I finally purchased an RX8. I picked up a red 2004 Grand Touring with only 5k miles on it. This is my 4th rotary powered RX. I've owned 3 7's and all were amazingly reliable cars. Unforutneately, all 3 were destroyed one way or another. All together, I've logged almost 370k miles over 14 years on rotary engines.

Here's what I've noticed about the RX8's on the forums:

1) Clutch trouble, shifting trouble
2) Rough idling if using less than 91 octane
3) Poor gas mileage ( I got 18.4 mpg on my first tank of 87 octane that the dealer put in it. Hopefully it will go upwards a bit with 91)
4) Short engine life in some parts of the country with hot weather.

Here's what I've noticed about the competition (Nissan 350Z):
1) Clutch trouble, tranny replacements
2) Pinging and knocking if using less than 91 octane
3) Poor gas mileage @20mpg ( they too complain and talk about parking their cars all weekend)
4) Engine problems. Complaints about blown engines and unhappy customers with lemons who ditch their cars on Ebay.

From what I can tell, there really appears to be no more of a problem with the 8's than the 350Z's. I suppose that whenever you build a high end production sports car there's a small tolerance for machining and manufacturing errors. Our fuel efficiency is about on par with the competition. Maybe 1 or 2 mpg lower on average.

Just wanted to put things in perspective from how I see it. It's a great car and there isn't anything else on the road that is as clever or eye catching.

 

Congrats on the 8!
I have had no clutch/shifting trouble at all, but it may be a problem for some. Many claim to have better idle/gas mileage with 87 octance as well. This car has been bulletproof through 5k for me so far and I hope it goes this well for a whole lot more. Make sure you check your oil every thirs fillup or so, it tends to burn gas, but you may know about this since you owned a few 13bs. Other than that good luck, and happy driving.

 

congratulations!

i think the deal-breaker has to be the extra 2 seats. it makes the car suit a lot more social situations.

many happy miles for your 8! post some pics! (what color did you get anyway?)

 

My car is red with red/black leather interior. Ya, the two extra seats are great. I checked my oild after the first tank and it's still full. I'll keep checking it every fill up. Interestingly, I never had to add oil on my old RX-7s. I always changed the oil every 2K and the filter every 4k. It was when I was younger and loved to change it myself. No I can't stand to do it. I'll probably change the oil every 3k on the 8 and see how that works out for consumption. I'll post some pics when I find my camera.

 

Congrats!!

You're getting some awesome gas mileage :D

And I've also never had clutch/shifter problems yet! Hopefully, you won't either~

 

I think that part of the reason people are getting bad gas mileage has to do with the RPM range they are driving at. I very rarely take the car above 5k unless I am racing it. If I give 100% throttle at 4k in say 4th, it should use less fuel than at say 7k in 2nd. It has to do with the mass air flow rate and the fuel required to feed the engine. I did a calculation once on my 4 barrel RX7. Based on the fuel to air ratio and the mass flow rate of air the the engine used at 8k I calcuted that it would burn a gallon every few minutes. That is, if you ran the engine at 8k with the pedal floored. I am sure its the same with the 8 or any other engine. I'll see if I can find the data to calculate the rate.

Try driving normally but limiting your shifts to 5k and see if that makes a difference. I think other engines get better mileage (regular driving) because they develop their torque lower and thus you tend to shift lower in general.

 

Poor gas mileage happens regardless of RPM range. I have gone for many tanks of 3k-4k shifts only to see 14 mpg. And on "spirited drives" I get about 13 mpg. No difference to me. I think its telling me to have more fun.

 

I'm doing a similar comparison with the wrx, and am now pretty certain, even with it's faults, my next car will be the RX, the handling is what really won me over, yah the wrx is faster but it just doesn’t have the same feel of a proper 50:50 RWD sports car like the RX

btw up here in Ca the 350z is about 10k more then the rx-8 so I never really considered it, and I wanted 4 seats

 

good point

handling is heaven :D

 

congrats, happy motoring