No, I think your comparison against the Vette is a good one. It's got a tremendous power plant and makes better economy which begs the question: where does the inefficiency come from? Does the rotary engine have an instrinsic design flaw in it's power:fuel economy ratio? Can it be solved in later vehicles?

Who knows? Personally, the RX8 is worth it despite the fuel costs. I use 87 Shell and it runs flawlessly. The difference in cost between a 17mpg car and a 24 mpg car isn't that dramatic in actuality. The handling, the feel, the style, etc make it worthwhile in my opinion. I've had the car for 2 years now, and I don't regret it at all.

As for the rest of you ******...

He's on the fence about the car. He recognizes a weak spot on the vehicle and wants to discuss it. Would you REALLY have been happier if he'd dug up an old mpg thread and added his thoughts and concerns there? I highly doubt it.

Please take your omfgampgthread comments and shove them up your respective asses.

Thank you and have a nice day
-mgmt

 

Torque.

You'll probably shift an LSx at 2500RPM, you can get away with much lower. You'll cruise in 6th at 1500RPM. The damn thing is running practically at idle. Try cruising down the highway at 1500RPM in a rotary; you'll get nowhere fast.

 

Practically all my driving is city . I think people who are thinking of buying this car & do a lot of sitting at traffic lights need to know that the mpg will suck bad (14mpg for me).It does not worry me in the slightest however - the car is great.

On the open road I can get 19mpg - thrashing it , which is pretty good in my opinion.

 

we have just as much to express our opinions as he does and as you do too.

 

17 MPG and 24 MPG is a huge difference!! On a 15 gallon tank, the 17 MPG car would only last for 255 miles while the 24 MPG car would have a range of 360 miles. Thats over a 40% difference! With the gas prices these days I don't even wanna bother doing the math on how much you'll save.

 

I have to fill my car twice and sometimes three times a week. Add that up.
Thats 80 miles a day.

 

The point is that if you factor in all that a car costs, the fuel price difference between a car getting 17mpg and one getting 24mpg, is a very small portion of what you spend every month.

You're probably paying more every month in interest (provided you financed the car) on the note than the increased fuel cost between 17 and 24mpg. But people rarely balk at buying a car based on the interest rate they get, at least not like they do at a few MPG.

 

If the car cost you $20K (and many here have purchased their 8's near or below that price) and you drive 20K miles a year, in 5 years you would be spending over $5500 more if your car averaged 17 MPG compared to 24 MPG. That's over 25% of the total cost of the car! That's more than the finance charges you will pay, especially if you make a large down payment.

The interest rate is an important factor for many people when purchasing a car, and I know many who have refused to buy when the interest rate they were offered was too high.

 

Make the price of the car low enough and the miles high enough and you can prove your point, sure. Take the monthly cost and sum it up over the course of 5 years and you can make a big number too.

Some people have paid ~$20K, but the average is certainly well over $25K including TTL. That's still a couple grand less than MSRP for even a base model and $10,000 off the very popular GT. And no one can get that price OTD right now (except maybe a base model), and that's what we're talking about -- a guy buying one right now. Down payments don't factor in because there's a cost of money there that, frankly, is even worse than paying interest most of the time. And average mileage in the US is closer to 15K not 20K.

$25K financed at 5.9%, about the best you can get thesedays, is almost $500/month. Insurance is gonna be, conservatively, averaging $100. That's $600/month on a car just for the priveledge of owning own it.

17mpg with 15K miles is 882 gallons/year. 24mpg with 15k miles is 625 gallons/year. That's a difference of 226 gallons which is less than $70/month @ $3.25. $70/month on a car that's costing you at least $750/month just to keep on the road, that's like 8% of the total costs. And that's not considering any other costs of ownership that a person may have -- property taxes, parking, modifications, wearable items (particularly tires), or non-covered repairs. All of which drive down that percentage even lower.

Now maybe $70/month is a bigger deal to you than it is to me. But seeing that you're driving a $30,000 car I doubt it. And yes, if you paid less for your car or you drive more miles than average, then your situation could be different as far as gas expense in relation to your other expenses.

 

Well put, it is all relative. I'm fortunate enough to have another car that averages about 400 miles to a 15 gallon tank as a daily driver, and I take the 8, in which im getting about 250 per 13 gallons, on the weekends. I wish I could drive the 8 everyday, but taking the maxima saves me enough money that I think in the long haul adds up to a pretty large amount. I drive about 30k miles a year, and if all those miles are driven on the 8, with today's gas prices, I would be paying as much for gas as I would on the car.

 

Damn man, how do you live in the Boston area and put on 30k miles a year? Commute to Maine?

