Saymon

What car is better? I cannot choose it...

BUG4LIFE

The totally different cars really. RX7 an out and out sports car and so much faster than an RX8 [that would be the turbos]. I'd have an RX7 in a second, such a cool rare car - there are tons of RX8's about and I reckon they don't look that special?

The Trooper 1815

iTrader: (31)

Think car tax

Jamescsti

Depends what you want it for, if it's a second car i'd go for the 7, but as a first or main car i'd go for the 8 as it would be more reliable.

davegtt

Agreed with this, would never have the 7 as my main car. Awsome motor, probably be one of the best you could own before making a step into supercars,

Abdabz

I'm giving serious though to an 8 at the moment... My research tells me that a 231ps version is an excellent day to day car...
The 7 is an amazing sports car and a fantastic second car.
Wankle anyone?

Chris L

Yeah yeah - more Wankel jokes

I've had an RX8 for over 2 years. It's been my daily drive for that time. I've done about 35K miles in that time - no problems what so ever.

Upsides: Unique car - very smooth. Can rev the nuts off the engine Very practical - can easily seat 4 adults in comfort. Decent sized boot. Good long distance car (much easier than the Scoob in that respect). Build quality has been good. RWD and a traction control system that doesn't interfere too much. Not that many around (Mazda only import about 8000 a year, as opposed to 300,000 3 series' - I see more Bently's on the way to work than RX8s!). Beautifully balanced - lovely handling car. RWD + LSD + near mid engined layout = fun.

Downsides: Not great on fuel - expect around 23 mpg. Styling not to eveyone's taste. Dealers are mixed (but then I guess for most marques you could say that). There are not many independent dealers, so you will be stuck with main dealers. Stone chips on the bonnet. Engine is very different to that of a Scoob - more in common with a Honda VTEC. It needs revving and it doesn't have huge amounts of torque (not bad at around 165 lbs/ft, but no where near Scoob levels).

Myths: You can flood the engines - well yes you can, but I haven't managed to do this in over 2 years. You have to adopt your driving style a little when starting, but it is not a big issue to overcome.

They use loads of oil - how do I put this? NO THEY DON'T The engine uses a little bit of oil to lubricate the rotor tips. This is normal. All you need to do is top it up every now and again. All this rubbish about checking after every second fuel fill is daft. I probably top mine up roughly once every 1000 miles or so. The upside is that it means the engine always has relatively new and clean oil.

RX7s are a totally different ball game. The engines have suffered major problems (the RX8 seems to have fixed these) - many will have had rebuilds or new rotors. As a second car yes, but not as my everyday drive.

PM me if you want anymore info

Chris

wolfie28

I have a friend (G@ndy here on Scoobynet) who owns a very powerful RX-7. I've drove it and boy can it shift in a straight line but can be a real handful in corners. I've also driven a RX-8 197ps and my impression was it was fantastic to look at inside and out but disappointing to drive, not enough power and what power you had you had to wring its neck to get it out. I guess the 230ps version would be better.
This is just my views and others will obviously differ but if you want a daily runner go for the RX-8 or if not go for the RX-7.

Wolfie.

Chris L

I think a lot is to do with your driving style. I've had my 230 on track and it is a lot of fun. It won't win traffic light GPs - there are plenty of cars that can do that, but it is far from slow. It is easily as quick A to B as either of my UK Scoobs (owned over 5 + years, completing 120K+ miles).

teamheath2

iTrader: (1)

RX-7 All the way, The RX-8's are too common now and not as special!!

GrantyBoy

Mazda is currently looking to bring the RX 7 back. A two seater turbo'd wankel engine. Could be interesting...

Chris L

I don't get this 'too common' comment. They're a main stream car - of course you're going to see a few around. Compared to the RX7, then yes there are plenty of RX8s around - but you really can't compare them to the RX7 - beyond using the same type of engine. They are like chalk and cheese.

If you want a good, modern, 4 seat RWD coupe, then your choices - beyond BMW are really quite limited. A 3 series Beemer is my definition of 'common' (in terms of numbers you see) - still a nice car though.

slickrick

Then buy the rx-7 most of them are down as 1.3 ltr on the log book.

(mine was)

slim_boy_fat

PMSL

So its not every 2nd fill its every 3rd.....

scooby_matt

It's hardly a chore though and doesn't take more than a couple of minutes. I check the oil levels on the scoob near enough every week, even though they never move.

RoRu

You think you can get 1000 miles out of 3 tanks on an RX-7, i think my old RX would used about 4 tanks to do 1000 miles, unless your driving miss daisy.

To be honest I'd check the oil in it about once a month, had it 2 1/2 yrs and the only thing that needed replacing were some water pipes.

And lets be fair if it comes down to looks the 7 is the best looking car to come out of Japan.

scooby_matt

I'll second that

g@ndy

RX8's great drive and super handling, but the majority seem to be owned by old women.
RX7's very unreliable, but easy to tune and go like stink.

I dont know how you can how you can be undecided by the two, as said before they are like chalk and cheese. And gotta be 10 grand between the 2???????????
The 7 would be a good weekend car as mine is but I would get comprehensive AA cover

scoobyfrankie

Rx7 all the way i blew an rx8 away in my volvo estate (it was a T5)

g@ndy

^ lol, nice one

SwissTony

iTrader: (19)

chris_c201

I agree that they are totally different animals....

I had an RX8 (230) for about a year, lovely car, great handling, pretty quick but built to be an overall package and still comfortable..... as an every day car it is great, only thing i would say is 23mpg was never attainable for me no matter what driving style was adopted, nearer 18 on average so very thirsty! I do agree about the oil though, in 1 year of ownership and about 10k miles i think i went through about 2 litres max apart from actual oil changes...

The rx7 is much more focused, harsh, very fast etc etc... not built for the masses like the rx8. If treated right though i do believe they will be reliable, yes they need a rebuild around the 60k mark but it shouldn't be a shock, factor it in to any purchase!