Test drove a Mazda RX-8 today, these are super cheap when you think about what you're getting. The one i looked at was around £8k for a 2007 231bhp "Kuro" in black with cream leather, xenons etc. I had read all about them, double wishbone suspension, 50/50 weight distribution, rear wheel drive and of course the rotary engine that will scream to 8500rpm. The idea is to replace my BMW with something newer.

Sat in it, comfy place to be. Almost everything felt solid, the only things that didn't were the glovebox lid and the sliding lids over the transmission tunnel, they're pretty flimsy feeling. So far so good! It's fairly quiet inside, no silent but quiet, even on the motorway it's not loud.

The car idles at around 1k rpm, maybe 1.5k, silent though. As i moved off there's little torque low down and the clutch pedal was pretty heavy. That was what dominated the rest of the test drive. The engine is extremely smooth, but there's no torque! It just doesn't want to pull very hard :-( It'll still shift but doesn't feel as urgent as i expected.

The handling is very very good, feels very balanced, it doesn't roll too much but it still feels fairly smooth. The brakes in the one i drove were shocking, but that could just be glazed pads rather than a rubbish braking setup. Although i think it was single piston floating calipers all round so maybe not that great when pushed a few times.

All in all, i'd have this car if it weren't for the engine. I felt really let down because it's a great car otherwise.

Nightmare of a car, usually flooding causing a loss of compression and then non start. This then destroys the very large and expensive cat, high emissions, practically two stroke engine (oil is used to lubricate the rotor tips and burnt off).

Nightmare of a car, usually flooding causing a loss of compression and then non start. This then destroys the very large and expensive cat, high emissions, practically two stroke engine (oil is used to lubricate the rotor tips and burnt off).

The flooding thing, iirc it can be solved by change of some components and also to warm the car up before switching engine off (i.e. no short trips).

A friend has bought one recently and has been on the forums, the guys there are very helpful with many of these issues.

I would say look into it more before making a decision, it is a v v nice car to drive.

However, in terms of straight line speed, my lil furby kept up quite happily after 50mph

P.s.

In reply to OP, its a jap car! you need to ring its neck! use only high rpms for power, 4-4.5k upwards? Im surprised you haven't mentioned the beep yet when you hit the redline

Edited 20 November, 201015 yr by JLneonhug

My bosses wife owned one of these for a couple of years,i absolutely loved it to drive and as stated above very comfy etc,but the bad starting was a pain in the rear and i never thought it went very well and was absolutely horrific on fuel

The flooding thing, iirc it can be solved by change of some components

Spark plus and a different geared starter motor, fitted many of them. Sometimes worked.

19mpg and a litre of oil every fill up. know 2 people who had one and sold them after a couple of months. Look good but thats about it.

Spark plus and a different geared starter motor, fitted many of them. Sometimes worked.

I had a wee look under the bonnet, the oil filter looked impossible if your hands are bigger than a 5 year olds Stuffed in, RHS of the engine, below the scuttle panel and far enough back and down to be a real pain.

EDIT: LHS, you tell it from the drivers position, the opposite of looking in from the front right? LHS in that case

Edited 20 November, 201015 yr by Mute

19mpg and a litre of oil every fill up. know 2 people who had one and sold them after a couple of months. Look good but thats about it.

A relative of mine owned a 230BHP model for 3 years, and it was utterly well mannered. Never suffered with flooding and never broke down. It averaged about 25MPG over its lifespan, and it did drink oil. Emissions are poor, but so is the rest of the Mazda range as a whole. You don't buy a sports car for the MPG.

I had a hoon round a track in a PZ version and not only did it look good, but the handling was purely brilliant. Fantastic car and pick of the range for me.