Thank you for all the information available on this forum.

I fell in love with the RX models way back in the late 90's when my cousin let me drive his 3rd gen rx-7(I was about 17). fast forward to last month when I changed jobs and decided it was time to give the old 98 jeep a rest... I missed having a motorcycle but did not want to get back in to bikes (sold my triumph speed triple and ducati paso a few years ago) so I wanted a perfomance car.

After litterally hundreds of test drives and weeks of research, I decided I had no clue what I wanted.... then after some soul searching I decided to look at what I had enjoyed so much once before an 80's or newer Trans Am... after driving one at a local lot I decided my memories of high school were not as clear as I thought... it felt like a truck... but on that same lot was a 2004 rx-8... I drove it and loved it....

I went home and found this forum. After researching the heck out of it I decided against the 2004.... instead I looked around for a 2006 or newer 6 speed GT... I found one in Florida that fit the bill and it was cheap. so 2 weeks of email and phone conversation and a dealer instpection including a compression test, I booked a flight. I will be driving my new toy home this friday :D

2006 RX-8 GT 6speed manual, bone stock, just over 50,000 miles on her. dealer inspected 9.8 out of 10... the only item that was not a 10 was the paint on the hood... a few rock chips.... clean carfax 1 owner. black with black/red leather interior ...

I cannot wait to pickup my new toy... thanks for all the info, btw as much as it does not seem like it the search button does infact work if you know how to use it... :D

Thanks Again everyone....

 

Enjoy it! This car gives you a full love hate relationship but it never leaves you bored and longing for a new ride. If you don't plan on doing much to the car, may be worth while to see if you can get a Cobb AP and Mazdamaniac to tune. It makes the car run so much better!

Drive the hell out of it!

 

She will be staying mechanically stock. maybe a little suspension work but no power mods. I live in East TN. Its all about the twisties here. I got my 0-60 fun out of my system with the bikes.

I was never the drag racing type anyway I prefer to carve up a set of corners any day...

it just so happens that my drive home takes me through maryville tn (via deals gap NC(about 30 minutes from my house)) what a shame :D lol

 

I think we need to trade homes for a month lol.

 

It will be impossible to stay stock coz your cat is gonna go and you will get a midpipe then you will start modding haha

 

mazdaspeed = stock, right:P

 

+1 lol

it wont stay stock, no one should try and drag race an 8 thats just retarded , but eventually you will find yourself in the parts for sale seciton on here and theirs always great deals, and boy do they reel you in... LOL! And its always nice to make a little extra noise or accelerate off those corners just that much quicker =P

 

Congrats!
Once you get it, Pics or it doesn't exist.
Sounds like you have a great shake down run on the way back. Enjoy!
Being a former bike owner, you'll appreciate the the upper rpm fun for sure.

 

Actually the one reason I liked it so much was the high revving engine... I can drive it like a bike and not feel bad about revving the crap out of it. :D

I plan on detailing it Saturday. Pics to follow...

If the cat goes I will probably look at changing up the exhaust but I do not like the louder ones.... My Ducati had a ferracci exhaust, altough I loved the sound, all it ever accomplished was getting attention... usually of the cops...

My run home should be fun. interstate 95 to 26 to 40. 40 through NC is pretty twisty. Then coming through cosby/sevierville is all mountian roads... after a 12 hour drive I will probably not feel up to a gap run. Once the tourist crowd is gone (late october) that road is a lot more fun anyway... no tourists and no cops... also I do not know this car from Adam... the gap is a horrible place to break down after peak hours.... no through traffic and no cell service... if that is not the middle of nowhere you can see it from there....

 

A clean CarFax is nice, but a solid service record is worth it's weight in gold. Definitely something to look into if you haven't already.

 

yeah it has been serviced by the original dealer since day 1. I actually went to my local dealer and they pulled up every service record including the new set of tires that went on 2 months ago and the oil change that took place 3 weeks ago.

it is owned by a professional who has the money to take care of it. the only reason it is being sold so cheap is they bought a new cadi and the dealer low balled them on the trade. they just want to get out of the loan.

My out the door (title, taxes, flight, gas, for the ride home (est at 20mpg) I should be well under my $14,000 budget...) the loan is just above $10,000...

 

congrats and i hope everything works out well for you.

Also you will probably end up modding the car. I for one suggest a Racing Beat or BHR mid pipe to give it a little louder tone to the stock OEM catback if you like it quiet.

Also throw in a K&N flat fiter into the stock airbox for a little better flow. You can also do the stock airbox mod. Removal of the vfad for a louder intake to make it sound after market makes it breath better as well.

cobb ap will be hard to find but is definitely worth it.

BHR upgraded ignition will up yield better performance. But its really a reliability mod. As our stock ignition coils tend to die between 20-30k miles.

Another great mod is the AFE Short Shifter, possibly one of the best. But if you prefer longer throws then stick with the oem its great as well.

Suspension updates are always the best. Given the fact you are older and prefer a more suttle ride but yet have the ability to carve the twisties without a sweat. Then possibly pairing Racing Beat springs with Bilstein shocks would be your best bet. Racing beats springs barely lower the car more than stock, but they improve the handling a great deal.

Sway bars if you feel you need them.

Good sticky tires.

Those are the mods that will be the most suttle but yet yield the most out of the rx8.

 

Daffy, glad you found the BOTD thread when you did. You're gonna LOVE driving that car ... with a bunch of other Mazda nuts ... through the Dragon!! See you next Friday, or Saturday.

 

just got home last night with the rx8. I am loving this car. the only issues we found were the sun visors are broken (already found the diy fix it post here) and the coolant light comes on after heavy acceleration (yup found that post too, it will be ignored)

thanks again guys for all the great info. pics to come soon...

oh sorry for the lack of case^ typing with one hand while feeding the little fella... multi tasking :D

 

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...05096#poststop
That post was obviously written for someone else(not you), so just ignore the parts not intended for your situation.



You are also probably aware because it seems like you did your research and also know how to use the search button but.........Just unplug the sensor, gets rid of the light. Just check coolant level often, and extend that overflow hose down below the PS connectors.

Care to mention at least the city in Florida where you picked it up?

 

I picked it up in orlando, The individual was in the tampa area. The flight to orlando was 80 bucks vs 400 to tampa.

as promised here are some pics... It rained earlier in the day so she has a few water spots....









The drive home was great, I love the heated seats in the morning... I fixed the sunvisor (Thanks for the DIY worked great and saved me 130 bucks)... my total for the car, tax, title, and tags + the trip was just under $14,000 ... Exactly where I wanted it to be....

 

Wow that looks GREAT! Congrats on the new car!

 

Welcome!

"After litterally hundreds of test drives and weeks of research, I decided I had no clue what I wanted.... then after some soul searching I decided to look at what I had enjoyed so much once before an 80's or newer Trans Am... after driving one at a local lot I decided my memories of high school were not as clear as I thought... it felt like a truck... but on that same lot was a 2004 rx-8... I drove it and loved it.... "

Isn't that funny how technology makes the cars from the old days feel like trucks?

 

well and at the time I was 16-17 so I dod not have much to compare with.... the transam was the best handling car I had driven to that point in my life... since then I have driven everything from corvette's to a friends lotus elise... so my perspective has changed over the years.... the old bird still brought back memories though... it was the same color and trim as my old one... if they would have taken a rediculous price I might have bought it....

 

not bad,but might i suggest. you need to get maguires two step leather conditioner on that car asap. it will keep your leather from getting worn and old.

 

Meguiars everything ftw!

 

except for maguirs hot rims, i prefer mothers wheel cleaner, and mothers back to black. and invisble glass for the windows.