njkmrs

Anybody got experience of these motors with the old Wankel engine?
Just bought one for track day toy .
First outing at Oulton in December.

1509joe

iTrader: (2)

Chassis/body wise not bad at all engine pretty good when going. Engine now where do you want me to start As far as performance goes RX7 much more tuneable.

Skoobie Dhu

iTrader: (3)

If you flood it (eventually you will) be prepared for 20 mins of cranking and purging using jump leads - when starting from cold, always give it a few mins to warm up before switching off - I only forgot this twice in the 8 years we owned one

domino46

crap car , will never own one again , used as much oil as it did fuel and that was a lot ,, would flood at the drop of a hat and needed towing to get it started again ,,, would rather ride a bike in the snow than drive one again lol

47 NAT

I bought a 2008 back in 2011. It was red with black/red leather trim. Looked really nice sat on the driveway and IMO was a really lovely looking car inside and outside. I paid £3.5k for it so back then it was a real bargain. It handled well from standard.

Everything I didn't like. The way the engine delivered the power was odd, rubbish mpg, fear it wouldn't start - like the examples given above. Drank oil for fun. I really didn't see the point of the engine as there was nothing unique about it without complications and expense. The higher tax band costs aren't my thing either.

If Mazda wanted to revolutionise the car world with something different then maybe a 1.3 that could do 0-60 in 5 seconds, top out at 155mph+ and achieve up to 40mpg - then that would of been good instead of the piece of wallet hoovering crap they did eventually put out to the market.

njkmrs

Yep I believe they can be a bit finicky to say the least but from what ive read if its looked after ie oil changes ,plugs ,leads and coils etc then they are fairly decent cars.
Not going to break any land speed records but still a lot of fun and my lad will get to drive it on track as well .His road car has black box fitted and lets just say its stifling his enjoyment some what so this will be a toy for the weekend and with track days as cheap as £79 a time we will hopefully do quite a few.
And the cars themselves are cheap as chips to buy so it all evens out..!

njkmrs

I guess the other negative is the Tax at £535 I think....yikes that's ridiculous..!

47 NAT

I'd find that painful with any car

I know Martin Hadland from Reyland motorsport started putting an Audi 1.8T lump in one he'd bought. Not sure how he got on or if it was ever finished. To me it looked quite complex.

If there was a drive in/out answer that was fairly cheap to the rotary engine I'd probably get one tomorrow.

It should do well on track as they handle well from standard.

njkmrs

A lot of scare stories about the engine and I did have a long think about it myself but a rebuild is 1-1.5k so its not the end of the world.
My mate has run one for the last 5 years including a trip to the Ring and he has had no issues whatsoever and it still pulls strong and does not use much oil. They do use some as normal and he does not drive like miss daisy..!

47 NAT

I've just been reading up on Audi A5's. The 2.0 TFSI is a proper scare story compared to the Mazda!

njkmrs

I wanted something to track and was looking at Clio sports, Megane Rs,s but then I get carried away and my budget goes out of the window and I end up with something I am afraid of wrecking wheres as with something like the RX8 I can just walk away if it gets destroyed and lose very little. Although that's not the plan.

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

Great little cars. I've owned RX-8s and a crazy FD3S RX-7 monster (which was just mad).

If they flood a lot, it's normally because the engine is due a rebuild. They shouldn't flood a lot if you make sure you don't start and immediately stop them.

If they do flood, just pull the fuel pump relay and turn the engine over. You'll hear the revs turning the engine over very fast when flooded which will slow down once the fuel has left the bore and the oil seal has been maintained. Once the revs drop, plug the relay back in and start the car. Simple!