But, yes, that's a lot of miles where a 'small' difference in MPG adds up. A "small" difference of 6mpg to someone putting 30k miles a year is like a rather large 12mpg difference to someone putting a more average 15k miles.

 

someone had a rough day

 

An RX-8 for you? I don't think so. No, I'm afraid that's more of a Shelbyville idea.

 

I actually live outside of Boston and my commute to work is about 60 miles a day. I just like to tell everyone I live in Boston because it's convenient, hehe.
Everytime I go out with my friends im always the DD, and I also take lots of road trips to NYC, DC, and NH.

 

Very inciteful analysis. I have until the end of the year (when I'm planning to purchase) to think this over. I know you guys may laugh, but with gas prices in flux, and no end in site to how high they'll go, I'm not sure I want to take a chance on the 8. I only drive about 10,000 to 12,000 miles a year, not a lot. But that could change at any time. If I take a new job for instance, or move, who knows. I'm just not sure I want to get "stuck" with a car that drinks gas like the 8 does for five years.

So, I'm going to continue to mull over my options and see what else might be as much as fun as the 8 but do much better on gas. I may get seriously laughed at, but two other cars I'm considering now are the 2007 hardtop MX-5 and the 2007 Honda Civic Si sedan. Both cars drink premium fuel like the 8, but both get significantly better mileage. MX-5 would stay in the Mazda family, give me RWD, and allow for all-year fun (since it would be the hardtop). The Si sedan would give me the same high revving fun, Honda reliability, great handling, and much cheaper than the 8, but FWD.

Again, thanks for all of the replies. I have a lot to think about over the next four or five months.

 

Hey dgs, so you currently own a Mazda 3. My suggestion to you is to keep the 3 as a daily driver the go out and buy the 8. Drive the Rx-8 on weekends, track events, and sunny commutes to work. This is my current setup and I have no regrets. The 8 stays in the garage, and the 3 makes it less painful at the pump. Plus the 3 is a nice car to drive, very nimble in traffic.

 

The Si is a great car and it was on my list when car shopping. It has great performance numbers, and im sure with a few mods will even get better numbers than the 8 on some tests. Since the demand is so high for them though, you will probably pay at or above the dealer's invoice price. If you're lucky, you might still be able to find an '05 with really low miles, or wait until the end of the year for amazing deals on 06's. You'll probably get similar prices on Si and the 8!

 

Spare car...that's the way to go.

I moved up to the RX-8 from a 1987 Honda Accord. The Accord has 206,000 miles and still runs great - but it's approaching a second round of clutch, CV boots, etc. (all that was done between 110k and 120k). Plus I used my last can of R-12 last year.

Keeping the Honda as a beater, though. It will be used for Home Depot runs, parked at the airport on business trips, etc. It will also be my snow car at least through this winter.

The RX-8 is my daily driver. As far as mileage goes, when I was shopping my short list included some cars in the $40K+ range. The 8 was a *lot* more fun to drive than any of those, and the $15K I saved will buy a lot of gas. And the 8 is also saving me a lot of time and money that would otherwise be spent on video games and amusement parks.

Ken

 

The 3 is a great car. It has been perfect for me. I don't make enough to own two cars though. Actually, let me rephrase, "I could afford it but I don't want to spend the money to own two cars now." I really just want a more sporty daily driver.

I'm going through a divorce and the 3 was a compromise car to get something sporty but keep the ex happy that it was a sensible purchase. Now I want to get something to keep me happy.

 

Don't get the Civic Si. It's a good car, but it's FWD and it's going to cost alot because it's in such demand.

You may consider waiting for the Evo X that should be out by the end of 2007 if you're looking for tons o' power.

If you're feeling tentative about making a decision, wait until January. Both the Detroit and LA auto shows will have happened and you can get some more insight as to what's going to be available in the coming year or two that might make you hold off.

 

Hard top MX-5? Never heard of such a thing, but I haven't followed it that closely (and my recent car and drivers have not shown up in the mail.) I would say if you don't need the extra power of the 8, go for a convertible MX-5. It gets 30mpg. That's pretty nice for a sportscar. If I wasn't already in love with my RX-8, I'd seriously consider one.

But for comparison, I have two cars. My other is a 88 AWD Civic Wagon that gets about 27 mpg. It costs me about $30 to fill that one up and go the same distance as my RX-8, which costs about $42. I put 91 in my 8 and 85 octane in the civic, so that accounts for a good portion of the price differential.

 

Here it is!

 

No, it doesn't. Changing from 91 to 85 would save less than $3 on your $42 fillup.
-R.

 

^^well he did say that civic got 27mpg, so he probably fills 2-3 gallons less than the 8

 

Right, MPG has a much bigger effect than 91 vs 85.
--R