I am curious to the car it looks hot, seems unique being rotary and well obviously a blast to drive.

However, being an Acura EL owner at the moment I have had to put ZILCH money in the car maintainence wise. I do want to get an RX-8 though am scared from all of the recalls or service bullettins I read.

In all honesty..is there something I should be aware of, such as Vaccum test etc, likely going for a 6speed 04 or 05 RX-8.

Responses would be awesome guys :p

 

If you're getting a used one make sure it has had all the recalls done to date and you should be fine. Me and a friend were discussing this a couple days ago. Neither of us can think of a single person who tracks their 8 and really floggs it from time to time that has had a problem passing the recall tests. It seems the ones who do are the ones that say they never get on the car and take it into the high RPM's where the motor really sings.


As far as I can tell the rotaries don't need require money maintinance but rather physical cehck on your car maintinance. Make sure you have all the fluids topped off regularly and the like. I am sure someone with more experience will come in and give you some more details.

 

Acura EL, isn't that a rebadged Honda Civic in Canada?

 

k..thanks for the advice. Likley will just get a list of recalls and then contact Mazda before purchase to verify you can get them done even if out of warranty.

Yes its bascially a Civic with heated seats, leather, auto climate, fog lights, best bang for buck car you can get.

 

If its your daily driver aside from regular maintenance youll just have to buy a quart or two of oil every 1000 miles....well worth it.

 

Look for a Mazdaspeed 8.

 

Oh no...the subject that just wont die....

 

This thread is useless without insults!

BTW
Welcome to the forum!
Please add location to your profile.
Hope to see pics of your '8 soon.... But then you'll have to change your name.

 

just get the 8. rotaries are great as long as you do not neglect it.

 

Go with the 8 they're fantastic cars. They don't cost money for maintenance just time...checking oil/fluids etc. but definately a small price to pay for such a gr8 car. Go with and enjoy. Just don't baby it beat the hell out of it and it will run better. It's a great feeeing being able to beat it and it good for it. haha Good luck and welcome to the RX8 WORLD

 

get it then change your user name

 

His username is great, kudos!

 

Only thing i had to pay for has been blown clutch and new brakes/rotors...all things caused by the driver. Aside from that, everything has been covered under waranty

 

Get It!!!!!!

 

RX-8s are, for the most part, pretty reliable. A few members of this forum have had real lemons, but many (myself included) have had very few problems with it. Having said that, I don't think it will match your EL in long term reliability. Honda really does make high quality vehicles.

As Mac11 said, the car seems to like being pushed hard now and then. I push mine to redline at least a few times a day, just to be safe

Coming from the EL, I can think of two negatives you'll notice in the 8:

1. Gas mileage. It really is quite bad, and giving it the "maintenance" (read: frequent high revs) contributes to the problem.

2. Not as good in the winter. It is surprisingly good, but ultimately the low ground clearance and fairly wide tires (215 is the narrowest winter tire I know of that fits on the 8) make it more likely to get stuck in the really deep snow. I drive mine year round, and have never been stuck in two winters, so it's not a huge problem, but it is more likely to get stuck than the average car.

The good:

-Power. It isn't the fastest thing on the road, but next to an EL it is a rocket.
-Handling: This thing is incredible. I test drove a 1.6EL once, and it is absolutely not even close.
-Driving feel: While many consider this to be a part of handling, I like to consider it a separate feature because there are a lot of cars that handle quite well, but don't feel good doing it. The RX-8 is one of the best feeling cars out there, and I would say THE best in its price range. Again, from my 1.6EL test drive, its not even close. Period.

 

I know over 20 people with 8's.

They all have zero problems.