New owner: 60 day report
 

Hi all,

In February I purchased a 2010 R3 (Blue). I've since put 2k miles on it, and figured I'd give my impressions. First, about me:

Age: 32
Car use: Pleasure and light commuting
Cars owned in the past 10 years:

2010 VW CC
2008 Mazdaspeed3
2005 WRX
1992 Corvette LT1
1999 BMW 323is
1987 RX-7

When I purchased this car, I had no intention of looking at the RX8. I was actually looking to pick up a new Speed3. I got the VW last year as I was doing more city commuting, and when that changed I wanted to go back to something more sporting. I loved my Speed3, so that was the plan.

I didn't like the RX8 when it was introduced. There, I said it. I thought the doors were kitschy, and I am immediately thrown off by anything with fake air scoops and vents. It was also a bit too busy with the triangles. So I never bothered to drive one.

This time around I had narrowed my choices to the Speed3, 370z, and Mini S. While milling around at the Mazda dealer, I took a look at the 2010 R3. I hadn't looked at RX8s since they first came out, and wasn't aware of the styling changes. IMO, then GenII looks much more sorted out (especially in R3 trim). So I took it for a ride.

While the Speed3 offered more seat of the pants fun (and power) the R3 just felt a bit better. More sporting, even with the decrease in power. And I'm a sucker for a rotary, I love just pulling along far past the point that the sound tells you to shift. Good times. So I worked out a good deal and brought it home.

After 2k miles:

The Good:

*Love that rotary. It's why I bought it, duh.

*Exterior styling is fantastic

*Reasonably practical (rear seats)

*Reasonably priced (paid $26k with xm)


The Bad (and yes I knew about some of it before I bought it):

*Gas mileage

*Adding oil

*Warm ups

*Handling - ok, either I'm a terrible driver, or the tires are terrible, or something is amiss. The rear tires break free. Constantly. A car like this should easily be able to negotiate a 90 degree turn at 25-30mph without the rear end sliding out and engaging the DTC. Hell, my VW CC could do it. But not the RX8. It's a juggling act to keep the rear wheels planted. They even scoot to the side during hard straight line acceleration, and there is no way they should with this little torque. Anyone have thoughts on this?

*Interior - a bit tacky. Love the Recaros, but the dash is just blech. They could have at least put something in the lower half of the "circle" aside from the clock buttons (which make you think there should be a clock right above them). Busy button interfaces interspersed with acres of piano black. Just not a huge fan. Also, the center console is just cumbersome. I've got to turn around completely to access the compartment, and I've taken to not even bothering with the cup-holders that are right where I put my arm while shifting. Since the center console is useless, they should have located the glove box button all the way to the driver's side for easy opening access, but it's just a hair out of reach without stretching. Could have been done better. Oh, and that little change holder is pointless. Make it big enough to hold cigarettes at least. (or a wallet, if you're not a smoker).

Sum Up:

I bought this car thinking it would fill my current needs: Fun car with the option of seating 4 and bringing packages to the post office a few times a week, with the occasional track day or ride through the hill country. And it does that. But after only 2 months I've realized that perhaps I've gone the wrong route. There is no "perfect" car for all occasions, and I've used the RX8 to get as close to it as I can. But it's not enough (at least not yet). It's a good sport car, and a good passenger car, but it doesn't appear to excel in either of these categories.

If I had to do it over again, I'd have saved up for a few more months and bought a Noble, keeping the VW for passengers and packages. I learned a long time ago that there is no magic motorcycle that fits all my needs (which is why I own multiple) and if the RX8 isn't the answer for cars, then I don't think there is one south of the pricetag of a Quattroporte or similar.

