I'm seriously considering an RX-8 as an autocrosser and occasional street car. The reason being that I'm looking for something I can just drive to an event in, compete, and go home with minimal fuss. Don't feel like constantly changing tires and/or trailering any more. To me, that means something in the ST classes. I've come down to three choices: STX RX-8, STX BMW 3 series, and ST (spec) 89 Civic.

Having owned a couple 3rd gen RX-7's in the past, I can appreciate the strong points of a rotary powered Mazda. What I'm worried about is durability. Is there anything in particular that is a weak point? Things above and beyond expected consumables (tires and brakes), and typical maintenance? For example, wheel bearings that last a couple events, bushings that randomly fail, transmissions that like to go boom.

I've tried searching, and haven't found anything. But since I don't know what kind of failures might be common, I don't know what search terms to use, and don't feel that I'm getting the full picture that way. Any input is appreciated.

 

Hey Gary, it's Chike from the Blue Ridge Region.

I've run my car in B-stock for two seasons with 1 co-driver the first year, and 2 co-drivers the 2nd year and had no breakages whatsoever. I'm still on the factory clutch, engine, transmission, etc. Just be sure to do regular maintenance, and switch out the trans and diff fluids to a reputable synthetic product like Redline, Pure power, etc.

If you want to ask me anything offline about the car, e-mail me at chiketkd 'at' yahoo 'dot' com

 

torque

 

Hi Chike...I saw that you're pretty active on this forum and thought I'd try to contact you. Thanks for the input, I'll be in touch.

 

Yep, torque is nice. But the lack thereof should make parts of the drivetrain live long, happy lives I hope.

 

Engine compression sealing
Transmission
Clutch disc

 

Overall the RX-8 is very reliable for track work.

The transmission on the 2008 and earlier model can sometime be a bit delicate but I've beat on mine for some time now with no problems.

Engine temps can be an issue at hot racetracks - would not be a problem with autocross.

Having come from a couple 3rd generation RX-7s myself I can assure you that the RX-8 is loads more reliable and much less expensive to run. It's not quite a Miata but still really good.

 

I'd say the '8 is a pretty well built car, at the price point, and very reliable.

Transmissions are hit and miss...mine ate itself at 7000 miles and was replaced under warranty. Others have had theirs last for the life of their ownership...luck of the draw or maybe a supplier problem. Having said that, the teams road racing RX8's are known to keep a larger than normal number of spare transmissions in the truck...

 

Hmmm, the potential for trans problems does worry me a little bit. I'll have to research that a bit.

 

The 2009+ model cars have a beefier 6spd trans that weighs ~20lbs more. There are also revisions to the series II renesis engine that should improve reliability (such as larger oil coolers, 50% higher oil pressure, larger oil pan, larger oil filter, etc).

However, the sum of all of these upgrades is an increase in curb weight, as the 09+ RX-8's weigh roughly 100lbs more than a similarly equipped '04-'08 model...

 

Hint: there is a whole section titled "problems and issues" (or something like that) in the Tech section...keep in mind, people don't post unless they've had a problem and then they post often and loudly

The transmission issue is well known, but, as I said, apparently random. If you buy a new '09, as chike said, you have the updated trans, but it you buy used...

If I was going to buy a used RX8 for autocross, I'd buy a car that had already been autocrossed for at least a couple of seasons and not had transmission issues, rather than buy someone's daily driver that has never had the synchros put to the test. As has been pointed out, some of the transmissions seem to do just fine, others notsomuch....

btw, there are at least two well known, solid RX8's set up for autocross currently for sale, including the 2009 Nationals/Pro Finale winning car.

 

transmission

 

Another former FD owner chiming in...

These cars are light years ahead of the third gen RX7 in terms of reliability. However, I'll echo what previous posters have said about the transmission being the only real glaring weak point in the '04-'08 cars (especially since 99% of those cars will still have the full factory 8-year/100k mile engine warranty).

2nd gear was replaced on my car under warranty at ~35k miles. At 60k miles, my transmission whines a little in 4th & 6th, and the 3rd gear synchro is a little notchy until it warms up. However, my car has been a heavily autocrossed car since it rolled off the lot (three full season of National level competition including co-drivers, plus over 100 local events), and it also sees ~1200 track miles per year.

 

lucky bastard.

 

The ignition is a bit weak as well (easily rectified by BHR system).

 

Apparently the transmission issue is some what user oriented

the OE ignition is fine for NA applications, the top two NA chassis dyno graphs on here were using OE and nobody has ever shown anything other than butt dyno conjecture WRT any improvement. In fact it's a bit annoying to see people posting over and over again in the tech area that this mod is the magic elixer for every known RX-8 ailment. Even the main aftermarket supplier makes no such claim

 

You are absolutely correct in that the BHR Ignition Solution makes no claims to enhance performance. However (you just knew there was going to be a however), the GMC Yukon Coils and MSD cables are more reliable with better longevity than the OEM. Under prolonged stress (track) they also resist electrical degradation better (somewhat analogous to brake fade wrt uprated rotors & pads). As an EE who has worked in the DoD Reliability & Maintainability discipline I did my own research and assured myself of same before I bought the system. All component data is readily available should others wish to do the same.

 

I have the data and components too, and for far longer than just about anyone else

again, just conjecture to date, I'll be putting both to a comparison test to see if my hunch plays out

 

^ Not conjecture per se on my part as I ran the respective component numbers through my Operational Availability (Ao) model just for the heck of it.

But concur that there is nothing like real world data and we look foward to your feedback.

 

Ao - real data = GIGO.


.

 

^ my equations are somewhat more complex, but ....