hyperlitenerd

Well I went to the SF zoom zoom live, and well I am now on the RX8 forum. I loved driving the car around that track!

So I am now researching rx8s to see what the story with them is. I know check the faqs and search n00b. But if anyone has any kind words of advice about the rx8. Reasons I should get one, Reasons I should look at other cars instead.

I drive 40 miles each way to work, is the RX8 a comfortable freeway cruiser, or will I be getting knocked around inside?

I love being able to listen to my ipod in my car with my alpine stereo. A quick check on here and at crutchfield shows that there are no real solutions. Ideally I could get the factory stereo to play the ipod, or if I can get the steering wheel controls to work with my alpine.

TIA for letting me join your community.

Go48

Check out this oldie but goodie (if I can say so myself):
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/don%92t-buy-rx-8-if%85-77017/

BTW, the car is a fantastic "freeway cruiser" as long as you can avoid stop and go traffic.

hyperlitenerd

I hit stop and go 1 out of 5 days on the way home, So how bad is it in stop and go. I currently have a manual, and it is liveable. I am getting quotes from the deals near by right now is aimming for 25k otd for an 06 (touring manual)0 a reasonable price to go after?

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

that's a decent price to start w/ on negotiation.

btw you do know Mazda now offers integrated iPod support for their stock headunits right? search around in the audio section and you'll find the link to it.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

oh, and expect around 18-20mpg in mixed stop-n-go traffic, is that something you're willing to live with for several years?

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

and if you're already doing manual driving in traffic, RX-8 manual driving will be no difference, actually slightly more comfortable as the positioning of the shifter as well as the shifting action feels just about perfect this side of a S2000. and the clutch is easy to modulate as well.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

and yes it is a great highway cruiser, relatively soft suspension does have its good points, sometimes lol

sunilseru

I went to the LA Zoom Zoom live event last year in the morning and bought my car in the afternoon the same day no, I did not buy because of the event, it just worked out that way.

The 8 is pretty good in stop and go traffic . The clutch is fairly light, not as light as the Honda clutches, but still pretty good.

hyperlitenerd

if I am getting 20 mixed, thats about what I am getting now in my ford contour. I can get 27mpg if I got 55 all the way to work but I am getting about 25 when I actully cruise at speed. So if I can get low 20s on the freeway, I think the performance gain will balance out.

I found the thread about the ipod intergration, I think I will get that. Are there anymore options that you are glad you purchased, or wish you did?

HLN

Old Rotor

I enjoyed ZOOM-ZOOM LIVE as well. It was well put together, wish the lines were shorter. My 8 is my seventh rotary and I feel it would be hard to find a more exotic car for the money. If you are a car enthusest you are in for a whole new world. The car is really built around the rotary engine. Enjoy...and by the way I have got 27mpg at 60mph on a long haul.

hyperlitenerd

I am becomming a car enthusest, I was not raised in a car family, but I love to drive, I love to tinker, see how things work. I like that the RX8 is how I want it from the factory. I dont need to just throw a turbo on, or just change some suspension. It has enough power for me, mid 6 0-60s right? More than enough to get in front of a semi when I am merging on. The handling was so balanced it was rediculous.

I think I will look for a performance driving school to take it to after I get it all broken in, because that last thing I would want to do is wreck it since I've only driven fwd cars(I'm only a little cautious about having a performance car).

Huskyfan23

My drive is 50 miles to work every day as well, and I couldn't be happier with the choice I made on purchasing this car. It actually wasn't even a choice....the second I drove it I was sold. Sure, its sports suspension allows a greater than normal bump vibration, but it's absolutely liveable (and a ton better than the S2000, Mustang or 350Z). Here are the pluses and negatives:

Plus Side:

-GREAT vehicle, UNBELIEVABLE handling for the price. The stock RX8 corners around .86 g's, and has very limited body roll. It beats out high performance vehicles that cost $15 to $20k more.

-The engine is so small and properly situated, allowing for perfect weight distribution. You noticed how well it handled.

-The per liter output is 186+ horsepower. That beats out any other car in the world I believe....including ferrari's and 911 Turbos.

If you're going to get the RX8, I highly recommend getting the GT package. The power leather heated seats, 6 disc CD changer and top of the line bose sound system (never heard a better stock system in my life) make it that much more enjoyable. It makes regular highway driving a heck of a lot more fun than before. And what's best is it's luxurious and comfortable. The engine drives so smooth, the steering is so tight, it can't be beat.

Also, go for the MANUAL if you purchase one.

Negative Side:

- poor gas economy (a small engine normally translates to very good gas mileage. In this case, V8 fuel economy is all you get).

- Only takes premium (which is becoming much less of a factor now that gas prices are down).

- Sucks oil like crazy. I bought a case of 5w20 oil and keep it in the trunk for when I may need it. I'd say it need a quart about once every 1200 miles.

- Rotary engine, many may consider, has the possibility to be less reliable than a piston engine. It hasn't been around long enough for any real long term tests (although my dad's RX7 ran until 225,000 miles), but there are multiple recalls. Don't consider this a factor, as the warranty covers it all until 60k miles. If the engine fails a vacumn test, you get a new one for free.

Conclusion: Can't beat the car. Period. BUY IT. You will not find a car that has a fun factor like this one. I give it a 10 out of a 10 for pure enjoyment.

