ElvisC

Hey guys,

Hopefully I won't get flamed too badly but I'm in the market for a used car. I just graduated college (4 yrs) and relocated from Providence, RI to Houston, TX.

I currently have a 1997 Saturn SC2 which is fully built and turbo'd (just in case here's proof www.tsnhosting.net/elvisc/omgturbosc2.wmv)

Well I'm sick of the damn saturn and the lack of potential, and having to fabricate everything to slap on a stupid turbo.

I'm in the market for a nice RWD car and my friend nate who has a RX-7 said I should look into rotary engines.

I do have a few questions about these cars:

1) What years should I stay away from?
2) What are the most common problems with these cars?
3) I'm a boost junkie, what kind of F/I setups do you guys have and what kind of tuning solutions?
4) What kind of 1/4 times are most members hitting? (N/A or F/I)

Thanks for all of the help! I really love the body styling of the Rx-8 and hopefully you guys can help me out without bashing me too hard lol.

WVBoosted8

iTrader: (5)

1) Everyone says stay away from 2004's and maybe 2005's but I have a turbo'd 2004 and I havent had any problems out of it other than common troubleshooting.

2) The most common problems out of these cars are burning oil and eating gas. Other than that, they take above average care to maintain. You can't just decide to move the car and turn it off, you have to let it warm up first for 3-5 minutes. If you dont, you flood the engine and run the risk of having to replace things.

3) I have the greddy setup with mazsports greddy intake upgrade which isnt the most popular turbo on this forum but can be upgraded using mazdamaniacs turbo upgrade for 16-1700 dollars. If you go boosted, then make sure you purchase a cobbs accessport from mazdamaniac, it is my best friend now and dont know how I went without it. There are some nice turbo setups coming out soon I would watch for. from BHR and Mazdamaniac

4) im not sure what the times are search the forums!

Im sure some other members have tons more information for you but I was just giving a rundown. Thanks

ElvisC

Sweet! Ya I'll search around :D

I didn't know about the warm up period, is this due to warm-up enrichments? or just the nature of the engine?

What kind of dyno #'s are you putting down with your turbo setup? (lol sorry for the newwwb questions)

rglbegl

1)06 and newer are the most desirable
2) Same problems any other car may have
3) Boosting should be installed by a pro. If you go F/I, do it right. DO NOT go cheap.
4) This is not a 1/4 mile car. Get a mustang for that.


and the warm up is a good idea on any car.


Search around a little bit. Most of these topics have been covered many times over.


And be careful. These cars are like crack cocaine. Once you have a little bit of it, you will be addicted.

WVBoosted8

iTrader: (5)

I believe it is due to starting rich and if you shut it off without warming it up, you run a high risk of flooding the engine.
Here is a thread dedicated to this topid:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ht=warm+up+rx8
I have never had mine dyno'd. Right now im waiting on BHR to release their yukon coils. Good luck!

ElvisC

I know about the Turbo stuff... trust me I boosted a saturn lol.

Well you guys answered my questions very well. But I would disagree with your 1/4 mile statement, any car can be a 1/4 mile monster... but it's all about $$$$

I just need to go schedule a test-drive now .

mdw1000

If you want this car to be a 1/4 mile monster, look at Mazsport.net.

However, if you are concerned about gas mileage per horsepower this is not the car to get. One of the rotary engine's weaknesses is the mileage it gets for the amount of power it puts out.

If you are more into power than handling, this is not the car to get. You can get more power for cheaper with other cars. However, if power is secondary to handling, you won't find a better deal IMHO. This car is all about balance.

mdw1000

Also, the rotary burns oil by design. I check my oil every 1000 miles and top it off. People burn it at different rates. I burn 1/4 to 1/2 quart every 1K miles on average.

xsnipersgox

search my friend, search, check the major horsepower upgrade thread. here's a hint, 300 horses properly tuned with MM's turbo is probably close to ideal at the moment. the compression ratio on the renesis is large so you can't boost it too much.

you will only be beating R/T charger in a straight line barely with a fully turboed base RX-8. go base if you are serious about racing/autox/light weightness, go GT if you want more luxury and leather interior, stay away from 04 i guess. ( i have an 04...) since u just recently graduated.. if you want to spoil yourself, why not just get an 09? the revised oil injector can only be a good thing for the engine.

remember, this is not a drag car.

Red Rex

iTrader: (1)

The RX8 shouldn't give you that many problems really. I got a used 05 and now nearly 37K miles with minor problems: my tail lights fog up from a broken seal, and a vacume line broke on me once upon a time. All the **** you hear about the reliability problems is from the RX7. if you want a lot of power definitly go FI. I'm saving up for the Esmeril kit. Check that out for sure. The Mazda Maniac turbo is supposed to be pretty awesome, the down side is you have to buy 2 turbochargers technically...

jones75254

iTrader: (2)

Have you even taken an RX-8 on a test drive yet??

