Olly

Just wondering if anyone has one coming, or has driven/bought one?

Drove a lo-power last week. Very impressive, despite being a VERY well used Mazda fleet car with 9000 miles. Smooth as hot Baileys, lovely build quality, comfortable, practical, quick and fun.

Sold, as far as I'm concerned.

Ale555

Nice car for the track BUT the low torque makes it to a non daily-driver IMHO...

Goochie

Great interior, great little downlights on the underside of the door mirrors (looks very cool at night), great looks, just not to sure about the wankel noise - was expecting a VTEC kinda noise but was disappointed. Hi-Power would make an excellent everyday car I think.

Emms

I test drove a Hi power version and a 350Z on the same day. Looking at getting one a month or so back. Husband drives a CTR so had that on the day as a bench mark. The Mazda was very smooth, in fact so smooth you got up to speed very quickly indeed. Loved the interior (except the handbreak, whats that all about can anyone say "overdesigned" as is the over use of all the triangles). Nice handling and grip levels, tho I found it had more body roll than the CTR. Also the engine not as willing as the civic (tho it is smoother). torque (or lack of) not an issue ppl pay waaay to much attention to that issue, yea it can be usefull but to be honest especially if you are driving one set of wheels it is nice to have the power a bit further up on a nice revvy engine as you get less wheelspin, I have seen many focus RS's at the pod been pipped by CTR's due to this simple fact. As you can get the power down so much better (of course us 4wd peeps have this a bit better ). Im sure the RX8 would be quicker than a CTR round a track as it did seem more forgiving (steering chassis wise). As for the Nissan out of interest, it felt quick but also quite heavy more of a tourer I guess. You can tell it was initialy designed for the US market (? I think?). Anyhoo nice though these cars were I went with a 2nd hand STi7 . Other than the fuel bills and terrible brakes its loverly.

Olly

Ordered one yesterday, Hi power, black with black leather for September 1st

Olly is a happy boy.

scooby_si

good work & may i point you to http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/index.php
Very nice mota & doing well too "Mazda Records Best Quarter and Month Ever
in Europe


•RX-8 took almost 20 percent of the sports car segment in the first quarter, with sales over 6,000 units

(Taken from Mazda's official press release )"
Si

John WRX

Drove the high power one few months back and very impressed, obviously not as quick as the scooby but very nice to drive and quality interior with some very nice finishing touches. If i had the money i probably would

CrisPDuk

I went out in the same low power car as Olly, and TBH thats' total bollox, if you are used to driving a Legacy Turbo, or a pre 96/7 Impreza the increase in low down torque is quite welcome, & any perceived lack of torque is more than outweighed by the smoothness of the power delivery right up to the redline.

Overall, it is the first car I have been in for a very long time that has made me contemplate pawning (porning?) the wife to buy one

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Drove the high power version and thought it was superb.

Excellent chassis and handling. Engine was OK, not as smooth as I would have expected, the main reasons for not buying one are absolutely crap rear vision (needed by other half for shopping ) and it is simply too heavy (like new Scoobs!).

Very nice car overall though.

Rannoch

ZIPPY

Test drove a comapny High Power version and whilst it was alright,i felt i had to drive it like it was stolen to get it to do anything,not enough torque at all.

The other put off was the 1 litre of Oil you have to put in it every 1000 miles on average,your warranty is void if you dont check your Oil every 2nd time you put petrol in it.
The engine is designed to use this amount to stop the rotor tips wearing and the engine needing a full rebuild after 60,000 miles.

Work the costs out for fuel,servicing and additional oil,NOT GOOD.

CrisPDuk

Based on my experience of any car with the VW/Audi 1.8 turbo engine in (or the old 1.8/2.0 16V that it is derived from), the only differences between them and the Maz that I can see, is that the german/spanish/czech cars have deep enough sumps to avoid refills between services, & Mazda are honest enough to actually inform you that the car uses oil

Olly

Have to admit that the MPG and oil thirst is a slight worry. Everyone on the RX8 forums seem to struggle to achive 17mpg at very best. Government tests state 23MPG on the urban, never mind on the motorway... My current 5 litre Merc SL is doing no worse.

But then IMHO the car is a bargain. The nearest competitor (350Z) is 4 grand dearer, which does buys a LOT of extra fuel.

