ultrataco

I have an RX-8.



No need to welcome me to the addiction, as I've been a rotary addict for years.

I've had it for a couple weeks and still hasn't really sunk in that I finally own my dream car. I keep reminding myself "I have an RX-8!"

I was waiting for the weather to get better so I could get better pics, but it's December in Indiana.



I've been around these boards for years and have plenty of thoughts and questions, but I wanted my first post to be introducing myself as a fellow owner of one of the best cars in the world. This post has been a long time coming, so it will be long. Sorry. I'll add some pics and smilies to make it more interesting.



I don't even really remember when or why I first decided I wanted one, but I think my rotary addiction really began when I discovered the second gen RX-7 while looking at Miatas on Ebay. I eventually bought a '91 non-turbo (my first car), which I still have.



I knew as soon as I got out of college, I'd get a decent job and then a new RX-8 (if I could afford it and they were still around ). It took a year and a half longer than expected, but I finally got one.

Of course the car I had dreamed about was the series I. Then they went and changed it just before I got one. The 2009 redesign was kind of disappointing (I could write a few paragraphs on why I think the original is styled better), but the mechanical changes (including the aux input ), and the desire for a brand new one convinced me to go for an '09. The seats, wheels, suspension upgrades, and Aurora blue made the R3 my top (only) choice. I used press photos of the 09 for my computer desktop to get used to the styling.



I never did any comparison shopping or gave much thought to any other vehicles. I didn't even test drive one until the day I bought mine, so it's the only 8 I've ever driven. I knew it couldn't be too bad since out of all the reviews I've ever read no one ever says anything bad about how it drives. Even with my high expectations, it blew me away. Every rev of the engine or turn of the steering wheel is like a shot of euphoria. I love driving it. Also, I don't think it's slow at all. (That's probably due to my car history, but still.) It accelerates smoothly rather than kicking you so it doesn't feel as quick as it is. Yes, I have to downshift before passing (usually), but that makes it more fun. It's plenty quick for me.



I got it from Hubler Mazda in Greenwood, IN. (Anyone have any experience with them?) I had less than 5 hours of sleep the night before (Avatar midnight show ) and had never negotiated with a car salesman before, so I was a little nervous. It was actually a really quick, straight forward, and easy deal. (Thanks to Jay McCracken and Joe Shimer at Hubler. ) He started with a surprisingly reasonable offer, I said take 1k off that, they gave me 500, done. Total OTD price, after taxes, dest., etc: about $27,800, which turns out to be a few hundred over invoice (I think). If you like fighting with car dealers, you might be able to knock a few hundred off that. The darn factory installed Sirius Satellite equipment added over $400 to the sticker, and they wouldn't remove it.

My confidence in Hubler dropped a little when I went back a couple days later to give them the check and asked Jay if they could top off the oil while I was there since I couldn't find the right oil at my local O'Reilly. I got a confused "It needs oil already?" look. I just told him it's a rotary, it's normal. They did it no questions asked for free. No big deal. I'd have them do my oil changes, but Greenwood is 80-90 miles away. I may let them do the first one.



Before anyone asks, I'm not modding it. I have the RX-7 if I feel like modding anything. Not only is the R3 somewhat rare, but I feel Mazda did a great job with the suspension. I'm not going to ruin years of development just to make the car look slightly better. I even plan on sticking with OEM tires. The only thing I'll "upgrade" is the oil. I plan on using 5w30 instead 5w20 and I'll change my oil at 3000 mi / 6 mo instead of the insane 7500mi. in the manual.

I could go on, but I think I've rambled too much already. Sorry for the long post. Here's one more photo.



edit: darn, I meant to put this in general discussion. Oh well, I guess it fits better here anyway.

HockeyRX-8

iTrader: (1)

Congrats! Beautiful R3!

HockeyRX-8

iTrader: (1)

oh and I just found your first mod:

get rid of the green valve stem caps

dozer

iTrader: (3)

WOW! what a a great first post!

those are some nice cars

welcome to the 8 club

arlingtonrx8

Beautiful color, car and choice. I agree that the series 1 looks better, I believe, due to more color contrast among other things but you can't say the series 2 doesn't have it's own charm and is still a remarkably good looking car. The back end is perfect in my opinion. Anyway, congratulations on your purchase and good luck.

ultrataco

Forgot about those. Yeah I might have to change them. Are they a dealer option or what?

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

Welcome to 8club ultrataco I love the R3 and your Aurora Blue looks great.

