Mazda RX-8

Anyone have experience with these? There is a real nice '09(updated body) for sale locally that I have been looking at. The rotary seems to be a unique experience. The one thing that worries me is the need to monitor and fill up the oil frequently.

 

It's not as frequent as people make it out to be, just check it every few thousand miles. They're not incredibly fast, and they don't get great gas mileage, but Mazda know's how to make a car that's fun to drive.

 

They are actually a nice car...... handle quite well, although lack any torque. As for oil consumption, that is actually by design. There are injectors that push oil into the rotary area to keep the "cylinder" walls lubricated. Then it just burns away.

One thing I new on the mid 2000 year models is, and not sure if still true with the most current but, if you ever start the car, you need to let it warm up. If not you will get into a flooded situation with the plugs, and you have a 50/50 chance of needing them replaced. (strange but true). Or better put, you just cranked up the car, pulled it out of the garage in under a minute lets say. Turned the car off.......... you may have issues.

But overall, a very nice car.......... nice interior.......

 

I had two friends who had them, back when they first came out. one with a manual. fun car to drive. the other with an automatic. awful.

buy the manual

I like the RX8, as Rob says great handling/brakes and decent power if you have a manual and like revs. huge aftermarket. unique design and layout. rotary engine! what's not to like? (besides the automatic).

 

Good to hear. I have been thinking about getting an R3 version. The seats actually fit me!

 

I had an early 2004 RX-8 (one of the first), owned it for 7 years. Great handling, GREAT brakes, rev limiter at 9500 rpm. Surprising room in the back seat, genuinely seats 4 adults.

The early cars could flood if started then stopped cold right away, but Mazda fixed that with an ECU flash in 2006 that applied to all cars. With that later ECU code, it became almost impossible to flood (mine never flooded). My oil consumption over 7 years averaged 1 quart every 2000 miles (my 2007 Audi S4 uses more oil than that!); gas mileage for 7 years overall, mostly city driving, including 7 Canadian winters, was 17 mpg (matched EPA City rating).

Overall, a great 4 seat sports car, if you don't mind the high-revving, lower torque engine characteristics.

 

My wife had one of these. I bought it new for her birthday in 2004. It was a ton of fun to drive, but her car spent more time on a flatbed and in the service department than it did in our garage. Seriously, we owned it for roughly 18 months and 9k miles with 9 visits to the Mazda dealer for flooding, rough start/idle, and stalling. We did everything by the book: 93 octane, full warmup before ever turning it off, high rev, the oil thing, etc., etc., but she/I would be driving around town at 40-50 mph and the damned thing would just die right in the middle of the street. The Mazda service writers were able to recognize my cell number on their caller ID. Unlike Rob, I don't miss it and have never looked back. On a positive note, my wife and I both enjoyed driving the car (when it would run), and it's good to hear that they finally fixed all that crap.

 

My dad has a red '05 RX8 with red/black leather interior. The seats hold up great and in my opinion, are comfy for long trips. The rotary is amazing. After I got my learner's permit, I got to take it for a spin. It's a really fun car to drive. My dad has owned a Mazda RX-4 and an RX-7, and he says he will always drive Mazdas because they're reliable and extremely fun to drive. My dad's mechanic said he would take the RX-4 and "Blow the carbon out of it" whenever my dad took the RX-4 or the RX-7 in for service. Take it from a 15 year old, the RX-8 is a cool car!

 

Bought a new '05, and agree with all the positive traits others have mentioned. I wish I could get more than the 18 to 21 mpg I manage, although that's hardly reason to not like such a well-rounded machine. Here are some interesting pieces I saved a while back:

http://www.speedsportlife.com/2008/06/10/lord-byron-eight-is-enough/

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2008/09/in-defense-of-the-mazda-rx-8/

 

I did all kinds of research earlier this summer; came VERY close to owning one.

It's a phenomenal car. Clarkson said it right; it doesn't feel like it's running on premium fuel, it feels like it's running on butter cream.

Avoid the first-year (2004) models; avoid the automatic. Other than that, check the oil levels, check the apex seals, and you're golden. Personally, I'd only buy a GT model (need the sunroof; and IMO the GS seats suck), and the 0.5 rear doors don't hurt either.

Having cross-shopped them with the Nissan 350Z, my insurance guy was very willing to insure my 21-year old ass on a 1.3L 4-door Mazda rather than a V6 2-seat Nissan... just saying.

PM me if you have any more questions; I test drove more RX-8s than any sane person should have. It was sad that I didn't end up getting one.

 

The girl I was dating had one. She said it's a POS.

 

Thanks for all the info guys...The one I'm loking at is an 09 with low miles. It is a grand touring with leather, nav, etc. Pretty much every option. It is however an automatic which I don't really mind since it will be a daily. Perhaps the 2nd gen auto performs a bit better...It sounds like that the 2nd gen has most of the bugs worked out as far as the flooding goes.

 

I thought the 2nd Gen Auto was okay. At least that's what I had heard. Either way just use the paddles for aggresive play and D for normal driving. When I test drove an '07 (I think) the paddles were fine.

 

Forget the auto, the rotary motor doesn't have the torque to pull the skin off a grape. I test drove a couple of RX-8's last month looking for a car for my son and with the stick they were very nice. I used to race RX-7's so I was expecting a pretty much torqueless wonder and they still are, but once you get used to spinning it, it's a pretty nice ride. Besides, the gearbox is sweet, light shift effort and a very short throw. Just look around some more and find a stick.

 

We have a 2006 model . Its not terrible using the manual w/ paddle shifting to keep the revs up . It handles well .

 

They handle VERY good, but are underpowered and get bad mileage.

 

I went the total opposite direction and bought a MINI last night. '07 Cooper S with 18K miles with every option....leather, nav, sport, etc. It is crazy fun!

 

LOL, still a good choice for a DD

 

That's awesome. I love both cars. Congratulations. Is your Cooper S a stick?

[If it's an automatic I just might have to come over there and confiscate your man-card ]

 

Congrats on the Mini Cooper S. I'm sure it's a ball of fun.

If both cars had to be automatic, I'd pick the Mini Cooper S over the RX-8. I think the power delivery characteristics of the turbocharged Mini better suit a slushbox than does the low-torque rotary. Also, the automatic RX-8 is less powerful than the manual car - 212hp for the automatic and 232hp for the manual. This is because the automatic has a lower redline of 7500rpm vs 9000rpm for the manual.

 

the automatic turbo MINIs are actually really really really good! I should know... i worked for mini for 5 years! Ive owned three and built performance products for them! I love manuals... but credit where credit is due... that auto is really good

 

Find a low mileage '95 RX-7 and have a good time.

 

+1. The FD RX-7 is a fantastic driving car, but too fragile. In pursuing high performance, light weight and packaging efficiency, Mazda created a complex and unreliable turbo setup. Be especially wary of modified cars running higher boost. The rotary engine's apex seals can't take much knock.