so i bought a new rx8 last july,ive been looking for a turbo kit for it and have found nothing but bad feed back and dead ends.also ive been running across loads of engine failure problems.ive only got 2100 km on it and im already scared. lol...please for the love of god,someone tell me some good news about these cars.

 

There have been mixed results on the engines. The early cars weren't given enough oil injected into the combustion chamber to aid in lubrication. Mazda has released several computer software updates to correct that problem. Mazda also extended the warranty period, in the US, on the engine out to 8yrs/100Kmiles as they recognize that it was their problem. I believe they extended it in CA also. The 09+ model has an extra injector to take care of another lubrication problem.
There is a current post of a gentleman in Calif. that has 200K miles on his car without a problem. I am on my 4th engine (the current one being the best of the bunch) and that isn't all that unusual.

 

I am on my 3rd engine. I have a 2005 auto. The first engine lasted for 60k miles...Then the cat went and then the engine. The replacement must have been a rotten refurb becuase it lasted only a few miles before crapping out. My third is great now, put about 2k on it.

The only thing that really upset me about the whole engine problems with the RX8, is that dealerships (at least mine) tried to blame all my problems on others parts of the car BUT the engine. After 2 months of dealing with this, they finally got me a new engine, after approving it through Mazda. I hope my current engine runs for a while, but I would like to see Mazda dealerships be more acceptable to the engine issues and stop giving customers the run-around as if we are dumb. My dealerships made me replace my plugs, wires, coils, radiator, remove AEM intake, Remove aftermarket exhaust, new cat before it was finally diagnosed with a bad engine.


Again, some dealerships are worse than others, but just make sure you do constant 3k oil changes and keep your receipts. Make sure to redline at least once a day to keep carbon out of the engine.

What year is your car? If it is 2008 and up, there have been very little problems.

 

mines an 09...and its a six speed manual.your saying to change the oil every 3k...my dealer told me something like 10k.ive been in touch with the Mazda speed guy here and he's going to hook me up with a cold air and exhaust package.any other ways to squeeze some ponies out of the little guy??

 

Your are going to need to change your oil a lot more than 10k miles. Read your owners manual all the way through. The rotary uses oil by design, for lubrication. Check your oil level every other fill up and top off as needed. If you go 10k miles without a change or top off you will have a painful relationship with your car. Make sure at the very least you keep your receipts for your oil changes. Since your car is so new, establish an excel sheet or a get a notebook and write down everything you do to your car and record the date and mileage, as well as keep any receipt you receive. If you have engine troubles you can 'prove' that you have done maintenance.

If you take your car to a dealership that would be best for records purposes, but not kind to the wallet...you also can't assume they will do everything right either.

 

Did someone say turbos?

 

thanks guys...i know about the oil top up every other tank...and ill be using the dealership for all my maintenance just to avoid any discrepancies.also i was wondering...how wide of a tire can i put on my8? Ive been looking into putting a twister on it...but have been met with some pretty bad feed back...blown seals,carbon build up etc...so ill ask you guys.Will a turbo be more trouble than its worth???