This is my first post to rx8xlub... :D

I am looking at buying a 2005 RX-8 GT and was just wondering the reasons for selling their RX8's from those that have moved on or are thinking about selling their RX-8's.

 

Welcome aboard

I don't think you'll get many replies b/c generally the people who are on here have an RX8 and love their car. There may be some who are thinking of selling, but they are few and far between.

You'd probably get more replies on a 350z/G35c forum from people who chose not to buy an RX8 then from people on here who do not like their car or are thinking of selling.

 

Welcome and congrats.

There are a few people here that sold their 8's but still hang around. Torque/power seems to be a big reason. Most seem to get a Vette, Evo or special Mustang like a Cobra.

 

I still have mine; however, I remember those on here that were discussing things during the buy back and primarily it was just having the opportunity to get something else without much loss (in the case of the buy back)

Another point people made was issues centering around MPG and/or power. Some thought it would be a power pony car or something. Others were upset with gas mileage after they got rid of their corollas and jettas.

It is true that the MPG is somewhat less than comparable performers but not too far off. I avg 16.8 mpg in town and I do not have hwy figures to give my overall mileage. I totally disagree with Road and Tracks avg of 13.8 mpg mileage. Overall most of the cars in the performance class avg around 19 - 20 mpg overall city/hwy according to these mags - G35 example and by my own observation, I would conclude that the RX8 is right close to it using my city only average. Power? The car has power. Originally rated as having 0-60 in 5.9 secs now 6.1. Either way it is not a dog. It is a good performer- not a drag car but a good perfomer.

 

I hear this it's not a drag car thing all the time on this site, implying that other cars are... Could someone name me one production car today that's a drag car please, because I'm really sick of hearing this.

 

The reason I ask is I just sold my Supercharged Miata over the weekend and shortly after I was out to test drive a RX-8. Awesome car!!!

My Miata was fast... faster than the RX-8... but I want something that is a little more classy, refined, sporty and can tow the family at the sametime.

It seems like the biggest problem people have with the 8 is the gas mileage, I am thinking that my Miata probably got worse mileage than I'd get from an 8, so it is not a huge issue for me.

Almost sold on the 8, just need a few days to make my final decision...

What other cars did you all consider besides the Z and G35 before settling on the 8?

 

2005 Mustang GT, 2004/3 Mustang Cobra, GTO, Viper, Vette. I could go on but that is the general idea.

However your tone indicates that maybe you really didn't want an answer. Exactly what are you trying to say?

 

I considered the G35 and the 2005 Mustang GT. I had to have some kind of a back seat for kids. I enjoy doing open track events and both of these were good candidates. But the G35 just didn't appeal to me. The Mustang was a close second, since my last car was a 94 Cobra, but the RX-8 felt better in many ways. I previously owned an 81 RX-7, which I bought new and drove for 140000 miles, and was looking forward to getting another rotary.

I am looking for my first track event next month with this car. For the record I am getting about 18 mpg which is probably better than the Mustang GTs are getting.

 

I still have my RX-8, but am on the fence on selling it. Let me say I love my RX8, but I recently got a new job and find myself driving around clients and it is a bit tough when you have 4 adults in the car. With my new job I am allowed a allowance, or a discount on any GM cars leased/purchased and have started looking at the Cadillac CTS-V. All in all you won't find too many people here disappointed in the RX-8, and will find the occasional gripes about gas milage and topping off the oil. If you want 4 seats/4 doors sports car performance and handling, and a great looking car look no further!!

 

Guess I am just looking for a little push... I am sold on the 8 already... just looking for some support on the purchase I guess...

 

I think his tone is more indicative of the fact that these aren't drag cars, they are sports cars. Sports cars that are fast in a straight line as well as around corners.

 

I say go for it. My only reservation when I first got the car was the lack of low end torque, I was used to my v8 cobra. Now that I am used to the car, with 10000 miles, I have absolutely no regrets. Its true that you can't floor the car at 3000 rpm and expect anything. My Cobra would jump if I did that. The RX-8 will need at least 5500 before you get that kind of response.

