How bad is the gas mileage?
 

I'm sorry if this has been talked about too much...
but i'm just wondering how bad is the gas mileage?
Is it a LOT OF difference? So much, that you can tell it's got bad mileage when you drive it??
Or is it only minor, that if you don't calculate the mpg, you won't even notice?
Just trying to see, if i will be able to live with the bad mpg...
don't want to regret anything... 30 grand is a lotta of money to me...thanks

Evey vehicle is a compromise. So there's always room for regret if you look back. Just my opinion.

My milage is around 13 in the city and some have posted as low as 10. i would describe it as low enough to remind you that the RX-8 is a sports car. As such, it's not supposed to get good milage. ;) but certinaly below the EPA ratings.

The gas mileage is very noticeable...you will spend a lot of time at your local gas station. It seems that every 1/4 tank is between 50 - 60 miles. If gas money is a major factor in your next car you may want to look at something else.

Not bad at all. If you want good gas mileage get the new Toyota hybrid car. If you want fun fun fun while driving a car the looks great great great, get the 8 :p

Not TOO bad....
 

I get better than 19 mpg (US) usually. A lot of highway, but plenty of 'jackrabbit' starts, and don't warm it at idle, just start and go, taking it easy till warm.

The gas mileage SEEMS worse because of the small tank/frequent fills.

S

Syntrix is the one who said he may be getting 10 mpg but he openly admits he drives it like he stole it. I don't think you can place too much weight on the guys getting 10-13 mpg or the guys getting 31 mpg.

If you're judging a figure skating contest you'd throw out the high and the low score so if you throw out 31 mpg and 10 mpg, the median and mean are probably around 16-17 mpg.

I get about 17-19 but that's just based on 2 fill ups so far and I drive pretty conservatively.

The cost of ownership for the 8 is by no means a drop in the bucket. The 8 has 18-inch tires that are gonna cost you almost $1000 dollars to replace every 15k-20k, for the average driver that is once a year. Add that to the fuel cost, maintenance costs, and insurance cost and you're looking at a vehicle that will cost you at minimum of about $5,000 a year.

$2500 fuel based on 20K miles @ 16 mpg @ $2/gal.
$1000 tires
$1000 insurance
$500 est maintenance

All cars need fuel, tires, insurance, and maintenance. For the average car you can probably get by with an annual cost of ownership of about $2500-$3000. For most of the 8 owners, the additional $2000 per year is not a big deal.

It's like getting a Great Dane for a pet and complaining that the dog eats a lot...get the Chihuahua instead.

Mazda RX-8 = Chihuahua w/ the appetite of a Great Dane :p

I average the same as i3man, and I drive the car pretty hard- my mpg has gotten progressively worse the longer I've had the car because I don't baby it so much anymore.

I've been driving a supercharged Miata all week. It has the bypass on the supercharger broken so the supercharger is always boosting, even at partial throttle.

The car as it is, still gets 20mpg in Atlanta city traffic even with me playing with the supercharger and showing off.

Now THAT is a sports car.

:D

If you are getting 18-19 in the city, just driving normally (not driving with one eye on the fuel gauge all the time), you are doing good, I'd say.

Oh, i'm sorry. I meant how bad is the mileage compare to cars like. S2000, 350z... is there a noticeable difference?

How often do you guys fill up the gas each week? I'm filling up my Accord v6 once a week. I can live with that.. i can live with filling up gas 3 times every 2 weeks.

Then, you'll be fine with the 8!

YIKES!!! That's a bit extreme. For me, I'm looking at:

$850 fuel - 10k miles @ 19 mpg @ 1.60/gal
$300 tires ($600 every 2 years)
$850 insurance
$0 maintenance - free scheduled maintenance

I can live with $2000/year.

auto mpg
 

anyone know the auto's average mpg.

The RX8 gets around 17-18 MPG from a poll on this board. From the the other car boards, I think the owners of the S2K get around 24 MPG, the 350Z around 22 MPG, the EVO around 22 MPG and the STI around 20 MPG.

I was originally getting about 13 mpg....now I get 15 mpg and it seems to be getting slightly better. 2200 miles on the car and I have an automatic. I was filling up 2 to 3 times a week.....now just twice a week. It's a small tank so....... I hear it will get better as the engine ages too. I bet the average on this board is about 16-17 mpg city. The car is way cool and fun so it's your call!

ouch. WHY!!!! WHY!!! why must it get such bad mileage!? WHY?!?!?! i love this car ever so. and this horrible mileage may be my deciding factor. (cuz being a college student, gas money is a huge factor) oh well. at least it narrows down my choices to the g35 and the s2k. :)

Being a college student, a $30K+ car is not a very practical solution to your driving needs. But if you can afford a $30K+ car, more power to you. That being the case MPG should be the least of your worries.

