///aldo

At the moment I have an e36 m3 and I am about to dump a bunch of money on an overhaul of many parts that need refreshing. I'm possibly looking into getting a newer car (s2k, rx8) for DD/trackduty instead of spending the money on the M. I have pushed some RX8's at local autocrosses, and I liked them a lot. I felt my e36 had more grunt, but the rx8 handled better(probably due to my worn out suspension). I liked the tight steering feel as opposed to the loose feel of the m3. I definitely did not mind the lack of torque as I was near redline most of the time..

- Is the lack of torque annoying in day to day driving? A.k.a passing on the highway, ect..

- How much have you guys had to spend on upkeep for these cars? Would you consider them reliable or not? If you guys had the chance to do it all over again, would you still buy an rx8?

- I know there have been various recalls on the rx8 and I was wondering if I would still be able to take an rx8 to get them done if I was the 2nd owner ?

- What problems should I be looking out for when buying a used RX8? I definitely don't want to buy a new rx8 considering they seem to depreciate worse than audi's! lol

DarkBrew

- Is the lack of torque annoying in day to day driving? A.k.a passing on the highway, ect..
Passing is third gear WOT!

- How much have you guys had to spend on upkeep for these cars? Would you consider them reliable or not? If you guys had the chance to do it all over again, would you still buy an rx8?
Maintenance is typical for a sports car. I've paid for coils, plugs, tires and an O2 sensor. The car is my daily driver including winter. I'd certainly buy another.

- I know there have been various recalls on the rx8 and I was wondering if I would still be able to take an rx8 to get them done if I was the 2nd owner ?
As long as the car has warranty transferred the recalls will be done

- What problems should I be looking out for when buying a used RX8?
Make sure the recalls were done. Get the compression checked. Test drive it for at least one hour in a variety of situations. Check the tail lights for condensation.

tajabaho1

its godly,

can't say the same for the forum

thecow135

especially not with taja here... and wow... hes at 824 posts...

tajabaho1

I'm sorry do I know u?

Mike06

personally i can't stand the lack of torque.
oh how if i could i would go back in time in the blink of an eye and buy the 350Z over the RX-8. thats just my personal opinion though, and i am somewhat of a power/neck-breaking freak.
but it seems that your not that kind of person at all.
as far as maintenence and service, its for the most part smoothe and easy. just watch out for those damn unreliable sun visors that always seem to break that the seams and have plagued many an rx-8 owner

chetrickerman

i agree with taj on the godly part, but this forum isnt bad at all. just sometimes we all have ADD

and along with all those other things that people said, check the ignition coils if you buy one.

Renesis07

iTrader: (1)

The torque isnt that bad if you keep the revs high Id say if youve autocrossed it and love it, and you said the torque wasnt a big deal, then hell go for it!

Mike06

the torque isnt that bad if you keep the revs high and get 2 miles to the gallon
the rx-8 is no monster son.

RX-8Newb

the lack of power is a little annoying but i have had an obsession with power the last 6 years that culminated in me breaking my femoral neck and having 3 surgeries and now needing a hip replacement, so the lack of power keeps me in check.

My car was under warranty THANK GOD up until a month ago. I have had the car in 3 times for tranny issues, eventually replacing 6th gear and second gear, at different times... Then the visor breaks, the shift **** has fallen apart, the tail light now looks like an aquarium, the motor floods every now and again, and the oil light likes to come on, and warped brakes now (which is probably due to my constant out braking maneuvers on the street lol.

If you buy used then atleast get one from a dealer so you can buy an extended warranty or alteast one with a little bit of the factory one left so IF you do get a lemon (which i believe all are to some extent) you are covered.

