Yeah we all know if we had the funds we'd all get our sons a nice sporty car.

My dads first car was a zr1 corvette. And my grandparents weren't even that wealthy. My grandpa raced funny cars and its just in our family to own a sports car.

From what I can tell, OP is in fact too young and too immature to own an RX-8, despite his love for them.

However, I was the same way, obsessed over the thing, love it and cherish it as my own child. And that feeling does not go away. Still baby the car, for the most part, and being a very careful driver when I'm in it.

So I say just go for it. But not a Spirit-R, get a Grand Touring trim level RX-8. And as others have said, since you are anticipating getting a Spirit-R, then your parents must be buying it for you, so the insanely expensive maintenance and up keep won't be an issue. I just dropped $1K on tranny and clutch fixes and about 6 months before that had to get new spark plugs, ignition coils, wires, and the usual stuff. And tires cost $300 per and have to be special ordered from Michelin (OEM brand), so a set will run you $1,200. If the RX-8 you are going to get has more than 50,000 miles on it, get an extended warranty, you WILL use it at some point. As far as gas goes, 16 MPG always. Baby the car and granny shift @ 2K, 16. Redline it everywhere and cruise in 3rd on the freeway, 16. Just the way the car is. And premium ONLY (91+).

As far as performance and comfort, it is extremely comfortable as long as you're not flying over potholes at 30 MPH. The handling is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. Driving experience is so rewarding that even after 2 years of daily driving it, I still have a smile on my face when I get out. The performance is more than enough to get you killed or in jail. It might not seem like it but once you get above 4,000 RPM, the car really comes alive and you being new to sports cars, will make you fear for your life. If you ever unleash the beast, just do it on an abandoned road. And don't take the stability control off during the rain, the back end is happy to come out and play. I have enough experience with the car to be able to control the slide and recover from it, but speaking from more experience here, you will NOT be able to save it your first time. That is why I went sliding in a big parking lot at night when it was raining to get a feel for the limits of traction at different throttle and loads. I'd suggest you do the same.

The main point I'm trying to make is, don't be a complete moron with the car and be prepared for the wallet draining bills that will ensue.

Best of luck

Sorry for the late reply guys :) I've been working on an assignment and it's killing me!!

Was that picture for me? :/ yeah I'm buying it for sure. But there's still "work" to be done haha ;)

What? :O the 8 is smoother than a BMW. Cooool. Alright then. Guess the RX-8 is a pretty comfortable car. Are the noise levels high? Like compared to the BMW?

Yeah I'll be taking 4 in the car. Thanks for all the info :)

I'm not 16 sir. So you bought him one?

What's a GPA? :/
But you have an RX-8. He can always drive yours! :)

Names Bond, James Bond!

Yeah, it's definitely a GT car , especially if you buy the GT model with a 6speed auto trans, and don't mod it out.

I kept my 07 RX8 GT 6sp auto stock except for BHR ignition and fuel pump upgrade, is very quiet and smooth anywhere, and it will still do 0-60 in 7 seconds.

I even chase fast cars on the track, run 40psi hot in the tires, and don't even lower the pressure for the ride 400 miles home.

The auto is very quiet and smooth like any luxury sports car; just buy tires that are rated soft like Hankook Ventus V12's or Continental Extreme contact DW or DWS.

It's the tires and aggressive pavement surfaces that cause most of the noise. Go test one, don't take our word for it.

Wow. I feel the same. I love it soo much. And heck yeah I'll baby it! :D
Why are you suggesting a Grand Touring? Isn't the Spirit R better? :Wconfused to be completely honest, I HATE the series 2. To me, the series 1 looks waaaay better than the new one. The series 1 front end looked sooo good. The 5 spoke rims looked better. The red and black seats were sensational! Overall it looked just perfect. The only thing I like about the series 2 are the rear lights. They look striking with the LEDs. Not pretty. Striking. The series 1 rear lights, at least to me, looked pretty. If I can find a series 1 with low miles, I'll for sure get it. But it's hard to find a good one.

Whoa those tires are expensive. But I don't think I'll replace my tires. Ever haha. About mileage, great! That means there's nothing holding me back from revving it :D

Haha you're tempting me!! Comfortable AND fast. I knew this car was kinda like a GT. Yeah I've head that the handling is very good. It's a very balanced car huh?

Haha I won't be going close to the limit. I'll always keep the traction control on haha. I don't don't wanna crash it. I love it too much. Yes I know what you mean. I get scared when I floor my 3. And it takes 12 seconds to get to 60. TWELVE! So this car is going to be super fast for me!
Yeah I should find an abandoned ground and try doing it. I'll still feel sad and stop it thinking I'm stressing the wheels and axels hahahaha.

