Possibly purchasing a 04 RX-8..opinions?
 

hello everyone, my name is Jordan and i am frequent poster over at cobaltss.net and a current owner of a 07 Cobalt SS. ive done pretty much everything except forced induction (header/downpipe/ehxaust/intake/tune so forth) to my vehicle. i was pretty pissed off at the resaults so needless to say i am looking at something with better handeling and more potental.

how it sits right now, my car is on par for speed (straight line driving) as a rx-8, however when it comes to autocross the rx-8 would obviously be better.

my buddy got a rx-8 in to his dealership this weekend, its a 04 with 88,000 KM's, 6 speed, grey, two tone interior and some gay aftermarket rims.

the outside seems mint..inside no ware so its a all around good looking clean car.

they are selling it for 11,777 but brought it in for 9,000

there are a few questions i have, like warrenty..i have read that mazda extended their warranty..is this for any rx-8? or do they have to be purchased new? also what is it like to maintane these cars because i am a college student and wouldnt have enough money to rebuild a rotary lol

anyways, any input is good input..i know 04's are the first year so i am kind of scared...


heres some pics of my car.
http://cobaltss.net/gallery/files/1/...7/img_0093.jpg
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k...9/IMG_0075.jpg

The warrenty is for all the 04's.

Test drive it.

RX 8 handles but is not too fast.

yeah, i have raced a few in my cobalt (track) and have managed to beat them due to better reaction times.

im not really looking for a car that will do well at the drag strip..ive done that for a few years now and its not as exciting..i want to venture into autocross and time trails.

Hey Jordan, welcome to our little corner of the world.

You'll find that the 8 is a fantastic handling car but much like the Cobalt it becomes quite difficult to increase hp in an cost effective manner.
intake / exhaust might get you 5-10 hp (max), There's only a few different headers out there and haven't seen too many dyno sheets for them.

Drive the car, see what you think of it and I'm pretty confident youi'll be impressed.

well its winter here..im from winnipeg manitoba...lots of snow haha so no extensive road test for me:(


how do these respond to forced induction? me and my good friend (who build a beastly miata/roadster (a Right hand drive miata)) were investing the topic of turbocharging it if i were to purchase it.

im fimilar to what it takes to make my current car power and how well the LE5 (my 2.4L engine) reacts to F/I...but how do these cars react?

and im also guessing extensive tuning and mapping needs to take place..do internals need to be upgraded?


---Edit--- i said lower comp pistions..ha..ha.

also how did this car do around the ring in germany?

tuning is definitely an option and fortunately Cobb Tuning has released an AccessPort that can reprogam the stock PCM with any given calibrations you seek.

Mazdamaniac is the preferred AP tuner around these parts. The AP also does much more; it lowers the temps at which the fans come on, increases oil metering pump (remember, the rotary needs to burn oil to lubricate the apex seals on the rotors), masks certain CEL lights, etc etc. Not to mention he can lean out the AFR's a bit to squeeze out some added HP.
The AP is a great buy because if you do go FI, you've already got the fuel management of things taken care of, just a case of getting an additional map from MM.

As for upgrading internals: not much to upgrade in the engine as she's a tough little engine already.

let me get a link for you taht EVERY potential owner should see....

be right back

found it! Top Gear reviews the RX-8

i think if you have a fairly new car that you've already modded you'd be a fool or an idiot to trade/sell it in this fiscal environment especially. you wont get the money you want from the cobalt.

there must be some suspension swaps you can do with the ss to get the handling sorted for allot less than you'd lose selling the car and the building an 8.

your asking about warranty while contemplating FI?

so let me get this right, you have a cobalt ss... (the ss is the supercharged version) and you have not just put a smaller pully on it? Im thinking your car isnt really the ss (supercharged) if your complaining about this. That car has potential to be alot quicker then a stock rx8 for very little money (buy the gm stage 2 kit, upped boost, retune, bigger injectors ect for like 800 bucks and you keep you warrenty)

^ I believe there is the SS (N/A) and the SS Supercharged

yeah like i said i have the 2.4L LE5, the supercharged cobalts have a 2.0L LSJ. trust me i know those engines like the back of my hand..i spend alot of time on cobaltss.net (over 13000 posts). its pretty much were i learned about cars.

the rx-8 is going to work out to be cheaper then my lease payment on my cobalt..even with the negative equity i will absorb. thats the main reason behind me doing this.


also...i was in a accident..my passenger side door got fucked up, the dealership will take my car as is and deal with insurence so i dont have to. that and i need a car asap.

do what you want.

but i'll tell you that the koni challenge cobalts are at the top and the rx8s are mid pack competitively.

but if you are doing this to save money, make sure you do your calculations correctly.

and why didnt your buddy just sell you the car directly?

because its his cousin that owns the dealership

and the cobalts that win the koni challenge are the SS Supercharged..mine is not supercharged..trust me i have tried everything except forced induction and my car has shown poor resaults.

for a rx-8 website you guys really dont promote your cars to well :lol:

we just don't want uniformed people buying an rx8 and THEN complaining about the car or asking questions.

it's a niche market.. you can leave everything else behind.

honestly i think these cars are sexy..im ready to "mature" in the vehcile world.

and the potental is much more then my cobalt.

and the price is good.

The potential for handling, not speed.

ive established this already...i dont want to race in a straight line anymore

congrats, just be ready for every mustang driver telling you your car is slow

haha i get that already.

best is when those new gen v6 ones talk shit, even my cobalt can rape them

This statement is very true.

However, every single 1/4 mile drag queen mustang/camaro/vette/trans am owner that I have taken for a ride in my car was scared shitless afterwards.

The RX8 is a great sports car in its habitat :)

nice.

speaking of corvettes, how hard is it to make a rx-8 "handel" better then one in a autocross? my father picked up a 01 C5 and i would just like to know what it takes to compete with them.


and since we are on the topic, what does the average F/I rx-8 run in the 1/4 mile..now obviously there are soo many options to F/I..so lets say the average greddy kit?

greddy kit is junk.

an RX-8 with a full track suspension: coilovers, swaybars, strut bars, and proper alignment should do VERY well against a vette as long as there's no big straight on the course. Othewise that Vette will make up time on you QUICKLY. :)