I was wondering what do people (owners and wanna-be owners) think about the much-debated HP and bad fuel mileage topics. How much of a problem do you think they are? Which is more important for you? Maybe you don't care at all?

I, for one, am a wanna-be owner sitting on the fence and trying to decide what to do and when. Despite all the controversy, I'm almost completely set to buy an RX-8 during the coming month or so... even though the issues certainly do worry me. Personally, I'm considering the bad fuel mileage to be a much more serious issue than the HP being 247 or 238 or 220 or whatever. I test drove the car and like it - but I don't want it to burn a hole in my wallet with the fuel cost in the many years I plan to keep it.

I realize the result of this may be quite different depending on someone being already an owner or not yet - it should be interesting to see the responses.

 

If the RX8 can somehow get ~25mpg, all is forgiven. Sub-20mpg efficiency is hard to swallow, especially with the current controversy.

 

Agreed.

 

Yep, that's my take too - with 25 mpg, I would be much less hesitant to pull the trigger than I am now.
However, it has to be 25 mpg while not just driving 55 mph in 6th gear on the freeway 100%, but while doing 75-80 mph. Then, all is good.

 

I'm a current owner and I could care less about either of these issues....their all just numbers (granted on of them affects my bank account on an almost daily basis).

To me the car is all I expected and more.....fun to drive, quick (regardless of the numbers), and great looking. That's it...who cares about the rest unless you bought (considering buying this car) for the wrong reasons.....this is a rotary-powered sports car, through and through....if you want gas mileage Mazda sells another attractive, quick, and more practical car call the Mazda 6. As for the HP numbers....every day on my drive to and from work, my right foot and my right hand could care less what the numbers say....their quite pleased.

Time to put this issue to bed if IMO....BTW as you can tell from my rant I voted who cares about either number (so far the minority but the enthusiasts will come out from the woodwork sooner or later).

 

I'm a possible owner as of next spring. Both issues are of somewhat importance. Even if the "missing hp" cannot be found by next spring, the 8 is still #1 on my "to get" list. I'm not hung up on hp alone but if nothing changes then I will NOT pay msrp.

The fuel economy is a little more troubling, doubly so if the engine only makes around 180whp. Also with people reporting 15-18L/100km fuel economy, gasp!, and the fact that I drive about 25,000km the cost/km would be significantly more over a piston engine car.

The bigges fuel economy gripe is that from what people are saying unless you drive at 2-3K rpm it's hard to get decent, say around 12-13L/100km numbers. I'm used to shifting my 170whp Prelude around 3500-4500 rpm for everyday driving, redline 7400 rpm. With that driving style I get 10L/100km, CONSISTENTLY. From all counts shifting the 8 at 5000rpm or about half the available rev range is producing rather low numbers about 14-15L/100km. Some that drive very hard, 7k rpm shifts and above reported 18L/100km. That is nuts imo. I'm hoping the fuel economy will improve as the cars break in.. or maybe Mazda will find a fix to the hp issue and that in turn will help with the fuel economy.

 

I fall in the "non-owner cares about both issues" group. I had fully intended on buying one of the first cars to land in AZ... in fact, the only thing that stopped me was the RIDICULOUS trade-in I was offered for my S2000.

As of now, I remain undecided... I have had 2 LENGTHY test drives and the 8 does seem nice. I really don't like the gas mileage issue... I can (and do in commuting traffic) get 25-27mpg in the S2000 as I keep it below 6000 rpms.... can't get above 30mph anyway :-(

I mentioned to the dealer during my first long test drive (about 4 weeks ago) that the car seemed terribly slow compared to the S2000, although MUCH, MUCH (and I cannot emphasize that enough) smooooother. The HP issue explains that.

My wife says I need to grow up and get rid of the S2000 and our 3rd car and get something the family (4 of us) can fit in... even with these issues, I am unable to find a car (w/ similar price) that clearly is a better buy..... looks like even with the warts, I may end up with one.

FYI, other cars I have driven in my "quest" are the IS300, G35, 330 and Chevy Malibu (ok, I just threw that in to see if anyone was paying attention).

Anyway, although I am concerned w/ both issues, I still cannot find anything that seems better.

