I love having a sports car and still have enough room for my kids (7 & 12 yrs) in the back.
On the outskirts of town where I live there is a winding road that heads off into the hills - its an hours drive to the next town and makes for non stop fun My wife loves driving it as much as I do so negotiations on who drives which way often come up (there's a great restaurant there which is becoming a regular spot for us on a Friday/Saturday evening) .


This is our first rotary, and listening to the sound of the engine under acceleration is second to none, resulting in ear to ear grins on both of us. It never ceases to amaze me how refined this car feels in pretty much every way, whether it be cup holders, sun visors etc. or the flair and design thought put into such a gorgeous dash cluster.


I still haven't found a single thing about this car I can honestly say I'm not happy with




Gene

 

Bump...

I'm not sure if the S1 had this but...

On my R3, there is a button to pop the trunk in the top right of the license plate "cutout". Hard to explain where it is, but once you find it, it's really helpful.

 

Series I has this, but no matter the year, it's only for the cars with AKE.

 

Thanks, that would make sense.

 

Well, it's 10 years since I got my RX-8, and here's a little thing: 10 years later, and I still *love* the car.

Hmmmm, maybe that's a big thing....

 

Ditto! Couldn't agree more!

 

9k red line :D

 

Sitting in my 8 yesterday clearing my periodic cat delete CEL, I noticed for the first time that there's no annoying door ajar chime.
Love that.

 

Maybe a few little things about my phone (Nexus 6) than the 8 itself, but the N6 will not fall into the cupholders if I lay it on top of them and slide the cover. Also, it will fit perfectly in the rear part of the center console (maybe I need to build a wireless charger into it haha).

As for more the 8 itself, I never get tired of walking toward it to drive it. Be it a trip down the street to grab something at the store or a long road trip, the car is a joy to drive any sort of distance. This is also the car I've done the most work on on my own, so I have a lot of physical and emotional investment in it, which makes those little things that much bigger.

 

I jus found the center power outlet, thx to u

 

I am on my 2nd Rx8.. first one an 04 Titanium Grey lasted me 2.5 years and a 120k kms long bond. She became the highest mileage known running rx8 at 285k original motor and tranny when she was put down for good.

My 06 Velocity Red has fresh rebuilt ported motor. Bought from a well known enthusiast who looked after this car like a precious baby. the car pulls like no other, short drive or a long trip its always a joy.

While i was detailing the interior, i noticed a little lever behind passenger side seat. it allows passenger in the rear to fold the front seat and makes it easier to get out :-)

 

I just relocated to Michigan, and during my commute to and from work, I get to go through a few concrete canyons. A couple of the on ramps in the area have a decent wall on each side...and I just love hearing the exhaust sounds bounce off as I wind the 8 up. I could do the same thing in only a few places back in Tennessee, but now it's a near daily occurrence that makes my ears happy. Plus, everyone needs to hear the song of my people: rotorheads!

 

+1^
Stock exhaust?
I have the BHR midpipe and stock exhaust, love that sound!

 

Borla. Eargasm level

 

The way it handles,In Denver there is a transition road that turns I-25 to I70 east it's called the mouse trap because of it's extreamly tight turn, it's posted at 35 mpg, i take it at 70mpg and it huggs the road like a go cart, soooooo sweet a feeling is handling:0.

 

So this is a little late but a little history with me. I bought my first RX-8 in 2007. It was a black 04 6-speed. I had MazdaSpeed front and rear strut braces, Racing Beat Exhaust, and the old K&N intake system. I had her for 3 years, but I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska in 2008. I shipped my RX-8 up to Alaska, but I couldn't drive her because of the cold weather. I had to get another car because I could only drive the 8 a few months out of the year. I traded her for a 2011 Mustang GT in Dec. 2010. I actually cried. The dealership had an 07 RX-8 on the lot. They had it for almost a year, but they still took the trade and I made money off of it. I didn't care, I took the Mustang back 2 days later and said I didn't want it. I wanted my RX-8 back. Bad news was that a dealership in Oregon called and had it immediately sent down there because someone had been looking for a black 6-speed for a while. So I kept the Mustang, but I wasn't in love with it. I ended up getting rid of it for an FJ Cruiser, hey it still has suicide doors and 6-speed and we got a MazdaSpeed3. We moved back to Texas and had a kid. The spousal unit wanted the FJ to drag stuff around, I was stuck with the MS3. I hated that car. So I spent months looking for a good used Series 1. After 9 months of searching, I found a 2005 Winning Blue 6-speed series 1. I got rid of the MazdaSpeed3 and bought the RX-8 after I took it to AutoSport in Lewisville, TX. They happen to be a great shop that specializes in Rotary Engines. There is also another shop in Garland that I can go to if I absolutely have to. I had to have the clutch replaced after putting 10k miles (cost me around $700 for parts and labor). I also replaced the coils, spark plugs, and wires. I absolutely love this car. I missed having an RX-8. Everyone says that I should have gotten an RX-7, but having driven both of the cars, I prefer the RX-8. It is safe to say she is my favorite car in the world. I will one day build an FD with a 20B tuned to a "low" HP of around 450rwhp. But I always want my daily driver to be an RX-8. I. Love. This. Car.

