, the 2nd set had about 40k on it and didnt look too bad all, tho im slightly worried about my cat, maybe its just me but i've been smelling burning from the back recently when the car is idling, so far car still feels good and pulls strong, need to do more preventative mods tho just to make sure. :mdrmed:

i second that.

Holy thread revival...................... I have 105,000 miles on my 2004.




















Oh, and I am on my third engine :lol:. Sorry, the RX8 is a lot of things but reliable is not one of them if driven hard daily. The problem is that many owners (likely people not on this board) don't have a clue and don't drive the crap out of their cars so they drive around with low compression and never know it.

So driving the crap out of the car helps its compresssion? Just curious if its sarcasm.

Yes, the engine loves to be driven hard. Idle around town, lug it in high gear at low speeds for a few weeks, see how rough the idle becomes, power delivery isn't as smooth any more. Then pound on it hard, going full throttle to redline through 1st, 2nd, 3rd, a few times, and you can immediately tell a difference that it is running smoother, pulling harder.

Don't just sit at a high RPM generating heat for a long time without a purpose, that can kill your transmission from overheating the fluid, but nothing wrong with it engine-wise.

Interesting. Almost like what I have heard about 4 Cylinder Engine as well. They love Higher RPMs... well many of them do.

Yeah, small engines have lower torque, but can rev higher due to less mass, so that is where they get their horsepower (which is a function of RPM).

However, the redline in piston engines is generally where the speed of the engine is hitting critical levels, and exceeding it or holding at it for a long period has a greatly increasing chance of causing damage. Thrown rods, bent valves, damaged pistons, broken valve springs, etc...

For a rotary engine, the redline is there more for the transmission than it is the engine, as you are pumping so much heat into the transmission fluid at that point that it can start breaking down quickly if maintained, plus the gears weren't really designed to go that fast.

The actual engine speed limit has been reported around 18,000rpm, supposedly a factory test of the engine by itself, however quite a few of the competitive racers on the boards here say to stay under 8,700, as "there is no power at 9,000" and "rotor tips can start contacting the housing at 9,000", and "too much heat without enough gain above 8,000".


I haven't argued with them much over those points, although I believe that the "no power" claim is entirely based on the fact that the tuning is ending there, not because it isn't capable.

The heat buildup is an accepted point, cooling is a problem for the 8, especially in hot climates (AZ being the worst in the US, most of the cooling mod development has come from AZ or done with AZ in mind), and heat is the #1 killer of these engines.

The rotor tip contact claim is from knowledgeable people that are in a position to know, however nothing other than offhand statements have been made to support it, so make your own judgement call on it there. I would also suspect that there are other factors that can reduce or increase this chance, beyond simple RPM.


So don't be afraid of redline, it really helps to keep the internals clean and running smooth, however be aware of heat buildup, and make your own call on the other 2 points.

No the common belief that revving the engine will make it last longer or keep it from failing prematurely is BS. If you don't premix and change your oil often your engine will fail prematurely if you drive it like it was meant to be driven. If you are just the type to tool around town and baby the car then it will last longer and you will likely not even realize your engine is failing until it's completely done.

My last engine lost compression and was stalling at idle but honestly above 1500RPM's it ran okay. Just look at the changes made to the 09+ engines and you will realize. Cooling is an issue which I have addressed as well. But for all the reliability mods, this engine could still fail under 100,000 miles. Only time will tell if I am wasting my money and my time, :lol: But honestly its fun for me, if I had a car that never needed attention I would be bored.