Hey guys, I've been reading a lot of your forums for the past 6 months since I'm really considering buying an 8. I've read all about the pros/cons on here but I wanted to get your guys opinion on the car for my situation.

I live in NY so it snows about 4 months out of the year, and is cold at least another 2 months. I've read that throwing some winter tires on the 8 makes all the difference and that I'd be just fine in the snow. I'm also going to be a grad student (getting paid enough to easily afford living plus a car payment). My biggest concern with the 8 is the engine reliability. I really love the car but I don't want to have sleepless nights worrying about it. I've found a very nice used 2007 - touring edition with only 7k miles on it, never seen winters, never beat on etc. For the same price, I've been looking at speed6's only with many more miles on them. What do you guys recommend for my situation? Gas mileage and adding oil aren't really an issue, more the reliability of one car vs the other and snow driving.

Also, I know that the Grand Touring has DSC, but does the touring model in 07 have traction control, stability control, or anything? I've been looking for this information and as of yet, but unable to find it.

Hopefully if I buy the 8 I can become a more frequent user on the site! I've enjoyed reading all of your forums!

Thanks!

 

If you stay on top of your car and are attentive to it ... reliability should not be an issue ... is you life flexible enough to not drive the rx8 for a week if you have to? (if a small problem presents itself)

It is always small problems that lead to big ones .... this is the question you need to ask yourself.


I am a senior at Lehigh University and I have some serious modifications planned .... I have an rx8 and its my only car. I do, however, borrow my friends' cars on a regular basis tho ....


Where do you go and what do you study?

 

just buy it!! lol

 

I'm starting at cornell in the fall and going to be working for my phd in physics. I'm not really planning on modding the car at all, at least not for awhile.

 

nice I was just in the phone with someone from Weill Cornell like 10 seconds ago. We do their SAP hosting. Small world

 

This thread is full of WIN.

I graduated from Lehigh in 2006, and had two RX-7's on campus while I was there (and for what it's worth Cornell was my 2nd choice - my grandfather and cousin both went there). I had both of them break down on me while I was there - but I was able to fix both of them too. They were also terrible in the snow, so I just drove up the hills in reverse and I was fine... I wouldn't worry about the reliability of the 8; when properly maintained they are just as reliable as any other motor.

Good luck!

 

I've been through 6ish winters now here in NJ/PA. With decent tires, it's OK. Don't expect to push through 6" of unplowed snow lol, but on plowed (yet snow covered) roads, it's been fine.

The problem with reliability is as you see on the forum, it can really vary widely. My 77,000 mile, 2004 had tons of little things go wrong in the first few years (not with the engine though), but everything was fixed by Mazda with TSBs and whatever. But nothing broke that would have stranded me. Well, except for the clutch pedal snapping off last year

In general, if it's not modified, and up to date with all the TSBs and things, it should be as reliable as anything else.

 

Blah...blah...blah...blah... buy the car, let's get this over with.

 

oh yeah? Were you in a house? What's your major? I am I&SE and Finance dble major

 

Nah I'm not a frat guy... I was on the track team however, and I was a CSB major. Driving the 7's around campus was always a ton of fun, I used to take them to the parking lot at goodman stadium and lay some serious rubber down...

This is getting pretty off topic though - so to the OP - buy the car.

 

Nice .... I do that all the time ... check out these pics from a meet I hosted ... I'll be hosting another one soon too ... you should def come out!

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...66788&page=198

 

just buy it so you can make a (my cars fuel mileage sucks thread) already :P

 

Just buy it, you won't regret it.

 

I went to grad school at Cornell. My car for the first three years was an old Alfa roadster, with bald tires. They do plow and salt the roads around there...probably doing a better job today than when I was there 40 years ago.

As far as cold weather goes, this forum has a lot of Canadian members, and they seem to do just fine. The RX-8's heater pumps lots of nice warm air into the car...a feature that my Alfa definitely lacked.

Ken

 

I was your same position about 2 months ago. I just started grad school at Binghamton U. and was looking for a new car. I found an '07 8 with low miles and had the same concerns as you. I ended up (obviously) buying the car, which came with snow tires. Now I haven't had a lot of experience beyond the daily driving the last 2 months, which included in some bad weather, but the car has handled just fine. Haven't had any more difficulties driving in winter weather than I have with all of my previous FWD cars.

I have definitely fallen in love with the car, and am waiting anxiously to get my summer tires put on (to go along with some nicer weather) to see what the car is really capable of.

Anyway, good luck. Just wanted to give a newbie's 2 cents.

 

It's costly to have such an awesome car though, prem gas, maintenance and repairs more than most reg cars.
btw even with good tires the 8 sucks in the snow.

 

The only real difference between maintaining my 8 and my Civic is I put oil in the 8 more often (yes I know it's a design feature, not a flaw). Otherwise, I don't see any difference?

Wearable parts do cost more of course though (bigger brakes, tires, etc.) than the typical commuter car.

 

Not sure if someone answered it already or not, but touring does have the dsc/tcs and all those gizmo's.

 

I'm only a sophomore in college and I'm really glad I bought my 8. There really isn't anything to

worry about if you check your car oil and do regular maintenance you should be aright :]

Btw with the snow part I live in Utah where it can snow pretty bad and I do just fine just make sure you go slower

when there is alot of snow.

 

Just went through my 3rd Colorado winter with my RX8 . With SNOW tires the car is VERY good . The only concern is how deep the snow is given how low the RX8 sits . But neither me or my wife has ever gotten stuck .

 

As long as your an open minded person you'll enjoy it.

Buy it.

 

Thanks for all the responses! It's mostly been reassuring! I'll let you guys know if/when I buy the car.