It just plain drives differently than a V8 or high torque 6 cylinder. But when it does rev toward red line and the buzzer goes the revs are building so fast the I occasionally hit the rev limiter. No V8 that I have driven is building revs that fast near the red line.

This is not good nor bad, just a different way of driving (but I am having fun).

 

Very true.

 

Blueeyes is correct, and every single one of those cars would beat an RX-8 around a road course (save for MAYBE the GT). So again, tell me how those are drag cars. I hear it all the time on this site "the <insert random fast car here> is great if you want to go fast in a straight line", and it's nothing but a copout to try to justify the RX-8's mediocre straightline performance. Think the RX-8 is fast as hell, that's fine with me. But when you start making up nonsense about other cars because the RX-8 can't do something as well as those other cars can is where I take notice.

 

For my situation I needed something sporty with 4 usable seats.

- Z: 2 seater was out of the question.
- G35 Sedan: A very nice sport oriented luxury car. Great engine.
- G35 Coupe: Was my 1st choice. Beautiful car. Back seats wouldn't fit me at all or a baby seat easily.
- 325: Nice but options make it pricey. Coupe rear seats were tight. Sedan was a sedan. Great build quality. 325 engine was smooth but short on power.
- 230 Sedan: Really nice sporty luxury car that the wife still wants to get.

Although I'm somewhat of a rotorhead, I probably would have went with a G35 Coupe if the back seats were even remotely usable. For me they're not so it essentially would be a 2 seater.

The 8 is just really different from most cars in every aspect. It has its quirks but it is such a great overall package that I tend to ignore them. It's probably like if one of your kids had ADD. They drive you nuts sometimes but you still love 'um.

What are your concerns with getting one?

 

I am about to sell it b/c of poor gas mileage and lack of power, I think Mazda's claim of 238 is a pipedream. Going to go with a 05 WRX STi I think. 300 hp, 28 mpg highway, seats 4 comfortably...handles like a dream. Does not have the looks of the 8 but I am looking for performance.

 

If you like the STI's performance you should probably never should have bought an 8 in the first place. Two totally different cars.

 

I sold mine and bought a 2005 Cadillac STS.

I loved the car, don't regret owning it for a year, and knew the performance specs before I bought it. There were a few things however, I did not discover until living with the car for a while....

Yes, one reason was lack of torque, but I knew that going in since I've owned several RX-7s in the past in addition to currently owning a Supercharged '72 RX-2.

The other reason I wasn't totally happy took me a while to put my finger on, and this may not affect you if you've never owned a rotary: The car just seemed.....sterile..when compared to my other rotaries. I can't really explain it, but it's a heavier car (which isn't good when you're low on torque) with more sound insulation, and so a lot of the joy of driving a car with this engine is diluted (the snarling engine note, the high RPM pull...). Even outside the car, it doesn't sound like a proper rotary when you start it, more like a Ford V6. Plus, in an attempt to reduce emissions, Mazda tinkered with the ignition sequence at idle and managed to make a rotary idle rough, which I thought was impossible. (One thing I always loved about my 85 RX-7: The way it "purred" at a stoplight)

I'll get ripped for posting this, I know, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that the car is a "mass-market" rotary car, and by homogenizing it, it has lost some of it's charm. The electric steering and electric throttle make it feel like you're driving a simulator instead of a real vehicle, they've gotten away from the lightweight car this engine needs to be in. Imagine how boring an Elsie would be if it were 1500 lbs heavier. Now you're getting the idea.....

 

The only reason I would ever sell it would be gas mileage. I'm hopeful that I will someday find ways to increase it. I don't really care about all of the complaints about power and speed. I didn't purchase this vehicle for the purpose of racing other people. I just think it looks great and is unique. Plus I hear that the rotary lasts forever and is generally low maintenance because it has so few moving parts. I think the only practical test of a car is highway driving, and I believe this is where this car was made for. It has very strong and smooth acceleration at high speeds, and it handles great.

