Well here's my story, this is my first post on these forums and I'm hoping it won't be my last.

I made the mistake of buying an American vehicle (at the risk of being run out of these forums by flamers I won't even mention which one) approximately 4 years ago.. My engine started knocking last week (due to no negligence on my part), since the warranty has already expired on that vehicle, to my defense, the vehicle was my first car and I had just turned 18 at that point. Now I'll be graduating from university here in North Carolina in December. I decided to find and assume a lease on a previously owned vehicle, from a popular website like leasetrader.com or swapalease.com.

At this point, here's what I decided my options where, Mazda Rx-8, Nissan 350Z Track Package, Infiniti G35 coupe, Acura RSX. After test driving the 350Z (which by torque and power alone I was impressed with, I was a little disappointed with how stiff the ride felt, I wanted a more every day race car, with comparable if not better handling, and a much more refined interior). After test driving the Z, I test drove the G35, but I could feel the added weight of the G35 coupe immediately after test driving the Z, and combined with the similar stiffness, as well as the 37,000 price tag as quoted, I figured the G35 coupe wasn't the right car for me either. The RSX was easy for me to test drive because one of my friends owns one, so I took it out for a spin, it was an automatic, so I didn't really get to feel the car, but I decided I didn't want a glorified Honda, even though the car delivered ample power and felt comfortable.

The Mazda RX-8 was the last vehicle I looked at. At this point I still haven't test driven the 6spd version of this vehicle, but after driving and feeling the AT, it turned out the Mazda RX-8 was the right car for me.

In any event, I decided to lease an RX8, but since I'm a college student and short on money, I searched around lease trader and swapalease.com and found a 6spd RX-8 with the GT/MT package with less than 6000 miles, and 11 months left on the lease (which means that if I choose to buy the vehicle, I only have to wait 11 months instead of trying to exercise a lease buy-out option). The process is still underway at this moment, but hopefully by this weekend I will be the proud owner and driver of an RX-8.

Now that you know my RX-8 story, I'd like to generally ask some questions about the vehicle that I am personally concerned about.

Starting problems - I have heard that RX-8's have problems starting the vehicle, and that the engine is easily flooded, especially if it is run for less than 10 minutes on a cold start, what is Mazda's position on this, and have any of you ever experienced any problems with the engine starting?

Interior problems - I have also heard and read on websites that the RX-8's interior is cheaply put together, I did not notice this problem on the RX-8 that I test drove, but that specific vehicle was almost brand new when I drove it. What problems, if any, have you guys experienced with the quality of the interior over time.

Oil Consumption problems - I have also heard that the Renesis engine EATS up oil like GWB. Is this true? How many miles to one quart of oil? Can the renesis engine handle a synthetic? What brand of oil do you guys use and why?

6 spd MT Questions - The last stick I drove for more than 20 minutes was my father's BMW 5 series, almost 5 years ago. I've never driven a vehicle such as the RX-8, meaning one that apparently gets most of its torque at high RPM, I have heard it is forgiving in downshifting, how true is that? Also, what kinds of RPMS do you guys get up to for aggressive launches, what about normal launches?

Aftermarket part questions - For an engine that is so specifically tuned as the Renesis, what kind of aftermarket parts are safe to put on the vehicle? I'm not interested in body kits or anything, but small performance enhancements, such as cold air intakes, turbo chargers, and exhaust kits, are these worth it? More specifically, where do you feel the horsepower? Do you have to red-line the car to get that added horsepower or is it more evenly distributed?

Bose Stereo Questions - I really like the fact that there is a noise cancelling option in the vehicle, I think thats fantastic, but I never tested it out when I drove it. Can anyone give me their opinions on it, as well as a general feel of the sound system itself, from what I understand it has 2 subs, one in each door, and 9 speakers throughout the car.


Aftermarket Navi - Unfortunately the RX-8 I am trying to assume a lease on does not have the navigation option. I kind of want this option and I would be willing to pay for a stock navigation feel, has anyone had any experience dealing with a Mazda Dealer who would install that into the vehicle? Are there any other 3rd party systems out there that could be integrated for a stock feel?


Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

 

Once you have done a search you will quickly answer most of those questions .
anything you can't find out that way - ask a specific question .
Welcome to the club .

 

Starting problems were fixed with a flash. Don't worry about it.

Nothing wrong with the interior, you sawit yourself.

Oil 1000 miles or more per Quart. It's normal. It drops oil on the Apex seal.

Don't go for the Navigation. Do you get lost? If so get an after market Navi.

 

wow,
you searched enough to know the ?s to ask, but not hard enough to find the answers to the ?s....

odd, very odd...

i would make the one statement as help... if you are a student.... get a mazda 3...

take it for what it is worth...

beers

 

Turbo chargers are small performance enhancements? Hum... Well to answer this question (I will just simply agree with the rest of the above statments) There really isnt a performance reason to add intakes or exhaust. These mods DO make a huge difference in the quality and quantity of sound the car will make, but no major power enhancements. If you are really dedicated you might see, with lots of NA mods, 220 to the wheels, up from around 180. But that would be with intake, exhaust, light flywheel, pulleys, turbonator, cat delete, and an NA fuel computer. (I am joking about the turbonator. i just threw that in to see if you were listening.) And a 40 rwhp jump is really optimistic.

Turbo on the other hand could double your power to the wheels. In that respect and with respect to the massive amount of time and effort that is required to get it installed and running, this is no small performance enhancements. Besides, you are planning to turbo a leased vehicle. That doesn't sound smart, even if you fully intend to buy at the end of the period. Today is not 11 months from now and you dont know how your mind will change from here to then. That is not to say that leasing is not a good idea. Given the prices that 8s have been selling, why not let the dealer eat the depretiation.

