New RX8 owner
 

Hello, I just purchased my a 2004 RX8, my first rotary powered car. I am excited to be joining the cult of magic spinning triangles.

The car is a Lightning Yellow GT with 62,000 miles on it. I have been looking at these cars for over a year and after a few false starts with cars with poor compression I think I have found a good one. I paid $9,000 because of a few issues like a cracked windshid, ac that needs fixing, and a air bag light. The car just had the plugs, wires,coils and cat replaced.

My previous car obsession was old Mercedes Diesels, and it is amazing to drive a car with a 0-60 time in the single digits. I did all of my own work on my Mercedes and plan to do as much as I can on the 8.

This forum was a big help to me while searching for a car, and I'm sure it will be even more helpful now. Thanks, -Bryan

Congrats and throw up pics when ya can.

Lol. Anyway, welcome to the club and post pics please.

Welcome! Put some pics up when you can ^^

Pictures! Note to self: don't park in tall grass, the cat/exhaust system singed the grass. :SHOCKED:

Nice! I almost bought a lightning yellow when I was looking.. It sure is a sexy color!

Thanks! It was yellow or nothing for me, so I was stuck with '04s

Welcome to the forum. Which Mercedes model(s) have you owned? I would love to have a 240D myself.

I have had about 10 of them including 240Ds 300Ds and a 300SD (S class). My daily driver before I got the 8 was a 240D with a stick shift, 300D turbo engine, air/water intercooler and variable geometry turbo.

I took the car in for a compression test this weekend. Looks like my old style starter is on it's last legs, it only cranks at 186 rpm. :(

Here are the results at 186 rmp and (converted to 250 rpm) in PSI

#1
port 1 83 (105)
port 2 78 (100)
port 3 80 (102.5)

#2
port 1 82 (104)
port 2 74.5 (97)
port 3 81 (104)

Not great, but not too bad except for the one reading on #2. I may have them re-test it in January just before the extended warrenty is up. What do you guys think?

At least I got this awsome T-shirt for $5

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1313383724

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1313383743

Like you, I am new to rotary, and new to this forum. I have been doing exhaustive reading on here and other sites to learn everything I can before I buy - which I am planning to do some time between December and February.
I have read through all the new buyer sections and a lot of early DiY's and all kind of stuff.. I cant wait to get my hands on one of these things. Took one for a test drive for the first time the other day. Was way too short and I didn't even get to show it any corners :(

I was gonna ask, though, when you said you had a couple of false starts on other cars in the beginning, what did you mean?

I am looking to puck up a manual in white, red or black, probably '06 or '07 with 40-70k/km's on it, and I still have a lot of learning to do. What kids of things did you come across when you were looking?

I was looking at 04s and 05s which are more prone to engine problems. One car I was looking at from a used car lot seemed to drive fine, but had a bit of a hard time hot starting. I took it to the dealer for a pre-purchase inspection and compression check and it turned out to have a bad engine. The used car lot manager blew up when I told him the results and needless to say I walked away.

You should have an easier time with a newer model. Mazda seemed to have sorted the engine by then, and the extended warranty still has a few years left on them.

Hope this helps.

Any input on the compression numbers? How accurate is the rpm correction? I have a smooth idle, no hot start issues and good power, should I just not worry about it?

Welcome.