RX-8 Owners

[bhammer]

Any other Series II RX-8 owners here?

 

[redone4x4]

Re: RX-8 Owners

Any other Series II RX-8 owners here?

no, but i worked at a place in high school that specialized in RX-7s. We got to view the prototype years ago, the only mock up they had at the time. it was pretty neat. pretty amazing cars that are underestimated IMO.

 

[DJ]

Re: RX-8 Owners

I do not own one but have driven several.

There is a lot more power than the numbers (HP) indicate. The power is a completely different feel than a piston engine. I eqaute it more to an electric motor or a gas/electric hybrid.

They are NOT good on fuel.

 

[bhammer]

Re: RX-8 Owners

Yes, fun cars to drive, and no, they are not good on gas. For a 4 banger, they suck the gas. The car handles great. Shoot, a right hand turn at 30 is not hard to do. If I drive easy, I can get about 18mpg and when I push it, I get about 15 mpg. But hey, what fun cars are good on gas. I just think of like the boat; to have fun, you have to stop by the pump....

The rotaries have had their issues and in 09, they introduced the series II that fixed some of the issues. I have a friend who has an 05 and at 80k miles, the dealer just put in a remaned engine. They have a 100k power train.

 

[DJ]

Re: RX-8 Owners

Yes, a little "quirky" but loads of fun. The car is well balanced and the power is OH SO smooth. That is what this car and Mazda is all about.

Very unlike a Suby (turbo-WRX) which is basically an ON-OFF switch. I've been in the "toolies" a couple times with one of those, AWD regardless.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: RX-8 Owners

For a 4 banger, they suck the gas.

well, more like a 2 banger to be specific.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: RX-8 Owners

Yeah, I thought they are twin rotors?

 

[bhammer]

Re: RX-8 Owners

well, more like a 2 banger to be specific.

Ya, you are right but I do bang 4 times as I have 4 spark plugs.

They have the 3 rotor versions now too.

 

[redone4x4]

Re: RX-8 Owners

Ya, you are right but I do bang 4 times as I have 4 spark plugs.

They have the 3 rotor versions now too.

I remember seeing turbocharged 3 rotors on the dyno in the shop....pushing out over 1000 hp. pretty impressive, they went in 7 second 1/4 mile cars at the time.

 

[bhammer]

Re: RX-8 Owners

There is a guy that lives in my area that has a heavy modded 2005 8 and is pushing 719whp. I think he has about 25k in upgrades from suspension, brakes, engine, super charger, exhaust and all the other goodies.... he uses it for racing mainly and keeps it street legal by putting his catback back on if he wants to run the street. I think his 0-60 was just over 3 seconds. The one time I rode with him, he picked on a motorcycle at a stoplight and beat it. Not too many cars that can do that. But, with all that power, comes the risk of an early demise of your engine.

Shoot, it's a fun car to drive. I remember one time I have on the freeway and wanted to pass some guy doing 55 in a 65 zone in the left. I dropped to third and slammed the throttle. Before I knew it, the rev limiter kicked in at 9000 RMP and I was doing 85.

I was just curious if there were owners of the new series II and what upgrades they had done.

 

[Philip_G]

Re: RX-8 Owners

Ya, you are right but I do bang 4 times as I have 4 spark plugs.

They have the 3 rotor versions now too.

More than that, I'd have to really think about it and it's early, but you get more than one power "stroke" per revolution per rotor in a rotary. All 3 faces of the rotor... The animation is better than any description I could write:

I've had plenty of fun with rotaries, I had a lot more fun when I put a chevy LS1 V8 in my FD RX-7. Lots of torque is a lot more fun than none