Why did you sell your RX-8?
 

This is my first post to rx8xlub... :D

I am looking at buying a 2005 RX-8 GT and was just wondering the reasons for selling their RX8's from those that have moved on or are thinking about selling their RX-8's.

Welcome aboard :)

I don't think you'll get many replies b/c generally the people who are on here have an RX8 and love their car. There may be some who are thinking of selling, but they are few and far between.

You'd probably get more replies on a 350z/G35c forum from people who chose not to buy an RX8 then from people on here who do not like their car or are thinking of selling.

Welcome and congrats.

There are a few people here that sold their 8's but still hang around. Torque/power seems to be a big reason. Most seem to get a Vette, Evo or special Mustang like a Cobra.

I still have mine; however, I remember those on here that were discussing things during the buy back and primarily it was just having the opportunity to get something else without much loss (in the case of the buy back)

Another point people made was issues centering around MPG and/or power. Some thought it would be a power pony car or something. Others were upset with gas mileage after they got rid of their corollas and jettas.

It is true that the MPG is somewhat less than comparable performers but not too far off. I avg 16.8 mpg in town and I do not have hwy figures to give my overall mileage. I totally disagree with Road and Tracks avg of 13.8 mpg mileage. Overall most of the cars in the performance class avg around 19 - 20 mpg overall city/hwy according to these mags - G35 example and by my own observation, I would conclude that the RX8 is right close to it using my city only average. Power? The car has power. Originally rated as having 0-60 in 5.9 secs now 6.1. Either way it is not a dog. It is a good performer- not a drag car but a good perfomer.

I hear this it's not a drag car thing all the time on this site, implying that other cars are... Could someone name me one production car today that's a drag car please, because I'm really sick of hearing this.

The reason I ask is I just sold my Supercharged Miata over the weekend and shortly after I was out to test drive a RX-8. Awesome car!!!

My Miata was fast... faster than the RX-8... but I want something that is a little more classy, refined, sporty and can tow the family at the sametime.

It seems like the biggest problem people have with the 8 is the gas mileage, I am thinking that my Miata probably got worse mileage than I'd get from an 8, so it is not a huge issue for me.

Almost sold on the 8, just need a few days to make my final decision...

What other cars did you all consider besides the Z and G35 before settling on the 8?

2005 Mustang GT, 2004/3 Mustang Cobra, GTO, Viper, Vette. I could go on but that is the general idea.

However your tone indicates that maybe you really didn't want an answer. Exactly what are you trying to say?

I considered the G35 and the 2005 Mustang GT. I had to have some kind of a back seat for kids. I enjoy doing open track events and both of these were good candidates. But the G35 just didn't appeal to me. The Mustang was a close second, since my last car was a 94 Cobra, but the RX-8 felt better in many ways. I previously owned an 81 RX-7, which I bought new and drove for 140000 miles, and was looking forward to getting another rotary.

I am looking for my first track event next month with this car. For the record I am getting about 18 mpg which is probably better than the Mustang GTs are getting.

I still have my RX-8, but am on the fence on selling it. Let me say I love my RX8, but I recently got a new job and find myself driving around clients and it is a bit tough when you have 4 adults in the car. With my new job I am allowed a allowance, or a discount on any GM cars leased/purchased and have started looking at the Cadillac CTS-V. All in all you won't find too many people here disappointed in the RX-8, and will find the occasional gripes about gas milage and topping off the oil. If you want 4 seats/4 doors sports car performance and handling, and a great looking car look no further!!

Guess I am just looking for a little push... I am sold on the 8 already... just looking for some support on the purchase I guess... ;)

I think his tone is more indicative of the fact that these aren't drag cars, they are sports cars. Sports cars that are fast in a straight line as well as around corners.

I say go for it. My only reservation when I first got the car was the lack of low end torque, I was used to my v8 cobra. Now that I am used to the car, with 10000 miles, I have absolutely no regrets. Its true that you can't floor the car at 3000 rpm and expect anything. My Cobra would jump if I did that. The RX-8 will need at least 5500 before you get that kind of response.

