After a long winter plus COVID downtime, I finally got her on the road. Fired right up. Took a long cruise in the winding mountain roads of Colorado. Boy, I forgot how much fun it is to drive this car. Put a fresh battery in it. Used a Deka battery and paid only $100. Kris, known as furansu who works on my RX8 turned me on to a wholesaler of Deka batteries which are made by Johnson. Auto Zone wanted $169.

 

It really is a fun car on winding roads. It handles and drives perfect for me. Glad you are enjoying your car and not working on it haha.

 

It's definitely a good season to be out driving.

And yeah, batteries don't last too long under the hood of an RX-8. As long as it lasts 3 years, you got your money's worth.

 

I have been blessed with a good one. Had 26k miles on it when I bought it. Now has 37k. Was garage kept most of it's life. I've done a new ignition system at 31k. I've been following all the recommendations on this site. Im praying she keeps going for a bit. Love this car so much, I'm prepared to put another engine in it if it should require it. My original intention was to get a different car every year. Last summer I was going to replace it but every car I drove did not thrill me the way this one does so I'm keeping it unless I find something that thrills me the way she does. The cars I tested were Mustang 5.0, 350Z, Genesis coupe, 3 Corvettes: C4, C5, C6, a new Miata, MB SL kompressor and a couple of others. I would have considered an S 2000 but like the Miata I'm not wanting a 2 seater.

 

Mine looks like the one pictured above. Same color. Has the shorter side addition appearance enhancements at bottom from rear wheel well to where the rear door is. I have the same front and rear spoiler with the standard rims.

Looking a little closer, the spoilers on the above pictured RX are a little different. Mine are the standard spoilers than came with the appearance package from Mazda.

 

Nice! Bet compression still great too because low miles and you take care of it. Easily go 100k.

 

Actually it did pass the compression test but one rotor was just above passing. That's why I'm prepared to eventually invest in a new engine. Runs very well currently. I am going to have Kris do another compression test at the end of the summer. First owner did not premix. Had it 14k miles. 2nd owner premixed every other tank but not sure if he did it the entire 12k miles he owned the car. I've been premixing faithfully with Amsoil saber, but just ordered Idemitsu. I am trying to prolong the Apex seals by not doing too much stop and go driving. I also redline at least once per drive, but truth be told it is so much fun, I usually will do it more than once. I haven't had a ticket in over 15 years. That certainly won't last. Oh yeah, the first owner never redlined. The second did.

 

I wasn't accurate when I said I didn't want a 2 seater, because most cars I drove were. It was about size of the car and storage space. I found the Miata and S2000 to be a bit too small of a car. I would still like to test drive the S2000 because of the rep it has for handling. The video comparisons I've watched claim it handles better than the RX8. Anyone driven both?

 

The S2000 is a great car as well. In comparison to the RX8 it’s less practical due to having less space obviously, but the engine is so much fun to rev. Handling, I don’t know if I could say it’s better than the RX8 but it’s at least as good. The RX8 is just so well balanced and the chassis is incredibly well built that other cars have trouble matching it in the corners at this price point. I would say if you bought an S2000 you would love the drive, engine is easier to care for as well.

 

You would be surprised how long these engines can last. What were your numbers? I find anything above 6 bar will run fine. When you say minimum I’m thinking you are over 7 bar. In that case, the engine should have plenty of life on it.

 

I haven't driven an s2k for a long time now. The handling is sharper at the limit on a track. Marginally. I would struggle to be at the limit with the s2k on public country roads... In that regards it is no better than the rx8. The rx8 is more forgiving.... Allowing me to extract the best out of it easier on less than perfect smooth surfaces. The s2k being a convertible is more visceral....the rx8 in is too in a civilised way. However what the s2k will not do is give me the comfort on a hwy drive. The rx8 doubles that duty very well. On long mi!es cruise it's like driving a low slung 3-series. That is the magic of this car.
My 8 is supposed to come out of winter hibernation a couple of months ago, but do to COVID and remote work, all it's seeing are neighborhood drives to warm-up. Lame.

 

Front rotors normalized for altitude and rpms:

100 psi
99
98

Rear:

112
110
110

 

Good numbers both absolute and differential (~10 psi).

 

Should have plenty of life in that engine. I'm running one RX8 @ low 90's and it works well. Probably need a new engine soon but still starts hot and makes decent power.

 

That's good to hear. I have been alternating premium gas 91 octane in Colorado with no ethanol 88.5 octane. It seems to run better on no ethanol. Engine seems to run smoother. I posted this once before and others said they saw no difference.

 

Yeah, never noticed it on mine and I switched from Shell 91(E0) to Petro Canada 91(E10).

Realistically I don't expect anything different other than some very minor gas mileage difference.

 

I can add to that as I am running in the mid 60's and can honestly say I have no issues. When it starts it sounds a bit weird but it always starts hot or cold ...

I'm obviously on standby for an engine but since it is only a weekend car it might last a while. Just keep up with the maintenance and you should be good for many years!

 

Shell 91 in the states has 10% ethanol.