Mike06

wow...you got owned.
i can relate in that i've had to suffer from a broken hip, collar bone, lacerated head wound, and a lacerate liver from my friends sports car that he failed to maintain control of.
but that wasn't enough to put me out for good
i came back ready to give it my best efforts to make my rx-8 a MONSTER

Cody Red

that's because he was dropped back to zero not too long ago.

back on topic, the 8 is a great car. you can find numerous thread on ANYTHING you want to know about the car. too bad the search button sucks!

chetrickerman

just use google. it works pretty good for searching this forum

RX-8Newb

oh and one more thing the clutch pedal is so loud now i can hear the squeaking over the cd player at 16

New Yorker

"The RX-8 is great at speed, but getting up to speed is a challenge. With only 159 pound-feet, the RX-8 has less than half the torque of the Shelby GT. The six-speed gearbox and short gearing don’t alleviate the problem, either. On steep grades, downshifts are required from sixth gear to hold a constant speed, and two-lane passing requires a downshift to third and a planted right foot. The lack of oomph was more than a source of constant frustration — running the RX-8 near its 9000-rpm redline burns a lot of fuel as well, resulting in a cruising range of less than 250 miles."

"Get off the highway, and the annoyance caused by the wheezy engine subsides as cornering speeds increase. The suspension takes hits from the road like a champion prizefighter, so much so that during our driving loop the RX-8 was actually the fastest car on real-world roads.

On the track, the Mazda couldn’t make up for its woeful lack of torque and posted the slowest time around the circuit. But just as on the street, the RX-8 inspires confidence in the driver to carry more speed through the corners, and the challenge of maintaining velocity in this car is ultimately more rewarding than relying on the gas pedal in the others to make up for your mistakes. That’s not to say some extra power isn’t sorely needed here — it is — but even at the ripe old age of five, the RX-8 pleases us the most."

—"Car and Driver" comparo, 1st place (vs Mustang/350Z/Audi TT), June 2007

CosmosMpower

As someone that went from an E36 M3/4 to a RX-8 I'll try and answer your questions as best as I can.

1. Surprisingly just driving around town the car feels torquey enough. On the highway if you're going 70-80 you don't really need to downshift to pass since the car is at 4000 rpms anyways so it's decent.

2. Upkeep isn't bad at all compared to the M3. Most stuff is warrantied (if battery/starter/plugs crap out). Oil changes are WAY cheaper, 5 quarts of conventional 5W20 vs 6-7 quarts of Mobil 1 for the M3. I never had to do anything beyond fluids in the year and half I owned mine.

3. Yes, warranty and recalls/tech service bulletins should transfer to 2nd owner.

4. When buying a used one make sure that it's under warranty, had all the TSB's and recalls done. Check the panels to make sure VIN tags are there and it hasn't been crashed. Ask for maintenance record, check the oil level and make sure it's full and the owner has been topping it off.

Buying a new one might not be a bad idea, they are doing good deals on 07 leftovers and you can probably get one 6-8K off sticker which will offset the depreciation and you have piece of mind that you're getting a new car. I bought a new 05 leftover in the middle of 06 and only lost 10% when I sold it this week but I got a hell of a discount new.

Best of luck!

delhi

The 8 is an involving car that would reward those committed drivers. Lazy drivers need not apply for this unique car. When driven knowledgeably, this car shines... thats why you see comparisons upon comparisons by automotive journalist the rx-8 always comes out tops despite the lack of paper-numbers. Those who are into paper racing will not know how to enjoy this car too.
Wonderful car to drive as a DD and weekend track car. It handles well out of the box and brakes with the best. Maintenance has been easy for me so far. Oil change is cheap. Gas mileage is not stellar. In fact its worse than my stage II 92x.
No problems thus far apart from the annoying sunroof creak during summer. It's a scalpel instead of a cleaver.

New Yorker

It's a little like the age-old comparision between sailing and powerboats: anyone—a monkey—can get behind the wheel of a powerboat and go fast. But it takes skill and finesse to sail—and especially to sail well.

