Hi everyone, I just purchased a RX-8 yesterday! It's a 2009 red RX-8 GT equipped with a 6-speed standard transmission.

Some background:

I actually heard about rotary engines long ago, before I bought my first car and became a gearhead. One of my friends, who know a thing or two about cars, told me there is a kind of engine with a block that spins inside of it. He said it was a very cool engine, but it can be hard to find someone to fix. I just thought, "huh, neat", and didn't think too much of it.

A bit later, I received my first car as a gift from dad - a 2008 Honda Accord Coupe EX-L with V6, equipped with a 5-speed automatic. I loved the car, and I immediately became a gearhead and started wrenching away. I replaced tons of stuff myself, like the PCV valve, spark plugs, engine oil, automatic transmission fluid, and more. I enjoyed working on the car.

Then I joined the forum for Accords, DriveAccord, and some of the people there talked about how to drive a manual. I was really curious and heard it's hard in the beginning, but fun when you are used to it. I booked a driving lesson for a manual transmission car, and I got very hooked on it at the end of the lesson. I was stalling the crap out of the Civic they had in the driving school, but it was enjoyable by the end where I can drive around a small neighbourhood.

And I then bought a beat Corolla with a 5-speed with a bit of the money I saved up so I can get used to driving a stick. The more I drove the Corolla, then more I appreciate the standard transmission because it just makes driving so much more engaging and fun.

So there I was, looking for a manual transmission car to replace my Accord. Unfortunately, manual Accords are actually kinda rare, but then RX-8 got my attention. I test drove one the other day, and I fell in love with the way the car drives. It is so smooth. I don't feel any engine vibration at all, and the high revs, the noise, these all made me interested in looking into a RX-8. I have come to learn that a RX-8 needs great amount of care and chugs gas, but the reward is a rev-loving engine that "runs on double cream"(from Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear). I made up my mind and here I am with the RX-8.

After I purchased the car yesterday, I went on a drive with it, and it was amazing. Completely different animal from my FWD cars, and it actually has very comfy back seats according to my friends, unlike the 2015 Mustang of someone I know. It's now sitting in the carport as I work on it for the next couple of days.

Looking forward to learning more about the car here!

 

The work I have done today:

I replaced the interior bulbs to Philips Vision LED series.








Much better than the dim halogens.

I also cleaned the MAF, and I am glad I did - I found out that the intake duct has some oil in it. Some people said here that it's probably from an oil overfill. I took it out and gave it a nice rinse.




You should be able to see the oil it at the bottom

I am also going to get a new air filter tomorrow, as well as the spark plugs and ignition wires.




So dirty!

 

I should slap you for calling it a whip. However, it's a nice clean VR S2, and I'll give you props for that. I appreciate that you asked all the right questions and tried to find all the information. That helps a lot. BTW, what were compression #'s on it? Merely curious. Glad to see another S2 goes to a loving home however.

 

Haha, I didn't mean to have any negative implications. It's Snapchat, so I allow myself to be a little dumb when using it. I am not the kind who sends videos of themselves eating or taking selfies. I don't really send much stuff; it's typically me seeing my friends doing stuff.

The compression numbers from the dealership are as follows:


Rotor 1: 740kPa 750kPa 740kPa @261RPM
Rotor 2: 780kPa 750kPa 790kPa @265RPM

Altitude is 23 m(75 ft) for my area according to Google.

When normalized, they become these numbers:

Rotor 1: 7.55 7.70 7.55
Rotor 2: 7.91 7.63 8.05

So yeah, Rotor 1 is not too shabby and Rotor 2 is pretty good. I have no problem whatsoever starting the car up, hot or cold - I hear a slower crank once and it fires right up. In fact, it starts up faster than my Accord!

Already ordered some some stuff I can't get locally, like Idetmitsu Premix, Redline gear oil, and some lighting mods. Going to the dealership to ask about some parts as well, like the ignition system and air filter.

 

Wow. They ACTUALLY took photos. Things really are better in the Great White North. You are still in warranty, and some dealerships get picky about things like an aftermarket ignition. Rev C Coils, I'm not exactly sure how long they last but while your car is in warranty it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep it OEM. Afterwards however, you can always go straight to BHR.

 

Well, the drawback is that people here will say CAN$200 is too expensive for a compression test, but then the dealership is the only one in town... The second closest one is an hour and half drive away.

Replace the ignition system every 30k doesn't sound too bad to me in terms of Labour, but the parts are probably expensive. Remember how I said I have a Corolla econobox? That thing drinks oil fast. Apparently, the ones(as well as some Camries) made in late 90s had a design flaw in the oil rings, which makes these engine consume insane amount of oil. The spark plugs get fouled insanely fast on that car, but I stopped caring about it. Thanks for the tip!