Huskyfan23

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the 0 - 60 time. Mid 6 is about right, although depending on how high you want to rev before you drop the hammer, low 6 to high 5 is a possibility. (Motor Trend's test results were 5.8). Depends on how much you want to abuse the clutch.

Huskyfan23

Click on this link:

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...pe_comparison/

Motor Trend's sports car comparision: RX8, S2000, 350Z. While both the S2000 and 350Z are more expensive, the RX8 won, even though the 350Z was the fastest. Read and find out why.

hyperlitenerd

How much better is the GT from the touring.

The burning oil has me a little concerned, just another thing to keep track of, though once I figure out the patern of when I need to oil up.

Man you guys are getting me way too excited.

Huskyfan23

It really all depends if you like the little things, as the engine / transmission remains the same. For me, the two tone leather / heated / power seats really makes a huge difference. Dont get me wrong, the cloth is really comfortable, but the leather is equally as comfortable.

The heated seats are great, especially on a cold morning. Also, the mirrors are heated, which in all honesty really doesn't mean a lot to me.

If you commute as much as I do (50 miles each way) these little things are important to overall daily comfort. The touring is a good pick, as well, but for only the additional grand I think the Grand Touring is the way to go.

And you should be excited.....you can't beat the car for the price.

Huskyfan23

oh yeah, and I found this:

http://www.edmunds.com/new/research/mazda/rx8.html

Good review, but check out the "Driving Impressions" section. It'll give you more feedback behind the car on a daily driving basis.

jimbo99

Huskyfan23 you've got the bug!

I was at the Zoom Zoom on Sunday and tried to stop in at a dealership I've been working a deal with on the way back to the Central Valley. I too wish the lines were shorter but can't fault Mazda for offering the experience.

I am on the fence regarding the manual vs. automatic. I guess I'm getting too old but pushing in the cluch all the time for that all too infrequent twisty-road-weekend-tour (think Hwy 35 out of Saratoga to Skyline and Page Mill Rd.) just isn't convincing me that the auto-stick 6AT transmission isn't worth a test.

What color/equipment are you thinking of getting?

CarAndDriver

I hope the folks that put this on can create some revenue to keep this event going.

Winfree

Oil burning seems to be variable - I really expected to use a lot and got a big stock of oil to top her off - but mine seems to preform well and is well tuned and oil useage is not unusual, also milage was better than expected. My only negative is that I have the racing skirt and have to watch curb hight and the only real problem was the firewall seemed to be too atractive to rodents and when I made sure that all were exterminated I ended up with a dead one in my air conditioner -real pest - but got everything back to normal which is the best car I have ever driven, and the most comfortable - the only problem is it will spoil you for any other car!

Winfree

Oil burning seems to be variable - I really expected to use a lot and got a big stock of oil to top her off - but mine seems to preform well and is well tuned and oil useage is not unusual, also milage was better than expected. My only negative is that I have the racing skirt and have to watch curb hight and the only real problem was the firewall seemed to be too atractive to rodents and when I made sure that all were exterminated I ended up with a dead one in my air conditioner -real pest - but got everything back to normal which is the best car I have ever driven, and the most comfortable - the only problem is it will spoil you for any other car!

Winfree

Oil burning seems to be variable - I really expected to use a lot and got a big stock of oil to top her off - but mine seems to preform well and is well tuned and oil useage is not unusual, also milage was better than expected. My only negative is that I have the racing skirt and have to watch curb hight and the only real problem was the firewall seemed to be too atractive to rodents and when I made sure that all were exterminated I ended up with a dead one in my air conditioner -real pest - but got everything back to normal which is the best car I have ever driven, and the most comfortable - the only problem is it will spoil you for any other car!

Raptor75

Highway cursing is very nice in this car. On the high way you can expect 18 to 24 mpg depending how you drive, to get 24mpg we are talking setting the cruse control. City driving is another matter, some say they get up to 18 city I myself get 12 city so hope for the Best but be prepared for the worst. Each RX seems to differ in there mileage some of this is your driving style but there is definitely issues with some RX-8 that effect there mileage. DON'T EXPECT MAZDA TO DO ANYTHING FOR YOU IF YOU HAVE MPG ISSUES. As soon as there hear mpg that is the end of the discussion.

Oil consumption is normal and not a big deal, you will soon set a pattern of what your car consumes per a given distance. I check my oil every 500 miles which seems fine and is easy to remember. My car sucks a quart about every 600 miles which is very high for the RX. For your driving I would expect 1500 to 2000 per quart.

This car is very easily to life with on a day to day bases and is just a great car. Looks are very nice on the eyes, 4 seats are great, performance is good. Now that the teething problems have been worked out reliability seems pretty good thou the engine has had a few issues which time will only tell if they have been worked out.

The only thing I don't like about this car is the poor MPG and Mazda's corps poor service support.

hyperlitenerd

Luckly I am still young(21) and I will be going with the manual. Some days on the way home I do pagemill to skyline to 9 to lawernce expressway and home. Since I work up in SF and live in santa clara.

I am looking at either silver or grey. Im trying to decided if I should go touring or GT. I will have to go sit in a few and decided if it is worth the extra money. I dont think I am getting any other options other than the Ipod, they all seem to be visual add ons, not too much functional stuff.

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

give the manual RX-8 a try, I think the clutch and gearshift is VERY easy to work with, that little bit of extra effort is definitely worth it for this car IMO.