It just plain drives differently than a V8 or high torque 6 cylinder. But when it does rev toward red line and the buzzer goes the revs are building so fast the I occasionally hit the rev limiter. No V8 that I have driven is building revs that fast near the red line.

This is not good nor bad, just a different way of driving (but I am having fun).

Very true.

Blueeyes is correct, and every single one of those cars would beat an RX-8 around a road course (save for MAYBE the GT). So again, tell me how those are drag cars. I hear it all the time on this site "the <insert random fast car here> is great if you want to go fast in a straight line", and it's nothing but a copout to try to justify the RX-8's mediocre straightline performance. Think the RX-8 is fast as hell, that's fine with me. But when you start making up nonsense about other cars because the RX-8 can't do something as well as those other cars can is where I take notice.

For my situation I needed something sporty with 4 usable seats.

- Z: 2 seater was out of the question.
- G35 Sedan: A very nice sport oriented luxury car. Great engine.
- G35 Coupe: Was my 1st choice. Beautiful car. Back seats wouldn't fit me at all or a baby seat easily.
- 325: Nice but options make it pricey. Coupe rear seats were tight. Sedan was a sedan. Great build quality. 325 engine was smooth but short on power.
- 230 Sedan: Really nice sporty luxury car that the wife still wants to get.

Although I'm somewhat of a rotorhead, I probably would have went with a G35 Coupe if the back seats were even remotely usable. For me they're not so it essentially would be a 2 seater.

The 8 is just really different from most cars in every aspect. It has its quirks but it is such a great overall package that I tend to ignore them. It's probably like if one of your kids had ADD. They drive you nuts sometimes but you still love 'um.

What are your concerns with getting one?

I am about to sell it b/c of poor gas mileage and lack of power, I think Mazda's claim of 238 is a pipedream. Going to go with a 05 WRX STi I think. 300 hp, 28 mpg highway, seats 4 comfortably...handles like a dream. Does not have the looks of the 8 but I am looking for performance.

If you like the STI's performance you should probably never should have bought an 8 in the first place. Two totally different cars.

I sold mine and bought a 2005 Cadillac STS.

I loved the car, don't regret owning it for a year, and knew the performance specs before I bought it. There were a few things however, I did not discover until living with the car for a while....

Yes, one reason was lack of torque, but I knew that going in since I've owned several RX-7s in the past in addition to currently owning a Supercharged '72 RX-2.

The other reason I wasn't totally happy took me a while to put my finger on, and this may not affect you if you've never owned a rotary: The car just seemed.....sterile..when compared to my other rotaries. I can't really explain it, but it's a heavier car (which isn't good when you're low on torque) with more sound insulation, and so a lot of the joy of driving a car with this engine is diluted (the snarling engine note, the high RPM pull...). Even outside the car, it doesn't sound like a proper rotary when you start it, more like a Ford V6. Plus, in an attempt to reduce emissions, Mazda tinkered with the ignition sequence at idle and managed to make a rotary idle rough, which I thought was impossible. (One thing I always loved about my 85 RX-7: The way it "purred" at a stoplight)

I'll get ripped for posting this, I know, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the car is a "mass-market" rotary car, and by homogenizing it, it has lost some of it's charm. The electric steering and electric throttle make it feel like you're driving a simulator instead of a real vehicle, they've gotten away from the lightweight car this engine needs to be in. Imagine how boring an Elsie would be if it were 1500 lbs heavier. Now you're getting the idea.....

The only reason I would ever sell it would be gas mileage. I'm hopeful that I will someday find ways to increase it. I don't really care about all of the complaints about power and speed. I didn't purchase this vehicle for the purpose of racing other people. I just think it looks great and is unique. Plus I hear that the rotary lasts forever and is generally low maintenance because it has so few moving parts. I think the only practical test of a car is highway driving, and I believe this is where this car was made for. It has very strong and smooth acceleration at high speeds, and it handles great.