Factor in the BMW style limited supply, high demand (4 months wait), no discounting and no cheap imports, and residuals should hold firm too.

I can't wait.

MarkWRX

Sold my STi7 for a 230 RX-8 and no regrets at all after 6 months of ownership.

Fuel economy isnt great, I get 17-20 round town and 21-22 on the motorway at 90+, but I do have a heavy right foot and tend to keep it over 5k rpm during 'spirited' driving.

Check out www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum, if you havent done so already - great deals on Oil which will save you more than the membership fee straight away!

Ive used 5 litres of Oil in 8500 miles so far.

scooby_si

you coming to rotorstock at the end of month?
Si

subevo

in the future i think these cars will have the same appeal as the the rx7.i.e. no one will want them due to their reputation for guzzling fuel and oil.once the warrenty runs out it will be a brave man to continue ownership.imho.

bluto22b

I have, they're rubbish. More torque in a sewing machines cotton bobbin. Bluto's advice: Don't bother.

bluto22b

"Anyhoo nice though these cars were I went with a 2nd hand STi7 . Other than the fuel bills and terrible brakes its loverly."

Try driving in proper shoes and not stilletoes

scooby_si

lol it does seem they are a bit thirsty which some are suggesting is mazda being overly cautious with wanting them to last so running mucho rich, who knows.....
But lmao at RX7 comment but maybe i'm just brave or stupid
Si

scooby_si

Bluto critisism is cheap hate to see what you say to people who mock boxer engines
Si (i luv rotaries AKA biased lol)

Olly

The RX8 that I drove had more low-down poke in sixth gear than our Transit van has in third.

Non daily driver? I seem to be able to manage to drive a Tranny most days without too many problems.

bluto22b

"The RX8 that I drove had more low-down poke in sixth gear than our Transit van has in third."

What do you expect? with a Transit van weighing 2½ tonnes its hardly surprising is it?

kenco

I ordered a high power RX8 back in Jan 2003, car finally arrived (after a few delays) in Nov 2003. After nearly 4000 miles I am very impressed with the car, it seems a very consumate and practical all-rounder!

Those of you used to modified Scoobs may find the low end power, and the overall feeling of 'punch' a bit lacking, the performance can be very decieving as the 'Renesis' enfine is very smooooooth, and speed builds nicely at a very linear rate, right up to the limiter @ 9400rpm! . Still has as much torque as most 2 litre cars though so definately very 'suitable' for everyday use, ta.

Handling is excellent and the car is a dream to drive. Fuel consumtion, oil consumption and performance seem to improve over the 1st few thousand miles as reported by many forum members. I average about 20mpg with a mix of mostly urban and some motorway miles. I tend to drive the car quite hard and belive that mid 20's is possible with care (not really the point tho').

Oil consumption was 1 litre per 1000 miles initially, this seems to have reduced a bit, and it is widely acknowledged that the harder you drive the car the more oil it tends to use, as this is a design of the rotary engine.

Overall, I'd recommend the car as I think it looks good, is a bit 'different' (for now anyway), seems to be reliable, practical, fun to drive, reasonable running costs, sensible depreciation (hopefully), and good value compared to the competition.

Any more queries then just ask.

Olly

Thanks for that Kenco, nice to hear from someone who can actually speak from first hand experience.

Somehow the quirks and flaws are quite appealing to me, giving the car some soul and owner involvement. Keeping the motor on the cam whilst on a good blast sounds great to me: should be part of the challenge, not dismissed as a fatal flaw. Those that grumble should drive an automatic.

Cars are too **** these days, and owners are way too soft: is dropping a bit of oil in every couple of fillups REALLY such a headache?

Midmotorsteve

I must comment that i find it really funny people make a fuss about the oil use, if we all did what we were taught at driving test time we'd check oil, washer fluid, tyre pressure every time we got in our cars, if you have to stop for petrol what is the hassle to check the oil????

Besides all you scooby boys know full well that when the RX8s leave warrantee, everyone will be bolting HKS turbo kits on and then they'll murder STIs etc just like RX7's do now

CrisPDuk

As Olly knows my everyday drive is an 86 XR4x4, it p!sses more oil (of various flavours)over my drive PER NIGHT than an RX8 is going to use in a year It hasn't stopped me using, abusing & enjoying it once over the last 10 years