Great little chassis too. Great fun to drive.

njkmrs

Yeh ive seen some crazy RX 7,s on you tube and wondered why the RX 8 didn't get tuned as highly but still learning about them to be honest so im sure it will all become clear. Im just after a cheap bit of track fun for now.
Thanks for the tips.
Regards
Rob.

njkmrs

Few pics of the Rice Rocket

bigredrob

l had an RX8 before the Scoob,. loved the steering feel, you could feel the "white lines, ,,,road changes" ,....like on a Bike,...but no torque , always needed thrashing to get the best out of it, ....drank more Fuel, and oil, than my impreza.

njkmrs

Seems like a lot of car for the money .
Great stereo system ,leather and this ones rot free
Not the most potent on the road but should be fun on the track
There is a specialist looking at producing/modding engines with 250-300 bhp which would make them a tad more exciting..!

wrighty338

iTrader: (33)

The 13B-MSP is hardly the best rotary but aslong as you know a few bits about rotaries you should be fine. Heard the Rx8 is a good chassis and tbh id have a late R3 one!

njkmrs

Yeh my intention is too make it handle, rather than outright power and I have seen them passing plenty of high power cars on the Ring on you tube ,in the right hands .
First job is fluid changes all round and then replace any bushes etc that are feeling loose, maybe lower it a tad more then see how it goes.
I think it has an upgraded exhaust and maybe a K+N Airfilter so happy with that at the moment. It is also so my son can enjoy a few laps of the track as well to be honest so 400 bhp monsters are not what im after. Although I have one of them sat next to it in the garage but that's not for sharing ....sorry son..!

lozgti1

OK put me right. Is it just a 1.3 engine?

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

Yep, 1.3 but taxed as a 2.6.

njkmrs

Yep £535 per year......yikes...!

dpb

Still , your insurance is presumably pennies

njkmrs

£400 ,me and the wife,
we both have full no claims but on other cars, which is a con because we personally build up the no claims yet only usable on one car each .
We can only drive one car each at a time yet they use this to screw more money out of you for insurance.
The no claims should be for the person not the car.
Whichever car I happen to be driving should be covered by MY no claims...
Sorry you got me started there...lol.
I hate insurance companies...More thieving scum

njkmrs

Now with windows tinted...

47 NAT

That looks stunning and the tints really set it off.

njkmrs

Cheers 47 NAT..
Its in great condition for a 10 year old car and they are fairly low in numbers on the road so I see very few of them about.
I still cant believe how much car you get for circa £2.5k. It makes me chuckle to be honest.
Just changed all the fluids and its fresh as a daisy again. Just going to replace the ARB bushes this week and the front and rear drop links then see how it goes on the track.
My intention is to lower it a tad but not sure whether to just get lower springs or go for the whole suspension kit ,but its just had two new rear shocks so don't really want to replace them .
Some good fellow before me has already put a performance exhaust on it with a K and N filter so it will be fine for now performance wise.
I will know more once I have had it on the track.

lozgti1

I thought they looked great when they first came out and great now (looking good with the tints)

Always thought Mazda were onto a winner with it ( off top of my head was it 231 bhp- don't know why that sticks in my head if I have it right?!)

Shame they don't try something similar again

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I had a family fleet policy that hovered around the 800 quid mark, was great when I had 5 vehicles on it... only downside was Mrs not earning no claims bonus, but having done it for over 10yrs I think we're way ahead on that.

I've now trimmed the fleet down now though so she's on her own insurance, PHEW!!! which wasn't that expensive (£380) considering she drives a new car, but if you do a search there are lots of multi-car policies these days.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I really like Mazda's, came close to getting RX8 few years back, but as usual practicality was the deal breaker.

I've had 2x 626's and a 323F and wish I'd of bought an MX5 instead of my STI type R.... great cars and all handled and went well, particularly the 323, was a cracking little car and went really well too, 125mph out of a 1.5 was quite amazing at the time... and it was still going was one of the cars on my shortlist recently but just couldn't find one... which is maybe for the best.

jaygsi

iTrader: (46)

I'd be interested in that. How do you get it? I'm paying £350 for scooby other is about same. Plus have a 3rd car want to insure. Wish I could just get a trade plates and have 5 cars lol