Buying a Mazda Rx8, Which one?? please HELP??

annathebanana

Hi guys
Just wondering if anyone can help me. My boyfriends parents are planning on getting him a car for a big birthday of his coming up. They'v asked me to poke him for information to see what exactly he wants. which is hard enough as he changes his mind every week. But im pretty sure he likes the mazda RX 8 and they seem to fall into his parents budget. however it appears there are two and were not sure which one to go for. Does anyone have any advice on the difference and in buying a mazda at all.?? Any advice would be super:):)

Thanks a million

C_Breeze

Hi.

ONLY go for the "231" - "Hi-Power" model - this has 231bhp, 6 speed , Xenons as standard and 9500rpm redline!

Oh and a Leather Interior is a must.

Make sure that your boyfriend knows a thing or two about them because they are not like any other car..

Main points to consider are:

Petrol consumption is very high.

Oil needs to be monitored and checked regularly

Are prone to engine flooding if started and switched off when cold.


I have just recently purchased an RX-8 myself They are great cars, but are a little quirky and you need to love and maintain them.

astraboy

The 2 spec's that originally came out were in 200 and 220BHP guises. As mentioned above, options like leather are necessary really, it'll help the residual value of the car and help resale. It also makes the car more enjoyable to own!

Make sure your BF knows how to look after the car, it has a rotary engine which means great power, but high fuel and oil consumption, and service intervals need to be obeyed properly. If buying second hand, make sure it has a service history.

Incidentally, saw a silver one today, smashing looking car, the seats look class.

rigal

Yeah the 231 bhp is the one to get. I've had mine for a year now and love it. Oil isn't as big an issue as everyone makes out but as C Breeze pointed out it needs to be checked regularly. Make sure he carries a Litre of it in the boot if you're heading away anywhere.

Is this a new RX8 he is getting?

This might not matter to your BF but something to bear in mind is that the RX8 is going to be given a bit of a face lift next year AFAIK.

If they are buying second hand they should consider buying in the UK. It's not that much hassle and they will save a packet.

C_Breeze

They came in 192bhp and 231bhp (not 200 & 220). The 231 model has now been discontinued if buying new.

Best colours to go for are Titanium Grey (mine) & Strato Blue!

Red is also nice but too girly and attracts too much attention

.Longshanks.

Is it true that the RX-8 can't handle short runs? i.e. you really shouldn't just pop to the shop in it and not let it properly warm up?

astraboy

C_Breeze wrote: »

They came in 192bhp and 231bhp (not 200 & 220). The 231 model has now been discontinued if buying new.

Thanks for the clarification, was'nt too sure on the BHP. Why has the more powerful model been discontinued?

Also, it is a turbo car if I'm not mistaken so letting it warm up/cool down for a few minutes before journeys will increase turbo life.

Churchy

astraboy wrote: »

Thanks for the clarification, was'nt too sure on the BHP. Why has the more powerful model been discontinued?

Also, it is a turbo car if I'm not mistaken so letting it warm up/cool down for a few minutes before journeys will increase turbo life.

Its not a turbo car.
Its a rotary engine.

astraboy

Churchy wrote: »

Its not a turbo car.
Its a rotary engine.

So its N/A? Did'nt know that, I assumed it was a turbo as the old RX-7 was....

Chergar

Hey,

The mazda Rx 8 is a FUN car no doubting that. My girlfriend had one for a year. She loved it. We went for the 192 Version. Which was a big mistake. Stupidily didnt test the 231 version as i didnt think she would care. Big big mistake.

The 192 version is slow, and altho its supposed to be under 7 seconds to 60, i think it would have to be a perfect day going down hill to be that fast.

The 231 is the only choice between the other two, as insurance and tax will cost roughly the same.

A couple of things to consider tho, running costs were really higher, higher than my M3 at the time. awful MPG The oil thing was not really issue. But short runs and cooling issues were.
Also, the novelty of the interior wears off really quickly. Its cheap cheap plastics every where, and really poor finishing. Rough backed Indicator stalks to note. Really cheap.
Also the car was slow compared to other sports car we could have got for reatively the same money. "obviously not 231".
The car is pretty showy aswell. Its a real look at me car, and to be honest it only really shouts, couldnt afford a Proper sports car, so got this hybrid saloon/coupe thingy. Just a point for your BF, As guys tend to care about this.
Have you considered other options, if he likes jap cars, what about honda S2000, or Maybe a BMW if in the price range???

E92

They never bothered with a turbo for the RX-8. The old RX-7 which needs an engine rebuild every 40,000 miles had 2 of them though:D!

They have a fantastic sound, and they're meant to be extremely smooth too! But they need to be looked after.

If anything the Wankel engine will get more popular in the future, one of the side affects of the Rotary engine is that it can run on hydrogen, and apparently it's more efficient than a standard Otto combustion engine, and since hydrogen is the fuel of the future.....