///aldo

I appreciate all the input. I understand that a rx8 is more like a scalpel than a cleaver lol.. That is what I am looking for. I love driver cars. I'm not the idiot who goes double the limit in a highway race, I'm the idiot that does double the limit on an offramp. haha..

That being said, I love the rx8.. but at this point in time it's not for me. From the quick browsing I did, it seems like there might be a bunch of little things that might go wrong with the car at any time. That is exactly what I am trying to avoid by moving on to a newer car. Even if it's under warranty, I'd still feel scared that something might fall apart.

I'm going to do some research on something a little less practical (s2ks) maybe those would be a better fit for me..
Thanks again.

aldo

missinmahseven

///maldo, I could say the same about BMW. Lots of little and not-so-little things, just from perusing the forums. Like the whole NiCaSil fiasco, etc.

I can say the same about GM -- "Piston Slap".

Or I could say same about Toyota, Nissan..you get the drift. If the 8 were as bad as it's made out to be here, it'd be retired by now. It wouldn't be selling at all -- it'd be less sales than the Crossfire. (Oh noes, now Is can gets banned for sayings Crossfire! Lawdy, no!)

In all honesty, the 8 is probably the most reliable and best-driving rotary mazda yet. Not the fastest in a straight, but it is what it is. I say try it. Don't let this forum (and other places) scare you with trash talk, anecdotes, and stories from people who potentially don't have enough IQ to properly use and care for cars in the first place.

Every once in a while you get a legit bug, and Mazda will typically fix it. Like the small number of 8s whose flywheel bolts were not torqued down right, supposedly because the torque wrench used on every one of those cars was not calibrated. Or the odd coolant seal on the rotors that goes, etc. I'm not saying it is a perfect, bulletproof car, all I'm saying is the reports of its sh*ttiness has been GREATLY exaggerated by ***** in this forum and a few blogs, etc.

For each "It done blowed up" story you read here, there's bound to be 10, 50, 100 8s that get flogged hard, daily, and don't break, don't blow up, don't' grenade their gearboxes, etc. Hell, that number is probably 1000 good ones for each "dud" you read about here. Unhappy owners will whine and moan and b*tch like few other things will. Happy owners are quiet.

Pass on it, and you'll never know what a rotary is like. Drive it, and if it is your groove, you'll never be the same again. A straight 6 will seem a bit rough. A line 4 will be horrible. A 12 would be an adequate substitute, I guess

Damn thing feels like it's powered by a jet. In some ways, the rotary's the bastard child of a one-night-stand between a jet and a pistonmotor. It has traits of both. Unfortunately its fuel numbers came from the jet. So did the smoothness, and the glorious noises it makes at cruise. On the loud pedal hard, and the note changes from 'jet' to "I really don't know what it is, but it kinda sounds like a 10 or 12"

Again, don't let the b*tch queens here put you off from even trying the car.

In summary:

RX8 = great. Awesome. A rapier vs. a two-handed sword. A NY strip vs. a porterhouse. A nice single-malt vs. the popular, cheaper, more-readily-available blends (rotgut). It's certainly different.

Dealer and service = Meh, leaning more towards "Atrociously bad" but MNAO is supposedly trying to un-f*ck the dealers. Good luck wit dat.

Forum = Teh useless. Better off going to other sources to get recall notices and service bulletins and the like. Because all you're hear here is how horrible the car is, how slow it is, how fragile it is, and how it's not worthy of being on the same road as other cars.

Which, of course, is complete and utter bunk.

I'll leave you with a parting thought: Two things you must never, *EVER* do to a rotary: 1. Let it overheat. 2. Let it ping. Instant death. The 8 has a knock sensor, it will retard timing to guard against ping.. but don't ever let it overheat. I lost a 13B once because a short, 50-cent hose blew, the car overheated, and 2 weeks later, a waterjacket in the "block" broke -- and sent the entire contents of the radiator into the oilsump. 50 cent hose cost me a 2-grand engine.

>.<

Mike06

get a corvette instead.