Hello, I currently drive a 1990 MR2 SW20 Turbo, and I've been looking at getting something new. I'm after something that maintains the sportiness, while being a few years newer, being a bit better on fuel, and hopefully being a bit more reliable. Those last 2 might possibly be the silliest reasons to buy an RX8 that you've ever heard.

My SW20 is getting on a bit, 230,000km, paint is flaking off the front bumper and there are some nice chips in the bonnet and a couple of scrapes around the wheel arches. There are electrical problems that aren't worth fixing. I had to get a whole bunch of the cooling stuff redone after than shat itself, and the previous owner didn't put staggered wheels on it, so unless I stretch/squash different tyres on, I'm using 215/215s instead of 205/225s, and I've felt the rear start to come away from time to time due to that, so I don't really trust it much around corners if I'm doing spirited driving on the backroads. I'm likely to need to drive more next year, so want an improvement on fuel costs if possible, and I'd also benefit from some extra seats and/or carrying space.

So, RX8s. You hear all the stuff about them needing the oil topped up every day, turned off at exact 4731RPM, never run the engine for less than 5 minutes, always rev it to over 7K once per trip, they use almost as much fuel as they do oil, etc. Is it generally just nonsense? Is there some basis in reality for some of it? And how big of a thing are these factors when you compare it to other performance cars? An SW20 Turbo or 2.3L Turbo Mazda 3 aren't that fuel efficient either, nor are they the worlds most reliable engines, you've got to give them a good check every now and again to make sure they're in good running order, have enough oil/coolant/etc, and there a little things to do to keep them in top condition like leaving the engine running for a short period after a hard run to allow the turbo to cool off a little, etc.

I've also heard people mention that you want to look for lower Ks on a rotary than you would with a 4 stroke. Is there any basis in that? I'm looking for something under 150,000km, should I say be only looking at RX8s under 120,000km, or would a 140,000km rotary be every bit as good as a 140,000km 4 stroke assuming they've both been treated well?

Thanks!

 

Read the new and potential owners sticky found at the top of the new members forum. It will detail MOSTLY EVERYTHING you need to know.

 

There is a lot of truth to the reputation that the RX-8 has and there is also a lot of BS. Whether the RX-8 is the right car for you, well that is a personal decision that should be made after a lot of research.

 

I have had a bit of a flick through there. The trouble is I don't have a reference for a lot of things. Fuel mileage stats don't really mean a lot to me, are these good, bad, in the middle, how do they compare to an H22A Accord Euro R, 3SGTE MR2, MK4 Jetta VR6, whatever the 2.3L Mazda engine is called, etc. I tried to calculate out my fuel efficiency, since I did a ~400km trip in my SW20 using just about half of the 55L tank, so if I round things away to give the benefit of the doubt, that's still around 30mpg (35ish if I use what I think are the actual usage and distance covered). Compare that to 20-25mpg or so for the RX8, so either one of the figures is wrong, or the RX8 is being beat by a decent margin by a turbo with only slightly lower power output from 13 years prior, which isn't looking so hot for me, since if anything I was hoping to get an improvement on fuel efficiency.

I'm also really not sure on where things sit in regard to maintenance. It makes out like switching out the ignition coils and spark plugs is super important, and that you should swap the oil filter every 3000 miles, among other things. Are these things you should do if you don't want your car to fall after a week, or are they 'I take my car to the track every weekend and need it to be in prime condition'?

I think if I boil all all my curiosities down into one question, it'd be to know if the effort and costs put into maintenance would be any different to other performance cars (e.g. MR2, VR6 Golf/Bora, Accord Auro R, Mazdaspeed 3), or if an RX8 is another step above that. I happy to put in a bit of work and money in maintaining a car, but if I spend almost as much time replacing parts and changing/topping up oil as I do driving, then it's not the car for me.

 

Keep flicking, all this info is those newbie threads

400km is just about 50L in highway driving for me, worse if you're in traffic. No, rotaries are not fuel efficient. You're looking at the wrong car if that's your requirement.

It's not that the car requires more maintenance - I would say it requires less than some piston engines as there is no timing belt to change. What it requires is that you follow the oil change and ignition regimen religiously (or upgrade to more reliable ignition components) and generally keep an eye on things. If the car is maintained, there is no good reason anything should fail.

As far as oil, I feel I'm spoon-feeding here, but whatever, yes the car burns oil. It's designed to do so, there is an oil injection system as it is basically a 2-stroke motor. If it's not burning oil, something is wrong. During regular driving you might burn a litre per 2000km (depends on your aggressiveness). At a track day you'll burn a litre an hour.

Take one for a test-drive, see if it feels like your kind of game.

 

Flick harder

This statement suggest that this isn't the car for you.

Which part are you not understanding/where things sit?

Nope.

 

Yeh, I think that might be the big killer there. I figured it wouldn't be any worse than my MR2, but perhaps it is. I'm not that bothered by fuel consumption, but using a decent amount more than a car that's not great on fuel itself isn't what I'm after. But I will have to go check the figures though to make sure I'm not throwing the car out of my possible options if I've just stuffed something up (highway driving patterns/traffic/conditions/etc could differ between us too, might see if I can find some US/Canada figures for the MR2)

Why is the ignition an issue to keep on eye on with the RX8? Is it simply that downgrade compared to the RX7 using cheaper components, or is something to watch out for other cars too, that just isn't as wide knowledge?

So with the oil it's just a matter of getting in a habit of checking it every X weeks depending on the amount I drive, and topping off a bit more regularly than another car, and probably having a bottle tucked away in the car somewhere for some unexpected top-ups.

You guys have clarified most of what I was after. On to the next one. Cheers!