Hi everyone! I'm new here and since I own a Mazda 3s, I spend most of my time on mazda3forums.com. I've always like the RX-8 and have found two used, very low mileage 8's at a couple dealerships that I am very interested in.

While I really enjoy my 3, I am definitely drawn to the 8 although I realize that they are VERY different vehicles. I was wondering if there are any previous 3 owners here who are now 8 owners and if they would be willing to share their experience.

Also, I've heard the stories about the RX-8 and the fact that it eats oil. How much of an issue is this in real life and how demanding is the 8 from a maintenance/upkeep standpoint?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

I was set for a Mazda 3, test-drove it quite a bit, even worked up the prices and stuff at dealer, but I eventually gave in to my "impulsive buying syndrome" and went for the 8. Both are very good cars, VERY well built, and as for the upkeep. I haven't had much trouble with the 8, other than my handbrake handle boot cracking in the cold weather.

According to the information on the forums, oil should be added every 2500-3000km.

Other than that, the only other thing to really consider is that the 8 eats gas fast...probably gets half the mileage of the 3. If I remember correctly the 3 gets like 26/32mpg, whereas the 8 is about 18/24mpg...

 

its highly unlikely that you will ever reach 24 MPG on the 8

 

1. You should look at the oil level after every 2 gas fill-ups. Most of the time (from my experience) you won't have to add any oil. It does use up a little more oil than usual occasionally. It's not enough to be an inconvenience.

2. The 8's do burn a lot of gas in a short amount of time. Be prepared to shell out the dough, especially if you have a lead foot. The awesome handling and huge amount of fun you'll have with this car outweighs the costs.

3. You have to let the engine warm up for at least 2-5 minutes before driving. The engine will flood if this isn't done.

4. Rev the engine to at least 7,000rpm once every day or two (if it's your daily driver). This prevents carbon build up.

I may be missing a couple points, but this pretty much sums it up.

Happy motoring!

 

Ya, I only get 15 mpg with all city driving.

 

You only really need to check the oil level that frequently in the beginning, until you get a handle on the rate at which your particular car goes through oil. You will likely find out pretty quickly that every-other-fillup is just overkill.
Not correct. You have to let the engine warm up before shutting it off. You don't have to let it warm up before driving, just go a little easy on it while it's cold.
I don't think he missed much. It's really only requires slightly more attention than a usual car.

 

I've rached 24mpg exactly.

65-80mph, long highway road-trip, utilizing much drafting techniques.

 

aka, tail gating techniques =D
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I currently own a 4-speed 3s wagon and a 6-speed RX-8. I bought my wife the 3 first and was so impressed, I got an 8 as well. Her are some thoughts that I remember...

The 8's seats are narrower and more bolstered. I find them to be more comforatble and easier on the back than the 3's.

Steering wheel is slightly smaller in diameter and the thickness is up. Steering wheel stereo and cruise controls are similar. There is no telescoping steering wheel on the 8.

The dash of the 8 is more business-like: less busy, centered tach, and monochromatic display (white or red). I actually like the colorful gauges of the 3 a little more. It will take a while getting used to the digital speedometer.

Unlike the 3, all cockpit controls in the 8 are backlit - very useful at night and it looks awesome.

Glovebox is much smaller than the 3's but then again the 3's glovebox is a cave. You may have already heard about the infamous center tunnel of the 8 - it gets a little warm.

The 8 sits lower to the ground, the seats are closer to the car floor, and the seats are more reclined. It will be a little wierd at stoplights for a while even next to a normal sedan.

The ride of the 8 is compliant, but a little more jiggly. But unlike the 3, I am able to sense what the rear wheels of the 8 are doing with my backside. You will hear a little more road noise, especially with bumps and dips.

The 3 is no slouch, but take all driving dynamics and imagine them a little more immediate: steering feel, grip, turn-in, throttle response, braking. That is the 8. Definitely take one out for a test drive if you haven't been able to already.

You must try the 6-speed shifter in the 8, it is simply one of the best out there.

My mileage for the 8 is 21-22 mpg on premium versus 27 mpg on regular. This is with the same driver and driving styles. I will say that when I am aggressive with the throttle on the 8, a quarter tank of gas is gone VERY quickly.

Don't forget that tires on the 8 are 18 inch and high performance, so you will be paying much more and more often for replacements.

