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.

 

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

 

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.