23109VC

I'm considering buying an R3.. probaby a low mileage used one, not a new one.

I currently drive a luxury car and while i love it's creature comforts, i'm sick of it and want somethign that is fun.

I briefly owned an older 2.7L porsche boxster as a fun car, but it nickel and dimed me to death with repairs... it was outrageous how much stuff broke, how much it cost to fix, despite BARELY driving it... so it's gone and I"m thining of another fun car.

I have kids, and need somethign that can fit kids in the back. honestly, an RX8 would be not "ideal" as I have 3 kids (and a wife)... so the 8 would NEVER allow us "all" to go together in it.. but it would permit me to commute to work in a fun car, and easily have kids tag along if I need to carpool some to/from school.

my questions are:

how is the R3 to drive vs the other RX8 models? the last time i test drove an 8 was a couple years ago and i drove the 06-07 GT models.. and I freakin' loved them. i almost bought one.. i was in the dealership negotiationg on one.. a pearl white GT 6speed with nav, the body kit... it was gorgeous.. we never made a deal that day... but I ended up getting the porsche from a famly member as a "family" deal.. super price, no tax..so I jumped on it and passed on the 8.... in retrospect that was a bad idea...

live and learn..

anyway.. is the R3 a lot bumper or a "poor" ride quality? doe sthe R3 handle much better than the regular 8 like I drove? I felt the 2007 GT I drove was pretty amazing in handling..but honstly.. the boxste I ended up buying probably handled marginally better.. it had an upgraded suspension..so maybe not a fair comparison and the boxster had 265-35-18s... at leat on the rear.. huge / fat tires vs the RX8s thinner ones... my thoughts are if the R3 yhandles quite a bit better than the one I drove..I would probably lvoe it..

do the new 8s htave that 100k engine warranty like the older ones? i read tha tmazda extended the warranties on the engines to 100k.

is there any point to mod anything on an R3? maybe intake or ehaust?
is anyone lowering them or just leaving the suspension stock?

anyone have thoughts on owning an 8 with kids?

I have a fwe concerns.

one is the lack of torque. my RL is not a rocket ship, but it does have some *****. if you masht eh gas, it boogies off the line and would probably toast the RX8 i na drag..but it's still boring. the 8 would be fun but I wonder if after 6 months or so, the "fun" would wear off? any of you get tired of the lack of torque and start getting the itch for more power or do yo love your 8 as much now as when you got it?

also.. any of you have a household with 3 kids, a wife - AND an 8 as your primary car. I wonder if I"m being an idiot to even consider it. if my wife's car broke down and we had to take my car - we coulnd' go anywhere b/c it won't fit us all. i know that is what she is going to say as soon as I suggest getting one. although her car is relaible, relatively new, and when it goes in for service we always get a loaner.. so if we did get "stranded" it would be only b/c she got a flat in the driveway and I'd have to fix it...

in our engire marriage / time having kids, we've never had a scenario where we cond't take her car and HAD to take mine. there are times where we opt to tak emy car instead of hers.. so if we had an 8 and her SUV... we'd end up driving her car more.. but mine less.. so one way or the other, we'd put the same miles on our cars, just heres would get higher faster..

i dunno. jsut thought i'd throw this out there and see what some of you guys / gals thought.

jasonrxeight

how is the R3 to drive vs the other RX8 models?
I'd say firmer and tighter.

is the R3 a lot bumper or a "poor" ride quality? doe sthe R3 handle much better than the regular 8 like I drove?
its pretty bumpy if the road is bad. of course its a trade off between ride and handling.

do the new 8s htave that 100k engine warranty like the older ones?
yes

is there any point to mod anything on an R3? maybe intake or ehaust?
there are intakes and exhausts available for S2 version.

is anyone lowering them or just leaving the suspension stock?
I like to keep mine stock. however I might mod it.

anyone have thoughts on owning an 8 with kids?
its got seats, why cant you own one with kids. infact, kids love RX8's.

mscamp02

iTrader: (3)

Its actually one of the easiest cars to get a kid in and out of. I have a 2 year old that loves to ride in the "loud car". The rear door give you more than enough room to get a kid in and out of there regardless of age (I took my daughter home in the 8 so its good for an infant rear facing seat as well as a toddler seat). And as far as older kids go, just sit back there yourself and you can see how easily it can accommodate an adult

jasonrxeight

the rear facing door is actually easier cuz the door is not in the way.

yoluun

Being exposed to the awesomeness of rotary engine, you're kids will become great engineers

I think the suspensions are done pretty well and there's really no need to mod them unless you really want to push to the limit of the car. The ride is a tad bumpy, but Michigan road sucks in general anyway...On highway it is fine.