 

Oh yeah. My stepdad had a first gen Solara. Sludge issues out the freaking wazoo. Uh, CAN200 is roughly USD $150? That's exactly what they SHOULD be charging you. Some jagoff at a different dealership here in Denver, CO, said it was gonna be $350 and take 3 hours.

 

That is super clean! Welcome to the club.

 

Interesting, S2 with S1 wheels. Someone swapped them at the dealers or before the trade in.

 

Yea I found that a bit odd too. Maybe had aftermarket wheels that were replaced with S1?

 

Good to know. I thought that was kinda pricy, but heh, better to check the car before I spend even more money on a possibly bad engine.

 

Get a cheap beater civic with a stick and throw some snows on it. Save the 8 for summer.

 

We will see. Where I live, we get rain in winter rather than snow. This year was a exception, though. February had one of Victoria's(for that matter, the entire BC's) biggest snow storms in years.

And there are still people who drive their 'stangs and Bimmers thorough the winter, and we know how good those are in snow.

I don' t think I have enough space for another car, not to mention the additional cost of owning another car.

 

nice...how many miles when you got it?

i got a 2010 RX8 GT 6spd back in October 2016 with 51,345 miles...now im at 59,897 miles...i love driving it!

 

I have about 69k km on the clock(Canadian car), so that's about 43k miles. And yes, it's a different animal compared to the Accord V6(which is still great, but the slushbox makes that car more and more like a snoozefest). The RX-8 may not have as much horsepower(230 bhp vs 268 bhp), but it handles turns much better, and revving to 9k rpm is so much fun.

And man, parts are expensive for this car. The spark plugs are CAN$50 each! And it's not just the dealership; NAPA told me the same thing. Mazmart sells them for a bit cheaper, but then I have to wait for the shipping, pay for the import... Life of living on a crappy little island.

Not that I am complaining(otherwise I wouldn't have bought the car), but it definitely was for me. I know the spark plugs for my Honda Accord V6 was like CAN$20 each and that was considered expensive.



Cabin filters were similar in price compared to Mazmart, though(CAN$40 vs US$ 28). It's pretty much the same thing as it is on the Honda Accord, so they only took me 5 minutes to replace. I remember when I bought the Accord, the cabin air filter was so clogged that the vents barely had air! A simple replacement made it much better. The ones in the RX-8 were pretty dirty, and I am glad I changed them.



So I have 2 noobish questions:

1. Where is the ESS for a S2 RX-8? Tried to search but Same spot with a S1? I didn't see it. Is it best to reach it from beneath the car? I can't seem to find any info regarding the ESS on a S2 here.

2. Also, when I asked about the brakes at the dealership, they told me they recommend machining the brake rotors, otherwise I might warp my rotors. My brakes are not warped as of now, and I have never heard that one before. Is machining the rotors necessary if I am replacing my pads?

 

Good news and bad news.

Good news: I replaced the spark plugs. I thought replacing the ones on my Accord was a pain, but the RX-8 was a whole new level. Nevertheless, I pulled through and replaced the ignition system.

Here are the old plugs. There are some kind of deposits on them.


Bad news: the studs that hold the ignition coils in place snapped off as the nuts were all seized... There was also this stud that snapped, and I currently held it in place with the nut upside-down. Well, looks like I will have the dealership have a look.

Can anyone tell me how serious is this? I know I will have to replace the ignition coil plate, but what about the one in the picture? It seems to come from the alternator. Is it part of the alternator housing?

 

So they said they just have to replace the ignition coil plate, and it's not that expensive if a fix. Should have the car back tomorrow.

Can't wait to drive it back to high school tomorrow to see some old friends tomorrow. It's a windy highway so it's gonna be fun.

 

Well, the car is back from the butt expensive tranny fix. How I missed it. So glad to be able to drive it again.

Put on some small aesthetic mods on the car. I got a pair of license plate frames(I always hate the ones from dealerships; pay me if you want me to advertise for you!). The passenger tail lamp was still a fishtank even after gasket replacement, so I just got a used unit from an online junkyard.

Also got a new **** and shift boot. I will put them on soon.

 

Another minor update:

Turns out, the used unit I got from the junkyard was also leaking... I was able to return it without much trouble. I just said "screw it" and ordered a brand new unit.

Anyways, I was able to put on some reman S2 stock wheels(I know, I am cheap). They look great! They are currently mated with a set of Falken FK453 tires. They were recommended to me by the parts guy I talk to at the Honda dealership I go to, and so far, they seem to grip a bit better than those no-season tires.

Also put on a Wheelskins steering wheel cover. Looks fantastic. This is something I'd recommend to people wanting a nice looking steering wheel, or want to cover up some worn leather.

I'd like to thank everyone here for the info I needed to take care of the car. @RIWWP, thanks for the website you have. I'd love to see some updates on that site.



S2 wheels! They do look a bit better.



Wheelskins cover.