Mazda Rx8

Yakult

Have been looking at a few cars lately, something to bring the spark and excitement of driving back into my life. One car in particular has caught my eye, the Rx8 by Mazda. The only experience I've had of the car was from a lift my cousins friend gave me and that day I fell in love with it, from the mad doors to the purr of the rotary engine. I wanted it when I was over 25 and able to afford it. Well, now might be the time!

I was hoping a few boardsies would care to share their opinions and experiences with me, on how they found the car over all or know someone who owns one! All information appreciated

grogi

Yakult wrote: »

Have been looking at a few cars lately, something to bring the spark and excitement of driving back into my life. One car in particular has caught my eye, the Rx8 by Mazda. The only experience I've had of the car was from a lift my cousins friend gave me and that day I fell in love with it, from the mad doors to the purr of the rotary engine. I wanted it when I was over 25 and able to afford it. Well, now might be the time!

I was hoping a few boardsies would care to share their opinions and experiences with me, on how they found the car over all or know someone who owns one! All information appreciated

It's considered 2.6 by most insurers - that alone would put many off...

harr

Yakult wrote: »

Have been looking at a few cars lately, something to bring the spark and excitement of driving back into my life. One car in particular has caught my eye, the Rx8 by Mazda. The only experience I've had of the car was from a lift my cousins friend gave me and that day I fell in love with it, from the mad doors to the purr of the rotary engine. I wanted it when I was over 25 and able to afford it. Well, now might be the time!

I was hoping a few boardsies would care to share their opinions and experiences with me, on how they found the car over all or know someone who owns one! All information appreciated

Don't know much about cars but neighbors had a RX8 a while back...got it mainly same reason as you...fantastic looking car..but it gave them nothing but trouble and they got rid after 8 months..after trying to keep it right.
Not sure if they are known to be trouble or if they just got a lemon...I am sure someone here will be able to give better advice of what to look out for..fantastic looking motor..

CianRyan

First of all, gear choice in deciding on enjoying driving again!

The RX8 is a mixed bag and that's coming from a fan of them. They are a great drive, make an even better noise and with the right spec they look second to none.
How ever, they need to be really looked after, you simply can not skimp on maintainance. If you do, expect to rebuild your engine or scrap the car and likewise, don't buy on the cheap end. Hold out for a later 230bhp model with full service history from a reputable mechanic, not just anyone will do.

Other with more experience can tell you more but they are a great car once they get the love they deserve.

porsche boy

Apex seals. That's all I have to say

Dartz

Okay. I've owned mine for nearly 2 and a half years now.

So it's time for the copypasta

irst, what it needs from you.

1: This is not an appliance car
It needs to be looked after. The engine's in an extremely high state of tune. It's basically a 1973 engine design tuned to maybe double and a bit again it's original horsepower. Imagine doing that to an early 70's civic and get some idea of how high-strung the engine is. That doesn't mean treating it with kid gloves - but it does need a careful eye on it, on oil, coolant and ignition systems, to keep it running healthy. And don't rip the guts out of it when it's cold for ****'s sake.

2: Keep on top of problems
Most cars when they have a problem, they just run like crap for a bit. With the RX, problems tend to snowball. Both because the engine's in such a high state of tune, and because there's so little mechanically to fail, it doesn't take much to start a long chain of degredation. To give an example, a fouled sparkplug killed an ignition coil in my car, which both killed the catalytic converter, and could've potentially caused the oil injectors to clog with carbon. Either one could've killed the engine in short order if it hadn't been caught. It's a car that demands your keep on top of problems because if it goes out of tune, it really impacts the lifespan of the engine. There're a lot of initially minor problems that, in any other car, would be annoying, but in an RX will eventually lead to the destruction of the engine if not solved quickly. (In one case, a weak fuel pump destroyed an engine by causing it to lean out and detonate at high RPM - then destroyed the replacement engine on its shakedown drive)

3: Give it good, clean petrol
In my car, the difference between a car that feels tired, doesn't like hot-starting and is chirpy when cold, and one that is strong, fit and healthy, is a tank of petrol. Bought from the same station. On different days. It doesn't tolerate **** fuel at all well. Which is annoying, because fuel quality in this country varies wildely. It's also the difference between seeing the fuel light at 300km, and seeing it at 400km.

4: Be mindful of the common problems.
It's not the apex seals that kills them, more often than not, it's the rear stationary gear bearing. The symptoms are similar because the rotor will misfire and it'll struggle to run. The result's the same, especially if the rotor bangs off the housings or damages other components along the way. It'll still drive home on 1 rotor, mind. Mazda spec'd too thin a grade of oil from the start, and at low RPM's the oil pressure in the bearings can get low enough for the e-shaft to hit the bearings under load and grind them down. Earlier (Pre -06) cars injected too little oil into the combustion chamber, which wore the apex seals down. The ignition coils on all RX8's are **** and prone to cooking themselves, then the cat, then the engine. Good owners upgrade them.

