Blowing an engine is one thing, having it fail randomly is another. Once you turbocharge an engine that was never designed to be turbocharged all expectations of reliability are gone. My car any many others ran mid 14's bone stock and I have seen dozens of RX-8's make in the 190-200WHP range at dyno days unless something is wrong so I'm not sure where you are getting your info from. And fast is subjective, with the right driver a slow car will be a fast car with a rookie driver every time.

The RX-8 is not a 1/4 bruiser and was never intended to be one. It is a 1.3L engine afterall......

You are nothing but a butt hurt tried to turbo and RX-8 and failed wannabe. I have met many like you, they half *** it and then blame the car,

 

dare to dream. And yes, I have sex with my 8 every day all day and I fricking love it and can't get enough of it

 

You need to calm down and re-read my response to you. I clearly said "by your standards" not mine. It's a little bigoted to call others stupid when you're the one making those statements towards others since most members are not on their original engine.

 

It's must have, not must of, Einstein.

 

I forgot I'm on a car forum. Sorry everyone for not expecting my opinion to be responded to with physical threats, red herrings, ad hoc attacks and barely readable posts due to grammar and spellings errors.

Edit: And no stock rx8 ever made 200rwp

 

Yes we can, the onus would be on you to prove that no sports car is reliable because you're the one making that claim.

 

This car made just over 200WHP later in the day. This car was stock except for an intake and catback (which generally add very little HP), it had 30,000 miles on it and all they did was install new coils and plugs.



Plenty of bone stock RX-8's make high 190's, I have seen it many times. Not that there is a real difference barely crossing the 200WHP mark but still. And of course you have to take dyno results with a grain of salt.

Oh and my buddies Darrell Drummond built engine made 268HP on the engine dyno NA. Lot's of things are possible if you are willing to pay.

 

Oh, here we go, he's dropping wealth and status on the internet.

 

In my "condo" aka apartment,

 

If that's supposed to impress, there are plenty of despicable people flush with cash.
Even if it is true, your response is shallow and crass.
You are the odd man out here.
Most of us are enthusiasts who love our cars, you're in the minority here, and wasting your time.

 

Guys, Von has a 4 port auto, turbocharged it and failed, tried selling the car, tried trading the car, and now it selling just the turbo kit.

I have seen so many like him come and go, they go turbo without the ability or knowledge to do so properly and then when it fails they talk about what a piece of **** it is and how they are going to buy something fast and reliable.

And on top of that he wants us to think he is baller yet he drives a 10 year old 4 port auto RX-8 in the first place.

 

It was in direct response to his clam that I must have a boring life. So it was appropriate and witty imo.

I sorta like the car too and drive it every day. But what I don't do is make claims that aren't true. Now that is cleared up I'll be departing on with my life outside of the car world as I have so many other hobbies and goals in life. Thanks everyone for your input and wish you a long lasting rotary. Knock on wood.

 

seriously. Im a girl and even I drive a manual and work on my own car. I'll smoke him in reverse any day in my bone stock 8. And then put his *** in my trunk and go drifting rofl

 

Well, this is what happens when you tell a bunch of people who love their cars that their car is not that good and that the engine sucks. People respond emotionally. I thought this would stir up the beehive but, damn...

BTW the point of the original video is that you need to premix to make the rotary last. Some people, in their responses, seemed to claim that you can get >100k on an S1 renny by simply keeping the oil topped off. No pre-mixing or any additional preventative maintenance (such as replacing coils before they fail). I don't believe this is true, and doesn't exactly work for SII either. I am curious if to see examples of people who followed only the basic owner's manual maintenance and got > 100k, but this thread will probably get locked soon.

For the record, I have been totally satisfied with my car, and believe the extra maintenance is worth it.

 

I don't owe you a damn thing, I'm here for the laughs. Also you got the wrong guy.

 

Lol why are you guys fuelling this clown? This guy is begging for confrontation. You can't argue with stupid, stupid always wins. Von, you don't like the rotary, we get it. Go to the civic forums where you can post about never having to do maintenance on your car, and you can arrange schedules with other civic drivers on who will pick up the kids from soccer practice next.

 

I have an 05 I bought new with almost 147K miles on it now. Daily driven until the last month when I picked up an 09 R3. I premix and change the oil every 3K miles. Other service has been per owners manual. Switched to BHR coils about 3 years ago after a stock coil failure. Engine is original, never been rebuilt. Have to say I agree with the video that premixing helps reliability. Previous owner of my R3 premixed and I plan to continue doing so. I have the R3 now because I liked my 05 so much. In fact, I've been dragging my feet putting the 05 up for sale because I still like driving it.

