Just passed 4000 miles on my red 6 speed touring RX-8. I've had the car since June. Some observations and comments on the experience:

(1) Overall I am very happy with the car.
(2) The sound, the feel, the handling and the acceleration are all terrific.
(3) Gas mileage has been in the 13.5 to 16 mpg range over the 4000 miles.
(4) I add a half-quart of oil every 600 miles or so.
(5) Hasn't flooded. Several hard starts but always with a happy ending.
(6) Being used to FWD cars with LSD, this one seems very loose to me on wet pavement, and as a result I must say that I am very happy with the DSC under adverse conditions. However, in my opinion the DSC/TCS seems much too intrusive in straight-line high-traction situations.
(7) I've had a car that got lots of attention before, but only to those in the know about import cars - this one seems to get everybody's attention. It is without a doubt the best looking car I've ever owned.
(8) Unfortunately, at 6 months and 4000 miles, this car has more rattles than my 7-year old Integra Type R with 53,000 miles which sits on a factory-tuned near-race suspension.
(9) I've been disappointed thus far with two local dealers (nothing major), but there are still others in the area to try before I go on a rant.
(10) RX8Club.com is a really good resource for new owners, and those of you who spend lots of time answering people's questions oughta give yourselves a nice big pat on the back.

 

excellent...

I too feel the TCS/DSC is too aggressive...but frankly, I don't get on it much - I honestly don't mind driving this car slowly.

:D

 

I am at 6000 miles and have noticed a lot of rattles also. Previously had a 95 Eclipse and at 100,000 miles rattled the same as the 8 with 6,000. Very disappointed with that and the dealer I bought it from as well.

 

I run with the DSC on 95% of the time.....I don't race the car around town. I have my corners in town that I like to push and when I get some open road I like to push it up a bit....so I don't have a problem with it. I turn it off on the back roads when there is snow on the roads so I can play "Rally racer" can drive around all the corners sideways.

My car seems as tight as the day I bought it...no rattles.

The gas mileage - I'm more convinced every day that there is a big difference between engines. I was unfortunite enough to have my orignial engine blow...but as time goes by I think that that was a blessing. My old engine was never as smooth as my new one...got 3 miles per gallon less and seemed slower. My new engine was getting about 16 mpg as first...after putting about 400 miles on the new engine I'm up to 19 mpg city on winter tires.


The new engine has never flooded. On cold days (-10f) if it doesn't crank over after 3 turns I put the gas to the floor and it starts....

 

I've found idling the car for long periods destroys economy - at least that's my initial observation. The first tank I got 65 miles on 1/4. This tank, right after fueling, I drove a couple miles to my Dad's place, and left it running (to keep my wife/kids warm) for what I thought was a 2-minute visit with Dad. 35-40 minutes later I drove away. That first 1/4 tank passed about mile 50.

 

I agree, my only gripe would be the rattles and I'm not about to take it to the dealer every time I have a new rattle. Everything else I knew about before I made my decision.

 

Well, I'm averaging about 18mpg and I'm not having to add much oil at all.

 

I'm also approaching 4,000 miles, and my only rattle (which is my only gripe with the car) is a pesky one to the left of the instrument panel that comes and goes, depending on road surface, etc. I've shot silicone spray in every crease and can't quite get it to disappear. On the other hand, all cars have literally hundreds of plastic parts that play against each other with every bump and motion, they're affected by temperature and humidity on top of it, and they're notoriously difficult to diagnose and correct. I don't think any of us can expect rattle-free perfection, especially in a car as reasonably priced as the RX-8 that is, after all, a sports car on low-profile tires. So, I'll live with it.

As for gas, I do well on long freeway trips (22+ MPG) and probably about 16-17 around town when I rev it up. Oil follows that trend as well--I've added two quarts and won't need to again for a while.

 

I wonder how many minutes per gallon we get at idle?

 

I have 13500 miles on my 8, and I have probably added 5 quarts of oil between my 4 oil changes. I have averaged 14.5 mpg since I bought it in July 04. The squeaks and rattles I have...the passenger seat shakes, the rear view mirror creaks, there is a TSB for the airbag connector rattle for those who have it, and there is occasionally a rattle from the area of my rear speakers in the doors.

 

That was my finding last year as well... especially in the real cold weather. Last winter we had a week that each morning was -15F to -18F, and I swear you could see the gas needle move while it was idling. Once the motor warmed up everthing was fine, but those first 10-15 minutes were harsh.

 

I have almost 17k miles on my 8. I add about 1 quart of oil, 2,000 miles into my oil cycle. I too have the rear view mirror rattle, the sunglasses flip down door rattles at times. I had to get the ashtray assembly replaced, it rattled really bad, but the replacement has been in for 12k miles, and it has not rattled. MPg in the city is about 16, highway is about 22. I am happy with it, since it does ride a little more firm than most cars. It is to be expected.

 

Remember.. 50-50 weight distribution. If you're going to keep it out in the winter, plan on getting snow tires on all four corners. There's lots of info in the Wheels & Tires section.

My Bridgestone tires are about done. When the dealer rebalanced and rotated them at 15K, my handling went away. Looking at TireRack's website, it appears many RX8 owners have had wear out problems with the Potenza RE040's. This could be another reason for "looseness". Also be prepared for the close to $1k expenditure a little sooner than you'd expect.

Rattles? I've got 15K+ miles on mine, no rattles at all, maybe because it was # 502?

 

That kind of worries me, but if mazda gets enough complaints then they will deal with it and fix the rattles.

Hard to do in EVERY car coming off the line though...

I plan replacing the seats with some nice red sparco buckets, I love to feel snug and with the cardboard lvl comfort of my current car seats are a BIG thing for me. After all, the more comfortable and snugger you are the easier it is to drive faster.

 

Or Mazda will just decide that most rattles are part of the nature of the car and will decline to do any work to remedy them; more than one high-end German manufacturer takes just that stand on things...

 

Actually to this point, they have replaced anything that rattles. I have not had it in for the rearview or flip down storage yet. But I am due for an oil change soon, and will let them know about it at that time.