C_Breeze

No they are not turbo engines.

They sound absolutely amazing, the handle perfectly and inspire you with a lot of confidence and they are incredibly smooth and effortless through the entire rev range. It really is like no other car.

The oil thing is over exaggerated, ive done over 600 miles in mine and it didnt need topping up at all.

Regarding the starting and stopping, its absolutely fine to nip down to the shops - that wont flood the engine (wont do wonders for your MPG though )

Once the car has heated up a bit (as in the temp needle has move up a bit) it is fine to turn off.

It will only flood if for example, you wake up at 8am and turn it on , move it out of your drive and turn it off again within 1 minute - as long as it has a bit of time to warm up a bit its fine (also these engine tend to warm up a lot quicker than regular cylinder engines)

Chergar

C breeze,

Like no other car? High praise, are you talking about the 231 or 192 version? i personally found the low powered version really dissapointing in many aspects. Driving on a day to day basis was a real chore for my GF. It does sound good, but It doesnt sound like a v8 now, a bit carried away. Id agree that it was really well balanced but lacked any real power to make it something special like the rx 7 or perhaps the 231 rx8. Plus do you not miss your low end power in traffic?

MSporty

No dont get him one!! he'll be labelled as a hair dresser or low rent executive

C_Breeze

Chergar wrote: »

C breeze,

Like no other car? High praise, are you talking about the 231 or 192 version? i personally found the low powered version really dissapointing in many aspects. Driving on a day to day basis was a real chore for my GF. It does sound good, but It doesnt sound like a v8 now, a bit carried away. Id agree that it was really well balanced but lacked any real power to make it something special like the rx 7 or perhaps the 231 rx8. Plus do you not miss your low end power in traffic?

Well it is like no other car. Its the only rotary powered car available on the market new.

Ofcourse im talking about the 231 - the 192 is pointless imo and I dont even know why they bothered making it tbh

Never said it sounded like a V8 , its a totally different sound - all i said was that it sounded nice - the whirring sound it makes when idling and the roaring sound when nearing the redline is very sweet - that cant be denied.


Torque?? .. its no Turbo Diesel Passat lol but 211nm is plenty if you ask me (it even pulls in 6th gear from 40mph up) ... its not like i need low end torque in traffic to floor it from zero to yer mans bumper in 2.4 seconds

- thats one thing that surprised me most about the car; how flexible it is in all gears.

Chergar

C_Breeze wrote: »

Ofcourse im talking about the 231 - the 192 is pointless imo and I dont even know why they bothered making it tbh

.

I didnt mean to make it sound like you said it sounded like a V8, and i would agree that it does sound really good idling there, like your own little jet plane sitting there.

Perhaps its unfair to comment on the 231 with my opinion, but the 192 i found to be awful for torque. And as for driving in traffic, the idea of having to rev the nuts out of it to get it to go anywhere was really tiring in my opinon, Don't you think?? I think it takes away from what the 231 car was, and has really tainted my opinon of the car. I'd almost put it in the same kind of bracket as the audi TT

C_Breeze

Chergar wrote: »

I didnt mean to make it sound like you said it sounded like a V8, and i would agree that it does sound really good idling there, like your own little jet plane sitting there.

Perhaps its unfair to comment on the 231 with my opinion, but the 192 i found to be awful for torque. And as for driving in traffic, the idea of having to rev the nuts out of it to get it to go anywhere was really tiring in my opinon, Don't you think?? I think it takes away from what the 231 car was, and has really tainted my opinon of the car. I'd almost put it in the same kind of bracket as the audi TT

Yeah the 192 is not quite as potent, its fairly dissapointing as a sports car(but ironically has 9nm more torque than the 231!). Id also class it with 1.8 TT's and Celicas.

I only drove one once but it's diappointing because it doesnt feel half as quick and as free revving as the 231 does - there really is a big difference between the two.

I seriosuly do not see why anyone would go for the 192 as opposed to a 231

Chergar

C_Breeze wrote: »

I seriosuly do not see why anyone would go for the 192 as opposed to a 231

Works well for a girl, or non petrol heads or anyone who doesnt really know about cars but wants people to think they have a fast car, or Like my gf who thought it would be better fuel economy. Real shame we made that mistake tho.

In recommending the RX8 tho, i think the S2000 would be far far better car than the 192 for sure, and perhaps an E46 bmw would be mucher better than both models to go for all together. altho i did have an M3 so im a bit biased:p:p I like my torque.

VH

I wonder how does it sound when compared to the slightly more powerful Honda S2000 (237bhp). Both cars do very high revs but the Honda has a conventional 4-stroke engine but has a Formula 1 pedigree unlike Mazda. I think I read Honda actually experimented with the Wankel engine but abandoned it as it was too heavy on fuel (or something).

unkel

C_Breeze wrote: »

Ofcourse im talking about the 231 - the 192 is pointless imo and I dont even know why they bothered making it tbh

Isn't it exactly the same engine, just with a different ECU mapping? In fact, the 192 has a lot more poke. The only way to get more out of a 231 is to rev the absolute sh!te out if all of the time. If you're into that and don't necessarily need 4 seats, may I suggest a Honda S2000 will be the better buy?

