the October edition of Road and Track...on page 113 is the follow-up article on the 2004 RX8 after 50,000 mi.....
Im gonna try and read the whole article but Im at work....
I just wanted to pass on the info... enjoy!

 

Don't be surprised if there is a touch of negativity.

 

Very cool! Let us know how it goes, what it says etc.

Paul.

 

so much negativity in you young one...

Shinks post the article if you can! or give us the cliffnotes.

 

damn, what a tease...

 

I guess i could scan it???

 

2004 Mazda RX-8

Close to greatness

OUR LONG-TERM TEST OF THE MAzDA RX-8 has ended. We miss the car. Everyone who drove it enjoyed its sinfully smooth engine and sporty nature. For all the things it does right, it's a shame it isn't petfect. A collection of trivial faults diminish what is otherwise a wonderful car-these are the type of faults that may be irrelevant to some, but of utmost importance to others. After 50,000 miles we've sorted them out and can tell you what to expect of ownership.

It is not a 4-door sedan. At first the rear suicide doors were novel, then we discovered they add complexity that a typ¬ical 4-door doesn't have. The difficulty comes when allowing rear passengers to egress-the front door must be opened first, then the rear. If the car is parked in a typical space gdjacent to another car, the RX-S's open doors trap the front and rear passengers as they attemp to exit. A game of twister ensues while trying to escape the clutches of the RX-8-one's personal space will be violated.

Seating in the rear is comfortable, even for taller passengers, but not very inviting.
The rear windows are like portholes on a ship-not a good place for those who suf¬fer from claustrophobia. Though similar to most 2+2s, the B- and C-pillar thicknesses seem to trap the rear passengers more than in a conventional arrangement.

Our Touring Package-equipped car fits drivers up to 6 feet tall, but head room is tight. The sunroof and S-way power seats didn't help. Seating is compromised somewhat by a steering wheel that doesn't telescope. It could really use another inch or two to keep taller drivers' knees from getting in.....

 

i can totally relate to the trapped between doors situation. nice shinks

 

they said touring but have power seats- they have Grand Touring

 

shinka. change RX-B and RX-S.

i can relate to those negativities in the article. it's ok though. haha

 

the way. The 6-speed manual transmission is faultless, as is the feeling of the well placed pedals and well weighted steering.

The normally aspirated Wankel twin rotor engine is an engineering marvel, but it consumes a quart of oil nearly every 3000 miles. It's normal for this type of engine, so we learned to live with it, and out of necessity began carrying an extra quart in the trunk. For a car that requires oil to be added regularly, Mazda should have made it easier to check the level, as it necessitates the removal of a dirty engine cover to get at the dipstick. MINE IS NEVER DIRTY>>LOL User friendly it is not. When zinging the rotary to its astronomical 9000-rpm redline, nearly all is forgiven. Even so, it does not make up for the lack-luster torque when pulling away from a stoplight or shuffling through traffic.

Most of our motoring was done solo or with one passenger. Rear seats were often needed for storage as trunk capacity is minimal at 7.6 cu. ft. The trunk is also restricted by a small opening, and by the spare tire mounted oddly at the top.
Many of our 50,000 miles were completed during sunrise-to-sunset long-distance hauls. As such we had plenty of time to ponder the engineering genius that gave the RX-8 see-through sun visors.

Two warranty issues were taken care of by the dealer at no cost. A rattling rear speaker was replaced, and a new center console lid was installed when the original's stopped working. As with most of our long-term cars we had to replace tires; a total of six sticky Bridgestone Potenza RE040s were needed. The front brake rotors warped and needed to be turned once and new pads were added.

Combined with oil changes and regular dealer service, the cost of routine maintenance was low. Fuel economy at 17.5 mpg is on the low side of average, and the high price of gasoline today accounted for the extra cost per mile. Depreciation was about normal and so the cost per mile result is just about average.

Minor grievances aside, the RX-8 is a wonderful automobile, more of a civilized sports coupe than a sports sedan. Prospective owners should be sensitive to the complexities of ownership, as this Mazda tries to be a different type of sports car. Don't be fooled by the two extra doors; the RX-8 is a direct descendant of the RX-7. We'd recommend the RX-8 to anyone, especially those who don't mind getting a little dirty checking the oil and keeping the revs up-way up.

 

Umm....way to state the obvious. The suicide doors were made to be a compromise between two doors and four. Rear windows and claustrophobia? That's really stretching it.

 

thanks for the proof reading...im going blind trying to copy and paste this scan...it really comes out wacky when saving it to word

 

dang... must be tiring to type all that up...

