Maxda RX-8

I bought a 2004 231 back in 2007. I paid £13k I owned it for about 3 years and then sold it for about £5k. My daily journey was only about 2.5 miles.

I didn't have any big repair bills bar needing a new set of coils which was...about £700 I think.

Perfectly nice car with all the mod cons, a decent amount of power and, of course, superb handling. The feeling I have right now is that it handles better than my current car, 370Z Roadster...but really it's likely that the RX8's handling just left such a good impression!

Down side is the fuel consumption (20mpg) but I didn't really care as I had a company fuel card. Oil consumption is a non issue, it's blown out of proportion by those who have no first hand knowledge.

I flooded it once I recall and you have to be careful how you unflood it because you don't want to kill the starter motor.

Overall a happy experience.
 
i was parked next to one in a petrol station (what are the chances that a second turned up as well?)

when the guy went to leave it had to crank over for more than 10s before it started, which imo, had to be a low compression issue. his was an 07 car :(
 
Yes they should start up almost as fast when hot, although a can of seafoam or bg44k can cure that if the cause is just carbon build up.
Iv had two 231s and loved both of them, got rid of the first as i wanted to fit my bike in, then got a second car so bought another, then i wrote that one off.
There not very fast for what they are though, if i returned to rotary cars it would only be an rx7.
 
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robj20 said:
Yes they should start up almost as fast when hot, although a can of seafoam or bg44k can cure that if the cause is just carbon build up.
Iv had two 231s and loved both of them, got rid of the first as i wanted to fit my bike in, then got a second car so bought another, then i wrote that one off.
There not very fast for what they are though, if i returned to rotary cars it would only be an rx7.
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Agreed, the rx8 shouldve come with a turbo!
 
Im keen on owning an rx8 at some point, although I understand they arent without problems, it is a great drivers car and after all it is RWD (Right Wheel Drive). :D

On the reliability front, how bad is it? I recall that the advice on an RX7 is to budget £1000+ for a rotor rebuild at some point. Has the RX8 improved at all being more modern and lacking turbos?
 
dilated said:
Im keen on owning an rx8 at some point, although I understand they arent without problems, it is a great drivers car and after all it is RWD (Right Wheel Drive). :D

On the reliability front, how bad is it? I recall that the advice on an RX7 is to budget £1000+ for a rotor rebuild at some point. Has the RX8 improved at all being more modern and lacking turbos?
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Just factor an extra 3K in when buying one, you'll need it soon enough for an engine rebuild :(
 
IvanDobskey said:
Just factor an extra 3K in when buying one, you'll need it soon enough for an engine rebuild :(
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********... just because you had a bad experience, doesn't mean they're all bad.

Mine didn't give me a single unexpected bill. Never had any starting issues... got 26MPG on a run, 20-22mpg combined... and drove rather well for a car that only cost £3k to buy.

Either you or the previous owner(s) of your car didn't know how to look after it.
 
crinkleshoes said:
********... just because you had a bad experience, doesn't mean they're all bad.

Mine didn't give me a single unexpected bill. Never had any starting issues... got 26MPG on a run, 20-22mpg combined... and drove rather well for a car that only cost £3k to buy.

Either you or the previous owner(s) of your car didn't know how to look after it.
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Did yours hit 60k miles?

Autotrader is full of them at 60k miles for roughly 3500quid, can't be that coincidental
 
acemastr said:
Did yours hit 60k miles?

Autotrader is full of them at 60k miles for roughly 3500quid, can't be that coincidental
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They do not magically die at 60k miles!

The number of variables on usage that would result in completely difference engine/rotor tip wear over such a mileage, simply make it pretty much impossible.

I mean, you have people that religiously look after them, change the coilpacks like they were service items, always keep the oil topped up and keep the car serviced on time.

There are others that probably never check the oil, don't get it serviced properly and are running around with a misfire they can't detect (which is a sure fire way to kill the rotor tips prematurely)

Then there are the different usage profiles - some will potter around at 2k RPM, others will be up and down motorways sat at 4k RPM, others will be hooned everywhere at 9k RPM. Each scenario resulting in a completely different rate of wear over a set mileage.
 
chaparral said:
here another 231bhp RX-8 dyno tested

Max 177.2 HP (fly)
Max 146.7 HP (wheels)


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Mazda got in big trouble in the states because of how little power the RX8 put out in comparison to the quoted figures iirc, no such consumer protection in the UK though
 
Vanilla said:
The feeling I have right now is that it handles better than my current car, 370Z Roadster...but really it's likely that the RX8's handling just left such a good impression!
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The RX8 handling is so good it wouldn't surprise me if it was noticeably better than the 370Z's even if the 370Z handles really well (never driven one but I imagine it does)
 
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