Having spent Saturday hooning round Brunters in an RX8 PZ I wonder if anyone has experience of owning an RX8?

My brother has one and has never had any problems in 20k miles, he checks the oil every second fuel stop and finds it uses suprisingly little.

Someone at the event on Saturday had the centre console storage bin lid break but thought his 12yr old had done it and not said anything.

Are there any known issues with these?

Stupidly, the RX8OC forum seems to have all the good stuff hidden to non-members (and that costs

A mate of mine bought one last year, had a lot of trouble with it. Not sure exactly what happened, but it ended up having to get a new catalytic converter one one return visit. He got rid of it after 4 months and bought an A4.

not as much grunt as a re-mapped vRS. Very thirsty.

Do the engines last long?

not as much grunt as a re-mapped vRS.

Still quicker point-to-point though

Still quicker point-to-point though

On a race track yes.

On a race track yes.

And on a nice B road ?

not as much grunt as a re-mapped vRS. Very thirsty.

And how does a remapped vRS stack up against a remapped RX8? Any road with corners, the RX8 will be streets ahead

Chris

And how does a remapped vRS stack up against a remapped RX8?

I@m not sure what the latest rotary engines are like. the old RX7s could be made to *really* shift, for about a week.

Any road with corners, the RX8 will be streets ahead

Chris

You'd hope it would be nicely balanced. It's a rear wheel drive coupé, not a warmed-up family hatch, but from what I've seen the engine's like a gas turbine and having to stop for petrol every 5 minutes would reduce the average speed a bit

There is of course the small issue (alledgedly, not having done anything more than listen to the anecdotal evidence from a mate) of not being able to just "move the car a bit" ie, off the drive or up the road.

If you turn it off while the engines cold, it apparently floods and then you're up the creek without a paddle.

Apparently.

Short journeys go bye-bye.

There is of course the small issue (alledgedly, not having done anything more than listen to the anecdotal evidence from a mate) of not being able to just "move the car a bit" ie, off the drive or up the road.

If you turn it off while the engines cold, it apparently floods and then you're up the creek without a paddle.

Apparently.

Short journeys go bye-bye.

That problem was fixed with and ECU firmware upgrade a couple of years ago.

You have to ask for it specifically though, despite it being FOC when the car is in for a service.

not as much grunt as a re-mapped vRS.

As I discovered recently :D:D

I too have out dragged an RX8 up a sliproad. But thats not where the car is supposed to be - wheres the fun in driving really fast in a straight line ? I used to think it was great until I had a car that could corner propperly

Not mine but close friend's - standard 230, assuming you mean the practicalities as you now know how it drives:

Yes, uses lots of petrol but it used less than 2l of oil in 15Kish miles.

No mechanical problems but alloys are starting to bubble around centre-caps after 18 months (warranty claim)

Surprising amount of space in the back and nice interior,

And the best surprise so far, servicing is cheap. First service cost

That problem was fixed with and ECU firmware upgrade a couple of years ago.

You have to ask for it specifically though, despite it being FOC when the car is in for a service.

i think also this upgrade was included when the vehicle was in for the fuel tank recall

known problems , i,ve done 2 catalysts and 1 more has been done at our dealership , so 3 in total , all 190ps cars , one of them a 55 plate

alloys bubbling , warranty ?

squeaky brakes , generally caused by rusty discs IMO

rear discs do tend to rust especially if brakes not used hard

rust around inner surface of discs , dead obvious due size off wheels , warranty only in first year , discs cleaned off and painted with high temp paint

a few coolant leaks have happened , mainly hose clips , but seen radiator changed

aircon rad a bit vulnerable to road debris , seen one holed by stone

changed oil cooler pipes recently on N/S/F PITA job due to rusty connectors

changed 1 clutch , friction matrial snapped off spline centre , but i put the fault down to the 19" wheels the customer had fitted

seen another clutch go , destroyed the flywheel as well iirc

not seen an engine go pop , yet, i've seen one with over 75k on it

servicing gets a bit expensive after 37.5k the coolant gets changed every other service iirc Mazda special coolant must be used

xenon headlamp levelling sensors go no diagnostic procedure available , so it can be an expensive guess , £500 per sensor

creaky front seats on earlier cars

will need specialist tracking equipment to check the alignment due to wheel size , oh yeah and everything is adjustable front and back

from the ones i've driven they do seem a bit bouncy on normal roads , and i've never wanted to turn the ASR off , becuase i can see a big accident happening

anyway i hope this all helps

Oh yeah almost forgot , watch for oil usage , oil is squirted into the engine to lubricate the rotors so it must be topped up regular , oil warning lamp will come on but this doesn't mean a loss of pressure it just means the oil is low

Changed 1 engine due to coolant leaking from between the two rotor casings.

Also done the discs and coolers etc,

Plenty of cats

And the firmware didnt soley sort the non start/flooding. A new starter motor and plugs helped (plugs are about £50 each..lol)

i think the starter and plugs were on a TSB , and done as per mazda technical say so , i agree plugs are expensive , £129 for 4 , plus the VAT , on a 37.5K service , i always kept a spare set for the engines that were flooded , swopped them over ,usually ran then, with a bit of smoke LOL

so, in addition to the frequent fuel stops, time spent in the workshop will also reduce the average speed.

All for a lot of wonga....

The 350Z sounds like a much better prospect to me.

i think the starter and plugs were on a TSB , and done as per mazda technical say so , i agree plugs are expensive ,

Sounds like a nightmare of a car to me. I don't like the washing machine spin cycle soundtrack personally.