 

starting problem is basically gone as long as you let it warm up.

interior... i happen to like it. some have had rattles

oil consumption is juswt checking oil every other fill up to make sure its not low... overrated as a maintenance "issue"

driving stick, i don't launch, but my normal take off is at about 1.5k rpms.

aftermarket parts don't do much for our cars. and turbochargers aren't small performance stuff.

bose stereo is great imo. i'm not audio inclined so i don't know what's suppose to be the "bomb" but the stock bose stereo works fine.

stock navi is severly outdated. my friends have gotten lost and taken onto dirt paths. about 2 years outdated. get an aftermarket navi so you can switch from car to car if you ever need too.

 

Think seriusly before assuming a lease. After all, you have to ask the question as to why someone else gave it up? Given the prices of '05s, you may just wanna go for that instead. There are still many left on the lots going for peanuts. I got my 05 GT for $25k & change, out the door.

The interior IMHO is way better than most cars in this price range. A couple folks have had the latch on the console break, but that can be replaced easily. I have no idea what the "noise cancellation" on the stereo is? There is a function that turns the volume up and down as youu speed up / slow down, to compensate for road noise, but its nothing like the circuit in their noise-cancel headphones.

One more thing if you lease... consider an extended warranty. There's nothing worse than paying to fix a car that you don't own!

 

The Audiopilot does do more than simply alter volume with speed like some other radios will do. It actually adjusts equalizer settings in an attempt to compensate for ambient noise. Still, the Bose is nothing to write home about.

The 9" speakers in the doors are not subs. They are included in the 9 speaker count. There is no factory sub. Sound quality is okay, but I've heard many better factory systems and there is no cheap/easy way that I know of to install an aftermarket unit. Also, the nav is not really a dealer- or owner-installable item. It is possible with enough money and patience but the payoff isn't worth it.

But altogether, the RX-8 sounds like what you're looking for - a sports car for real world driving. The issues you've mentioned are overblown. As long as you can overlook mediocre fuel economy, adding a qt of oil every couple thousand miles (which is true for several other high performance engines, btw), and limited NA mod potential, I think you'll really enjoy the 8. Just drive the 6MT and I think you'll be hooked.

 

I have personally never experienced this problem. When I bought my 05 new, though, the salesman did warn me about it. I have started mine cold after 5 minutes after driving with no problem though I try to avoid doing this. I imagine you'd only encounter this problem if you start the car, hammer it for a couple of blocks before it's warmed up and then park it and try to start it again in a few minutes.

I have not had anything in my interior break. The only complaint I have about the interior is the backs of the front seats scratch really easily. Other than that, I think the 8's interior is one of the most elegant and best built out there for a vehicle in its price category.

Don't know about synthetics, but you should be fine if you are diligent about checking your oil and adhering to scheduled oil changes.

Downshifting in the 8 is wonderful. As for aggressive launches; it's totally a personal preference thing. You'll get a feel for the RPM range that's right for you (such as whether or not you want to burn your tires). The thing to keep in mind is this car will go from < 1K RPM to 7K+ RPM really fast. Normal launches; just like any other car.

I won't recommend any performance add-ons as I believe no advice is better than bad advice. However, I do suggest you read the warranty information very carefully before making any engine mods.

My experience with the noise cancelling option has been negative, so I keep it disabled. Other than that the stereo system is phenomenal for being stock.

No idea.

 

The lease option is a great idea, especially for a student -you would save on the interest that would have built up if you had gotten a loan - if something goes bad - it goes back and they take care of it or exchange it - and you can find out what you really want.

Oil in mine lasts better than expected as does milage - pounding it up a hill or over 85 on the road eats gas! Long trip real good milage for this type of car

I have leather seats with the little triangle, but for a numbr of reasons I am installing sheep skin covers - they protect, are easier to clean up if there are spills, and we are used to them - I also use a sheepskin wheel cover for comfort.

I had seen so many warning that I had almost gone off the 8, but have found it so ideal I am glad I bought it - I am now adding those little nice touches like the silver rings and the grill clips - I may get some show chrome covers just to use when we set it up by the Park when they have one of the Paso Robles Cruises - everybody wants to look at the lack of an Engine!

 

Wow, thank you so much for all your replies. I will hopefully be picking up the vehicle this weekend. Your responses put me at a greater ease, and as far as the technical questions about aftermarket additions, I was more concerned with my options rather than the desire to exercise them.

Maybe I'll see you guys on the road, I'll be driving the 8 down from PA to NC on Saturday the 17th of june, look for me

 

Just another vote against the stock navigation system. It's got all sorts of negatives, the principal ones being (i) a user interface which is so clunky that you have to be terribly lost to spend the ten minutes it takes to enter your destination address, and (ii) even the most updated map software is badly outdated. It's a waste of time and money. There are all sorts of aftermarket navi systems; I bought the Nuvi from Garmin; it's a winner, and costs less than the stock system (and updating its mapes is free).

 

I begrudgingly agree with this entire post. I want to shoot myself for buying it every time I use the navi on my wife's Tribeca. It is so far superior. Trouble is, the little aftermarket navies are at least equal to the 8's nav. Nevertheless, it is easy to use with familiarity, so that while you may utter some choice words at first, it gets easier. And while it is sub-par in comparison, I have learned to live with it on its own merits. I suppose I am easy that way.

Besides, this option is just a superficial bangle on wonderful driving experience. It is so secondary that it's related pros and cons reflect not one tittle against the car itself.