Maxda RX-8? Anything else?

robfosters · 13 Apr 2012 at 15:26

RX-8 is a superb car for the money. My Dad's has lasted 3 years and he's only ever had 1 case of engine flooding (easy to fix) and a replacement bulb.

He done the clever thing of actually reading about them before driving them. If you don't do that, you may well run into problems. For example, starting and then stopping the engine straight away quite often floods the engine. Because of this, they are not the best cars for short hops.

He doesn't even find the fuel consumption as bad as people made it out to be.

At the end of the day, Where else can you get a car with brilliant styling, great performance, full leather interior and a great BOSE sound system for under 4k?

If you do get one, there's a certain age when the tax jumped up to over £400 a year, so watch out for that. And get the strakes put on. They look awesome.

The only real drawback is that there are many, many dodgy ones out there that will soon need engine rebuilds due to being thrashed. Might help to take someone with you who knows what they're doing and hopefully knows how to do a compression test. Important with Renesis engines. Also, the alloys corrode easy, so may be worth budgeting for a refurb or new set.

Disco Boy · 13 Apr 2012 at 15:31

Dup said:
This has certainly perked my interests for an RX8. They're worth not much more than my 17 year old MX5.

I want something with a bit more space with bike carrying capability that's a bit newer and better built. The RX8 ticks all the boxes more or less. My CTR drank 1l per 1k oil wise, and the fuel economy is near the scale of that and my MX5 (which is shocking but then that's my driving for you).

Considering I was gonna go up the scale towards a Golf GTI Ed 30 nearer the 8-9k mark, the RX8 really has me curious even if I just run one for 12 months and lose £500 depreciation wise ignoring running costs. Hmmmm.

And if it breaks?

m3csl2004 · 13 Apr 2012 at 15:44

Flibster said:
Go read about them on the owners club forums. The pros and the cons.
I did, and went to a owners club event and chatted to the people there and shortly after, bought one. Still have it and love it.

You seem to have just looked at prices and gone 'ooooh'. If thats the case, then they're probably not for you.

I wouldn't expect anybody who has not owned an RX-8, or carried out some research on them, to know much about them?

Liampope · 13 Apr 2012 at 16:02

m3csl2004 said:
TL;DR

3-4K budget for fun car, sub group 16 insurance, 8k miles a year.

Strange - it's even been mentioned above, but still not yet suggested for the OP. MX5?

m3csl2004 · 13 Apr 2012 at 16:14

Liampope said:
Strange - it's even been mentioned above, but still not yet suggested for the OP. MX5?

Not sure I could live with a manual soft top.

Liampope · 13 Apr 2012 at 16:29

m3csl2004 said:
Not sure I could live with a manual soft top.

Rubish reason to discount one of the funnest cars you could consider in your position, imho

. You've said you're not that excited by the choice of FWD hatches and coupes available to you, and I dont blame you! Worth a thought anyway.

m3csl2004 · 13 Apr 2012 at 16:31

Liampope said:
Rubish reason to discount one of the funnest cars you could consider in your position, imho . You've said you're not that excited by the choice of FWD hatches and coupes available to you, and I dont blame you! Worth a thought anyway.

It's not so much the putting up and down, I live in Hull, somebody will try and steal it, fail and I will end up with a stabbed/ripped roof.

danza · 13 Apr 2012 at 16:45

It is unfortunately more financially acceptable on here to pour copious amounts of oil and petrol down the toilet and take the bus whilst making engine sounds than it is to buy an RX-8.

If it weren't for the comedy fuel consumption to power ratio, then they'd probably be more popular than the S2000, but then they'd cost a lot more to buy. I don't think the engines are quite as bad as some people like to make out either.

adam cool dude · 13 Apr 2012 at 17:26

For the budget I would be looking at 200sx if you were looking for a RX8 type car. 4k would get you one in good condition.

IvanDobskey · 14 Apr 2012 at 01:07

Mazda RX8? Anything else?

I would say anything else!

hurfdurf · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:12

Disco Boy said:
Seemingly you know nothing a out RX8s.

For this reason you should not buy one.

Indeed, they are genuinely sporty cars and should only be purchased by car enthusiasts who want a genuinely sporty car. If you are not an amazing driver you will not like them.

dilated · 14 Apr 2012 at 07:37

danza said:
It is unfortunately more financially acceptable on here to pour copious amounts of oil and petrol down the toilet and take the bus whilst making engine sounds than it is to buy an RX-8.