Chergar wrote: »

Perhaps its unfair to comment on the 231 with my opinion, but the 192 i found to be awful for torque

Perhaps as an M3 driver you would always be disappointed with any RX-8 anyway. You might be surprised, but as I said, the 192 has more torque which is also available at lower rpms than the 231

C_Breeze

Chergar, VH & Unkel ... to be honest im not sure why you are comparing a rotary 4 seater Coupé RX-8 with a 4cylinder 2 seater roadster S2000 ... is it because they both rev high??

If anything - a more valid alternative would be to suggest a Dc5 integra as opposed to an s2000 in comparison to the RX-8.

Stevo11

VH wrote: »

has a Formula 1 pedigree unlike Mazda.

nah, they were only the first Japanese manufacturer to win Le Mans ('91).

VH

C_Breeze wrote: »

Chergar, VH & Unkel ... to be honest im not sure why you are comparing a rotary 4 seater Coupé RX-8 with a 4cylinder 2 seater roadster S2000 ... is it because they both rev high??

If anything - a more valid alternative would be to suggest a Dc5 integra as opposed to an s2000 in comparison to the RX-8.

In terms of layout (FR) and power the RX-8 and S2000 are very similar.

Why did Mazda discontinue the 231bhp do you know?

rigal

C_Breeze wrote: »

Chergar, VH & Unkel ... to be honest im not sure why you are comparing a rotary 4 seater Coupé RX-8 with a 4cylinder 2 seater roadster S2000 ... is it because they both rev high??

If anything - a more valid alternative would be to suggest a Dc5 integra as opposed to an s2000 in comparison to the RX-8.

I have a 231 and find that it is hard work getting the speed up from a standing start. It is surprisingly sluggish in 1st and 2nd. I drove my mates Teg (225bhp AFAIK) a few weeks ago and it felt much quicker through the lower gears. Pity it's not as comfortable as the RX8 and doesn't have RWD.

P.S. IMO anyone who refers to a car as being that of a hairdresser's is far too concerned about how they would look/be perceived in it and not how the car itself drives etc :rolleyes:

rigal

C_Breeze wrote: »

Best colours to go for are Titanium Grey (mine) & Strato Blue!

Red is also nice but too girly and attracts too much attention

Sunlight Silver with matching side strakes!!!!!:p

unkel

rigal wrote: »

I have a 231 and find that it is hard work getting the speed up from a standing start. It is surprisingly sluggish in 1st and 2nd

That's what I mean. It does have the performance but you'd really need to keep the revs up very high to use it. I've no doubt it will beat a 192 hands down around a race track in the hands of a capable driver

declanoneill

unkel wrote: »

Isn't it exactly the same engine, just with a different ECU mapping? In fact, the 192 has a lot more poke. The only way to get more out of a 231 is to rev the absolute sh!te out if all of the time. If you're into that and don't necessarily need 4 seats, may I suggest a Honda S2000 will be the better buy?

I'm open to correction on this, but afaik the 231 has an extra intake port that only kicks in at ~7k RPM. That's why if you don't regularly push the 231 above 7k (once a day is fine) it can lead to troubles down the road. On the other hand I can't imagine why you wouldn't open it up once a day unless you're in traffic the whole time.

Also, in any given gear, at any given speed, the 230 accelerates harder. (see graph)

unkel wrote: »

Perhaps as an M3 driver you would always be disappointed with any RX-8 anyway. You might be surprised, but as I said, the 192 has more torque which is also available at lower rpms than the 231

While I would never suggest the RX-8 is as good/better then the M3, on the top gear power laps the Rx-8 gets the same time as the M3 (I've no idea the weather conditions for the M3). Can't deny that's pretty impressive.

VH

declanoneill wrote: »

the top gear power laps the Rx-8 gets the same time as the M3 (I've no idea the weather conditions for the M3). Can't deny that's pretty impressive.

Impressive stuff alright.

rigal

unkel wrote: »

That's what I mean. It does have the performance but you'd really need to keep the revs up very high to use it.

And be prepared to refill the tank after 150 miles...

C_Breeze

VH wrote: »

Impressive stuff alright.

Impressive is right.. see nr 63

Beating the likes of:

SL55 AMG
XKR
Ferrari 575

Aston Martin DB5 !

etc



http://www.topgear.com/content/tgonbbc2/laptimes/thestig/



No Bad eh!!

unkel

The top gear stats are not very objective. Is there an official laptime for the Nurburgring for the RX-8? The current M3 goes around in about 8 minutes. This is pretty good tbh...