The back seats are spacious, but couples can't cuddle in the back when I give them a ride :p

moeswrx

iTrader: (2)

I thought the S2 engines only has the normal 5year/60,000 mile warranty. Where is it stated that 09' and above has the 100k warranty. That would be awesome if that is true! Oh yeah, buy the R3, it so fun!!!! You won't regret it.

kbrewmr2

try them back to back - ride quality is such a subjective thing. It will likely be firmer feeling to you between the suspension changes and the 19" wheels and even lower profile tires but if its too firm to you.... who knows?

For what we're doing with the RX8 we picked up the R3 was a better choice than the regular, plus we got a smoking good deal on it. No regrets whatsoever yet

23109VC

thanks for the input.

i ought to go drive one again and see how I like it vs my "old man's car"... the RL.

there are times when I lke my geezer ride... i'm "only" 38.... but I can appreciate high quality leather, swiveling headlights, nav, voice control/recognition, heated seats, comfy suspension, etc etc etc.. the RL is a sweet luxury car. .lots of bang for the buck.

my car only has 45k on it.. and is CPO up to 100k... but it handles so so. it's fat and heavy.

it has SH-AWD..which works wonders..for a 4000lb car, it will flat out rip through turns.. as long as you are floored / pedal to the floor... the AWD ONLY works under power... onceon the gas, it is very hard to make it break loose... but in slower speed turns and off throttle, it's kind of floppy... hard to descdribe..you'd have to drive one to experience it... go through a turn slowly.. and it has body roll... feels like a luxury car... put it into the same turn and flat out nail the gas and it has this weird snesation of bieng glued to the road and the car rotates on an axis...as if there wa sa nail through the roof..doing down into the road .. you can actually feel the car tighten it's line midway through a turn if you tighten the steering.... it's very rewarding.. but given the car's weight and soft suspension... while it can get through a turn VERY quickly... it doens' feel "fun"...

i'll test drive one. see how it makes me feel. does it make me feel like I have to have it.. or just "so so"...

my only real worry is that going from a hosue with two cars that can seat the whole family to ONE car that can seat the while family and a second car that can only seat 4 out of 5. that woudl mean the 8 would ONLY get used by ME to/fromw ork..which is what would normally happn.. and on evenings and weekends.. if we ALL went somewhere we'd have to take the SUV... if my wife or I went somewhere.. we COULD take EITHER car even if we had to take eveyr kid... provided we didnt' take the other spouse..

so taking one or two kids to baseball practice.. could take the 8.
one spouse going to grocery store to pick up eggs, maybe take one or two kids - could take the 8...

there are a lot of circumstances where it would be a great "spare" family car... it just would NOT work when we had to take "everyone" or take a lot of "stuff"....

right now.. the one true beneift of having our MDX and RL - is that we can take the RL on a lot of family trips, even with a fair amount of luggage and we are able to somewhat spread our annual mileage across two cars.. so each one would get less usage per year and you could argue - each would "age" slower, be under warranty longer, etc etc...

the downside is that right now my DD is a very "nice" car but a very boring one. it is NO "razor"... as the other guy pointed out.. and that is dead on. it's a good car, it can handle... but it' snot pure fun. it's very nice and comfy with lots of luxury.

there are NOT many cars that I could buy, that would not be out of my price point, that will fit kids and be lots of fun. Sure, an M3 sedan would be ideal...but I'm not going to spend $45-50k for a CPO one. I really need to beinto a car for $30k or less.

when I go through the lists of cars I "could" get... most either won't work or don't appeal to me.

