MEJazz

I can't even get 15mpg driving mostly highway!

Satisfied? Yes but I wish it were a convertible (would take a Miata over it if not for 2 seats). Also a bit more power/torque so that new Camry V6 won't humiliate me from red light

RotorRex8

Highly dissatisfied. I owned my rx8 for a year. It was an '05 with 15,000 original miles on it (previous owner must have felt the same way about the car). I tried to love it, I really did. I was shocked by the terrible mileage, daily disappointed by the lack of torque (ashamed by it really, it sucks gas like a v8 and performs like a hig revving 4 cylinder). I took it autoXing to love it more (it was fun, but I could have had just as much fun in a cheap Hyundai). I lurked these forums for months, sadly realizing that this was pretty much the norm, and to get the car I wanted, I would have to spend thousands more for forced induction or an engine swap.

Then, my rotary wouldn't start. The old school engine wore itself out around 20K and I was let down by my car. I never fully recovered from that. The engine was replaced under warranty, but it was like a wife that had cheated on me. I couldn't trust my rx8 again. She never started well, and every day I worried (will it start?). Suddenly, the lack of torque and 13 MPG fill ups got to be too much. I hated my rx8. I traded her in for a 2010 Toyota Tacoma (4 cylinder) and I feel so much better. The Tacoma starts without trouble, gets much better mileage, and I can haul something if I need to. Looking back, it was a mistake to buy the rx8. Had I done more research before hand, I don't think I would have bought it (that was my mistake), but I discovered this forum post purchase. This is my story, and my reason for my highly dissatisfied vote. She's someone else's problem now.

Nice car, but not for me.

P.s. burning oil on purpose was a con, I heard some kind of pre-ignition knock/rattle/chirp when I accelerated and drove and constant speed when it was cold and at other random times that never got resolved, not loud enough to be concerning, but every drive it was there, not being able to just start it, drive for 30 seconds then shut it off for fear of flooding was a huge pain in the ***, I had a "crunchy" gearbox that I had to baby between first and second, and sine now I am free of the car and can say this without feeling regret because it's how I really feel about my rx8: damnit, not enough torque and holy crap what bad mileage ( I hated watching the gauge drop while I drive) ! Whew. Ok I feel a little better now.

P.p.s. my 2.7 liter 4 cylinder has more torque than my rx8 did. Ok I'm done. : )

rayhart

I bought my Velocity Red R3 in the full knowledge of the high fuel consumption. She's not my everyday drive, so every trip is an occasion to savour. Haven't had on a track yet, but am booked in for Snetterton on the 2nd July. I'll also be driving her to Spa for the Belgium Grand Prix (as a spectator, obviously). I love the sounds, the smells, the looks, the waves from other owners, the sticky cornering and balance, the rev-band, the zoom, zoom factor, love, love her.....

gwilliams6

Hey Rotorrex8 you obviously needed to research RX8s better before buying, AND most importantly you needed to have that used 2005 RX8 thoroughly checked over before buying a possible troubled or owner-abused car. I have owned seven rotary RXs since 1973 for both street and track use and I would not trade any of them for any 4-cylinder car on the planet. I easily have over a million miles driven in rotary cars, with no regrets. And yes I have owned a four cylinder car worth driving, a 2008 Mazdaspeed GT. In 2008 I also bought a 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 and I love it more everyday. I chose to live with the fuel economy for the millions of smiles over the thousands of miles I drive it.

ThePan007

Just notified that my 2004 RX8 with 34,000 miles needs a new engine.

HIGHLY UNSATISFIED!

Rocket City

I previously had a 2005 and currently own a 2009. I love the handling and performance! Gas mileage is better than my Dad's Buick.