5: You can't really upgrade the power output.
Remember what I said about the engine being in a high state of tune? All the low hanging fruit has been plucked by Mazda. the exhaust, intake and engine are already fairly highly optimised, to the point where replacing them means there's very little to be gained. The side-port engine means there's very little to be had from an exhaust upgrade since there isn't a strong exhaust pulse, while it limits what can be done with a turbo or supercharging. Turbocharging an RX8 is especially tricky - the side exhaust ports on the engine mean it's vulnerable to backpressure in the exhaust overheating the side-seals, causing the springs to warp and pop the seals out. Usually this results in a seal hitting the exhaust port, shattering, and taking the entire engine with it. (This is also how a bad cat kills them, btw) The ECU being a bit of a smart bastard doesn't help - it doesn't take kindly to chiptnes.

6: The fuel 'economy'
500km to a tank is the absolute max. With a failed ignition coil and an ECU that massively leaned the engine out to the point of near detonation, I once managed 600... but it'll never happen again. 300-450 is more normal. That's what it does. Don't like that, buy a Volkswagen.

7: It will get you into trouble.
It just wants to rev and rev and go faster and faster - fast enough to get your arse to prison if you're not careful. I've seen number with a 1, 2 and 5 in them on a public road.... (Not in the State, Garda)

Now, the good stuff. What it offers

1: 9000rpm+ It's a tractable engine - it'll pootle along at 2000rpm happily on long journeys, just don't expect it to accelerate. All the fun happens after 4500rpm. Especially in the six-speed manual. It's more like an old 2-stroke in that it really rewards the use of the gearbox to keep the needle high in the rev-range. And unlike a conventional bouncer engine, the rotary really doesn't give a **** what RPM it's doing. If anything, it's happier having the bollox rev'd off it - it never really feels stressed by RPM the same way a piston engine does. There's a reason why rotary owners say 'A redline a day keeps the mechanic away'. Keep the rev's up and let it spin, that's the best way to help it live. Half the morons complaining about it being gutless have either never heard of a manual gearbox, or don't understand the concept of a kickdown. Smack it down two gears and boot past anything in a whirl of noise and a haze of carbon.

2: The chassis
It's a stiffened MX-5 chassis, that's all you need to know. All the weight's low down in the frame. It just sort of snouts and snuffles its way along the road finding the best lines. With the engine almost beside your legs, on the right road it can be sublime. On ****e roads, the suspension's just soft enough to take the worst of the bumps out of it.

3: It's a GT car, not a sportster
No really. It'll try do everything and anything you could ask of it. I've driven mine to building sites with the boot loaded with construction materials. I've made cross-country trips with friends in the back seat and still been friends when I got there. I've tiptoed over iced-up mountain passes in winter through silent-hill fog. Then ripped down a motorway outside the state at stupid-kph. I've taken it onto race-tracks at speed in the worst storm of the year. It'll bomb up the N11 all windows open blaring Iron Maiden from an epic sound system, or cruise down in quiet comfort. It might not be the best at any of these things, but it'll still make a bloody good attempt at them.

4: It's comfortable
I'm a big fat bastard, and even I'm comfy in the leather seats. The heater's epic - producing good warmt in minutes of starting. And you can put people in the back quite happily. (The trick being to put the short ones in the front). It has just enough toys in the cockpit with just the right ambience to feel 'modern', but without rapidly dating the car like so many early android or i-drive systems. It's a weird sort of timelessness, more like the car the 1980's thought we'd be driving, than what we actually got.

6: It's unique
There really is very little like it out there anymore. Maybe the Honda S2000, but that's a different sort of car in a lot of ways. There's nothing out there that offers high RPM naturally aspirated fun anymore - nothing within the realm of mere mortals anyway. It's the last truly different car there is - likely the last rotary-engined car there ever will be, and the last glimpse into an alternate world where maybe automotive history evolved just that little bit differently. It's the last car that relies on you.

7: Reliability's better than its reputation
No really. Provided you keep an eye on it, it's a fairly reliable car. Mine's been no-worse than any other ten year old car, and been a lot better than most. It's had it's problems and it's worn-out parts but they've all been easily fixable. And there's a lot you can do to it to solidify it further. Ignition upgrades, oiling upgrades, different oil grades. It's a car that responds well to an enthusiast's touch and is normally fairly easy to work on for just about anyone. ****, even rebuilding an engine from the ground up is relatively straight forward - normally taking only a day or two. All it asks is that you keep an eye on it and don't let problems fester - otherwise, you can treat it like any other car.