The 8 lover, ahem strikes again. Civil duty to keep 8 owners in line and make sure their opinions are dwindled down to copouts and lies. Thanks Ike!


P.S. to say its fine with you if a 8 owner thinks the 8 is fast as hell would contradict the many times you felt it was your duty to remind a uppity 8 owner(some nerve those 8 owners) that the 8 is not fast at all.

I agree, I just wish I had the opportunity presented to me to drive a STi before buying this. I have had quite a few RX-7's, in fact my first car was a 85 gsl.
I agree with Tony that the car is too heavy and just plain low on power. I think Mazda needs to move back to the grass roots platform that the fd was built on. I know that I was fully aware of this when I bought the car, but I have had the opportunity to drive a few cars this week that just plain blow the doors off of my 8.

Intake and exhaust makes a huge difference in sound. I take it yours was stock. I actually thought the 8 as a loss leader for mazda. Sure it caters to a broader market but displaying the rotary as an engineering marvel helps bring more ppl in the door.

I also loved the STS in the commercial but in person I was somewhat disappointed. Go checkout the Lexus ls430 and sts back to back. GM's powertrains have improved drasticly but the overall car is made on the cheap side for the price tag.

ie. Fake wood

Quote:
Originally Posted by SDB
2005 Mustang GT, 2004/3 Mustang Cobra, GTO, Viper, Vette. I could go on but that is the general idea.

However your tone indicates that maybe you really didn't want an answer. Exactly what are you trying to say?



Blueeyes is correct, and every single one of those cars would beat an RX-8 around a road course (save for MAYBE the GT). So again, tell me how those are drag cars. I hear it all the time on this site "the <insert random fast car here> is great if you want to go fast in a straight line", and it's nothing but a copout to try to justify the RX-8's mediocre straightline performance. Think the RX-8 is fast as hell, that's fine with me. But when you start making up nonsense about other cars because the RX-8 can't do something as well as those other cars can is where I take notice.

a vette and viper can beat a 8 around the track?!? damn that salesman lied to me :) ! i have no idea if a stang or gto could beat an 8 guess it would depend on the course.

and wasnt the 7 built to race and the 8 is built for a nice ride around town w/some performance?

cant we all just like a car for what it is?

to the original poster, ive found the 8 to be the perfect car for what you describe and my gas mileage keeps going up right now im at 21 mpg.

I'm kinda confused about the what you and Tony O said about the 7. I've owned 5 RX-7s. An 85 GSL would turn 0-60 in around 8.5 seconds at best even with a redline clutch drop. 6 seconds on an RX-8 is a huge difference. If it's low on power, low compared to what? An FD? Today's adjusted cost of an FD would be $50K. Nobody would buy it including you.

I do somewhat agree that it lost the edginess of the 7 a bit. The 8 is quiet, smooth and refined. The 7s were a bit rough but great fun. The 8 seems like somebody took a BMW platform and dropped a different body and rotary into it.

It's all a comprimise. If they squeezed 300hp into an 8, maybe it would start at over $35K instead of $25K. Would people buy a $40K RX-8? I dunno but not me. If you put a 997 style body and interior on an STI platform, maybe it would be $40K+. At that price I'd just buy a Porsche.

There are quite a few on us on this board that are former Miata owners.
Myself being one of them, I’ll tell the reasons why we went with the 8.

First, the list of cars that we were cross shopping: Infiniti G35coupe, Mazda RX8, and the Lexus SC. While each car had their individual’s strengths and weaknesses, after we test-drove the RX8, it was a done deal.

IMHO the RX8 is just an all around superb vehicle. As you know coming from a stock Miata, just about anything is faster. It doesn’t handle as well, but the suspension is more forgiving and is just as fun, if not more of a blast to drive. Overall I have no regrets or complaints with the 8. Go test drive one already. :D

The RX8 did come out of Mazda's "grass roots" platform; its design origins go back to the RX-01 concept from 10 years ago. Yeah, the RX8 is significantly bigger and heavier than the RX-01, but it still starts at <2900 pounds (and only a little heavier than the FD). It's lighter than any other RWD 4-seater currently in production, except for a couple cars in Europe (that make a hell of a lot less power than the RX8) and the RX8's weight is more concentrated towards the center of the car.

