Khyron

I love the car. I've only had it for a week, but it is an absolute blast to drive. My 04 Subaru Imp was a great drive too, but not as smooth as the 8. It was also a bit of a mutt in the looks department. The 8 gets looks and comments at red lights all over the place.

Highly satisfied is a bit of an understatement.

delhi

It is safe to deduce that RX-8 owners are highly satisfied owners. JD Powers or Consumer reports should take a look. atleast we have yet to see a www.myvwlemon.com site. LOL!

lordjay

I love my RX-8 but theres only 2 problems I've got with it. 1st: Fuel Economy, but in most Sports cars the fuel economy is terrible anyway so it is to be expected.
2nd: The 4 Speed Auto. As soon as the 6 Speed comes out in Australia I'll buy it

New Yorker

Interesting… nearly 75% of respondents—about 3 out of 4—are "highly satisfied"—not just satisfied, mind you, but highly satisfied—and over 90% are either "highly satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied".

Yet if you were to read all the posts in the "RX-8 Discussion" part of this forum, would you get the impression that 3 out of 4 are highly satisfied? Probably not… folks with problems will, understandably, post more.

I only mention it because, to a newcomer casually browsing here, it would be easy to walk away thinking satisfaction is not very high.

Rotate

I think it is the old adage, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". The RX like any performance car will give you trouble unless you treat it right. Keep up the flashes from Mazda, clean oil and filter (more often if city driving), and don't drop the clutch and then complain about strange sounds from the transmission!

I bought my RX8 new, my wife and I drive it every day, in fact we just returned from the Historic car races at Laguna Seca Raceway, about 4500 kms round trip from Abbotsford, BC. We both drive it like a sports car shifting at about 2/3 of the red line (between 5 and 6.5), the car loves it and I have never had as much as a backfire in three years.

Up until this car I had always done the maintenance myself, but now I prefer to leave it to my Mazda dealer due to the more advanced technical nature of the beast. Other than riding my Ducati or my two Moto Guzzi's, I get the greatest driver satisfaction from the RX8, I would buy another one without a hesitation, and boy did it get me brownie points with my wife

zerobio

Had a Mazda Predia (MX3 GTS), then Toyota Celica GTS. Loved the celica. Got an 07, 6speed/MT, rx8 a couple weeks ago and am totally satisfied.

MyShinka

Highly satisfied! My only gripe is that I wish the car had a better heat shield as I HATE feelin' like a piece of toast when I get to work.

DanRedRx8

Changing my vote....

3 years running now with 47k

transmission is failing at a rapid pace and i do not drive my car "HARD"

Mazda dealerships are just plain evil people and it is extremely hard to get them to honor any warranty work....

from the research i have done ... alot of people have this transmission problem of not being able to shift into certain gears at certain rpms..... seems to me like bad synchros but mazda wont even look at it....... they say they cant replicate the problem..... to save you time.... ASK TO DRIVE WITH A MASTER MECHANIC.... maybe something will get done.... so far im very annoyed with mazda.... rotary's are known for their reliability.... and the rx8 is failing after 40 k on 30% of the people on this forum? that is just BS......

absolutley adored my car until 40k though..... just loved it....

P.S. dont trust any mazda dealerships for labor.... do all labor yourself.....

they broke the door that covered the ashtray and cigarette lighter.... all they did was try and look in on the shifter assembly.... f**king blokes

getoutdaway

somewhat satisfied, i hear everyone downplay gas mileage or say "its a sports car, what u expect?" problem is there are sports cars with 50-100 more horsepower that get better mileage, so this isn't a "sportscar" issue for me, its a "mileage to horsepower ratio" issue, and we're getting the worst ratio of gas mileage to horsepower in our class...unless someone can think of a worse ratio than 15/230? (eg. 350z= 20/280)? i doubt it.

New Yorker

Except with a rotary, normal rules don't apply—what you get for mediocre gas mileage is NOT horsepower—but rather agility/feel/nimbleness. You're getting one of the best ratios of "mileage to how the car feels on a twisty road". Too bad there's no number to measure that.

dozer

iTrader: (3)

i LOVE my 8 and so does anyone who drives it, got my friends and family hooked on this 1.3 liter twin rotor, 50/50 weight distribution, and cornering like no other! unfreakinbelievable, simply LOVE it

dirty8

I am very happy with my car. i want to know as much about the turbo kits available and opinions on them please.
________________
2007 RX-8 Velocity red
AT Grand Touring

mazdriver

what i love about this car is it's capability to combine handling and power.

jmsinclair

I am not even satisfied after a BJ... But the RX-8 well that is another story!!!!! Who needs a wife? hahahha

ninjarama

I've learned to adapt to the annoyances with the manual transmission ('notchiest' tranny I've ever experienced... esp. 1st, 2nd, and reverse!) but everything else is a pleasure and hits all the right chords!

RX26b

Ninja, you sure you're not mega drunk climbing into some old Rustang thinkin' it's your 8, because this gearbox ain't notchy, it's a very precise/sweet shifting piece.

ninjarama

RX26b

LOL, I'm not a big fan of 'stangs and I can't even say I have driven one... but I'm not exaggerating when I say 'notchy' (at least in my situation). I've driven at least a dozen different manual trannys and maybe I just got lucky and ended up with an 8 that's not as buttery smooth as you described. I didn't notice it when I drove it off the lot, but when you're in love with something/someone you tend not to notice a lot of things! haha

Alas when I thought I was alone, I found a thread on here regarding tranny issues, and I feel that my testimony about the 8's tranny isn't at all inaccurate:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/transmission-issues-questions-48737/

2nd and 5th gears have already been replaced by Mazda... now everything from 4th - 6th is nearly perfect... but 1, 2, 3, and reverse can be a PITA.