 

But don't you see that if the mpg does not improve it could spell the death of the rotary engine? How many people will accept comparitively speaking terrible fuel economy JUST so they can drive a rotary? Especially since the engine in North America right now is producing only about 180whp?
Sure, true rotorheads will not care and just accept the fuel economy as part of admission to own the Renesis. BUT afaik, Mazda has/should have bigger ambitions with this car, It wants to sell as many of these cars as possible to Joe Public. With some of these fuel economy numbers reported so far, there will be people that will NOT get the 8 just for that reason.

 

That sums up my position right now to a tee. Even with the hp and fuel economy issues, there is not a car out there with rwd that I want to own in the 35-40K Cnd range.

 

I guess I am a bit biased in my opinion because I am a bit of a rotory nut and anticipated my delivery of this car for 2.5 years and nothing, i mean nothing, will bring me down after that long of a wait (especially since I am avery impulsive buyer, take the leasing of an IS300 as an "interim" car for example now I'm stuck with trying to sell it a year before my lease runs up ).

That being said though, I can't see someone driving this car in the fashion that would garnish the published MPG numbers regardless of what they are....it's just too easy to play with this motor and loss all hope of MPG effeciencies.

Anyway...I understand your point about selling the 30k RX-8s Mazda would like to sell...but I must say that it is/was commonly known (now more then ever) that the rotary was never a MPG friendly engine and never will be......the 8 along with the 7 before it was and is an enthusiasts car...it just now available with 4 seats to let us enthusiasts with families justify the purchase of one to our spouses :D

 

You knew that and I know that because we are car enthusiasts and do the research. Most of the people that Mazda wants to sell the 8 to, don't. I agree with the 7 being an "enthusiasts" car but I don't think the 8 has the same mission, Mazda wants it to be more "mainstream" imo. The next 7 should be an enthusiasts car.

 

I voted for mileage being more important, but that being said, if my mileage never got better, it wouldn't make me want to dump the car. In 17 years, the best I EVER got out of my 2nd gen TII was 23MPG. I typically have gotten 17 in mixed hwy/city.

I'm already at 18.3MPG with the RX-8 and improving with every tank while also driving harder with every tank. This car is quicker than my 7 and way more fun to drive, too. I feel soory for those who have decided againt buying one based on these two issues - they are missing out big time.

 

I'm an owner and the mileage issue is more important to me because I feel the car is very quick, and I'm enjoying the increased power (not to mention the stick shift) over my previous car, a 2000 V6 Accord. So, I don't worry so much about the hp issue.

That said, I feel fairly confident that the RX-8 is capable of making the advertised/EPA estimate mpg. I've filled up three times now and have gotten no lower than 19 and as high as 23 mpg. I do drive mostly highway miles (approx 80/20 highway/city).

My most recent tank was my first post break-in tank, and I was driving the car the hardest it has been driven yet -- redlining it at least once a trip. The car seemed to like it, as the needle actually looked like it went backwards (!) after the redlining. I kid you not!

Anyway, after all that, I got 22.57 mpg.

As the car breaks in further, I am hoping the mileage will improve even more. I really think the fuel economy problems others are having are due to bad ECU programming on certain cars AND/OR driving style.

 

Uh me too...I still want the car, I will gt one, but I am much less inclined to jump in right now. I am thinking wait until end of December when at least most of the kinks will be worked out and the dealers will be more inclined to back off of this somewhat inflated MSRP.

 

I think the Hp issue will be correctable some day through a mod to the ECU so that's why the missing Hp is not important to me - not to mention the fact that it's so fun to drive the way it is now! The missing fuel economy will probably get a little better on its own but will also probably be positively affected by a properly tuned ECU.

Right now I'm averaging (after 5 tanks) about 20 MPG which I was expecting to be around 25 MPG since I drive mostly highway. Considering that I drive about 18K a year that's a difference of about $300 a year worth of gas. That's not nearly as big a hit to my budget as the tires may turn out to be!

 

Kudos to your rotary faithfulness guy!

I'm always reminded lately that this new Renesis engine was supposed to get better fuel economy.

The performance curves suggest to me that the problem that causes lower-than-expected power is also causing lower-than-expected fuel economy. Once fixed, both fixed.

So, whether you care or not, don't miss the recall. (please let there be a recall! I'm so tired of this...)