All that said, I'll certainly hang onto the RX8 for a while and see if it grows on me. Especially if someone can tell me how to keep the damned rear in line! :fingersx:

Try the same corner with your dsc off, the dsc kicks in even before your technically breaking loose. I'd be willing to bet that it will hold the corner just perfectly. (just in case make sure there is no traffic lol)

Not to bash you, but maybe you just aren't used to a good handling car? You're over/under-steering too much?
This car is renowned for it's handling.
click the button closer to the steering for proper handling
http://usera.imagecave.com/boffam/DSCN1965.JPG

What tires do you have on and what pressure? And at what point in the turn are you applying gas? Obviously the CC wouldn't do this, it's a FWD or AWD depending on what you have.

That is pretty weird about the rear end. You've driven RWD, so I imagine you have a pretty good idea how to turn in and everything. Coming from only FWD, it was a bit of time before I really figured out what the 8 likes.

I might not be used to fast cars, but I think the 8 is the perfect blend of sports and passenger type cars. I think Mazda did a really good job of getting the car to do many things at once, and do them all pretty well. Is it the most super at everything? Obviously not.


Sorry you aren't blown away by the car. I know I was. Maybe it will grow on you. This is my (practical) dream car, so I probably have a bit more bias towards it.

-I've driven my fair share of both performance and RWD cars (see "prior cars" in the thread) so I'd like to think it's not all user error, though I accept that the car needs to be gotten used to. Those are just the cars I've owned for over a year, I've driven many performance cars over the years in addition.

-I'm running the stock tires at factory recommended pressure

-I've noticed a tendency of the car to under-steer just a bit in tight corners, so I may be overcompensating by too much steering input + too much throttle to try and correct it. I'd rather have the rear swing out in a controlled manor than have the front slide out. If that were the end of it, I'd just correct my driving to suit the car. It's more the losing rear traction in low speed corners and off the line that has me flummoxed. I mean, it really shouldn't be sliding to the side while accelerating in a straight line, not with what it puts down at the rear. Perhaps the tires are a bit dodgy from sitting on the dealer's lot for a year....

2010 VW CC
2008 Mazdaspeed3
2005 WRX
1992 Corvette LT1
1999 BMW 323is
1987 RX-7


^ All those cars are nice!

Just take care of the car, it'll take care of you. It might be your last car to own :)

My series I tends to understeer a bit on the long sweepers. Reduce the tire pressure up front, and it should help a bit with that.

I've only had my 05 for a couple of months but I find it weird that you're experiencing understeer when cornering at 25 mph. I find that the front of this car goes wherever I want it to, and the back end isn't too unpredictable. I haven't been to a track yet, but I have tried to explore the limits on open roads and i know that I have never gotten close to the limit. I've only experienced serious oversteer once in the wet. IMO this car handles like a dream. I can't drive any of our other cars without feeling like Im in a boat.

the engine torque comes in very aggressively, also with the LSD rear diff, its very easy to kick the tail out.
just something you need to get used to. the DSC on the rx8 is also very sports car setting allowing you to have the tails sliding out.
your CC with its most FWD will never do that.

i hope you warm up to rx8, i was in the same boat you are in. i had a RX8 r3 ( back) and had to get rid of it. i just wanted something with a little more power, and room for improvement.

To the OP: you're describing the behaviour of a car tuned for neutral cornering, not the piggish understeer of just about any other car sold today. For this we should all be grateful.

I just started to do Autocross and on the rookie school day it was pouring rain. When it came time to do the skidpad I was amazed how fast I could go before it's tail or front gave up grip. I have an 07 sport so no traction control. I can't believe that the S2 could be that much worse. I'm running completely stock with riken raptor tires it came with at dealer. The handling blew me away.

P.s. the styling on the S2 IMO is worse. I love the mean look of my front compared to the Smiley face fronts of all new Mazda's. And all the vents are functional on the S1. There's a sticky somewhere explaining the fender vents. I also prefer the S1 interior especially the steering wheel. I do agree with you on the center console cupholders.

I have a 2009 S2, and I agree with all this. I wish I could have a S1 with the S2 mechanical upgrades !

I'm not sure I understand the OP's issue with warm ups. I wouldn't redline any car before it gets to normal operating temperature, and I don't think it's a good idea to do extended warm ups at idle, as these motors have enough problems with carbon build up as it is.