 

One thing I love no one has mention is the small slot in the center console for a phone charger cord to slide through when cup holders exposed and lid is shut. That's really thinking it through.

 

Man it handles and corners better than any other car I've ever had unles it's wet

 

On the 2004 automatic the trunk release is on the bottom of the dash lower left hand corner.

 

I love that the engine just 'wants' to driven hard and loves high revs. It doesnt feel as bad when you rev the hell out of it compared to a piston engine when you know its not very good for the engine.

Also love all the little triangles and rotary symbols all over the car. Shows just how proud Mazda is of their baby.

Even in 2016 people stare and and compliment on just how beautiful the car looks and i cant resist turning and looking at her after shes parked

 

Bump from November 16!

I love this damn car. I've had a lot of different cars. I've had a wrx, DSM, Audis(plural and all highly modified), trucks, Ninjas, etc. But in 2009 I bought a 2005 WWP RX8 GT after my first deployment. My exwife made me sell it 2 years later after putting Tein coilovers, racing beat full exhaust and intake, wheels, tires, and whiteline sways. I never got over the loss. A few months ago I finally made the decision to come back to an RX8 when I bought my 05 Shinka 6MT with 39k on it for less than $4500. I got a lot of ridicule from my audi, bmw, evo, muscle car, and subie friends. "It's slow... It'll break in no time... blah blah blah. But I wanted a fun car, that looked nice, had a little comfort, handled amazing and could fit a carseat. This 100000% fit the bill and I'm so happy I came back to it.

2 weeks ago I went on a family vacation. I packed up the RX8 with my fiance, my 2 year old in his recaro car seat, 3 suitcases, 2 beach chairs, a beach umbrella, a giant blow up Pegasus and shark, 6 bottles of liquor, 3 cases of beer, a stroller, a portable high chair, 4 pillows, 2 large comforters, 5 towels and more. We drove from Baltimore Maryland to Savannah Georgia, 10 1/2 hours. The family slept almost the entire drive. I got there and was still comfortable. And I had fun doing it. I don't know many other cars that are this small, and this fun that can get anywhere near as functional as this car is. Especially none that are in it's same market. BRZ, yeah right. Back seats are tiny and wouldn't have fit nearly as much in it. S2k. . . . ummmm no. FD. Nope. MR2. nope. This car is compared to 2 seaters every single day. the only 2+2 I can think to compare it to is the brz, 300Z, and maybe a 335. The 335 is the only car that I think could do what this car does. But then your buying a bmw soooooooo. no thanks lol. Although I do respect the 335 and M3 a lot, just not for me. And much more expensive.

Then to top off how happy I was driving my RX8 around hilton head and savannah and drifting friends and family around on liquor and cigarette runs, I got to top it off last weekend. I met up with a few friends to head to a local Cars & Coffee. I know all the backroads to anywhere I need to go in MD. Because I hate highways, which makes me love this car even more. And me and 3 friends in a 2015 M5, 2008 335, and C6 Vette took the backroads to the Cars & Coffee meetup. They kind of laughed right before we left, but after we got there they all got out and surrounded my car. How in the hell could I possibly go as fast as I was on those super tight twisty roads, and on terrible tires at that. That was the resounding question. Well for one. I know how to drive. I've taken a few classes here and there. And I literally redline my RX8 at least 20-30 minutes a day driving to and from work or daycare or to get milk when the last gallon just got opened(any excuse really lol). So I know how to drive my car. And it's made for the type of driving I put it through. Needless to say those 3 high horsepower, ultimate driving machine driving friends of mine, had a newfound respect for the RX8. They all smiled, acknowledged the fact that I couldn't even see them in my rear view, and tried harder on the way back. To no avail of course lol. It's under appreciated. Under rated. Under sold. Misunderstood. And becoming far too rare a sight on the roads. But dammnniiiiitttt. I. Love. This. Car.

PS - I love rolling the dash brightness down a click at night and changing the gauge colors to blue and red instead of white and red. Now it's just time to start modifying this completely stock Shinka and really show all those friends what this chassis is capable of

 

I just recently bought my 4th RX-8 and only now found this lever while installing child kick mats. I guess I never had kids in the back of my other 3 and didn't use the rear seats much.

 

Every car window is now considered too slow thanks to my RX-8.

 

After reading all current pages (yes I read through all 62 of them) AND getting to ride in an 05 at autocross today, I'm sold. I'm in love. The on rails handling, the sound, the comfort, the interior space and rotors everywhere. Wow. I think I even got the wife on board with the idea. Now to wait 6-8 months to be able to heavily research, inspect, and buy one. I am so very excited.

 

...on-rails handling...my son said "Dad how did you do that?" during a spirited drive in the twisties in KY over the weekend. I said I didn't do much of anything, the RX-8 did it all. It is indeed a phenomenal car to drive in the curves. I can't wait to drive some Fall Colors runs in WV and near Mohican State Park (OH) where C&D does a fair bit of their car testing.