All this talk about FI and power is great and all, but you may want to go get a closer look and feel for yourself before setting your mind on one thing. The balance, steering response, smooth acceleration and overall driving experience may just take your mind off that straight line power and turn you into a real racer! LOL, yes turning, braking, upshifting/downshifting, drifting is all very fun as well. Not to mention looking damn sexy while doing it.

ElvisC

Props for the best feedback :D

I think I mis-worded myself by sayign 1/4 monster. I would like something where I step on the gas and I smile. :D Like I do with my saturn right now but it's more of a "when am I going to pop a piston" type of deal with it right now.

I did graduate BUT i have very poor credit due to past medical problems (Battled Cancer from August 07 - December 07) I was working P/T and had no way to pay anything due to no income (I don't have a family besides my father and he helped me pay all of my co-pays and scripts for chemo)

I prefer used since buying a new car has too many cons to me ($$ wise)

My friend got a madza speed3 and I loved how that thing handled and my friends miata is the same. :D

But coming from an engineering view a 1.3L engine making 200+/- crank HP is pretty damn impressive.

MPG is not important since my commute to work is 1.5 miles round trip

edit: due to the high compression maybe N2O would be a better choice for F/I but filling the bottle and making sure the bottle is at a good pressure is annoying lol

double edit: My income is good too since I work at Hewlett Packard here in Houston. But my credit = fail

ShinkaTeen

Listen here ok.


you WILL buy an 06 or newer.

you WILL not argue about MPG.

you WILL love the rx-8.

you WILL not be as fast as an rx-7.

you WILL be more agile and sexier.

you WILL buy FI and THEN you will spank people in 1/4.

if you WILL listen to this You WILL get laid.

ALOT.

xsnipersgox

heh, my friend works at HP too, now here is the thing, ur commute IMHO, is too short for the rx-8, u'll barely get it up to working temperature driving less than a mile to work. move further away, drive the LONG way to work, or something, i bet you live in the apartment across from louetta like my friend does.

the rx8 will feel awsome, very different from miata and mazdaspeed 3, i personally like it better than those 2. however, you wanna drive a bit more than a mile whenever you start the engine. IMO living soo close to work i'd just get a 600 CC sports bike, save money for a used 09 rx8 or something. but used 06 is just as good.. just that short commute -.- maybe get a used 06 MT for weekend driving and get a 250 cc bike for work, i would never drive my rx8 for less than a mile lol.

oh, don't need to FI to make you smile, you WILL smile as you rev to 9000 rpm.

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

just keep in mind the RX is a little different from the saturn. You have to let this car warm up before driving off and make sure its warm before shutting it off and you must redline ONCE per day. Those things have kept my 'crappy 04' healthy all this time. So it may be a little bit of a hassle for a 1.5 mile commute. But Im sure it'll be worth doing

ElvisC

you sir win...forever




edit: I may be pretty set on the RX-8. For warming up and such i'm used to since I warm up my saturd to get the oil flowing through the turbo. Then once I get to work I let it sit for a minute to cool off the turbo (no water lines)

woot rx-8?

ghanaboy

This flooding issue is more with the 04's I think. I have an 06 and i've driven it for a mile before and it didn't flood on me. But maybe I'm just lucky.

MTLbroker

Get an RX-8. Have some fun. Don't be put off about high maintenance or unreliability. I had an 04 and never had any problems and never had to go out of my way to have it maintained. That car was a lot of fun. As for problems with the car...... well, there can be problems with any car.

dozer

iTrader: (3)

I JUST LOVE MY 8!!! EVERY SINGLE day i look out my window and i see it sitting there just BEGGING to be redlined, most of the time i just cant help myself and take it out for a spin, it REALLY is like a drug sooooo addicting, and everyday brings a smile to my face just knowing that I HAVE to drive it to work....I KNOW everyone on this forum will agree with me that this car is PURE FUN! and pure SEX!

dozer

iTrader: (3)

oh and nothing is REALLY wrong with drivin an 04 just make sure all recalls and maintenance were done properly and on time....i own an 04 and its only been PURE joy so far...

ElvisC

okay i'm pretty much set on RX-8.... so in a few months you'll see my annoying *** around here lol.

Colors I like: Black, Blue, and Silver....but more on the black side

05rex8

iTrader: (7)

2 turbos? no....you could actuall buy the greddy kit upgraded with everything you need except that crappy greddy turbo right from MazdaManiac. But since they are putting out a new kit (BHR/MM) I don't know if this is going to be available. I would think the new one is going to replace the upgrade for the greddy. BTW...BHR/MM FTW!!!

The RX-8

Go with blue... It's sweet. My black G35 is hard to keep clean and I'm sure it will be the same for your 8...

dozer

iTrader: (3)

yeah black seems to be the hardest to keep clean, those damn waterspot are sooo visible on black, i say get a red one.

rglbegl

The WWP came with extra HP!!!

Get the white one.