The 8 is not about power, but is about balance. It's slower than the FD, but it's more comfortable, practical, and cheaper. You can add a turbo, sway bars, strut tower braces, stiffer suspension, etc and still be <3000 pounds.

You might as well scratch the gas mileage complaint, because the STi will get SLIGHTLY better mileage. In my first 3000 miles I've seen equal or slightly better mileage than my 8. On the highway, both my 8 and my wife's STi are pretty much even on gas mileage.

sometimes...you hit the nail DIRECTLY on the head, Ike...well-said. People confuse things all the time. Some think to gain power up-high in the rpm band, means you'll have to lose it 'down low'. People think 15hp peak gain at ONE rpm is better than 10hp gain between 2000-9000 rpms. People think for a car to go fast in a straight line, it HAS to be slow in the 'twisties'. Frankly, I'd be surprised if 98% of RX8 drivers would soundly out-handle 98% of drivers of (insert whichever make of car listed above) on a road course...When it comes to great-driving/road-course cars, there isn't that much difference between 'sports' cars the driver can't compensate for.

When I was looking at a 2004 GTO, I read a story about a guy with a stock GTO on a road course passing C5s.

(shrug).

Why do you doubt the 238 hp claim? Compared to other cars that I have owned or seen reviews on it seems just about right. Looking at weight and acceleration then 0-60 at around 6 seconds and 1/4 mile at 14.5 would be appropriate.

If you take the 238 hp car and give it a 26% increase in power the result would be 300 hp. I certainly would expect a performance difference.

Mazda 6S 220hp: 170-180whp
Mazda RX8 '238hp': 170-185whp.

(shrug).

Just doesn't add up that with all the the parasitic reductions planned into the RX8, it'd lose MORE HP thru the drive train than a fwd'er.

Pauliewalnuts: I didn't mean the 7 was faster, just that it was a more engaging car to drive. It felt like it was pulling free of it's leash at high RPMs, where the 8 feels like it's running out of steam.


Darkmaz8: Nothing but genuine eucalyptus in my (and all) STS. That's what listening to the "anti-GM" masses will get you, misinformation. The STS was just nominated for Ward's Interior of the Year Award.

http://www.cadillac.com/images/model...toInt8_med.jpg

http://www.epochtimes.com/i6/4111646331072.jpg

ls430 w/dvd navi $61,875

A similarly equiped STS $60,835

The picture makes the sts look alrite but in person there is no comparison.

The sts doesnt even have a center rear seat headrest and comes with a shitty bose, which can't even compare to the entry lexus nakamichi system nevermind the mark levingston. Not to mention all the other options that come standered on the 430. Like the perferated air condishion leather seats.

(*Editor's note: I can't believe I'm about to argue logic with a person who actually wrote "Perferated, air condishin seat". Sigh.....*)

My last comment on this because we're hijacking his thread:

My STS has perforated and ventilated seats from the factory. And perhaps you were unaware, but Lexus does not offer Magnetic Ride Control, keyless pushbutton start, intellibeam forward optics, or a four color HUD. Add in the better 0-60 and 1/4 mile of the STS, and I don't see your point.

And by calling the world's only BOSE 15 speaker, 5.1ch. personal studio surround system, complete with Bluetooth integration, DVD audio, DTS and Dolby Digital playback "shitty", you sir are making yourself look silly. Not all BOSE systems are as bad as the RX-8's, my friend.

And not all GM cars suck. I know, it hurts to admit it, (and you won't) but it's true. I doubt anyone here will agree that the above interior looks "cheap" (higher res. Nav screen, BTW...).

That's all for me, it's rude to hijack this gentleman's thread. I told him what I traded for and why, and you felt the need to (attempt) to critcize my car. But don't throw your showroom brochure knowlege at somebody who actually owns one and shopped both.