I don't want a car that is going to be expensive to get into and then kill me on repairs.
cars that would be "family" sedans that are "fast" and ultra spoty, like S4, RS4, M3, M5 are all too $$.
a 335i might work... i've seen those seling in the high 20s / low 30s...and it would seat 5... and honestly.. you could put a chip on one of those and make it freakin' fly... but it's not a sports car.. it's a sporty sedan.

essentially, there is NO sports car out there that can fit kids in the back except hte RX8. or a 911.. and the 911 is out. I already did the boxster route...no thanks. no more porsches.. and honestly, a nice 911 would be 60-70k... or more.. so forget that.

the other upside to the 8 is that I've seen very low mileage, NICE, R3 models selling used for around $20k. that is totally in my ballpark. I can sell my RL / trade it in and not be out of pociet.. i'm not upside down in my Acura... so financially it is doable.

the big question is whether in a household where we have an MDX as our "family car"... and I am married with 3 kids... is it really realistic / feasible to have an RX8 as the "second" car. or am I an idiot/jerk for considering a second car that won't fit the whole family...

jasonrxeight

if you havent driven an RX8, you would have no idea how great it feels like. the RL may be very advanced, but its never a sports car. infact, its more like a glorified Accord. a BMW 5 series would have been a more sportier choice if you want a sport sedan. a sports car makes you feel special when you drive it. a RL may have been a very good cutting knife, buts its a knife never the less. RX8 is a razor.

jasonrxeight

all RX8 engines are under that warranty.
thats what it says in my warranty manual.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

The S2's only have the standard warranty period. The S1 engines had problems that were taken care of for the S2 release.

jasonrxeight

this is what it says on the warranty page of my R3.
"RX-8 Rotary Engine Core Limited Warranty Extension
Mazda Motor Corporation is extending the warranty coverage on Rotary Engine Core Components on all RX-8 vehicles produced after the 2004 model year. The warranty coverage for the Rotary Engine Core Components is extended to 8 years (96 months) from the original warranty start date, with a 100,000 mileage limitation. The following is a list of components covered by this warranty:

Rotary Engine Core
Rotary Housing and Internal Parts
Internal Seals and Gaskets"

also there have been discussions on it.
https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=251
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-media-news-11/2009-rx-8-8yr-100k-warranty-extension-press-release-q-jeremy-barnes-147753/

moeswrx

iTrader: (2)

Jason, thanks for giving me more of peace of mind in owing my 2010 R3 in regards to the 100k mile warranty. My dealer told me, when i bought my car, that it did not apply to the S2 models. I hope that it applies up to 2011 models and not the 09' only.

kbrewmr2

I just picked up my '10 and it has the 100k as well.

Spin9k

I was tired of the lack of low end torque as soon as I got it, and little has changed in 8 yrs AND I dearly wish it had more power.

The fun never wears off, it's fun because it just is, and time can't change that.

As often happens, after 8 yrs it's more a good friendship than a love.

Other than ego, the lack of power thing is only really significant if you track the car. On the street it's already easy to go too fast.

CelticFan

Are you sure about that? I asked the dealer before and they looked it up and said that the 2009's do not have that.

Never mind, I just looked at the other post at the end.

SleepeR1st

iTrader: (2)

I dont find the lack of torque a problem. But i love the range of torque.

Texas RX8 R3

I like my R3 very much so far. It truly feels like a great sports car, without any disadvantage in versatility. It displays its unique character all around, and I love that it separates itself from all the other sports cars.

Of course, it's not meant to be the most comfortable car out there, but it's comfortable enough for me. The ride is very bumpy & sensitive, and it may not suit the majority of folks though. Like others have mentioned, this version is very tight and aggressive. I guess you could compare it to the behavior of a ninja.

If your ultimate goal is to find an everyday driver with the utmost FUN to DRIVE factor, then you're looking in the right direction for sure. And I feel the R3 version simply turns that up a notch.

Don't forget to test drive this version thoroughly, just to make sure you will be completely happy. All I know is that I am all the way pleased. =D

Spin9k

any relation? https://www.rx8club.com/lounge-4/secret-rx-8-ninja-club-forming-68915/

Texas RX8 R3

Quite possibly, I must say.

pistonhater

Really?

That's what I thought too after reading other posts.

Mmmm.... that's interesting. I guess that confirms that S2's are actually covered then.

Mmm.....

I called two local dealerships in the area and they both told me the same. 100k warranty does not apply to S2 models.

Well...lots of confusion but whatever the case is, I really hope dealerships honor the 100K warranty on the S2 models, cause I may be getting one soon