As you guys have already guessed, I'm new here...so I would like to say Hi

I will be getting a 2005 MT RX-8 pretty soon for around $6.5k with around 70k miles on it.
I'm new to MT cars and I have only driven MT a couple times before with my fair share of stalling the car. Is the RX-8 an easy car to learn stick on?

I read all the sticky's and one issue that i have read about is engine flooding.. so if i'm learning manual and for some reason i stall it, will i flood the engine?

I realize that this is a high maintenance car with it's own fair share of problems...just like any other car out there. But my question is, when properly maintained, is it just as reliable than any other car such as an average Chevy Cobalt or maybe even like a Honda Civic?
..i would also appreciate it if somebody could direct me to a place on this forum that tells people like me how to do everything to properly maintain this car :D

anyways thanks in advance!

 

The RX-8 is easy to learn on, it has a great clutch and transmission. Although, if you don't learn properly or you are particularly slow learning then it could get expensive.

 

1. The clutch engages very quickly. That can be both a blessing and a curse for somebody that is learning. But since you said you have driven a MT a couple of times before, in your case I would say is a blessing.

2. If you really read the stickies, you know the variable that will cause flooding. But in summary, If your ignition system is healthy, and if you are not stalling soon after you start the engine, then you should not flood by simply stalling here and there after the engine is warmed up.

3. Not even close.

 

lol @ your "not even close." ill keep that in mind :P

what i'll probably do is to warm up the car a bit before i try driving around just so it doesnt flood on me in the first 10 minutes

 

Well, Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla numbers are pretty hard to beat. Those things can go 300,000 without oil changes

 

Yea they are hard to beat :P but how about a Chevy Cobalt? I dont know many people that drive those but it cant be THAT reliable

 

We don't have anything like that around here.
What does this look like, a motorcycle forum?

All we do here is pretend to maintain our cars, but what we really do is complain a lot, and then take our cars to the dealer for new engines every 45k miles.

Yer not welcome 'round here if'n you're thinking about fixin' up yer car, yah hear?

BC.

 

Excluding the engine, the RX-8 is at least as reliable as most cars. Transmission, suspension, brakes, exhaust, electronics, etc are all good. The engine is more prone to failure than most modern piston engines.

 

True. They need to reinvent the rotary for sure.

 

I guess you missed this sticky? It explains about flooding, and about maintenance.

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

 

haha i did read that sticky...

it says that flooding is mainly due to a bad ignition system and in the RX-8 I'm getting, the guy just replaced the plugs in it so it should be fine im guessing.

still not good to shut the engine off cold i guess

 

In general, yes, try to avoid it. But that is true of ANY car.

And there are also coils and plugs in that whole ignition system. Just changing plugs is asking for coil failures that kill the plugs anyway, or wire failures that kill plugs AND coils.

 

So is it suggested to replace plugs & wires & coils every 25k-30k miles?

 

Roughly, yes.

Typically you will have at least 1 of the 12 pieces fail by the time you are hitting 30k since last change. And failures snowball into further problems. And just isolating the one failure and replacing it doesn't really save you much, since the others are still hovering on the edge of failure.

Or, you can permanently (ish) solve the problem by getting a BHR ignition upgrade, which means that only plugs will need replacing regularly. A BHR ignition kit is about the cost of 3 coil/wire changes, so the more economical option is based on how long you expect to have the car.

 

Can you also not leave the 8 sitting around for a week or else you will have starting problems?

or is this still completely dependent on the health of the plugs/coils/wires?

 

Leaving any car sitting, RX-8 or not, can have a slow battery drain, and the battery will eventually go dead, or weak enough to cause starting problems and flooding. But this is true of ANY car.

There is zero different between a rotary and a piston engine in regards to letting it sit. Let a rotary sit for YEARS, and you can have rust problems with the seals rusting to the housings, but piston engines will have problems at that point too.


It's still just a car. It's not actively trying to cause you pain...

 

i took a look at the bhr ignition system and it looks like you would install it the same way as you would OEM coils except the wires come off at a different angle.....correct me if im wrong

i read about how it improves gas mileage and performance so i'll be considering about getting this