Regarding the handling, I've never heard any indications that the S2 handling is worse than the S1, both being reported as being virtually ideal in every road test I've ever seen. The rear suspension mods on the S2 were supposed to improve handling (and probably ground clearance in back). All I know personally is that I have barely even touched on the adhesion limits of my car, except in the rain where it was still very predictable and controllable. It is NEVER a juggling act, even with the mediocre OEM Dunlop tires (can't wait until they are worn out).

Mine is using a quart of oil every 3,000 miles, and has been averaging about 23 mpg. Both consumptions are better than expected, so no complaints there.

All cars handle different and take different driving styles when going into a corner. Just because one has experience with a variety of cars doesn't mean that they know how to drive any car they get into right off the bat. It takes experience to adjust your driving style to suit the car, the car doesn't suit every person's style out of the box.

Coming from a racing background I find most people are easily confused when they think they're oversteering (rear end swings out) coming off a corner when in fact the real cause is not oversteering, it's understeering. If you feel tight entering a corner, and come off loose then it's the understeering causing the problem. Try changing your approach to a corner with the angle of attack and the timing of the gas. It's all about finesse with this car.

Not consuming much oil isn't necessarily a good thing. You might want to premix a bit to get more oil in the combustion chamber.

Well my thought on that is if he gets 23 MPG he maybe "babies" the engine? Never really driving it hard. Don't you get more oil squirted in the engine at higher rpm? Would explain both numbers.

1. Have you check your alignment?

2. If you car is new, did the dealer remove the whatever packaging/stopper, etc at the shock/springs area?

3. 50/50 weight distribution means its just as easy to induce both understeer and oversteer depending on your input. (Not saying you are a bad driver, maybe u just need to adapt a new driving style if you come from a more understeering prone car.

I've never had the rear end slide around going in a straight line unless its pouring rain. I had the stock dunlop 2050 tires and they were the worst tires I have ever had on a car.

I do get some slight sliding taking tight corners but its the perfect amount of sliding on a tight corner that brings the rear in line with the front. You can feel the car pivot around the corner and its just awesome. When I first got the car I was more aggressive with the gas on turns and corners and had some more sliding rear end sliding but over time I learned how to drive it so that would not happen. Give it a bit and I'm sure you will see what needs to be done.

I don't really have a problem with the warm up though. Just wait for the first bar to go away and then drive off, doesn't take very long at all. Every car I have ever owned I have let warm up a bit before a drive and then all the way before I really drove it. No different with this one.

I love the interior of the car, I think it looks great. I like the exterior of the old ones better though.

With the 3rd oil injectors, the S2 motors are supposedly using less oil due to better oil distribution / coverage. But, to be on the safe side, I've been premixing with Idemitsu since the motor had 1,000 miles on it. Also, it's an automatic, which has much higher gearing in 5th & 6th than the manuals, so the motor is turning much slower when cruising on the highway, so lower oil consumption.

I don't like the Dunlops either, but I've never had any stability issues either in corners or straight-line. I'm looking forward to putting on some Michelins or Continentals when the Dunlops wear out (which can't happen fast enough, but I keep trying).

The dunlops have done pretty decent in the dry I guess, but when it rains even a bit they are horrible. They have never given me any real issue when cornering or just going from a stop, but the goodyear eagle gt's I bought are much better tires I think. They are for sure better in the rain because they have half the tire dedicated to getting rid of the water, where the dunlops seem to have none of the tire for the rain based on look at the tread.

Makes sense. Didn't think about that... Haha

Alright, so today I'm entering a shallow right hander, and I downshift into 2nd (to about 7k rpm) and the rear end literally jumps the the left. Almost spun the car. Again, I'm willing to admit user error, but it's getting almost scary to take corners at anywhere near the speed I'm used to.

There is also a low rumbling noise (not the exhaust) coming from the rear as I let off the clutch in first and second gear. Comments?