07rx8gtblack

I know that everyone hates the 6-spd automatic, but I love my 07 Black GT. I voted highly satisfied. I find reasons to drive my 8. I just want to get in the car and drive. Not since my first real car (89 Acura Integra LS Special Edition), I felt like this, and I have driven them all from BMW 6 series, M3's, Mercedes Benz,Acura Type S's, MR-2 Turbo and Nissan 300ZX. It may not be the fastest car out there, but it is one of the most beautiful cars on the road with awesome cornering ability. Fun~

I just wanted to know the performance numbers for the 07 6-spd automatic. I really wated to get a manual, but my wife wanted to drive it also. She said, "This car is scary fast" after she drove it for the first time. My automatic takes off like a rocket at 4000 rpm and surprised her a bit. I guess it's really different from driving the C 230 with AMG package, which is nice in its own right.

Philip_SA

I think i have the record,

highly satisfied, mine now has: 167 000 km on the clock or about 105 000
miles

i still give it hard driving at times and it still starts easy and i still can drive with brand new 2007 models, mine is a 2004 model.
no power loss.

fuel consumption about 9 to 9,5 km per liter, i did get 10 km per liter on a few occasions.

done to my 8:

cat removed (at about half the kms back) and midpipe in, standard airfilter removed and replaced by BMC unit (drop in with same box) but i removed the 2 plastic seperators in the air box. no CEL.
oil in dif: Royal Purple max gear
oil in gearbox: Royal Purple Racing 9 (will change to synchromax)
enine oil: Royal purple 5W40 synthetic engine oil.

the synthetic oil i am running about half of its life so far, replacing the oil filter every 10 000km (6000miles) and the oil every 6000miles and alternate about 10 000miles.
and that is it !!!


Happy rotor lover

Philip from South Africa

if needed i will take a picture of my dash to show the distance reading

voted: highly satisfied

Go48

That's a very encouraging report Philip. Thanks for sharing! It would be nice to do a good compression test to see how the wear is with the syn oil and mileage. If you were in the US I might just volunteer to do that.

rotorhead335

I bought my RX-8 in late January 2004. In the 54,000+ miles and nearly four years of steady driving I have never had one major malfunction! (OK, I had a water pump go out around 50k, and someone said "That shouldn't happen in a quality car," or something like that.) Now, I have read and heard a lot bad mouthing of our car, about how they are not well made, inferior performance, those rotaries fall apart after...etc. Where does this come form? A few early teething problems? The disastrous HP fiasco?

What I know is this: My car has run like a Swiss watch; no, actually like a Seiko. It has never overheated, run rough, failed to start or anything else. The only problem I have had is needing to twice replace (under warranty) the taillight assemblies due to moisture collecting inside. This was done promptly and cheerfully by the Mazda dealer.

My RX-8 handles like a dream, is comfortable, still draws admiring gazes and still puts a smile on my face. How many sports car owners can say that? Dirty little secret: I grew up driving English sports cars (yes, alas, I am oldish). It follows that I grew up "knowing" that sports cars were supposed to be high-strung, be broken as often as they worked, be drafty and uncomfortable and never have a working heater ("what's an air conditioner?")...you get the idea.

I don't know what the experiences of Boxter, 350Z and S2000 owners have been. Good, I hope. I want all sports car drivers to be as happy as I have been with the RX-8. Then they will buy more such machines and the manufacturers will continue seeing enthusiast machines as viable and profitable enterprises. If this is life with an unreliable sports car, I'll take it!.

Jeffrey
2004 Titanium 6-Speed
Nary a single mod, but I'm thinking, I'm thinking

New Yorker

I believe most of those comments—"Shame on Mazda for using us as guinea pigs for a not-ready-for-prime-time product," "I think it's safe to say there'll be no 2006 RX-8," "Clearly the rotary is dead," and my personal favorite: "I believe, in time, that most—if not all—of these engines will fail"—actually started… right here. What's more, I suspect something like 80% of those comments—which, on the internet, spread like wildfire—came from just six or seven people, who posted that crap over and over and over again. And still do!

My 8 has been problem-free, too. Like many brand new models, I believe the earliest 8s suffered from teething problems.

ASH8

While I agree New Yorker,
I also believe that the thread "Something Every RX-8 Owner Should Hear" has done nothing to help sales of the RX-8.
The "video" was at a private dealer meeting and not for the Internet, particularly when most of the time the "video" could not even be viewed soon after it was pulled.
Which also adds to the fire of "what has Mazda got to hide" theory.
MAZDAGATE!, Yeah right.
I still do not agree with the posting of this thread.
Has it done anything to improve "Service" relationships or fixing of Issues with the US Dealer network...?
If I was a first time buyer and not a keen Mazda Enthusiast, I think I would have second thoughts on buying an RX-8 after reading it.

onephatguy

Needs updated equip. like bluetooth and a better nav system, auto on/off lights and of course more hp and torque.

Philip_SA

Hi yes to be honest, i would like to do such a test, the Mazda dealers close to me just dont have the special compression tester, will see if i can find someone.

i have been running the RP Synthetic for about 45 000miles, and with the feel and performance and fuel economy i am getting i dont think that synthetic is bad in anyway, otherwise i would have had a problem long ago.

i dont have any smoke or starting problems, never had except the mopre cranking time when it is hot, long driving etc, but when cold in morning i stand outside the car turn the key for second or 2 max and leave then it idles.

only faults i had on mine which was a common fault was the rear lights full of water, and the fuel pump went early in its life, but so did a few of them here by us in same time, manufacturing fault?

some people will always find fault with any car doesnt matter what.

I see it this way, I am a Rotary fanatic and love to drive a rotary so the looks etc is in a way a bonus,

rotary rules !

Philip