 

ratings at a glance:

Touring: Average
Engine: Excellent
Handling: Excellent
Reliability: Excellent
Fuel Efficiency: Average
Ownership cost: Average

overall I disagreed with a couple of things but perhaps thats because I have a great love for this car....one of the main reasons why i bought it...I didnt really care about the suicide doors...i didnt buy it as a family car....i wasnt looking for lots of torque.....the looks and feel of the car are its strong suit....and like i said earlier, my engine cover is not dirty and ive got a seibon ks style CF hood

 

"We miss the car," "sinfully smooth engine," "a wonderful automobile," "we'd recommend the RX-8 to anyone."

I just don't get it. What happened to the slow, fatally flawed disaster we talk about here???

 

no typing Ngo......scanned the pages onto a word document then copied and pasted....

NO F....... way i would type all that!!

 

I see ownership cost as being excellent, but I suppose that's because I went with the base 6-speed. Even considering the extra I'll pay in fuel and oil over the next several years, I'll still be way under what I would've paid for a G35, 350z, S2k, STI, or EVO.

As far as the doors go, it's true that a sedan has some advantages, but the RX8's suicide doors offer far more flexibility and utility than a 2-door (especially when it comes to loading kids).

Overall, it was a nice write-up. Thanks for posting it.

 

1 quart every 3k miles...Hmmm... I've not had that yet. They must have run the hell out of it--I love that!

 

When I had mine, that was about right. I had to add 1 quart in between every oil change. I didn't drive the hell out of it either. A few fun runs every now and then but I drove it mostly granny style to save gas.

I have to agree with the write up. Major gripe: fuel economy. The rest of the stuff are minor gripes that don't take away much from the car. Ie small trunk space, suicide doors are awkward with 4 people and a parking spot between 2 cars, difficulty checking oil (i found out early that you NEEDED a flashlight to put the stupid dip stick back in, heh), etc.

The funny thing is people telling me that the insurance on the 8 is cheaper than other cars. It's not for my insurance company. I got a quote for a brand new BMW (I was considering a new bimmer) and a 12 year old Lexus as a beater. They told me my insurance would go DOWN $84/ 6 months. The BMW alone would drop my insurance $111/ 6 months.

 

Surprised that the rear doors sounded like a negative. When I drop off or pick up my oldest from school, I simply open my door and remove my belt and out he goes...done! WAY better than having to get out in a two door. And they prefer being back there to my wifes SUV with reclining seats, their own "racing seat" where they can watch their DVD's or play on their hand-helds, perfect considering its dark back there.

 

With a car load of hotties, tis could be seen as a positive :-)

 

Nice write up! I can agree with the person writing this article in many ways. Owning the 8 is an experience,at least for me , being that the 8 is my first rotary car i ever owned. But its not a bad experience ....sure checking/changing the oil frequently gets old sometimes, the poor gas milage out of such a small power plant (but i don't know many sports cars that get good gas milage besides a Corvette), the quirks for some owners flooding there 8. But besides that, the 8 is a joy to drive and own!

The 8 is my therapy at the end of the day,hitting the 9k rpm mark, the awesome sound of winding out the rotary is blissful, handeling curves that other cars or there owners may not want to brave because of not being confident in there vehicle, wondering ...would this be there last driving experience ever. No such thoughts in the 8....at least for me.


And the looks, come on....i rarely come across anybody that hates the looks of this car. Mazda did a timeless body style instead of a timely body style that most manufactures have produced.

As far as reliability, 20k on the clock, had no problems since day one of ownership(54 miles new). My rotary runs strong as a bull , no quirks, no kinks, no bugs..... she runs flawless! As much as i love my Z cars, 80' 280Z, '86' Turbo,'94 TTZ Stage III , i cant say the same as far as reliabilitygoes for them. These cars didn't nickle and dime me, but maitnance ,cost me a pretty penny and would have cost me more if i didn't have the wrench skills to do my own maitnance.

With the 8, all i payed out of pocket is $13 bucks for my routine oil changes at Mazda(preferred customer card)and 5 dollars a month for my semi-synthetic quarts of oil that i have to add every month to top off.

Other than that i hop in and i enjoy the ride!

 

I think they are comparing it to a sedan instead of a coupe. I love the doors. I walk up to the car and open the driver's door, the back door, throw in my laptop case, shut the door. It is actualy more conveniant than the sedan I traded in. In that I tossed my expensive laptop across the car to the passanger side. (OK, I am too lazy to walk back and forth between the frount and back door.) As for getting in and out of the back, my neice and nephew LOVE it. They like me or my sister picking them up in my 8 more than in her mini-van or SUV. (Yes, I actualy love my sister enough that I let her drive my 8. Let the ragging begin.)

Point= compare apples to apples. Compare it to 350Z, G35, Audi TT,...

 

Good supportive article. I love the fact that they recognize that the engine naturally consumes oil, and that they just learn to live with it. I've been sick of seeing others writers complaining about this when it is the nature of the engine.