Oil needs to be checked often (in my experience not necessary every 2 fillups) and a you will need to add a quarter quart once in a while to keep the dipstick at F.

 

My other car is a 3s 5dr. I love both cars. The 3s is a lot more useful, bigger interior, seats fold down, auto is good for long drives, handles great and is very comfy. I love it. But the 8 is in a whole different league performance wise. Everytime i get into either car i leave with a huge smile on my face.

 

ok there some obvious opinions here that need to be pointed out

the shifter is not great it does great for open road driving or track where you do sequential shifts 1.2.3.4.5.6 and the other way .. having it so short you have to pretty much shove it in if you want to jump gears .. say 1.2 to 4 or 5 or 6 .. 6 to 4 sometimes gets tricky and other combinations too .. honda shifters are way better but thats enough about that .. it just takes time to get used to some of those tricky parts

on fuel consumption .. 27mpg is double of what a lot of others get on this forum .. so i wouldnt take that as any sort of metric

 

wtf? Your shifter is broken mate.

 

the five 8s ive been in were the same .. so no dont think so

 

You do know you have to push in the pedal furthest to the left before you shift right?

BMW has always been said to make the best gearboxes in the business, Mazda's is just as good if not better. The one in the s2000 is also excellent. There is nothing stiff about any of them.

 

I am afraid I wasn't clear enough and there may have been a misunderstanding, the 27 mpg figure is for my 3. Although the numbers themselves don't mean much, I would think the relationship between the two numbers is useful because if offers a direct comparison with the same driver, conditions, and driving styles.

I'm not sure if there are many gearboxes out there that do 'great' when skipping gears with the way synchronizers are desgined. And with all due respect, why would I want to do that and why can't I have the opinion the 6-speed is great?

 

that's why you double clutch.

 

First off, thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I've been doing some online research on the RX-8 over the past couple of days. I'm going to test drive the first one in a couple hours. I'll report back about my experience. There is another one at a dealership about 45 min. away that I'm also interested in. Unfortunately, both are auto. tranny which I'm not thrilled about particularly since my 3 is manual. I'm sure most everyone here would tell me to forget about the auto. RX-8, but since the car is so close to me (5 min. away), I figured I'd go drive it. It's black (so is the other one), spoiler, black and chapparal (sp.??) cloth, spoiler. No question the 8 is one of the best-looking cars on the road. I have to admit, I'm a bit concerned about reliability, maintenance, although I'm pretty diligent when it comes to the latter.

 

Just make sure you find a manual one to drive for comparison purposes before you make a final decision.

 

Just got back from my test drive...the car is very nice...super good looking in black....practically everyone I passed was staring at the car. It's a 2004 w/only 16,000 miles on it. Apparently an old guy (with a very young wife, according to the sales guy) traded it in. As I said in my earlier post, it IS the auto. tranny which I'm not crazy about, but I'm not a racer, and I really don't care a whole lot about smoking other cars at the light or flying down streets and highways. The main thing that I like about the RX-8 is how good it looks...flat out sharp as hell...looks like nothing else on the road.

No question the car is a much stiffer ride than my 3 but I expected that. Sales guy flipped me the keys and told me to take it for as long as I wanted. I went home, and even put two child seats in the back (w/the kids in them) and had the wife drive it too. Their price is $24,900 which I told them was WAY high based on both KBB and NADA. I got them to $22,000 (pretty sure they'll sell it to me for that...they really wanted to move it off the lot) and $16,000 for my 3 which I have no problem with.

I guess the only thing holding me up at this point is my hesitation of going back to premium fuel (had a Maxima prior to my 3), gas mileage on the 8 (although I don't drive very far on a daily basis) AND the overall reliability of the 8. I have no problem checking and adding oil if I have to because I'm fairly **** about upkeep on my cars, but this does worry me a bit. That dipstick is definitely hidden in the engine compartment. Anyway, I just thought I would share my first ever RX-8 driving experience, albeit with the auto. tranny. Thanks again everyone for your help...any additional feedback would be awesome since I'm planning on doing the deal (or not) tomorrow.

 

What are the dealers doing with the new 2005s? In OC, California the dealers are all pretty much discounting $7000 to start. I would guess can haggle little more off. Maybe would be better than buying used at that price point?

Bob