Hi all - I bought my first RX8 less than 24 hours ago and i have been going through a MIX of emotions! First of all - I LOVE this car...it is an amazing machine and I absolutely love driving it.

My problem is I am a sales rep living in Philadelphia (30 yrs old) and I cover all of PA, NY, and NJ. I'm worried that I will be unable to travel in the winter when the bad weather hits and that the gas mileage is going to kill me. Did anyone have these fears when first buying their RX8 and find them to not be a real concern? I'm curious to see if most of you all have the RX8 as your second vehicle or not.

Thanks,
Brian

 

well the 2 things that suck about this car is gas mileage and not being able to drive it in snow.. so yea.. u made a big mistake if those are important to u..

 

Having owned an RX-7 years ago, I was already familiar with the nuances of a rotary-powered sports car. My '07 RX-8 was purchased as a second vehicle, a "weekend" fun car only. As much as I'd like to commute to work and back in it, that's not practical right now- for me, anyway. I know a lot of club members do use their 8 as their everyday car so it's an individual decision.
Only you can decide if it's going to work as your primary transportation. Track your mileage for a few tanks of gas and see if the numbers work out. If not, you may need to park it and get something more ecconomical. I drive my Explorer in winter.

Good luck, and welcome to the club!

 

thanks Jethro - I appreciate that! Does anyone know what the ACTUAL MPG is on the RX8? I know the manufacturer says 18 city but do you all find that to be accurate? And do you all only put premium fuel in yours?

 

Hey i live in NJ and i bought my RX-8 as my daily driver. I've driven it through some light snow storms and it did okay, mind you that its low to the ground and if there a lot of slush around, you might fishtail a little bit but with all seasons or winter tires, you should be okay unless its more than 4 inches of snow or something. I've had to rock back and forth one time when i was stopped at a stop sign and there was some snow/slush .

Gas Mileage, i do a lot of mixed driving and HW driving and i have so far racked up 11K since sept. I've consistently gotten 18MPG and this includes atleast a daily run to redline atleast once or twice during my commute to work and home. HW, i may have cracked 20 MPG but that might be due to the fact i was driving 70MPH for half the time.

The RX-8 isn't that bad in terms of gas mileage for a sports car. But i would hate to drive it if i was making sales calls. Honestly, i rather have an economy car of some sort or beater that gets 20MPG or higher. But on the upside, the RX-8 is a great car to be in. Won't feel bored or numbed by driving it.

 

I've been tracking my mileage since I brought it home in March. It varies from a minimum of just over 18mpg to a tad over 23mpg. Most of my driving is in the suburbs with some freeway driving. Not a lot of stop-and-go urban driving (thank God!).

 

Get some all-seasons or winter tires if you plan on driving through any amount of snow.

 

Change your tires , those high performance stink in the snow, trust me.

Gas...... O.... well deal with it. It's a sport car , you needed to know this before you purchased the car. And yes premium gas all the time.

It is my second car.

By the way welcome.

 

Mine is a daily driver, but I don't have a commute. I do use it for making sales calls, however, in 4 states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan) where I don't plan to fly to the meeting.

 

I know I should have gotten an economy car but i absolutely fell in love with the RX8 and couldn't control myself. I am weak...what can I say! Thank you all for your input...about how much did the snow tires run you?

 

Change it to Winter tires.

And it sports car always get sucky mpg. if mpg is your concern, you shouldnt even drive a sports car.

Sell it and get a Yaris, you will get very good mpg (**** hybirds)

 

Check Tire Rack for pricing .

There's also a section here call, ...Wheels Tire Brakes and Suspention look into that.

 

don't listen to this uninformed individual. Just put winter tires on her and she's good to go.

 

Uninformed huh? Considering he's from Philly and they get nailed with snow in the winters i dont think its a good idea to be crossing states with an rx-8.. These areas (PA, NY, NJ, etc) dont just get traces of snowfall.. we usually get hit pretty hard in the winter..

 

yea and me from Canada not knowing what I'm talking about...cuz it's 52 weeks of sunshine up here.

I mean commons sense would play into it. If there's a foot of snow don't take the 8 (same goes for many other cars) But don't tell him the 8 can't drive in snow.

 

can't you just expense your gas mileage? you should. i find driving IN the snow sucks, but really you do that a lot less than you think. cars driving on the highway melt the snow almost immediately

 

Ok, no need to argue here.. just stating my opinion that driving an rx-8 in the winters covering 3 different states in the NE is not the brightest thing to do.. I just don't think "throwing snow tires on the car and its ready to go" is a solution..

 

But that's what I did. Obviously taking more precautions driving a RWD car like keeping the DSC on while driving and starting in second gear, etc...But you are good to go in terms of what the car needs.

 

RX8 is my primary vehicle.

I run 17" x 7" winter wheels with 225-50-17 snow tires from late Oct to late April. In the US you should be < $1000 for a good set.

No problems with the 8 in snow if you respect the lack of clearance.

I commute 30km each way every work day year round. (two winters so far)

Mileage is running around 18MPG overall (13 liters/100km) with approx. 60% city.

 

winter tires & 16-20 mpg (w/22+ on drives over 150 miles)


k, now search!

 

Wierd... my fiance' shuts off the DSC in the snow, and handles it fine, no fishtailing. But more than not I read posts to keep it on...

 

If you want to go anywhere on deep snow you need to shut DSC off. Especially starting on a slight uphill. Once rolling you should have it on unless you want to slide it around.

 

unless you are just looking for the fun of RWD in snow. then dsc off. but what the hell do I know - mine's got no dsc - ohnoes!!

 

I grew up in NYC, then lived in upstate NY for five years, then in Massacusetts for a couple of winters. I never viewed NJ and adjacent states as getting nailed with snow. They do plow the roads. It's not like further north where secondary roads can be covered with snow for extensive periods.

I can't speak from first hand experience with the 8, but there are a lot of posts from people who say it works well in the snow with snow tires. The car is low, so you won't get through the deep stuff. But if it's that deep, people at those sales calls might not be there anyway.

I'm now in Virginia, and have not yet gotten snow tires. I do worry about how I'll get home from work if we get hammered with one of our half inch blizzards. Kept my old Accord as a snow car and general purpose beater. I'll get winter tires and a set of wheels when that's gone.

16-18 mpg in daily suburban driving and commuting. Worth every drop of gas.

Ken

 

I live in Madison WI, we get lots of snow here. I put on some Winter Dunlop Sport M3's. These tires were great, I drove all thru the winter with no problem. The most I would dare to drive in is a max of 6 inch's. Anything bellow that that car was manageable.