Morphius

My 04 has more than 200k more miles than this 04 owner...I am highly satisfied...with only the original engine and clutch!!!...Just Drive Baby!

fabiorx8

im highly satisfied with my baby.. i own a 2004 velocity red 155km and shes been the best she gave up on me once, but that was my mistake for lack of knowledge i didnt know you couldnt leave the car for a week without using it specially out in the cold. gas mileages i dont really care much, nor torque i dont race or go to the track i just love the car. i have my car for a year with no problems.

fish1

I don't know if anybody else feels like the way I do.......but, I'm on engine #3, all replaced under full warranty.
If another rotary came out from Mazda tomorrow I'd wait one year and purchase the 2nd year model in a heartbeat.
I never thought I would ever say that about a car that has needed 2 engines replaced.
btw, the 3rd engine is running excellently.

Aloush

Well the 8 has been reviewed on top gear so I'm cooler than most other cars...:P Fuel economy is really not that bad... If you shift like a grandma a full tank will last you easily 300+ kms which is around 14L/100km... My 3.5 altima was doing somewhere close to that... Reliability is an issue though but hey we own sports cars here... We bought the car knowing all of this... But hell does the handling ever make up for it..

Jeff77789

Somewhat satisfied. 15mpg city driving :/ but oh wells!

michael05rx8

I purchased my 2005 sunlight silver rx8 November 17th, 2011, for my 20th birthday. And I will never regret it! I love her to death! I call her my baby number 1.5 (girlfriend gets pissed if i say shes evenly ranked with her:P) After a few mods, AEM intake, hks hi power exhaust, tein s tech lowering spring, I have fallen even deeper in love! You can NOT replicate the sound of the rotary engine! As long as you keep oil changes and refills regular and never shut off the engine cold, the car should treat you great! I love her!

cstrat94

It has been 3 years now since I purchased my 04. I bought it with ~ 35k miles on the odometer. Even though I only drive it in nice weather and mainly on the weekends or on road trips,I have put an additional 28K on the car. I purchased an extended warranty on the car and that has proven to be about a wash in terms of the repairs which have been needed. Biggest expense has been the replacement of the intake manifold about two years ago. The car is the most fun to drive of any car I have ever owned including the Porsche 356B I owned in college and a series of SHO's. The strange thing about driving the car is the number of people who gawk at itas though they have never seen one before. I am 6' 2" tall and I let my daughter drive it the other day while I sat in the back seat. You can't do that in an S2000. Love my RX-8.

battousaix

My first official car, stock 07 auto 6spd stormy blue mica.

Never driven anything else that handles like this...
Taking on corners and curves in this baby is pure sex.
Repsonsive and perfectly balanced
The sport shift is also the most responsive, not sluggish like other cars.
Hearing the ping as the meter hits redline reminds me of all the stupid but fun times zoom zoomin around late at night. - Love
With that said,
Maintenance was/is somewhat a hastle...namely in the areas of ignition.
Sparks, plugs, wires...all deteriorate WAY too fast. Rough idles are common with mine. Cleaned and replaced those components often, more than I'd like to for a daily.
Than of course the mpg...I'm sure everyone know what it's like but c'mon, I have to feed you premium too!?
Just lost my job and in this ecnomy, gas prices and maintenance bills are hard to keep up with. Seeing my buddies with hondas and toyotas going half way around the world without having to pump once AND with next to nothing upkeep for their cars makes my wallet jealous.
Reading that "potential rx8 owners" thread really hit some points...too bad I found this community AFTER I mine off the dealer lot.

In the end, I've loved this baby since the day I laid my eyes on its cruves...she still always makes me *** when I take her for a spin but...she only loves me for my money and so my current situation will soon have us divorced for something more efficient on fuel and my wallet.

Bold Rascal

And I am just as stoked as the day I first saw my 05 silver bullet. Now here's the really cool thing.
I did seriously look, test drive and nearly purchased a Solstice but it did not suit me as well as the RX8.
Okay, it is a convertible and the styling still turns my head but to me:
It's much noiser
It rides rougher
Has much less headroom (I'm 6'3)
It was much more difficult to get in and out of
It was turbo charged, (already had two bad experiences with turbo's)
And there's NO room for anything except you, your passenger, a CD and a toothbrush!