If it weren't for the comedy fuel consumption to power ratio, then they'd probably be more popular than the S2000, but then they'd cost a lot more to buy. I don't think the engines are quite as bad as some people like to make out either.

Ive been looking at the rx8 and they do seem to have a strong feeling on here, but I cant really find anything to back up the claims of engines that blow at 60k etc.

CaptainRAVE · 14 Apr 2012 at 07:41

IvanDobskey said:
I would say anything else!

My thoughts exactly.

robj20 · 14 Apr 2012 at 08:47

dilated said:
Ive been looking at the rx8 and they do seem to have a strong feeling on here, but I cant really find anything to back up the claims of engines that blow at 60k etc.

The main reason they go wrong is the way previous owners have driven them, if you treat it like a normal engine it will die early.

You need to thrash it a lot, no short trips, mainly people driving to work in the things. If you do need to drive short trips my advice is to redline it as much as you can safely in the lower gears, especially crucial on the 231 model with its extra intake valves that open around about 5700rpm.

Dont labour the engines there happiest cruising around 3000+rpm, so this means 3rd for 30mph.

I have had two different 231s now loved them both but with petrol prices the way they are as a main car its just way too expensive for the return, they are fantastic as a second car though to be taken on the track as much as possible. They will drink heavily then and upto 1 litre of oil in 1 day, but the car will drive better than ever after all the sustained high revs.

I have been a contributer on the owners club for quiet a while adding a couple of articles to the forum.

Daveangle · 14 Apr 2012 at 11:31

Relentless81 said:
No, early models had oil burning issues, this was sorted at around the same time as the rebranding from "190" to T-Sport

That's not true, it was only the pre-facelift 140 models (<2002) that suffered from the oil burning issue. All 190 models were fine and didn't suffer from the defect.

dilated · 14 Apr 2012 at 12:12

robj20 said:
You need to thrash it a lot

Im in!

robj20 said:
If you do need to drive short trips my advice is to redline it as much as you can safely in the lower gears, especially crucial on the 231 model with its extra intake valves that open around about 5700rpm.

My father had one from new a few years ago and I recall that there was a procedure to follow when starting from cold and moving a short distance, it involved holding high revs for circa 1 minute and then swtiching off ignition with throttle pedal held.

robj20 said:
I have been a contributer on the owners club for quiet a while adding a couple of articles to the forum.

what is the url of this forum, sounds like a good place?

PinkFloyd · 14 Apr 2012 at 12:15

Think it is something like hold it at 5k rpm for 10 seconds before turning the key and flooring it at the same time? Definitely worth checking!
Still got my heart set on one even though my brain keeps telling me to buy something more sensible....

chaparral · 14 Apr 2012 at 15:40

m3csl2004 said:
I wasn't expecting everyone to say "yeah, go for it, we all have one!" - suffice to say I think can cross the RX-8 off the list

I have an RX-8 as my daily car

It been great so far, not one thing gone wrong with it yet!!!!!!...(Fingers & legs crossed now i said that)

Joshy · 14 Apr 2012 at 18:47

hurfdurf said:
Indeed, they are genuinely sporty cars and should only be purchased by car enthusiasts who want a genuinely sporty car. If you are not an amazing driver you will not like them.

You don't need to be an amazing driver to appreciate their main attraction though. You get an awful lot of car for the money, Granted a fair sized chuck of that is recouped through the higher running costs (or wiped out if you're unlucky enough to buy a duff one).

If you take the running costs on the chin and buy carefully (I.E one with the revised starter and getting a specialist to run a hot compression test) then you'll struggle to beat it in terms of a modern, practical sports car. The only thing I can think of that comes close is a Celica, but they are a considerably older car, a bit soft and wrong wheel drive to boot.

dilated · 14 Apr 2012 at 19:16

Joshy said:
You don't need to be an amazing driver to appreciate their main attraction though. You get an awful lot of car for the money, Granted a fair sized chuck of that is recouped through the higher running costs (or wiped out if you're unlucky enough to buy a duff one).

If you take the running costs on the chin and buy carefully (I.E one with the revised starter and getting a specialist to run a hot compression test) then you'll struggle to beat it in terms of a modern, practical sports car. The only thing I can think of that comes close is a Celica, but they are a considerably older car, a bit soft and wrong wheel drive to boot.

the mundane mondeo tdci nerds are going to be fuming about this posh!