metallman56

hello to all. i'm thinking of buying a rx8 and have some questions before i buy one. well more then a few. ok so before everyone posts that why i should or shouldnt buy one, let me just give you some history on myself.

i'm 25 years old without children. i live in northern indiana and there is snow in the winter. last weekend we about about 2 feet of the crap. currently i drive a 01 grand am. i really like my car but i have had it sense 04. sense then i have put about 80k miles on it. right now it has right around 115k. its in really great shape, but i know its on its way out. i think i could probably get anther 50k miles out of it before any major repairs, but i'd like to get some money out of it while i still can. also i must say i'm a pushrod american made kind of guy. i always have been. pushrod motors i understand and know my way around the motor.

below i'm going to make a list of pros and cons about the rx8. comment on the pros if you want, but its the cons i need some info on.

pros:

no one around here has one. so around here its unique. unlike my car.

hid lights are something i've always wanted.

i love the red and black interior on some models. though i dont know which models those are.

found some for about 12k with under 50k miles. awesome bang for the buck.

rear wheel drive. always wanted it, never had it

handles like its on rails, atleast that what i've seen on top gear and read in magazines.

finally a 6 speed. the grand am gt has no option for manual. and a 6 speed is the perfect gearbox imo.

huge after market. something that my current car lacks.

cons/concerns

my biggest concern is that its rear wheel drive. like i said i live in northern indiana. rain, freezing rain, snow, slush, and ice are all part of my daily driving. is it honestly even safe to drive in the winter?

its a rotary engine. i know very very little about the motor. a 1.3 making over 230 horsepower seems like a lot for such a small motor. i know its at the crank but still. . . . . or wait there isnt a crank. or is there? damnit i dont even know how the factory measures hp. well at any rate is the motor reliable is my question.

mpg. under 30 on the highway seems terible for a car this small. my grand am gets about 34 on the highway.

it has ricer potential. i hate ricers. i currently have borla cat back and headers on my grand am. it sounds pretty good for a v6. though i listend to how exhaust sounds on this site, pc speakers and real life are 2 differnt things. if i put exhaust on it will it sound like a fart can?

comfort. i have about an hour of drive time every day to work. i know its racing inspired which normally means your spine takes most of the shocks the suspension should. if its not comfortable, atleast reasonably, its a deal breaker.

the final con is also a big one. some of these concerns i could have answerd by simply driving one. this i know. however, the closest one to me for sale by a dealer is about 100 miles away in chicago. needless to say i dont really want to drive over 2 hours ( 4 hours round trip) to test drive a car that at this point i couldnt afford to buy right now anyway. so i'll just wait till im ready to buy and tell my car guy to find me one. much easier

one last thing. what are the known issues with the car. all cars have know issues, and i would like to know what they are, and how expensive they are to fix.

so in the meantime i'm just doing some research. any posts would be very helpful. so thanks to all who respond, its appreciated

Darkside00

well, someone will say use the search button or read the sticky. Problems I encountered with an 04 model MT

1. Foamy oil light brownish dip stick (From oil pan condensation)
2. Tail head light condensation passing through the gaskets (easy fix)
3. Bad previous driver (If bought used) = quickly worn clutch
4. Weak Starter motor
5. No Block Heater Available for car. Oil pan heater only
6. Loss of motor compression (most likely apex seals wear)
7. DSC seems awkward on icy road conditions.
8. HID lights were cool but very expensive to replace

I know theres more and all these are very common to car

cdleo71

iTrader: (4)

Check this link, there is A LOT of information for potential owners:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...tential+owners

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

first, you may wanna start by reading this thread. It answers many of the questions you have.
Things I'll touch up on:
The rotary engine is a rare engine. Finding someone to work on one properly is like finding the woman's "G spot". Once you find that, you're golden It doesn't sound like you have those type of resources though. How comfy are you with gettin a lil elbow grease? Our engines aren't like working on a normal ICE, but with a little patience and determination, it's actually a really simple engine do maintain.
Many 8 owners drive their car all year round. In winter, with a good set of SNOW tires, you should be fine. I've even heard that they handle better than most vehicles out there (though I think that it's just boils down to the ability of the drivers themselves ). RWD isn't complicated. Practice in and empty lot after hours. Lot's of fun, but BE SAFE!! Don't do something stupid and wreck the car, or worse hurt you or someone else because you THINK you're getting better!! (and don't think that just because you've heard that the car "handles like it's on rails" means you can take it around a corner at 100mph. Learn to drive it first).
Ricers aren't born. They're made. Make the right choice and don't be one Your comment on modding the car will probably bring laughter. Not much you can do to make this car faster (unless you put in many thousands of $ and go FI).
Now, the most important thing you can do is to RESEARCH THIS CAR! Learn to use the search function on these threads (click the link in my sig to find the best way) and make sure you read the "stickies" in each forum.