And if you want to piss all over GM, pick a different car, because that dog won't hunt. :)

Sorry for the sidetrack in topic.

Obviously you are biased but in REALITY the Lexus is the better car. GM has stepped it up a bit but remember that the 2005 ls430 is no different(other than tranny) than the 2001 and it still can't compare. Sure it does the 1/4 in 14.3 but the lex is a 14 second car as well. If you know anything about business you would know that GM is in a terrible position financially. The lexus/toyota sells for sticker while GM can't sell a car at sticker if their life depended on it. Sorry to burst your bubble but GM is still playing catch up as Toyota has taken a huge market share. Why do you think an import would be outselling a domestic? B/C it is better. We'll see how your STS stands up in 10 years. Go drive a 10 year old LS. It still drives better than new. The STS is a good car to lease but I'd never own one.

BTW GM makes cars to last the warrentee. Their income is from leasing, service and parts not by selling cars. ;)

Your not gonna win this one buddy. You'll eventually see the light. :)

GM is going down fast. Now they have a big recall on trucks, SUV, Hummers, Caddy SUVs. When will they wake up? I think the big executes who are up there in their ivory towers should have their benefits cut, big time until they turn the company around.

I was talking about a car, not GM's business strategy, which includes 10 divisions. This is not representative of what's happening at Cadillac.

I swear that this will be my last comment, because it's rude as hell to hijack this thread. If you feel this bitter, start a thread in "General Automotive" called "Why Lexus is better than Cadillac". But since we're here, I'd just like to point out that your opinions of Cadillac are based on the cars they made 10, 5 or even 3 years ago. This is a revitalized brand, with a product just as fresh. If Consumer reports, Kiplinger's, Ward's and the rest of the automotive world don't convince you, nothing will. Keep dreaming of one day being able to afford an overpriced, rebadged Toyota, and maybe it will come true eventually. (At least Cadillac uses their own chassis and engines) The fact that you know nothing about the equipment offered on the STS should be an indicator to you that perhaps you don't know anything about the car. Reading a headline in USA today about GM's stock price does not make you an expert on their products.

But that's the nice thing about the automotive landscape: Choice. You drive what you want, I'll do the same.

The gentleman who started this thread is trying to make an informed choice, based on the opinions of those who have owned and driven the car in question, not a teenager who can't spell "air-conditioned", and we are getting in the way.

First off i wrote condish on purpose dummy!

Second, you have no Idea what a quality product is. I do and I have a 98 ls400 bought in 2000. You are in no position to tell me what I can or can't afford. I bought the car knowing that it will last. Not only did it last but it has the maintenance of a camry. Don't worry, I'll be trading her in for an 05 or I might wait to see the ls600 due in 06 and you'll be the first to know. ;)

Third, I am not saying you made the wrong decision. You like what you like and I like what I like. Saying that Lexus is a rebaged toyota might be right but still doesn't prove anything except that Toyota makes great cars.

Lastly, I wouldn't trust all the media hype. Especially media coming from the USA. Considering the problems GM has, I wouldn't be suprised if they pulled some strings. But then again, GM doesn't have anything to do with Cadillac. :rolleyes:


Yes this Thread got hijacked, but rightfully so. The original poster should go on other sites to ask this question cause most former 8 owners wouldn't be found here anyways.

I traded my 8 for purely practical/financial reasons. I owned the 8 and a Nissan pickup truck. I was making payments on both, and want to get down to one car payment.

I live on the side of a mountain in southwest VA, with a 1/3 mile rutted gravel driveway. I couldn't even get my 8 out of the garage for three weeks this winter (snow & ice). It dragged on the center of the rutted driveway sometimes. I could get the driveway fixed, but it would happen again eventually.

The pickup is great for haulin' stuff, but not as a daily driver. So I traded my 8 for a 2005 Volvo S40 T5 AWD -- sort of between the 8 and the truck. I still have the truck, but the plan is to sell it eventually.

It was a difficult decision, but it was the right one. I love the S40!