I'm crazy over this car right now!! I spend all my free time reading reviews and watching YouTube videos of it.

Speaking of craziness.... WHO ELSE GOT A HEART ATTACK WATCHING THIS???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?nomobile=1&v=rWQIOPeD9VM

DAIIMMMN! :D

BOND! OH YEAH! :D I had that in mind when I said this was a GT car. I know. I'm now drooling over the automatic. I know it's slightly slower but the shifts are always smooth (you don't have to work it to make it smooth like in the manual) and its more of a "luxury" type of car :) how responsive are the pedals? Haha and 40psi?? That's too much!

I wish I could test drive it. But Mazda dealers over here don't sell RX-8s :(
I got a ride in a friends R3 once. It was best ride of my life!! Period. But I couldn't check the ride quality coz I was scared to death Hahahahaha. He went pretty fast. I forgot about everything and started ooooh-ing and aaahh-ing haha :D

I doubt if an old mature person could enjoy this car. :)

Amen!

Ken

Um wtf did i just read?

You can buy whatever tires you want

You can buy much better tires for less than that

Your getting ripped off buddy

LOL i feel so sorry for you

Unless you like the OEM's, then good on you. That's your choice

Just want to ask. As an 18 year old how are you going to afford an RX-8 Spirit R?
As others have said YES you will need a good pocket book to maintain this car.
Seeing your post about the Mazda dealers not having RX-8's near you to test drive. You might want to make sure they have a qualified Mazda Tech on staff that is trained on the rotary engine if you don't know ask and find out before you purchase. (the dealer that i got mine from has two full service techs that only work on Matias and Rx-8s) if they don't and for some reason your engine starts acting up you could be waiting a long time to get your car back if its being repaired under warranty or they may have to sip it somewhere that can fix it.

And lastly more power to you its nice to see others that are enthusiastic of the rx-8 but please do not do anything stupid with your car like wrapping it around something. I am sure that there are plenty of tracks or places that are safe to race or have fun with your car.

good luck :ylsuper:

Did you read the thread?

He is shipping from either Japan or the UK

He won't have a warranty!!!

Ah must have missed that. LOL

Too much psi is relative. My first tires were Kuhmo SPT's - somewhat noisy, and 40 psi HOT worked on track.

The first set I bought was Hankook V12's 225/40r18 on a special for $100. each total. I ran 46 psi HOT the first fall and spring to get scrubbing up to the arrows on side. The V12's have hardened some in 2 years so 40 psi Hot works on track and you can feel wrinkles in the road, but still doesn't kill your back. That's same as 35 psi on a cold morning.

I'd recommend continental Extreme Contact for a light and soft tire, and they'll cost about $150-200. or you can buy cheap stuff like Achilles. I live in Indonesia half the year, and lament the fact I can't drive there because of squirelly traffic. So I come back to US to track.

In Sri Lanka, the RX8 is like an exotic car, and I'm not thinking you can drive it over 180 kph anywhere there anyway.

It's like driving a Kart, but very smooth , quiet and turbine like with the auto.

I don't have any issues with car except something was wrong with trans from new and the track burned it up at 3.5 years. 9Krpmrx8 helped me put on 18,800 btu cooler in place of grill and it takes 14 deg f out of system. It even keeps the engine slightly cooler. WE put up a DIY on this site which you need in hot Sri Lanka along with 0w40 or 15w40 oil.

Nisaja,

So how much will a Japan model cost you?

How are the taxes?

In Singapore they SELL you a permit for I think 5 years, and then, your car is considered junk or expensive to keep if you fight it.

In Malaysia and Singapore I think they don't allow junk yards or sales of used parts.

You know the drill, corrupt officials "protect the citizens" by not allowing "unsafe used parts" (So the dealers make a killing).

How does some of that corruption work in Sri Lanka. In indonesia you can buy a nice Toyota van for about $13,000. , but if you get a slightly upgraded model it's like $40,000. That's to allow middle class to buy, but if you have excess money for nice car like RX8 it might be $70,000. over there.

My parents are buying it for me sir. I'm up for the naintainance. it's all good. I know this car is expensive to run. I'm ready for it. I did all my research before making the choice :)
The Mazda dealers over here DO take in RX-8s for repairs. But I head that they're doing a poor job. There are lots of tuning shops in Sri Lanka. They have guys who know about rotaries.

Haha don't worry. I won't :) I'm a responsible driver. I drive slowly haha. Yeah we have tracks. But I wont be going haha.

