mazda rx8

[tobomoto]

Anyone had any experience of one of these? I'm interested in reliability , running costs, problems, mpg ect. Mainly from the mechanicals (engine, gearbox, turbo ect) rather than bodywork. Cheers peeps.

[Tontsy]

Anyone had any experience of one of these? I'm interested in reliability , running costs, problems, mpg ect. Mainly from the mechanicals (engine, gearbox, turbo ect) rather than bodywork. Cheers peeps.

hmm . . .

you mean naturally aspirated

[tobomoto]

I read they were turboed? Doesn't matter as I will be shoving a turbo on it anyway. Just wondered if they need rebuilding often like rx7 engines?

[Gibbo-Vtr]

Good luck ..
The mpg is wank a mate has one ..
Averages about 21 to the gallon and when he thrashes it he gets 13 to the gallon.

[tobomoto]

That's actually better than I thought! Shove a turbo on it and that will drop I guess...

[LSOfreak]

search ffs
this gets asked once a week!

[woodysVTR]

Oh dear.

Where's that picture of Jean-Luc Picard facepalming himself when you need it?!

Been covered a million times before and the general conclusion is they they're quite terrible.

LOL at 'shoving' a turbo on, if your mechanical knowledge is any good as your car knowledge then I'm sure that'll work out very well...

[VinceVTS]

dont you have to know a hole load of other different stuff for a rotary engine. lol

[OneTime_]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wankel_engine

Friends mum has one. He told me a story once of how she turned it on then immediatly turned it off as she forgot something in the house. Think he said it was about £400 to fix...

[tobomoto]

so what is so terrible about them then? im not interested in the car just the engine and drivetrain. what advantages does it have over the rx7 engine, apart from rebuilds every 30-40k? can anyone give me a technical answer rather than 'theyre terrible'.
why not shove a turbo on it? im sure greddy wouldnt put their name to a turbo kit if it was crap...

[maddison_vts]

have fun 'shoving' a turbo on :fcuk: They don't respond too easily to boosting unless you're prepared to throw lots of £££££££ at them.
A guy local to me tried with his and failed. In the end he gave up, returned it to standard and bought one that had been turbo'd by a proffesional business.

and search mate, as previously said this gets covered every week now. I'm guessing its due to the fact you can get a nice 2004 plate for little over 3k now.... there is good reason for the low value of them...

[timmythechef]

Shiyte IMO

[tobomoto]

why doesnt it respond too well? is it a case of getting parts to fit or fuelling? its things like this i want to know.
as ive said, im not interested in the car just the engine.

[BBM]

Just buy an RX7

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaAKOrOWV7Q

prooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof they sound incredible

[yeahbuddy]

Oh dear.



LOL at 'shoving' a turbo on, if your mechanical knowledge is any good as your car knowledge then I'm sure that'll work out very well...


just what i thought if you've got money to do that you wouldn't be on a saxo website asking about an rx8

[Jack]

so what is so terrible about them then? im not interested in the car just the engine and drivetrain. what advantages does it have over the rx7 engine, apart from rebuilds every 30-40k? can anyone give me a technical answer rather than 'theyre terrible'.
why not shove a turbo on it? im sure greddy wouldnt put their name to a turbo kit if it was crap...

If you start them, you have to wait until the engine is warm before you can stop it, otherwise the engine floods.

[yeahbuddy]

If you start them, you have to wait until the engine is warm before you can stop it, otherwise the engine floods.

My mates warms up within 3 minutes of just being turned on not even revving it or driving it, he's had no problems with his.

[TypeRDavid]

I take it the OP is simply after the engine and drivetrain?, IMO there are much better options out there.

[Tommo87]

If you start them, you have to wait until the engine is warm before you can stop it, otherwise the engine floods.

As far as I know this was fixed on the later models.

[Matty16v]

Ahh the wonderful rx8.. The engine needs a rebuild every 40k miles or so costing roughly £4,000 a time. The rotary blades arn't very strong and with boost you will probably be looking at a rebuild every few miles.. Mpg with town driving is about 20mpg. Thrashing can go as low as 7mpg. They don't handle very well, too arse heavy. Gearbox is pretty weak on them though not the worst. Your biggest problem is you need to rev the tits off it to get it to move, so what would they be any good for? Drifting? No. bouncing it off the limiter in 2nd will only see another engine rebuild. 1/4 mile rune? No as said earlier rev the tits off and waiting for bosst will make a poor quarter mile. I think we all know the answer to a track car, They are not as strong, fast, or well built as the rx7. IMO you would have less trouble driving a Skoda made of cake, wait wut..

