The FD's had pretty sad excuses for cooling systems, and I believe that's what caused most of the major technical problems. Then of course the rest of the problems were caused by the sticker price... $40K is a lot two haul two people and a golf bag, and as mentioned before, Mazda doesn't have enough Snob Appeal for those who can burn money like that. Which is stupid as Hell, but hey! They're rich.

 

The twins generate a lot of heat which bakes vacuum lines and the radiator is smallish w/questionable cooling from the fans. The IC is a friggin joke, very small core. Another major problem was the sequential twin setup. I believe its a great system but I haven't had mine break yet . A lot of people have gone non sequential or single becase of the seq tt system being a PITA to fix. There were/are other problems, for a good list check out rx7club.com

Also if you have the money to buy a car that has little cargo space, obviously you don't care about cargo space. I have never gotten why people say its stupid for others to spend their money as they see fit. Obviously if you buying a 40k pure sports car you already have money to spend. Maybe its just me??

 

only 900 rx-8 were sold last moth in the us at $25,000 imagine how many mazda will sell at $35,000 even with 300hp?

I love mazda's specially rotary's, I own an rx-2, 3 fc's and a fd so I dont have anything agains mazda I just see reality, a 35,000 rx-8 can only be made in limited # as a special edition.

people are funny and weird they will drive a POS only because it has 400 hp and will drive a heavy expensive car just to say I own a BMW.

 

I think too many of 'us' are rotary fanbois. I didn't buy the RX8 for it's engine, per se - Id Est, if the Car came with a 215hp Piston engine would have no bearing on my decision to buy. It'd all be the same. So I might not get a 9K redline...Big whoop.

 

I disagree with you there, I think if the car came with a 215hp piston engine and lets say a 6750rpm redline that the s2000, used boxster S, g35, sti, evo etc etc might be a better choice. There is something very special that comes with the car just for being a rotary, there is heritage and a 'march to the beat of a different drum' appeal here.

The 05-06 s2000 from a performance standpoint is a much better car, (forgo the 2 extra seat argument). And I don't think you could call the s2000 "ugly" as some might the evo or sti. It's just about as traditional as you can get light, mid engine RWD.
Transmission feels better then the Rx-8 IMHO, and drivability around town is pretty similar.
The Rotary sells the car in this comparo, it may not be as powerful as the S2's 4banger, and it may not go around the track quite as quick, but God its smooth and an absolute joy to drive fast.

 

I don't know, you drop the S2000 drivetrain in the 8, and I might like it more.

 

You complete me.

PoLaK is Obviously a Rotary Fanboi.

:p

:D

 

drop an ls1 v8 and we're set

 

Drop a good RENESIS into an s2000 and give me the Rx-8 tach cluster and interiror and I might like it more.

 

To all who have raised the issue:

I highly doubt that Mazda is making a profit on the RX-8. It's really a specialized car (with a hand assembled engine) at a production car price, with the low volume to prove it.

It's amazing that the car is sold for far less than a Honda S2k or Nissan 350Z.

 

mazda excecs have said that the rx-8 is a monetary succes.

 

Just being devil's advicate here, but could they say anything else publicly?

 

Yeah..... sometimes they lie

I wonder how they make a profit on the car too. It's a fantastic car for the price.

Can we change the subject of this thread to Rotarynews.com gets some comments?