This past weekend my sweetheart and I went to the beach. I was able to strap my long board to the roof. Tote along a large bag full of towels, and all the other beach stuff you typically want. A decent size cooler, a good sized umbrella and our 90lb German shepard!

And we were all very comfortable....

Try doing that with a Solstice...

Blacknightz

thank u for reminding me the beauty of the rx-8....

popwar

very satisfied with everything besides performance . its OK on the slow side, but thats it


Posted from Rx8club.com App for Android

Junkman 6394226

'04 MT w/ 119,xxx miles.

Highly satisfied but not completely satisfied. I love the car, just not the condition I bought it in. Failed fuel pump, clutch, and cat, but eh, car is so much better now. I turn heads wherever I go, ladies love the interior, it handles like a dream, sounds like a race car (mid pipe), and goes like WHEEEEE!!! And for those who complain about the lack of torque while cruising on the highway, there's a solution for that.

1. Clutch
2. Gas
3. Shift to 3rd
4. Go!

When I'm passing, people KNOW I'm passing.

FNLR3

Okay, coming close to a year (like 10-1/2 months) , and what I planned as my sometimes car almost immediately became my everyday drive.

My home life is difficult at the best of times, my job sucks, but in between I get to drive my 2011 R3. I take the longer roads through the Park just because it's fun, and makes me leave home earlier/get home later by ten to fifteen minutes. On a bad day, I can just go drive somewhere and feel better.

Yes, this costs money. If for you, a car is ultimately a point A to point B machine, not sure why you bought an RX-8. But if the point of any journey simply becomes the journey, the RX-8 is where it's at. I have cut other things so I can pay more for gas and oil. (Not that oil is more than a few bucks a month, but still...) My R3 still makes me feel different about myself, not as a symbol of anything, but actually just how I feel about me.

Maybe I was conditioned for this, as my first car was a '68 Dodge Charger with a small crack in the engine block that leaked oil almost directly onto a spark plug. Kept oil and spark plugs in the back seat, put in oil every fillup and whenever I heard that seven-cylinder sound just pulled over and changed the spark plug. Lousy on gas, burned oil, and was down torque and HP due to the crack in the engine block.

Yet the magic of the RX-8 is the handling, the free-revving engine that can just make a drive, the thoughtful little things like windows that snap up and down, damn near perfect weight balance front-back, braking that is better than anything under amost 200K. It would not be possible to get most of this from any other engine, displacing a tiny 1.3 liters allows it farther back under the hood to get that excellent balance -- and once you have that, so many other perforance issues fall in line. Want to zoom off the line? Buy a muscle car. The RX-8 is a sports car in the old school sense.

It really could just be put this way to many people: It's a rotary thing, you wouldn't understand.

Cornbred

zoom zoom


Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

GraceK

How could you not be highly satisfied? Yeah yeah idle, goards on oil, only likes premium gas eats it like a piggy, blah blah If you don't like rotaries just don't own one. It's an expensive boyfriend who needs lots of love, lots of time to get ready and he's an attention ***** whose picky about all his food. But you know what when it's time for a ride. Well... You know... ^_-

Jeff77789

imagine how PHENOMENAL the 8 would be if it got 40mpg !

Vanight

I havent done the math but I have a feeling I may be getting lower than the 18 that the newbie section said we should get. That guide said to check the ignition stuff, which I plan to do. Mine seems to be burning more oil than normal too.

MEJazz

Forget about 18mpg, i never fared better than 16.2mpg and that happend just once. Its normally in 14.x-15.x mpg. And i bought my 2011 Sport 6MT brand new this April 2012 so ignition or other stuff should not be an issue. I could have lived with if it offers enough power in return but that was not the case. It needs at least an extra rotor or turbo to be worth it. I sold mine in 6 months.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I got 20 mpg once or twice. Others have got over 22. The automatic models can get even better.