 

The 8 lover, ahem strikes again. Civil duty to keep 8 owners in line and make sure their opinions are dwindled down to copouts and lies. Thanks Ike!


P.S. to say its fine with you if a 8 owner thinks the 8 is fast as hell would contradict the many times you felt it was your duty to remind a uppity 8 owner(some nerve those 8 owners) that the 8 is not fast at all.

 

I agree, I just wish I had the opportunity presented to me to drive a STi before buying this. I have had quite a few RX-7's, in fact my first car was a 85 gsl.
I agree with Tony that the car is too heavy and just plain low on power. I think Mazda needs to move back to the grass roots platform that the fd was built on. I know that I was fully aware of this when I bought the car, but I have had the opportunity to drive a few cars this week that just plain blow the doors off of my 8.

 

Intake and exhaust makes a huge difference in sound. I take it yours was stock. I actually thought the 8 as a loss leader for mazda. Sure it caters to a broader market but displaying the rotary as an engineering marvel helps bring more ppl in the door.

I also loved the STS in the commercial but in person I was somewhat disappointed. Go checkout the Lexus ls430 and sts back to back. GM's powertrains have improved drasticly but the overall car is made on the cheap side for the price tag.

ie. Fake wood

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by SDB
2005 Mustang GT, 2004/3 Mustang Cobra, GTO, Viper, Vette. I could go on but that is the general idea.

However your tone indicates that maybe you really didn't want an answer. Exactly what are you trying to say?



Blueeyes is correct, and every single one of those cars would beat an RX-8 around a road course (save for MAYBE the GT). So again, tell me how those are drag cars. I hear it all the time on this site "the <insert random fast car here> is great if you want to go fast in a straight line", and it's nothing but a copout to try to justify the RX-8's mediocre straightline performance. Think the RX-8 is fast as hell, that's fine with me. But when you start making up nonsense about other cars because the RX-8 can't do something as well as those other cars can is where I take notice.

a vette and viper can beat a 8 around the track?!? damn that salesman lied to me ! i have no idea if a stang or gto could beat an 8 guess it would depend on the course.

and wasnt the 7 built to race and the 8 is built for a nice ride around town w/some performance?

cant we all just like a car for what it is?

to the original poster, ive found the 8 to be the perfect car for what you describe and my gas mileage keeps going up right now im at 21 mpg.

 

I'm kinda confused about the what you and Tony O said about the 7. I've owned 5 RX-7s. An 85 GSL would turn 0-60 in around 8.5 seconds at best even with a redline clutch drop. 6 seconds on an RX-8 is a huge difference. If it's low on power, low compared to what? An FD? Today's adjusted cost of an FD would be $50K. Nobody would buy it including you.

I do somewhat agree that it lost the edginess of the 7 a bit. The 8 is quiet, smooth and refined. The 7s were a bit rough but great fun. The 8 seems like somebody took a BMW platform and dropped a different body and rotary into it.

It's all a comprimise. If they squeezed 300hp into an 8, maybe it would start at over $35K instead of $25K. Would people buy a $40K RX-8? I dunno but not me. If you put a 997 style body and interior on an STI platform, maybe it would be $40K+. At that price I'd just buy a Porsche.

 

There are quite a few on us on this board that are former Miata owners.
Myself being one of them, I’ll tell the reasons why we went with the 8.

First, the list of cars that we were cross shopping: Infiniti G35coupe, Mazda RX8, and the Lexus SC. While each car had their individual’s strengths and weaknesses, after we test-drove the RX8, it was a done deal.

IMHO the RX8 is just an all around superb vehicle. As you know coming from a stock Miata, just about anything is faster. It doesn’t handle as well, but the suspension is more forgiving and is just as fun, if not more of a blast to drive. Overall I have no regrets or complaints with the 8. Go test drive one already. :D