Your thoughts on the RX8
 

Please share any experience you have with the car, good or bad.

Specifically those that have driven one in the snow.

Thanks guys!

This for the {craashed Car Girlfriend?}

Ive read alot about them, not lots of great stuf, engine recalls on the early manufactures, etc crappy quality stuff. Im sure theres a forum out there for them. You do see lots out on the road however.

WORTH a test drive atleast, AND i would agree comprible to the prelude.

slow but handles great

Well considering I have one but I'm trying to sell it, I can give you an idea...

It handles like a dream, looks great, and sounds phenomenal. It isn't the fastest, but can be be made fast with forced induction. The interior is great, and the seats hold you in well through the twisties. It's awesome to have 2 back seats as well to haul around 4 people. Although don't expect to show off its acceleration with 4 people in there, the extra weight makes it slow as molasses. Make sure you know how the engine differs when you buy it. It uses oil regularly, and can be flooded if you don't use common sense. Basically it's a great car, and I hope my next one can live up to it. I'm not selling it because it is unsatisfactory, I just want to learn how to work on cars so I'm getting a cheap Miata and building it up.

Oh and all the models have 100,00 mile warranties after the first engine troubles. So if you get one of the early model engines that has troubles, they replace it for free. My engine has been performing flawlessly

Great car, feels a bit slow if you're used to a turbo miata.
Handling and feel are great, like a slightly bigger miata but with zero chassis flex and a more stable rear end.
Nice interior.
Remarkably comfy yet kicks ass on twisties.
Turbine like smooth high rpm operation is unique.
You crank the engine and it goes zing-zing-zing instead of up-down-up-down - cool!
Low mpg esp. for the power.

Most perform like absolute shit and break all the time. MOST

My .02

I've had 2 friends and a relative own them, and have gotten to drive them many times, as well as speaking with the owners on a regular basis.

the good:
Ok looks, definitely not ugly. Interior is decent and the seats really hold you in place. Well balanced: handles like a dream. Revs til kingdom come.

the bad:
Horrible gas mileage. Consumes oil on a regular basis. Lots of special maintenance shit that it needs. Power and torque? WTF is that? Power delivery is on par with a friggin prius:giggle: Underpowered. With an intake it sounds ok, if you throw on a free flowing exhaust it sounds like ABSOLUTE SHIT. Deafeningly loud and obnoxious. Everyone I know that has owned one has since sold them and WILL NEVER consider buying one again. They basically "got rid" of them.

So the decision is yours. There is about a 1/10 good/bad ratio:)

Don't blow an apex seal fag! :laugh: I test drove one and was kind of underwhelmed in all aspects. I still liked them, but eh, there are other cars in that range I would much rather have (MS3)... my $.02 This coming from a rotary fan boy.

Although I agree that the power is not adequate for the type of car, I wouldn't say it's terrible. Yes the low end torque is pitiful, but once you gets the revs up it'll keep pace with some quick cars. I know a lot of the Miatas on this site would rape an RX-8, but it can still get out of its own way.

Yes mileage is terrible

intake usually decreases the performance. The stock one is pretty much an optimal design

I was seriously considering one for some time.

Then I drove it and was very disappointed. It feels/sounds like your going fast, but your not. However if this is for your gf as mentioned early, that should be ok. What won't be ok will be the maint., unless she's not your avg female.

Agree with others on looks, interior, handling. Alot like a bigger miata in the sense that it handles well, feels pretty balanced, and can be made fast...but a pretty boring stock

Also as said earlier, prob plenty of cars out there that I'd prefer in the price range

Yeah this is for her. She saw one and wanted to check it out in person so I went with her today for a couple hours and checked out about 15 dealers.

We started at the place with the first RX8. Black, in pretty much mint shape inside and out. 12k miles and its a 04', so someone wasn't driving it much or it seems. Brakes are junk and need replaced, but I can do that for the cost of parts.

We took it for a test drive and she drove it first. She said the brakes felt bad and wanted me to drive it. Do you even believe the fucking 50yr old toupee wearing douche salesman came!? He fucking knew god damn right to sit in the back at least. I came roughly 3 smart ass comments more from punching him straight in the face.

My first impressions on the car are;

-Smooth shifts, cant even tell
-Smooth acceleration, but not fast by any means
-Felt heavier than I expected around corners
-Very peppy revving motor
-Great looking/feeling interior

She thinks she wants to get it, but isn't 100% sure. I showed her some stuff online regarding the issue of driving the car in the snow. Most guys on the RX8 forums are saying that with some weight in the rear, common sense, and snow tires its actually not bad. Considering it has traction control, its gotta help. I drive the miata in the snow all the time, so I can imagine a heavier car with traction control has GOT to be better than what we deal with.

Looked at about.......250 cars today. All said and done she ruled out accords, TC's, all Toyota's, anything red, and anything 4 door. :laugh:

Best car of the day I looked at was a 2010 Shelby mustang. I didn't like the whole car, but the front was black with matte black stripes and looked like a beast. The $82k price tag was a little retarded, it was an additional $35k for the Shelby upgrade. :jerkit:

Thanks guys for all the feedback! :bigtu: Great day with a fucking awesome girl and I couldn't be happier. Time to pack a bowl and play some COD5 :)

One of my favorite hobbies

I'm sorry if I offend but the RX8 looks like a fucking cartoon character. I just don't like the look of it at all, the front fenders, shape of the body, the gay rotor emblems and shapes everywhere not to mention what a smack in the face to the RX7. It has a tough act to follow for sure as the 3rd gen RX7 is a thing of beauty I'm sure you all will agree. Plus, you'll probably just blow a apex seal. Well I suppose you could upgrade to 3mm bastards...

I don't think the na renesis has problems blowing apex seals. It still sucks tho

needs more 2.3t.

They should have just put a 20b in the RX-8. The conversions over on RX8Club are pretty awesome.

She's not looking for anything crazy fast, I'm sure the RX8 would be plenty for her. I told her she at least needs new wheels, black ones.

Its funny, when my friend/ex got her legacy she said "nah nah I'm not doing anything to it". Now that I put the intake and exhaust on she loves it and said she wants to do more to it. lol

Stock cars are for stock people.

Isn't the new Ralliart out? Those should be awesome cars. BTW, RX8s are 4 doors, lol. Silly :vash:

Rotaries lack low-end torque much like a Honda so you've got to keep them spun up if you want to go fast. I've seen dyno charts of some FDs making 450+ whp but "only" 250 tq. Nature of the beast. And rotaries consume gas at about the same rate as a Learjet.

I "heard" that come RX-8s had issues with the coils getting hot and failing but supposedly that's been remedied? The early ones were susceptible to gunking up if you didn't wind out the motor periodically. Mazda even released a bulletin recommending that owners take it to redline on a semi-regular basis. A lot of owners just didn't understand that rotaries love and need to be revved up.

The chassis is excellent even in stock form and in the hands of a capable driver they are quick around track. The driver in the vids below is an instructor with a couple different groups on the east coast and races Spec RX-7 with MARRS. I've been instructed by a number of people and gotten rides from many more, and Bill is definitely "above average" :laugh: in the skillz department. He has a couple RX-7s in the stable including a pristine (and rare) competition yellow mica FD with <10K miles on it, but uses the RX-8 as a HPDE/autox car when he's not racing.





The RX-8 is reeling in the R8 through the turns, but of course the R8 walks away on the straights.