I haven't answered all your questions, as I'm hoping you will find them on your own

Good luck

RX8Soldier

metallman56

thanks for the links and posts so far. i have read a lot through links and through other threads i have read through.

personally i consider myself a car guy. i dont mind getting my hands dirty. i really dont take my car to to shop anymore. i did a strut last friday, i do my oil changes, and i've had my motor, a 3.4l v6, down to the pistons heads. so i know my way around a car. like i said though, a rotary engine might as well be a jet enine. i understand the concept of it, but as i have read things like the motor burning oil to lube some sort of seals makes me kinda nervous. i have also read the 08 and newer motors have less then a chance of blowing because something to do with the seal. which is also some really good info. i think that was in some of the links above.

besides the motor is there anything else the car has problems with? for example on my car it makes this horrible random clicking noise. sounds like the turn signals are on when there not. turns out to be a switch inside the turn signal switch itself. is there anything stupid like that i need to know?

oh also whats with horsepower ratings being wrong?


is the 03 just as fast as the new ones?

also as far as driving goes i dont want to say i'm a good driver. because i'm yet to meet anyone male or female that thinks there a bad driver. though i must say that i actually have my cdl class a with a hazmat. rear wheel drive doesnt really scare me, i just wanted to make sure i could actually start from a stop on ice in the winter. i live in a hill and i have to go up that hill to get pretty much anywhere inclueding work. so the car would be pretty worthless to me if i couldnt get it up that hill in the winter. though i do agree, all cars feel differnt in all circumstances. i can tell you what my car is going to do before it does it. same with my boat. i just know how they react based on the situation. i know that in my fwd car if you take a corner too fast the *** end will come around like rwd. scared the hell out of me the first time it happend, but after theat i found its limits.

thanks again to all

Roidz

This is very big for me as I don't like seeing another car like mine on every block.

The rx8 isn't for everyone, but the people that it is for, absolutely love it. Hope that helps.

metallman56

anyone else have any feedback?

jasonrxeight

what do you want to know?

tonik

So your driving it on winter..learn how to turn off the DSC..it will save your *** when you stock on snow...i used it recently..snow plow leaved a filed of snow in front of the driveway..

ken-x8

That makes no sense at all. DSC is a huge help on snow.

Ken

Mazurfer

Yeah......read these!


https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=202454

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/congratulations-you-got-8-a-202548/

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/rx-8-faq-please-read-before-posting-959/

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=FAQ


At least the first couple of posts in each. Then make your own decision.

tonik

thats also my expectation and it did very well.. when the tire start spinning, the DSC kicks in...but once your stucked,... hmmmmm...sometimes theory is way different than actual situation...there's a thread about this in canadian forum but im using my iphone right now so i can't search it for you.

jasonrxeight

well its because once DSC kicked in, you tires spin too slow. by turning off DSC, you make the tires dig in and heat up the surface faster to get better grip.

carbonRX8

iTrader: (1)

This is a concern for anything close to the ground, really. But with real winter tires... Put it this way, I put winters on my daily and I am simply friggin amazed. Why everyone doesnt put winters on in the winter is simply not answerable.


Lots of cars have these and you can get conversion kits. Not a reason to get a car.

I agree, but I went all black and am happy I did.

TRUTH!


FALSE!!

Winter tires. Srsly.
It is a 1.3L that breathes like a 2.6. Not so impressive now is it.

This is a common complaint. You will be lucky to ever see over 20mpg. Deal with it.

There is nothing more audibly pleasing than a rotary at full WOT. Almost all the aftermarket exhausts sound good.

The car is NOT a kidney buster. At least not until you modify it.

Ross_Dawg

iTrader: (2)

Max stiff coilovers = not going to be a fun 2400 miles trip for me lol.

Stock though, the car is GREAT driving long distances, and I'm 6'4"!

metallman56

so far some great info and some great reading trough links. my main concearn is still getting it started on my icy hill when i pull out on my road from the driveway. also something i'm yet to see in here is what the average mpg is out on the highway. in city not above 20 i get that. which is about where i'm at now. but what about on the highway? my grand am (3.4 v6) get about 34 mpg. started at about 30 mpg when i first got it. so thats anther thing that i'm concerned with. also, how large is the fuel tank?

carbonRX8

iTrader: (1)

You are NEVER going to see 30mpg. EVER. You will be lucky to get 12 mpg in the city and 22 on the hwy IF you are lucky. I think I used to average 17mpg stock. I might get a little better than that now.

My tank typically take 12.5 gallons on fillup, so it is likely a 13.5-15 gallon tank. That is a searchable question, I am sure.

jasonrxeight

its a 15.9 gallon tank.

mulletsquirrel

This car is the opposite side of the spectrum. The RX8 will never sound like the American pushrod. The engine is the smoothest one out there, since it doesn't have those pistons bouncing around in there, its just constant turning.

I live in South Dakota, we have some of the crappiest winters around here, I decided to buy another car instead of getting winter tires for the RX8. It wouldn't get around well even with the tires, and buying another car (4x4) was cheaper than 4 tires.

My mileage is almost always 17-18 mpg. This takes a lot of getting used to if you had 34 mpg before. Think about that. You have to go to the gas station twice as often as before.

There aren't many bolt on horsepower mods for this car. Period. You can do intake and exhaust, and you might get a few, or not lose any hp if you're lucky. The only way to get more is by forced induction or NOS. ( or a big spoiler :P jk )

That aside, the RX8 is the most exhilarating car I have ever driven. The gear box is so close and smooth. Almost as fun as a crotch rocket, without that looming fear of death always over you.

Hope that helps.

Mazurfer

Not arguing here as 15.9 is right, but you gotta be bone, and I mean bone dry..........in order to get 15.9 in it................including the neck.


Highway.....consider yourself lucky if 24-25 mpg.

metallman56

i dont get it. why does the mpg suck so bad?

maskedferret

iTrader: (1)

Because a less-than-ideal elongated shape of the combustion chamber lends to a lower thermal efficiency.

jasonrxeight

because the surface area is too big, the heat is leaking out too much.

metallman56

wow. thats almost a deal breaker for me if you think about it. sure its a fun car, but i could get that mpg out of a mustang, hell even a truck. interesting. . . . . . maybe the rx8 sadly is for me.

jasonrxeight

too bad if MPG is this important to you. maybe you should get an ecobox.
and dont compare to a mustang, you never gonna get the same fun outta a mustang.