We whine and complain everyday in this forum. We whine about engine flooding, check engine lights, fuel mileage, reliability. We whine about damned near every creek and rattle in this beautiful car of ours.

But seriously. How many of you remember why you bought the car in the first place? I bought this car blind, without even a test drive before paying (heck, I test drove it AFTER I paid cash). It was $20,000. It was a dumb move, I know, buying cars without test driving.

Little did I know, one year later, the car still feels as if I had just bought it. I'm not talking about build quality. I'm not talking about the paint finish.

I'm talking about the passion for driving it has instilled in me. I'm talking about the pure exhilaration the music from the rotary gives me. It's made me love driving, and coming from a family that exclusively drove only "gray" boring cars, that's something special. It's made me a rotary head. There is nothing I look forward to on Friday night more than heading out to a long empty road for a drive. Nothing.

You may roll up in a faster car. A more powerful car. A more expensive car. I really don't care. My RX-8 has never failed to put a smile on my face. Ever. Everytime I feel down in spirits, I go for a drive. The perfect remedy to all my problems.

Blind purchase it may be, but I have never regretted a single moment of ownership. Ever.

This car is magic.

What about you? Have you lost the "Zoom-Zoom" spark?

 

I love driving my 8 everytime

What I dislike(and for most other users) is the Mazda dealerships service department. Most of them are morons, cant fix ****, never follow proper Mazda's guidelines in the end killed tons of engines, and tries to blame it on customer's whenever possible.

 

Agreed. Had for almost 3 years and I still take the long way home or will look for excuses to drive. The magic is still there. Car enthusiasts that shun this car (for whatever reason) without ever driving it don't know what they are missing. When I walk up to it in a crowed parking lot it still sticks out like a sore thumb and immediately makes most of the surrounding cars look boring/drab/conservative.

 

I lost the zoom zoom spark when it turned into a blazing inferno.

The RX-8 is my favorite machine of all time.

 

Couldnt wait to buy my 8 when they first came out. Bought an 05 (actually two as the first had an early demise) and still love driving my car three years running. Have I lost the Zoom-Zoom spark? Hell no.

This car is great!

 

this car made me like the twisty more and more.

 

Yes! Interestingly, 73% of respondents are "highly satisfied" and 90% are either "highly satisfied" or "somewhat satisfied" in the "How satisfied are you...?" thread. Yet it seems like four out of five threads in "General Topics" are of the "My RX8 Almost Killed Me" or "Who's A Member of the New Engine Club?" variety.

I would think those threads belong in "Issues and Problems," but no... they're splashed all over the main forum page for all undecideds researching the car to see - even though they misleadingly create a negative aura about the car. I think of it as the swiftboating of the 8.

 

Yet when you look at the new engine club poll, it says 600 people had no issues and like 40 have new engines. You also start noticing that the same people who blow motors and transmissions, usually blow more then 1, which makes me wonder about driving style more then vehicle reliability (No, I'm not saying you're driving it wrong new engine club members, just pushing it harder ).

The simple fact is that you don't post threads when your car starts in the morning because its a non event. It's only an event when something bad happens, so you see more posts.

 

love every minute of it!

 

I've owned 4 rotary street machines, going back to my '72 RX-2, and 3 rotary race cars. I still love getting in my '04 RX8 and driving it. I prefer driving it over my M3, although its a close choice. Zoom-zoom for ever indeed!!

 

I don't think I've ever whined or complained about Zoomy. 18 months and 14,000 miles tegether, and the second childhood is still going strong.

Never had a problem with my dealer, either. (Rosenthal Tyson's Corner.) I'm likely to keep going there for oil changes and routine service even after the two year free changes are over.

Ken

 

I wonder how many with engine replacements have in some way modded their car mechanically or don't maintain their car "by the book" (i.e. they've removed the cat, run synth oil, altered the cooling system, add "pre-mix", don't check oil level every other fill-up, don't run 5W-20, etc, etc...)

Bet it's a lot.

 

March 13th will mark 2 years, and by then it'll probably have about 36k on the odo. All trouble free and smile inducing fun.


I woke up early Saturday morning and couldn't fall back to sleep, so at 9am I got up and, since I didn't want to wake my woman, I decided to go wake the Renesis. mmmmm . . . the feel of this engine on a cold winter morning is pretty sweet. Took it to the local hand wash car wash and got a bath, then out to the streets. Nice and sunny, and lo-and-behold - as I hit RT 10 coming out of the city I spot a 2nd gen 7 (red w/black vert top) and give the driver a honk. Down the road we roll at a speed somewhere above what that little white sign had marked on it - it was kind of blurred I finally slowed some and he pulled up next to me with the same grin splitting his face. It was fun. More fun than the regular days, since there was a random rotary stranger to share it with - but all the regular days kick ***, too.

 

I had my engine replaced (twice) and it was neither the Mazda engineering team's fault OR mine. Still makes me wanna

I bought my car used a year and 1/2 ago. I probably could have bargained and paid less, and it is highly impractical with the amount of miles I drive each day. I park 1/4 of a mile away from the front doors of Wal-Mart to keep from getting door dings, and I can't fit all my stuff in the trunk when I go visit the folks.

But I have yet to experience one ounce of regret...

 

I feel the same, I love my 8. Its winter time here in Nepa and I hate not being able (wanting to) to drive it due to ugly roads. Yesterday I installed the Evo-R carbon fiber front lip and I couldnt resist. Took it for alil spin and I love it can't wait till spring/summer. We all bought the car for fun of driving it, even thou its not the fastest we all still make alot of people break their necks as we fly by. Love wouldn't get rid of it for anything.

 

I've test driven a CX-7, CX-9, G35, G45, and Edge. ...Can you tell I have kids . In the end, I just can't walk away from my 8! It's just too much fun regardless of it's scarce eletronic wizardry (bluetooth, keyless start (I have an 04) etc.). In in the end, it's the drive that keeps me in my 8!

 

Ah..., those who speak of rotary strangers:

I feel a strange affinity to anyone else who drives a rotary car. It's like there's a fraternity/sorority thing going on. Maybe it's just that rotary heads are hard to come by.

Too bad I live in Indiana, where rednecks rule with their V8 trucks. Can't count how many times some moron in a truck tried to drag race me stop light to stop light.

Rotary heads are few here. All of you should move to Indiana and shake things up!

 

My 8 has ben in the garage for over 2 months becuase of winter and I am just itching to get it out. I am like an 8 year old waiting for christmas I think of it everyday what it's gonna b liek to get it out and drive..........I certainly have not lost the spark but it may have gotten hotter/brighter since I bought the car(which I've have it for 1 year in 2 weeks( but hell its my favorite car i've ever ever owned

 

Where in Pa are u from??
I'm from Hazleton, Pa.
U close by??

 

wow. how did you get it for so cheap?

 

fanboi!

 

dude, u should go work for mazda sales or at least make the cool-aid for their sales staff..

 

My 8 turned me back into a car enthusiast! Years of abuse at the hands of economy cars and minivans almost beat the spirit out of me. With the 8 I could have four seats AND a sports car. I was saved! A born again believer in the rotary gods! LOL

 

I have taken up a second job (for gas) so i can make unecessary trips across town in my baby whenever humanly possible. Gas prices suck? yes, but just 3 extra hrs of work a week at part time job is small price to pay for a weekly full tank of gas to zoom around on!

 

i just had some zoom zoom fun on the way back home tonight!