RX8 reliabilty?
 

Hi guys, i am going to be buying my first car soon its either a rx8 of a xr6 fg falcon, I love my cars. I am from australia so you probably wont know what a xr6 is but im asking how good the rx8 is.
I have heard alot of bad things and some good. I have read that some people have had the motor replaced and a bunch of other mechanical things, i have heard of them flooding wont start cold etc. Are these 'lemons' or is it common as i dont want to be spending all my money or repairs. Also there the US versions would the Australians be any different? So have you guys had all these problems or have your 8's been great. thanks

if you're not prepared to spend money and time on teh rx8, it's probably not for you :/

but, there is a lot of info on this site to help you make a final decision

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

Erm, how cold does it get in Australia?

The cold starting issues can occur when it gets down to -30 celcius...

It is a sports car, so the maintennance requires a little more attention that teh "run of the mill shittbox" If you mind your maintennance & pay attention to the conditino of the car, she is as reliable as any other car, while providing a driving experience unlike any other.

The early versions (mostly in the US) got a bad reputation for failed components Due to "half-arsed" ECU programming IOT pass emissions regulations with little/ no regard to the long term reliability of the engine. Once the latest ECU "re-flashes" came in to being, the engines have been good, as the mecanicals are of a sound design.

The series 1 RX-8 is the nicer looking, but the Series 2 has a slightly more refined engine design. (Upgrading the Water pump on the Series 1 gives you 50% of the capability from teh Series 2, & using 2 cycle Pre-mix in your fuel takes you to the 90% range )

Biggrst differences are the eries 2 has a better water pump design, & an additional oil injector in the combustion chamber.

Yes, that's right, the RX-8 burns engine oil by design, as long as you are aware of that main difference between the fluid replacement/ consumption dynamics between a reciprocating engine & a rotary, you should be perfectly fine with using a RX-8 as a daily driver.

I love working on cars and bikes so doing maintenence wont be an issue i just dont want to be spending money on parts when i could spend it on mods.
i also have a 2 stroke 250 dirt bike so im used to using premix.
also the closest mazda rotary mechanics in about 2 hours away excluding traffic when u hit the city. because the mazda where i live dont work on rotaries.

If you own & ride motorcycles regularly, you will "get/dig" the experience of owning an RX-8.
It is as close as a "cage" can get to the Sportbike riding experience.

Digital speedo/ analog tach

Little torque down low, but will rev to infinity & power will come on the "asian side" of the tach pulling your face into a smile.

You need to mind your fluids

Uses soft compound tires for best results, so she tends to use them up faster than an economy/sedan... she tends to wear out the rear tires first too. (like a proper Sportbike)

Biggest added expense will be the court fees/ speeding fines if you don't mind your speedo, as the car is a lot faster than she feels, and lulls you into feeling comfortable at felonious speeds. (Again, like any proper motorsports toy should :) )

I spelled out the reliability stuff in the link he posted, plain barefaced facts.

Coming from a sport bike side, you shouldn't have any problems with the 8.

There are more bad things than good things about the rx8. Don't get me wrong on this, but from what i see, hear, and from personal experience, the main concern is the engine reliability. The engine is sensitive to extreme heat and the issues with the compression. If you don't have time and money to take care of this fragile engine, then this is not the car for you.

where does me saying i come from a sport bike? I said dirt bike.

^nor did you say thank you for all the help people in this thread have given you, but instead reply with the attitude of a 15yr old girl.
Buy a civic. You fit the bill

There's the die hard rx-8 owners who are going to swear up and down that 8's are not pieces of shit but when you face the fact's you cannot deny it.

The transmissions are junk
The engines are junk and most don't make it past 50k

The build quality is questionable

but if dumping huge $ on a car that's just going to keep breaking is your cup of tee , drink away

^ hey hey hey, I just made 52k on my third engine :lol:

It's a sports car, you drive it hard, things break, you fix them. No car is the exception.

Research, make an educated decision, enjoy your next ride.

well i have made my decision its either going to be an nissan autech s15 or a fg xr6, i cant really afford the up keep of a rx8 due to aprentice wage and dad doesnt really want me getting a rotary for my first car. Dont get me wrong i still love rx8's and all rotaries so thankyou for your help much aprreciated maybe when im off my p plates i will get a tt rx7.

Good decision.

No offense, you post saying they're junk cars with junk transmissions and junk engines but you neglect to say the part when you only paid $1,300 for your car because it had a blown transmission, a bad engine oh and it's a 4port automatic... I remember seeing your FS thread when you stated that as well.
Of course it's going to have problems if you purchased the car WITH problems.

I've had problems with mine as well (as that's how I saved about $5,000) but I'm sure I could have gotten over 100k miles on my original engine but the compression was starting to drop due to a heat problem caused by the dealership when I had it serviced as they did not plug everything back correctly (long story) My original engine made it to 82,210 and still ran. I still have the original transmission and I currently have over 83,100 miles. No grinding, nothing.

I know someone with an '07 automatic nissan sentra, who had his transmission replaced twice before he even hit 70,000 miles. Don't even get me started on 335i... overheating problems, random electrical glitches, problems with the subframe... so many things. You know how many Z's I see with new/manufactured engines?

You bought a car for cheap because it had major transmission/engine problems and then come and complain about the very same problems? You bought a broken 4-port A/T, get over it.

Wow. You get what you pay for but then again sometimes you don't.

My brand new 2011 GMC's transmission went out at 5k miles.



I don't get how you can call the engines junk but then I read where you bought a $1300 4 port auto 04. I guess you really did get what you paid for.

agree 100%

DISagree 100%. 41,000 miles, and literally NOTHING has gone wrong with the car. It has been flawless.

That's not a "die-hard rx-8 owner" trying to deny the facts. It's the facts that made a die-hard rx-8 owner...

Internet car forums are attraction sites for those with nothing but issues and complaints; these individuals do not speak for the silent majority. Arbitrary claims of random statistics are meaningless.

88k and spinning happily. :dunno:

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