I'm new to the forum and in reviewing posts notice that many attack the reliability and longevity of the RX8, especially the rotary engine. With that in mind, I respectfully offer the following.

Mine is a 2005 and I am the original owner. This car has been, and continues to be, my daily driver and has just turned over 151,000 miles on the odometer. The car is all original including the engine and is running strong. My intention is to drive this original engine and running gear to 200,000 miles.

The car has had all routine maintenance over the years based on the specifications and intervals listed in the owners manual including the use of 5w-20 oil. There have been some minor repairs such as replacing the crank trigger, coils, and the coolant bottle. Other than that, just routine items such as brake pads, etc. Admittedly, my miles are long miles in that I rarely have a trip that is less than 200 miles at a time but still the car has been phenomenal. Are there others here who have driven their original engines this many miles or more? Would love to hear from you if so.

 

wow glad to hear your car is still running strong....hopefully mine will last as long as yours

 

Yeah, me, too. It has to.

 

I'm at 155,000 miles.

 

ArXate, That is great. Same engine?? Any problems? Are you going to 200,000?

 

thats good to hear op, any signs of low compression or engine failure/problems at this point?

 

I'll race ya to 200K. Got 177697 miles on my 06; original engine/clutch/transmission/etc. ... on my third set of sun visors, though

Routine maintenance here. My guestimation is that I'll hit 200K before the end of the year.


P.S.: Just hit a coyote on the way home from work ... so, 2nd front air dam (maybe, I haven't taken the front bumper off yet to see the complete damage)

 

Elf, That is great information for us longevity types! My engine seems very strong at 151,000 and I also have the same gearbox, clutch, etc. I am probably two years from the 200,000 mark. Question is why does it seem there are so many who post that they are on their second and even third engine with less than 100,000??? Is it the long miles that is the difference? Regular maintenance? Driving style? I wonder. By the way Elf, if you are at 177K then you drive more than I do and that is saying something.

 

I'm at 135,000 miles and still going strong on the original engine....still revs like new and feels and smells like new. I just don't fang it hard and drive like I stole it...all the time :P . I honestly don't think a lot of people know how to drive these amazing machines...

 

I honestly think its the driving style....I have never had a problem, but when I get into my friends (on second engine) he rev's it hard, goes above 4rpm on a cold engine(I never do this) and doesn't rev match going down gears(gear box slipping occasionally in 2nd)...Awesome stuff Elf....my driving Hero!

 

I can't help but find it amusing that something so normal would be considered newsworthy. Oh wait… I'm on rx8club.com, where the rare, the odd, and the unusual run wild, and are thus thought to be the norm.

And so, here's to the OP – and the 96.4% of RX-8 owners worldwide who quietly enjoy their cars, don't know there's an RX-8 forum, and have never heard the word premix. This Bud's for you.

 

Stating that you followed the maintenance specifications implies the answer is probably "no", but the big question is: Did you ever use premix?

EDIT:
Meh, didn't see this until refresh.

 

Lol....meh!!

 

I'm definitely going for 200,000 miles. Original engine and everything seems fine with my engine. Always used 5-20 conventional oil with oil changes every 5000 to 7000 miles. Never used premix. Ignition coils and spark plugs changed at 100,000 miles. Water pump replaced at 61,000 miles. No mods, everything stock.

One issue is that I've flooded my engine 3 times and it seems the cat is on its last legs because I've been getting an intermittent CEL. Pulled the codes at Pep Boys, indicating it's the cat.

 

ArXate, I too have never gone the premix route as the 5w20 has seemed to perform well in my climate--northern CA. As far as flooding, my car had that problem at about 60,000. If my memory serves me the dealer has a bulletin from the factory that calls for re-flashing the ECU and changing the spark plugs to a different heat range. That solved the problem for me but I will say that I tend not to start and stop the engine without bringing the coolant operating temp to normal before I shut it off. I've not had problems since. I do believe that bringing the oil temp up to the normal operating range before any spirited driving has much to do with engine longevity and this is a common practice for me. I own a couple of other performance cars and fiddle in the historic racing series. The rule of thumb at the track is that few, if any drivers, hot lap prior to oil temp (not coolant temp) at the normal operating range. For racers, the oil temp gauge is among the most important instruments. It is unfortunate that most production cars do not come so equipped!

Anyway, just my two cents.