19-20MPG, pretty much independent of my driving style. This is true of the last dozen tankfuls, at least.

If you're looking cost, you have to look at MPG. If you're looking at how many times you need to fill up, you need to look at tank range. Edmunds places the following ranges city/highway.

S2000 264/330
350Z 400/520
RX-8 286/381

Our tank is 15.9 gallons. So use your own MPG figure to get a good range as I think these are based on EPA numbers. My 13 MPG was strickly city. I don't drive highway. I gas up every two or three days. But I am in no way complaining. I knew what to expect thanks to this board before I bought. Besides, it just gives me more oppertunity for conversations at the gas pump on how great the "8" is!

I get about 16mpg no matter how I drive, what gas I use, and just about any other trick listed on this board.

different people. different lifestyles. i see where you're coming from and your advice was appreciated. :)

I own a 88 10th AE RX7 and a new Honda S2000. The RX 7 averages 20 mpg in city and suburban driving and almost 25 mphg on the highway. The Honda averages over 28 in the city and 31 on the highway-no matter what speed I am driving. Both autos always get premium fuel!

Being a previous rotary owner, (73 RX-3), I'm used to the mileage. But in comparison, the 8 does actually get better mpg than did my 3. The technology has definitely gotten better, with the hp the 8 is capable of, again compared to the older arrangements. If anyone here had a car in high school that had as much horsepower under the hood as the 8...what kind of mileage did that big, 340 CID, triple carb, four-on-the-floor, with the posi-trac axle... you know the one, it could lay rubber for fifty yards off the line, and scratch the same bald tires in every gear?
Of course, THAT car handled the curves, pretty much the same way that bricks fly.
Every driver of one of these monsters was just as concerned about gas mileage, right?
Thought so.
I will admit that I'd like to get a little better mpg, but I know that once I go to my doctor to have this bad case of "lead-foot" taken care of, maybe it'll improve.
Then again, maybe it won't. :D
Enjoy the car, and as was told to me a long time ago, "If you're going to have a pig, be prepared to feed it."
-Doc :cool:

Hey Rotarypower:

You are absolutely right in your reasoning. We had a 6spd "250HP" GT for 2 months and 6,000 km (4,000 mi) before we got all our money back through the "wrong HP" buyback program. We consistently got 12-14 (US) MPG no matter how hard or soft we drove the car in the city or on the highway.

Despite numerous returns to the dealer and conversations with Mazda Canada they claimed the MPG was normal. This was the only reason we returned the car! I'm not normally a "what-if" type of guy BUT if the price of gas doubles next year, or gas shortages re-occur (Iraq war for example) I don't need a car that can't pass a gas station, no matter how great it performs!

Out of principle a light, nimble sports car like the RX8 should get better mileage than a V10 Viper or a 3 ton Bentley, but it seems to be worse. Like you we loved the car and can afford the gas (90 cents/liter ot $2.73 USD/gal) but could not put up with the mileage or the range of the car. I prefer not to spend most of my free time pumping gas. Ours could not make it 300 km (180 mi) between gas stations.

I am amazed that some owners continue to dismiss the lousy mileage (because it's a sports car) while complaining about the small gas tank. C'mon people the tank is 60 liters (15gal). That's a large tank for a sports car. These cars are getting much, much less MPG than they were designed to get. It's just common sense to design a decent cruising range into a new car, so stop making excuses for Mazda and start complaining. Then they might fix this glaring problem in an otherwise outstanding car.

BTW, we took our Mazda money and went out and bought a G35 coupe which is heavier, more powerful and gets twice the gas mileage at 25 MPG city/highway combined. Even though it is a more expensive car with a better resale value, it is much cheaper to run and has longer lasting tires. I am saving $180/month in fuel alone!

Good luck with your decision, we were very lucky that the buyback program was available to us. I wouldn't buy one now unless I could make sure the MPG on that particular car is OK first. I don't trust Mazda on this issue anymore.

insurance over the 350Z saves me $1500/yr. that buys A LOT of gas. thats for a 39 yr old with a clean record. i suspect an S2000 would also be pricey.

my mileage has gotten much better since i crossed 4K miles.

i got over 21mpg cruising at 80 mph and a stint to 110mph on a freeway trip recently. and that included some serious crawling in LA traffic.

around town i get more like 18mpg. this car is so awesome, its worth it.

james

RX-7 average 20 mpg ? I'm sorry.. not trying to bash...but isn't the renesis design to have better gas mileage than the rx-7? Maybe after, putting some mileage. We will see a better MPG??
So many things are still in doubt for the RX-8. Hope everything turns out good. Hate to see the rotary get called "old technology". I faith in the Rx-8 though. =)