I didn't get a thing you said about tires haha. I don't know much about tires. I doubt I'll change the tires mine. I won't be doing a lot of miles in it. I've been using my current car for 4 years and it's still using stock tires. They're Yokohama A'Spec. Didn't do research on them. Are they good?

Oh yeah it's definitely an exotic over here. An RX-8 here is like a Ferrari 458 in the US. People drool over it, take pictures when it's parked. It's crazy haha. But I can drive it over 200km on the freeway. I'll do that maybe once a year haha.
Yeah it's so smooth. Like a luxury sports car. That's what I like about it. Heck, that's why I'm buying it. I don't want to rice it like the other guys. I want to keep it stock. No fancy body kits or huge wings. I just want to cruise and have a relaxing drive... and floor it when I want to overtake haha :D

Uhhhh what's 14deg? Didn't check out the DIY part of this site. I'll check it out. Thanks for all the information :D

Well, I found some Spirit Rs in Japan and they're around $40,000. They also have less thank 600 miles done so they're fairly new. All prices are in USD.

Taxes over here are 200% for normal cars. Since this is a RX-8 (rare) and it has a rotary, it MIGHT get the luxury car tax. Another 100%. So that's a total of 300% tax.

Well we do have permits but they don't sell them. They give 'em :) we can keep the car for as long as we like. But there are import regulations. A car cannot be older than 3 years to import... that sucks.

Haha same story but here, ALL cars are expensive. A 2004 corolla would cost around $30,000 (USD).

A new RX-8 would cost well over $100,000

I do like the OEM Michelin Pilot Sports. They're solid tires and in my opinion, Michelin is the best tire manufacturer there is. But that is just my opinion and preferences, to each their own.

The point about gas mileage I was trying to make wasn't about encouraging you to rev the balls off it, it was to prove that it gets terrible gas mileage no matter how you drive it.

About the GT vs. Spirit-R; I was suggesting you get a Grand Touring spec RX-8 as opposed to one of the few hailed Spirit-Rs that will be in existence. It is a more track oriented car than the regular RX-8s are, but with you being in experienced it would be the smarter choice. I know this isn't what you want to hear and that my voice will fall on deaf ears (I was the exact same way before I got my RX-8), but the car really will be more than enough to keep you happy for a LONG time. I will have had my RX-8 for 2 years on the 30th, and she still can catch me off guard with a little bit too much throttle. And this is coming from an experienced driver, as a new driver you will not be able to control the car as well. But the best teacher is experience.

The whole deal that people say about maturity is this: its not about age, or driving skill, or knowledge, or any of that. Maturity with cars, is about restraint. Being able to not floor it on an open stretch of road, but rather just enjoy the ride.

My previous statement stands, just buy the damned car! You will absolutely adore it! Just be smart when you are behind the wheel.

I don't know... When my dad test drove mine he kinda giggled because the car was so much fun.

I guess they do "give" you a permit if the import tax is $120,000! LOL

My 07 RX8 is my dream car, but I only paid $32,500. 5 1/2 years ago.

The dealership is across the street, but I've only spent $50. there for a spare valet key.

I wouldn't say the maintenance costs more than a regular car unless you let the dealership rip on you.

I see. 16MPG. Its ok I guess. MPG isn't an issue. If I run out of cash to fill it up, I'll bite the bullet and just take the bus haha :D Sure I'll have a hard time. But at least the car will be safe :)

Oh yeah. I get what you mean. Ill be using this as a GT car ;) so I'd love a bit more comfort. There are 3 reasons why I'm selecting a Spirit R. 1) low mileage. 2) they're new 3) it's a pretty rare car. All I've seen are promotional pictures of it. Apparently nobody has one outside Japan (I haven't seen any). I've searched the web and only found 2 YouTube videos of it.

It's been 2 years? Awesome!! How's the experience?

Yeah I won't be able to control it. I'll probably keep the Traction Control off haha. Whenever I see a straight road, the temptation to flow it is unbearable. But I don't always do it. It'll one ok :)

My dad is waiting to drive it!! He loves the way it looks :D

Man you're so lucky. Brand new RX :D
Oh, the RX-8 comes with a valet key?? Coool!

Guys, as the RX-8 ages, do the interior panels start to rattle when going over bumps or rough roads?? We have a Swift and the door panels rattle when going over rough roads and it's sooo anoying. It's not big. Just a small constant rattle. it adds up to the road noise in weird way. I hope you guys know what I'm talking about :)

Buy the damn car and call it a day already...

^^
Agreed.

You've been talking about it for 4 pages already. You've done your research. Your minds already set. We know your 100% percentage sure your set on buying it. Now shut up. Buy it. Post pictures. Post comments. And call it a day. Whenever that happens.