BTW good luck not doing any mods

ultrataco

thanks everyone. You guys reply fast.

I think the lines flow better at the front on the series 1, especially the lines down the sides of the hood and grill. The S2 does what most aftermarket kits do and broke the flow so those lines just stop at the grill. Someday I want to do some very simple line drawings comparing the S1 and S2. I also don't really like that thing on the side where there used to be a cool side vent. Then the headlights...I better stop.

The rear 3/4 is my favorite view.

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

Welcome to the club! The Blue R3 looks amazing especially with those gunmetal wheels.

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

I really love the stock gunmetal wheels that come on the R3, helps make the package complete

rx8speeddmon

iTrader: (4)

Car looks great! Love to have some new 8's in the club, check us out if you get a chance... www.indyrx8club.com

bruce_van

Nice choice. Congrats on the new car!

gundarx

Congrats! Lol sounds like my RX8 story except I drove a Honda before..

BTW, I highly recommend you do your own oil changes and get a fumoto oil drain valve (just google fumoto valve).. I wouldn't trust the dealership working on my dream car so many times.

ultrataco

They insisted I let them do the first oil change. I'll look into that plug thing.

I've heard the S2s are a pain to change, and I'll have to get the OEM filter from the dealer. I'll probably let them do the first change, then I'll try the next one myself and see how it goes.

Can I top off 5w20 with 5w30?
Will switching to 5w30 affect my warranty?

gundarx

I'm not sure about mixing oil weights.. what I did was break-in my car on day 1 (wasn't 100% done of course) and did an oil change at the dealership on day 2 because it was most convenient.. I brought Castrol GTX 5W-30 and they were definitely ok with it. If anything goes wrong with your engine and warranty is questioned, just say you stuck with 5W-20 LOL.. oh and I switched to 0W-30 synthetic after break-in

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Sweet ride. Post your pics up in the "Calling all Aurora Blues" thread.

OSSHWA

Damn near everyone says "but I plan on keeping it stock".....

Give it a year. I guarantee that'll change.

ZumnRx8

PERFECT POST into the 8 club! WELCOME!!

ultrataco

thanks!

Speaking of break in... Why does the manual basically say it's not really important, just go easy for 600 miles and Racing Beat has this strict procedure which lasts thousands of miles? I would think keeping it at low revs for so long would let carbon build up. My car had 400 miles when I bought it and I'm sure the dealer didn't observe the RB rules. I got to 700 miles before I hit 6k rpm. I'm at about 800 now and I think I've hit 7k rpm once. (I had to pass a van at a light.) I'm trying to take it easy and avoid full throttle and 7k+ rpms until about 1200-1500 miles. I'm compromising the manual "break in" and the RB break in. I cringe when I think about how dealer treated it.

already done

That's one reason I kept the 7. If I have the urge to mod something I'll do that. I want the 8 to be clean and stock in 20 yrs when it's a classic.

rodjonathan

iTrader: (6)

congrats your cars are beautiful!

ultrataco

The 7 actually needs a repaint (not really worth it though), but white looks good in pics. I like not worrying about the paint. It's going to be my first track car. I'd like to learn with it, then move up to the 8 when I know what I'm doing.

MazdaEight

Nice ride...enjoy the car and the club.

gundarx

Hope this doesn't invite a heated discussion on a controversial topic, but you're best not following the manual's "break-in" except for some things.. They only state that so they don't invite legal trouble (if they said you'd need to warm-up the car fully, then pretty much redline 3rd gear over and over and then change oil right after.. which would be very good for break-in.. remember this is a car you just bought and probably not familiar with to the owner driving fast.. imagine what sort of trouble they'd get into). Your tires and tranny should be broken in slowly, so the manual's procedure is right for these. RB's procedure is ok, but I did a much more aggressive one including oil changes at 80 [2nd day], 500, 2000 miles using normal mineral oil. You might actually be lucky b/c your car has had lots of miles in the dealership and probably driven hard.. the only bad part is maybe some of those were driven hard when the engine wasn't warm. I would change the oil as soon as possible since it's probably really contaminated with metal bits from the break-in. Not sure for the rotary, but in piston engines, these loose bits can even find their way into the transmission and damage those components.

NinjaPhish

Beautiful R3 along with a very clean FC

Congrats on your long awaited purchase

DeadOriginal

Oh man. Congratulations. I'm currently looking for an 8 myself. Really planning on getting an '07 RX8 from this dealer near me but trying to see if I can get something else for a better deal first.