[tobomoto]

I take it the OP is simply after the engine and drivetrain?, IMO there are much better options out there.

Yup that's all I'm after so looks/ handleing doesn't matter. I thought of the 8 over the 7 due to reliability issues. I thought the rebuilds problem was gone on the 8. I'm after a small lightweight engine to go in a small car. I don't really want to go down the sierra/ v6/v8 route as I want somthing different.

[TypeRDavid]

Yup that's all I'm after so looks/ handleing doesn't matter. I thought of the 8 over the 7 due to reliability issues. I thought the rebuilds problem was gone on the 8. I'm after a small lightweight engine to go in a small car. I don't really want to go down the sierra/ v6/v8 route as I want somthing different.

What car we talking about here?

[LSOfreak]

why would you want to put the wankel engine :S
its a terrible engine to use imo

[Cal]

Wankel... snigger.

[Matty16v]

Turbo a mazda mx5 then?

[tobomoto]

bit of a surprise as i dont want too many people to know what im doing. i got thinking about different emgines at work the other day and what would be a suitable powerplant. reliability wont be a massive priority but i dont want it breaking down every 200 yards.

[Tontsy]

get back to me once the engine is in another car.

as its never going to happen.

[Brettles1986]

my best mate had one of these, went for a drive in it and then parked it up outside his house (on a steep as fuck drive) the brakes cooled and it took itself for a reverse drive into his neighbours wall........ oh and they are well expensive to run, he had money but sold it down to the running costs.

[Gandi699]

Ahh the wonderful rx8.. The engine needs a rebuild every 40k miles or so costing roughly £4,000 a time. The rotary blades arn't very strong and with boost you will probably be looking at a rebuild every few miles.. Mpg with town driving is about 20mpg. Thrashing can go as low as 7mpg. They don't handle very well, too arse heavy. Gearbox is pretty weak on them though not the worst. Your biggest problem is you need to rev the tits off it to get it to move, so what would they be any good for? Drifting? No. bouncing it off the limiter in 2nd will only see another engine rebuild. 1/4 mile rune? No as said earlier rev the tits off and waiting for bosst will make a poor quarter mile. I think we all know the answer to a track car, They are not as strong, fast, or well built as the rx7. IMO you would have less trouble driving a Skoda made of cake, wait wut..

My boss had one and it was a reliable car, they do like a drop of oil though.
And why would bouncing it off the limiter in second damage it? thats what the limiter is there for.

[maddison_vts]

my best mate had one of these, went for a drive in it and then parked it up outside his house (on a steep as fuck drive) the brakes cooled and it took itself for a reverse drive into his neighbours wall........


you say that like it was the cars fault?! should always leave it in gear imo

[Matty16v]

And why would bouncing it off the limiter in second damage it? thats what the limiter is there for.

Do I really need to justify that with an answer?..:homme:

[maddison_vts]

Ahh the wonderful rx8.. The engine needs a rebuild every 40k miles or so costing roughly £4,000 a time. The rotary blades arn't very strong and with boost you will probably be looking at a rebuild every few miles.. Mpg with town driving is about 20mpg. Thrashing can go as low as 7mpg. They don't handle very well, too arse heavy. Gearbox is pretty weak on them though not the worst. Your biggest problem is you need to rev the tits off it to get it to move, so what would they be any good for? Drifting? No. bouncing it off the limiter in 2nd will only see another engine rebuild. 1/4 mile rune? No as said earlier rev the tits off and waiting for bosst will make a poor quarter mile. I think we all know the answer to a track car, They are not as strong, fast, or well built as the rx7. IMO you would have less trouble driving a Skoda made of cake, wait wut..

tbf, there was an rx8 at the last drift day I went to and he was doing pretty well in a 100% standard car. A few guys on driftworks rate them quite highly too, just expensive to run

[Tontsy]

My boss had one and it was a reliable car, they do like a drop of oil though.
And why would bouncing it off the limiter in second damage it? thats what the limiter is there for.

Do I really need to justify that with an answer?..:homme:

read the owners manual, it even states to take it upto the redline often, so it keeps the carbon build up to a minimum...

so yes, there is a valid reason for putting it to the limiter every once in a while.

[Gandi699]

read the owners manual, it even states to take it upto the redline often, so it keeps the carbon build up to a minimum...

so yes, there is a valid reason for putting it to the limiter every once in a while.

Exactly. Manufacturers install the limiter to protect the engine, with the right cooling conditions it should be fine doing it.