 

I feel you, not getting an R3 or SII GT as a daily driver has been tough. But I have not gotten one yet because I know if I do I will want to go crazy with it and that wouldn't be good,

 

Let's have von bring any "fast" car he wants to a circuit track. I won't even have to embarrass him myself. Most of the Miata guys there will do it for me.

 

73k first engine, 5 winters (many days below 0), daily driven all its life.

Von, its pointless to argue that this is a family oriented car. Sure it has some features for that (did you really quote the backseat? Its stupidly tiny) but no headliner car is meant for that. These cars are truly made for enthusiasts and you have to want to take care of it. The people who buy it but know nothing about rotary engines end up giving the car a bad reputation because they simply don't get it.

I will use my prime example. A woman in my friends neighborhood was jogging and stopped when I had my hood open talking to said friend. She said she had owned that exact car once (lol, no but ok) and it was the worst thing that ever happened to her. She went through 3 engines in 20k miles. At this point, I did not sympathize with her because I knew she was a moron when it comes to cars. At some point, you have to man/woman up and take the blame. One can give up, rebuild, or go big. Most people care too much about their money and will choose the first option and then whine about lost time/money.

Long story short, we have heard it before, and you will get no sympathy from us.

 

The first time I went to Austin Driveway a 17 year old in a spec Miata was embarrassing everyone. The day there was an older 911 Turbo track car, my buddies M Coupe (he is a great driver too), a Cobra Replica, and a Mustang. All the cars would blast past him on the straights, the cars would go out of sight, and then the Miata would come back into view first,

Since then I have seen the scenario many times, especially in autox. We have a local guy (parmer8) with a pretty basic RX-8 with hoosiers and he beats just about everyone, including purpose built autox cars. Same with another local with a stock looking supercharged Miata.

 

It's interesting to see people complain and stuff about these cars. I purchased a 2004 RX-8 6 speed manual from my aunt. She bought the car new in 2004. She owned a 1979 and then a 1990 RX-7 (both purchased new) The RX-7s both had well over 100,000 miles when she traded them in. The 1990 had over 150,000 miles on it. All of these RX cars were on their original engine. She's heard horror stories, etc, but she's never experienced an engine failure. She drove the RXes like they are meant to be driven.. HARD! She wasn't afraid to redline every now and then. My RX-8 has 66,000 miles on it, and has the original engine. I don't know the compression numbers, but it doesn't flood, or stall, and always starts right up regardless if the engine is warmed or cold.

That being said, she did keep the RX-8 up on maintenance. New plugs, wires, coils, fluid changes, tires, and immediately addressed any issues that popped up.

I love the car, and I also love working on cars and getting dirty. I feel more connected and proud after fixing something or working on something, so the RX-8 should be ideal.

 

Funny how auto journalists love, yes love the Renesis - and the handling it makes possible - while so many here think otherwise. Their strong feelings and thoughts about the car - and its engine - happen to match mine. Oh and pay special attention to what they all have to say about the rotary's "flawed design"!



Life After 8000 RPM: Lotus Elise and Mazda RX-8 - Automobile Magazine

The Best-Handling Car in America for Less Than $100,000 Comparison Tests - Page 6 - Car and Driver

 

This is why I love this forum so much, soo many varied and "colorful" opinions

All I will say is that I've blown one engine on mine, after begin the 2nd owner and 51k miles later on a Mazdmart reman installed at JPR in NJ, she is a gas guzzling, joy of a car that I just LOVE to drive (even with the low rpm starter!!).

Maxine (that's what I call her) does need an extra touch. I don't push her until she's fully warmed up. She gets premixed often, and I take extra care to listen out for any weird noises or sounds. Recently I had a clogged cat, had I not noticed, I could have easily blown the engine. This forum has helped me through that and many other situations (just like probetalk.com did when I had my mx-6).

In the end, my assumption is that this is a forum for rx-8 enthusiasts. If you don't like the car and all it's flaws, I won't judge you, flame you, or question your life choices. Sell that car, part it out, burn it to a crisp, do as you please and look for another car that could hopefully meet your expectations.

I wish von and all others who have had less than desirable experiences with their rx-8's all the best!!!

 

This car is designed for people that appreciate driving dynamics ahead of brute power. It really shines at the track and more than keeps up with expensive exotics.

If you buy this car as a daily commuter then you may be disappointed due to the low torque.

My car 2003 model car has 100 000 plus on the original engine, supercharged for the last 4 years and done close to 100 track days. For me it has been reliable and I only premixed for less than a year during its life.

I must say that the Mazda should not have produced an auto version of the car as most of the failures will relate to auto models.