Hi all, well, as the title says, these are my first impressions of being the owner of my first rotary engined car. It’s a 2004 RX-8, MT, with 76k on it.

A bit of background…..

Ive driven for years, but only ever had ‘typical’ engined cars, and for the most part ‘sensible’ cars

I did however, for some years own (and love) a 1990 JDM MR2 Turbo. Every time I climbed into her she put a smile on my face. I was gutted when finally after 14 years, I had to retire her

Then I spent 4 years with no car, as I didn’t need one.

Then suddenly, I get that urge again, so I look about to see what’s out there. I wanted something fun to drive, had some ‘poke’, was a bit of a project, and fitted a particular price bracket I had……..

After doing some research, I decided on the RX-8.

So, I bought it a week ago. Took it out for a test drive, seemed OK, looked OK, so I bought it.

The next day when I picked it up, 5 mins down the road, the engine light came on (Nooooooooooo) As it was a private buyer, nothing I could do (the light wasn’t on when I test drove it).

After nursing her home, and breaking out the OBD2 reader, it looked like the most probable cause was a faulty 2nd O2 sensor in the cat.
I replaced said sensor - and so far all seems OK - the light remains off Phew!

Driving a rotary after years of ‘normal’ cars with 5K redlines was a bit of a learning curve. BUT OMG I love it !!!!!!

The power delivery is so smooth (the MR2 was kind of all or nothing, the turbo was either on or off). I used to do a lot of Karting with Rotax Max karts, they revved up to 14k, with no real power under 7.5K. Suddenly, being in the 8 made me feel like I was on the track again. With such a long rev range to play with.

You know exactly where you are with the gearbox. I love the way it has a precise movement between gears - no stirring porridge with the gearstick here.

I do seem to have used quite a lot of oil in a very short space of time (oil level went from full to ‘need more oil’ on the dipstick within about 150 miles…)
Theres no smoke, and no obvious leaks that are a visible under the car, but I do need to do some proper looking for leaks before I move onto anything else.
Car starts fine, idles fine, pulls fine etc.

So that’s kinda where I am. Love the car, the way it delivers the power, the sturdy way it sits on the road and the handling.

Should have got me one of these years ago……….

Thanks for getting this far reading

 

Be sure to get compression test to know health of tge engine.👍

 

Het Rattlehead, thanks for the advice.

The guy I bought it off had some receipts from a well known rotary garage. It was compression tested not long before I bought it - minimums were 6.0 (which I understand to be good). Also it had the ignition coils replaced with new OEM and new ignition cables. It also had a new cat, and a full service.

 

As long as hot starts are arent too bad should be good. Definitely start planning ahead and start reman/rebuild fund so you have less down time.

New coils always help and an upgraded starter as well.

Rx8 performance fan mod is a must. It keeps my car below 196F even in bumper to bumper. Makes the fans turn on sooner. I always recommend this mod.

 

Nice write up.

Maybe you know maybe you don’t … there are actually oil injectors so the car will consume the oil.
Depending on your driving you should check the oil every few fill ups.
If you do a track day best to be right on keeping it up to level.

About the rear O2 sensor you replaced.
Those do fail, I’ve replaced mine as well.
That said, and this is important the catalytic converter is very likely to fail - has failed - is failing in a 2004 model.
Yes it’s kind of poopy but it’s true.
The rotary has a much hotter EGT than traditional engines and so are very hard on the catalytic.
If the cat fails and gets all clogged up it can cause engine failure.
It’s one of the reasons people put a aftermarket mid pipe on to save the factory cat for inspections times.

Oh one last thing. The RX8 loves to consume any free cash.

LoL welcome to the club

 

What’s the performance fan mod?? I’ve seen stuff posted about having them cut in earlier etc - how do I go about doing that?

Thanks

 

Thanks WCS. Yes, I know they use the engine oil to lube the rotors. I’m pre mixing too. But I’ve topped up the oil almost a litre in the space of a week - and only 200 miles or so of driving. So that’s a bit of a worry.

My MR2 was a bit of a money pit - but if you want the fun, you have to make some sacrifices

Thanks

 

Welcome. Read through rx8help.com for the rundown of things to know about rx8 ownership.

 

https://www.rx8performance.com/produ...an-control-kit
Here you go. Some people use a lowere temp thermostat, but you dont need it with this. Also it will help to have an obd2 reader to see the temps go down and make sure its working. I use a simple veepeak bluetooth reader and the app "Car Scanner ELM OBD2" (i edited the layout to look like this, its pretty customizable)

 

Wow 521 g/sec across the Maf! Is that correct?
Is this screen clip from an RX8?
Can't be not at 4700 rpm?

 

Hahah in the screenshot its set to demo so it just fluctuates readings. I just happen to get some funny readings.
250F on temp would be game over. But that is the set up i have