Hello...

Apologies if this has been done to death before, but I've failed to find it if it has. Anyway, I'm currently looking to upgrade my car to something with a bit more go than the 80hp I have at the moment, and the RX-8 is right at the top of my wanted list.

If I do get an RX-8 I'll be likely to get a 231hp variant (6 speed manual - being British I'm not sure what you get in the US where most of you appear to be from, but the other variant we have is a 192hp 5-speed Manual), 3 or 4 years old with about 30-40k on the clock.

Basically, what should I look out for? What are the signs of a duff car? One example I've seen (sounded excellent) made quite a puff of white/oil smoke when cold-started - sounded like it misfired a bit initially too (cured by revving it up) - were it a piston engine I'd reject it immediately if it did that, but it could be normal for a Wankel...

My normal (mon-fri) days driving is cold-start, drive about 5 miles (about 5-10 mins, depending on how much of a rush I'm in), park for the day, same in the evening (takes a bit longer as the traffic's worse). Will a duty-cycle like that cause me trouble?

Thanks,

Richard

 

If you can warm it up 1st and give it a good squirt each trip then you should be right.

But quick starts in the colder and short trips arent good long term.