I'm really torn, I love the car to death but the gas mileage is BEYOND horrible!

I could pick up a new gen V8 car and get better mileage by quite a bit, which is sad...

Ever think of selling your baby because of the bad gas mileage?

 

I'd be happy to consider an alternative, if there's another sporty car that I can put friends in the back of and they'll still be my friends when they get out.

 

Ride a bike.


Srsly.

 

sometimes yes, after only commuting around san francisco for like 30 minutes, all the hills and low gear driving, i'm sometimes almost down a 1/4 tank....sigh.....but most of these sports cars never get "great" gas mileage, lol

 

When buying an RX-8, one knows that the gas mileage is not very good. That's why you should own a DD first, then buy the 8. Not only because of the gas mileage, but because issues tend to arise with the car, so you need a back up so the car can be repaired without having to waste money on a rental. The 8 is meant to be a toy, not a DD. Though some of us do choose to use it as their DD (I am one of those who chose to use it as my DD).

 

No. I wouldn't have bought it in the first place if I cared about gas mileage.

 

I pay about $6 or $7 a gallon right now in Germany and have never thought about selling the RX8 since buying it in 2006

 

These threads always amaze me.

Buying an RX8 and then complaining about the gas mileage is the same as buying a metro and then complaining because it can't tow much.

The fact that the RX8 gets shitty mileage is talked about in every article every written about the car since 2004.

 

^ Amen

 

Yeah, it doesn't bother me either. Knew the kinda mileage I'd get when I bought her. (It's pretty much always somewhere from 16 to 19, 75% highway / 25% city.)

 

selling my child? not usually. selling a kidney? sometimes.

 

 

Nope. And if you do.. You shouldn't of bought the car in the first place. It's a sports car.

 

No.

I don't like that it doesn't get good mileage (mine is not horrible, just not too good), but this alone would not make me want to sell it.

 

I was getting 24mpg highway with my 04

 

The RX is actually my first car, I had 2 motorcycles before and my parents drive Honda's so gas mileage was never a concern lol

I knew of course the RX-8 had some bad mileage, sort of equivalent to a V6 car, but hell the Audi RS5 coming out near the end of the year has a 4.2L V8 pushing 450hp and gets about 5mpg better :P

I'm just saying, not complaining, has the thought ever crossed your mind?

Oh, and coming from a motorcycle background, the high maintenance of my RX doesn't bother me. I'm a DIY guy anyways (aka cheap).

 

GOO!

 

Knowing that I was purchasing a rotary engine car, I new the gas mileage would be not so great. But, I sacrificed the gas mileage for the perks of the engine and the 8's performance.

 

I've been in a 3cyl Metro hatch towing a 71 Chevy Nova 4 door...

 

You are right sell the 8 and get a prius.

 

^

 

If you really want to get nitty gritty, you can compare yearly cost of ownership of the RX8 compared whichever vehicle you would consider replacing :

1. Calculate how many miles you average a year
2. Use: (miles per year)/(avg miles per gallon) = Gallons used per year
3. Use: (gallons used per year) * (price of gas) = Cost of gas per year

For total lifecycle cost compare:

1. Insurance
2. Cost of tires/brakes and other wear and tear items
i.e. $500 for set of tires that last (for example 40,000 miles). If you drive 8,000 miles a year, they tires will wear out after 5 years. The yearly cost of those tires would = $500/5 = $100 per year
3. Maintenance costs (would use the factory manual as reference)
4. Risk of failure - i'm not going to get into this one =P

Anyway, you'll end up with yearly cost figures that you can use to compare the RX8 to other cars. Factor in your own qualitative assesment of how much you like the RX8 vs. "other car" and determine whether or not it's worth it to you.

If you were to buy a newer car for MPG reasons. Consider how much money you'll spend to buy the new car, and how long it will take to make up that cost in money saved in mpg.
i.e. lets say you sell your RX8 for $10,000 and buy a different sports car for $15,000. Your RX8 gets 15mpg and this other sports car gets 22mpg. If you're still averaging 8,000 miles a year and both run on premium gas (lets say it costs $3.10 per gallon).
8,000/15 = 533.33 * 3.1 = 1653.32
8,000/22 = 363.64 * 3.1 = 1127.28

1653.32 - 1127.28 = $526.04 saved per year based on mpg alone so you would have to drive this 22mpg sports car for about 10 years to benefit from the superior mpg to cover the cost of the extra $5000 you spent to get the 22mpg sports car.

*whew*

 

I get 18mpg in kansas city but i can deal with the cost of gas. It puts a smile on my face every time i drive it. You cant put a price on that. But also i have 3 cars that dont do good on the mpg's. But I would never ever sell it of that.

 

no but it makes me think about shfting

 

I traded in my 2003 Mustang GT which was getting extremely sporatic gasmilage. When I first got my Mustang I could average 19-21mpgs. towards the end she was managing anywhere from 12-16mpg(and all I did was add a Cold Air intake for performance). Although the RX-8 has so far averaged 16-17 for me it's consistent. My Mustang pissed me off because it was always getting worse with each tank of gas. Aside that, you won't find an American car that can handle like the RX-8(Z06 vette aside, and even there I don't think the handling is much greater the Z06 is just faster). If I could do it, Z06 all the way. Otherwise, I am keeping this car for as long as possible.

Sports cars and gas milage shouldn't belong in the same sentence. If your primary concern is fuel efficiancy then avoid a sports car at all costs.