But the biggest piece of advice I can offer prospective owners is this: Test drive it first. Take it out around traffic. Take it on the motorway. Take it down your favourite road if you can. Run the engine through its full range - it should charge to the redline (Good Cat/Ignition), make sure it starts hot without struggling (Good compression) and just check it out and make sure you grok what it's offering. The RX8 offers more than just numbers on a page - but that means it's also the sort of car that you need to sit in and take for spin to make sure you really want what it offers and you're willing to give it what it demands.

Also gut the cat. For epic flames. The NCT doesn't give a ****. Only downside is the tangy smell of 2-stroke seems to do weird things to bikers.....

grogi

Dartz wrote: »

Okay. I've owned mine for nearly 2 and a half years now.

7: It will get you into trouble.
It just wants to rev and rev and go faster and faster - fast enough to get your arse to prison if you're not careful. I've seen number with a 1, 2 and 5 in them on a public road.... (Not in the State, Garda)

512?! Surprisingly round number - 2^9

Yakult

Dartz wrote: »

Okay. I've owned mine for nearly 2 and a half years now.

So it's time for the copypasta

Ask for an apple, receive an apple tree
Great info and really gives me a insight into owning and running the car on a daily basis. I think I will be looking for a test drive very soon.

Can spend 6k+ so have found a few lovely, clean and well documented examples for sale.

I see someone mentioned above, about it being recognized as 2.6L to insurance companies, is insuring them a problem?

Dartz

My first year's insurance in ****ing Dublin with no no claims bonus was 1350.
With three year's NCB it's gone up to 1450...

So, no more than any other ****ing car.

Yakult

Dartz wrote: »

My first year's insurance in ****ing Dublin with no no claims bonus was 1350.
With three year's NCB it's gone up to 1450...

So, no more than any other ****ing car.

Good ole insurance :rolleyes:

Gonna make contact with a seller tomorrow and try to arrange a test drive. Until then its off to youtube to view some videos of it :pac:

jenizzle

I just let mine go after 5 1/2 years of ownership. I cried when it came to selling day Can't add anything more than what Dartz had said really!

Yakult wrote: »

I see someone mentioned above, about it being recognized as 2.6L to insurance companies, is insuring them a problem?

I never had an issue getting insurance but mine was a '04 and the age of the car was becoming an issue getting quotes.

It's also taxed as a 1.7. There was a workaround for a few years to tax it as a 1.3 but the tax office put a stop to that in recent times.

I'm sure you're well aware by now but my top tip for test driving is when you return, turn it off and on again. If it struggles, I'd have my doubts.

ARGINITE

Buyers guide

If I was to buy one again I would either buy one with a recent rebuild from a reputable source or buy one with a dead engine and get the engine rebuilt.

pippip

OP contact Eddie Doyle (gorey) or Shadow Rotary (Dublin). They are basically the only mechanics you'd be bringing an RX8 to if you need work.

Let them know you're in the market for one and they may know someone looking to sell.

Yakult

pippip wrote: »

OP contact Eddie Doyle (gorey) or Shadow Rotary (Dublin). They are basically the only mechanics you'd be bringing an RX8 to if you need work.

Let them know you're in the market for one and they may know someone looking to sell.

Cheers for that. Two of rx8's I'm looking at are based in Dublin so will ask where they bring their cars for service etc.

Rang a few insurers today and got two quotes, one for 2.5k and another for 4k. 26 years of age, 8 years driving experience and 8 years ncb..

That's some crazy money but have a few more numbers to ring and see if I can get cheaper

Dartz

That's ****ing lunacy.

Mines 1400 with..... Someone. Might be Allianz or Aviva. Fully comp' with business use. (Yes, I use it for work)

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Nice bit of info but this one sticks out as a bit odd. The Rotary design is quite old but the RX-8's engine isn't a 1970's design. You wouldn't say a Ferrari's engine is from the early 1900's just because it uses pistons. And its not that highly strung in all fairness (not even 250bhp). I have seen guys running huge HP's on Rotary engines at drift/race meetings.

It more or less is a direct descendant of the 13B from 1973. The porting and the like have changes and basically every single part has developed in some way, but it's still the same basic housing, bolts, eccentric and dimensions. It very much is a 1973 engine design.

Turbo ones can go to the moon with peripheral ports and the like, but Renesis won't go much about 240 without massive modification.

joey100

I had one for a while, the first car I owned myself. The day I bought it petrol was 1.28 a litre, when I sold it it was closer to 1.60 a litre. Don't buy it if fuel economy is an issue. It was a great car to drive and like another poster said it could do a bit of everything really. It was cheaper for me to get insured on the RX8 than a seat cordoba when I bought it, don't think I could afford the insurance now with the way things are going. I'd definitely recommend one, but if I was getting one it would be as a second car and not my main car.