Past and current RX8 owners: chime in!

[00project]

Hey folks, I'm looking for a new ride, and have already done a search on Rx8s here and on a couple Rx8 forums. Please let me know if these are accurate:

- 04 models suffered from flooding issues, 05 models ok?
- extended warranty 8yr/160'000km: what does this cover?!?!
- use of regular fuel OK - what does the manual recommend?
- back seats do not fold down. is there any opening on the older models?
- poor fuel efficiency (expect 11-14L/100km)
- avoid cold starts, rev abit before starting
- no cold shut offs, need to be about 25% on temperature gauge
- canadian winters OK but winter tires a must
- burns oil because of rotary design, require top up once a month

checked out the 09 yesterday and they had an opening between the two backseats that can be removed. do older models have this? i need this to fit hockey sticks in there...i understand the trunk opening is small...perhaps ill shove my hockey bag in the back seat.

finally: recommend for a daily driver?
I do 25-26'000km/yr. 80% on the highway. i love cars, don't mind the extra TLC the rotary would require.
my old 98 civic burned oil as well, no biggie i just top it up between every oil change. most of my trips are long so there will be no worry about shutting off the car cold. just add extra 2 minutes to every trip to warm up the car in winter right?

[ES_Revenge]

rems has one I'm sure he will be along shortly...

Though I don't own one, personally I've always been a fan of the RX8 but there's a couple things I don't like about it:
1. The engine has no low end. It's by design I guess though, which gives it an excuse that Honda 4 bangers don't have available, lol.
2. Abysmal fuel economy.

[00project]

i can see the abysmal fuel economy compared to civics/corollas, but from the looks of it, it is about the same as a V6 no?

[rems]

Hey folks, I'm looking for a new ride, and have already done a search on Rx8s here and on a couple Rx8 forums. Please let me know if these are accurate:

- 04 models suffered from flooding issues, 05 models ok?


Well this issue has been fixed with the 4206F recall (I think that's what it was called).


- extended warranty 8yr/160'000km: what does this cover?!?!

Rotary Engine Core

Rotary Housing and Internal Parts

Internal Seals and Gaskets


- use of regular fuel OK - what does the manual recommend?


Premium is recommended. There are some who use regular with no issues. I'd stick with premium though.


- back seats do not fold down. is there any opening on the older models?

there's an opening in the middle to put something like skis through.


- poor fuel efficiency (expect 11-14L/100km)

That's about what I get depending on the mixture of driving between city/hwy. I average about 13L/100kms. Obviously worse in the winter.


- avoid cold starts, rev abit before starting

no need to do this


- no cold shut offs, need to be about 25% on temperature gauge

well this is where the flooding issue comes into play. Wait til the needle is at full operating temps before shutting down. If you really must shut down before it's warmed up, rev at 3K rpms for 10 seconds.



- canadian winters OK but winter tires a must

I think winter tires are a must for any vehicle.
But definitely don't drive on the summers they come with.


- burns oil because of rotary design, require top up once a month

depends on how much you drive. People say check the oil every two fill ups. After a while, you can get a sense of how often you need to add oil.


checked out the 09 yesterday and they had an opening between the two backseats that can be removed. do older models have this? i need this to fit hockey sticks in there...i understand the trunk opening is small...perhaps ill shove my hockey bag in the back seat.

see above.


finally: recommend for a daily driver?
I do 25-26'000km/yr. 80% on the highway. i love cars, don't mind the extra TLC the rotary would require.
my old 98 civic burned oil as well, no biggie i just top it up between every oil change. most of my trips are long so there will be no worry about shutting off the car cold. just add extra 2 minutes to every trip to warm up the car in winter right?

I use mine as my daily driver. Fuel economy is bad for short commutes (I guess same as any other car).

[KawaiiTentacleBeast]

Just don't buy an automatic. Aside from being crap (less HP, etc) a lot of the issues like flooding and whatnot were because of the automatic that made it too easy to drive like a regular piston engine. Buy the manual and redline it regularly.

[FD3S]

buy mine..
=)

has low end tq.=)

[Emancipated]

Just don't buy an automatic. Aside from being crap (less HP, etc) a lot of the issues like flooding and whatnot were because of the automatic that made it too easy to drive like a regular piston engine. Buy the manual and redline it regularly.

A car that encourages redlining and has actual benefits? Where do I sign up?

I never thought I'd hear those words: Redline the engine; it helps! Reminds me of a Brian Zuks video where he says "gotta redline it once a day" while driving someone's F430 Scuderia.

Sweet!

[Quiggie]

finally: recommend for a daily driver?
I do 25-26'000km/yr. 80% on the highway.
I'm not sure the RX-8 is the best car to get if you do mostly highway driving. It would be one thing if Ontario had many twisty mountain roads where the RX-8 would be really fun to drive, but our highways are very flat and boring and the RX-8 isn't really a highway cruiser. You're just gonna set the cruise and drive straight, so driving an RX-8 will be no more fun than driving some appliance car like a Buick. Maybe I'm wrong (I've never driven an RX-8) but that's what I think.

[ES_Revenge]

A car that encourages redlining and has actual benefits? Where do I sign up?
At your local Mazda dealer? Or in the Autotrader?

Hint: Search for Mazda RX8!

I never thought I'd hear those words: Redline the engine; it helps!
Yes you need to rev the rotary high in order to maintain it, that's the nature of the design.