StewC625

Use my attitude - it's a sports car - what's the price tag of the fun?

To wit:

An Acura TL with the V6 and a heavy footed driver averages about 21 mpg (my last one did anyway, and it was a 2001 in perfect tune). I drive 10,000 miles per year - that works out to an annual cost of fuel at $2.00 per gallon of $952.00.

In my RX-8, with the same heavy foot, I'm averaging 17 mpg, still 10,000/year. My annual fuel cost is: $1176/year

The cost of fun? $1176- $952 or $225/year. Divide it by 365 days and that's $0.60 per day.

Now I don't know about you, but for 60 cents a day, I can afford the extra fun that the RX-8 gives me.

Enjoy your new ride.

Stew

rx8wannahave

Like Stew said...

I apparently have one of the better RX8's or drive conservatively but I think the truth is probably in the middle some place.

My avg 19+mpg in mainly city driving and I've never gotten less than 18.7mpg. To be honest (while I know driving style, conditions, traffic, fuel additives, etc has alot to do with it) I think the main thing that attributes to our fuel economy is "cruise RPM". If you keep her low while cruising then you should see good numbers, if you keep her at 5K while cruising...then, expect those low numbers.

Keep in mind that the EPA list the car as 18/24 on avg but also reported a range of 15-29.

Like they have told you, search...read read read...and DO NO SHUT off your 8 cold (until the temp is at normal)

Congrats and ENJOY!!!

midlife crisis

I drove about 400 miles roundtrip yesterday and the beginning/end 1/4s of the trip were Interstate 80 at 82 miles an hour and 4+K RPM. I don't know for sure but it seemed like the gauge went down lots faster there than the other stretches where I did 70 MPH -- < 3.7 K RPM. I still only averaged 20 MPG on the the only fillup. Going to Minnesota later this month and will have to keep it really sloooow through IOWA. That should be a better test of the low RPM theory!

Mikelikes2drive

who buys a car these days and doesnt look at the gas mileage?? must have lots of money to not worry about gas -____-

StewC625

For me, it only took 60 cents a day to get what I wanted.

Gas mileage is meaningless. Cost of driving is where it's at. If the car costs you an extra $5 or $10 or $20 a week, then that's the pricetag on the fun. If you're not up for paying the piper you're not in the right car.

What's funny is that my TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP on this car is quite a bit less than my last one. I paid $448/month for the lease on my Acura, insurance was $900/year, fuel $950/year, and maintenance (averaged over four years) about $400/year for a total cost of "use" of $30,104 for four years.

My RX-8 is $374 a month for 48 months, costs 1025/year for insurance, 1150/year for fuel, and I'm estimating $500/year for maintenance (mostly tires and brakes costs). That adds up to: $24,164. A $6000 savings!

Now that rocks!

Lots of gain, NO pain!

Stew

EDIT: I should probably say "Total cost of lessorship" which is easier to note than ownership. Also, both cars were leased as "sign and drive" no money down deals, no trade equity or anything given to the dealer.

JM1FE

Once again, that 'range' is for all vehicles in that category, not for RX-8's.

18city/24highway is what the RX-8 tested at, according to the EPA.

Other vehicles in the same category as the RX-8 tested as low as 15 and as high as 29, so you can see where the RX-8 falls within the range of vehicles that are comparable to it.

StewC625

Guys, seriously, all this gas mileage talk is freaking nauseating. Translate it to cost. IT ISN'T THAT MUCH MONEY! If you can't afford $200 - $400/year extra in gas (unless you're coming out of a Jetta Diesel, that covers the vast majority of cars and drivers), you have no business driving a $28,000 to $34,000 sports car.

RenoIV

One of our favorite topics

Expect it to improve as the engine breaks in ....

you may want to search before posting .... especially certain subjects

Welcome to the Cult!

dwynne

I get 14mpg commuting in my daily driver, 15-16 if a little highway is thrown in. So RX-8 owners should not complain about 18mpg around town I have to use premium too...

Dennis

mcaul

According to the poll, 39% of the RX8s average 15MPG or less. I have 6200 miles and the highest I've ever seen is 16.2. I average 13.5. In order to get 18MPG in the city I would have to improve 33%. I'm not holding my breath.

I do have fun and enjoy the car. I hope you enjoy yours too. The gas mileage isn't a big deal -- its just puzzling that there is so much variance in the numbers.

Nubo

The gas mileage issue reminds me of something that happened years ago.... bear with me...

A friend and I were in Downtown Cleveland. We were getting hungry but didn't have time to stop anywhere for lunch. We came across a hot-dog vendor on the sidewalk. Hot-dog vendors don't have the most elaborate menus, right? He had hot dogs, bratwurst, and Polish Dogs. I ordered a Polish Dog with Sauerkraut.

My Buddy was being health-concious. He started asking the hot-dog guy all kinds of questions "got anything made from turkey, or maybe 100 percent all-white chicken? Low fat? Maybe a turkey knockwurst?.... etc". The vendor watched him with a mix of puzzlement and amazement. I don't think he spoke a lot of English, which was probably a good thing. Finally, he reached down into the steamer and pulled up a big fat bratwurst. He held it up in the tongs, with steam pouring off it, juices dripping, and the aroma filling the air. A glorious thing. "GOOD, EH?", he asked. My friend ended up getting the bratwurst, and enjoyed the hell out of it.

So, whenever I hear someone complaining about the RX-8's mileage, I remember the hot-dog vendor. You can't have everything. But it's still a pretty good menu. "GOOD, EH"?

Blah

Oops, another one of these gas mileage per gallon gripes. There's nothing you can do guy...I wish there was but there isn't. But hey, I ain't mad...every new owners goes into the big shock of the gas mileage. So I know you aren't the last that's going to start a thread about it. I did it, others did it, you did it and I'm sure will have predecessors

rx8wannahave

Really, is that true??? I thought it was the observed on the RX8...I'll go check...

markd

That's almost hard to believe with the amount of soot that ends up on our tailpipes

CINCNORAD

I'm not complaining. I was just expressing my surprise. I assumed since it was a small car, it would get good gas mileage. But no biggie...