Anyone driven an RX8?

[Leonard 0]

I really shouldnt even be thinking about selling the C, but thought I would be sensible and weigh up the options!

 

Before I spend £4k + on the VR6 I notice decent RX8's are only around £10k. Not 100% on the looks but it is a fast 'sensible' car for the money.

 

Going for test drive on Sat, anyone else had a drive, got an opinion?

 

Matt :-)

[Blue_Joe 0]

I have - Nice drive!

[Sonicriot13 0]

Never driven one mate but I've heard that engine is a nightmare if anything goes wrong. And expensive to service. And MPG is really poor cos it's the reviest of the revvy Jap engines.

 

Hang on a minute, expensive to maintain and poor MPG.... That didn't put you off the rado.... I'll shut up now. :lol:

[Leonard 0]

LOL cheers guys. Yeah I know that rotary engines eat a lot of fuel but yeah your right wont be much worse than the VR6 :lol: Think the engine has a bit of a stigma attached to it after the RX7 but that was running twin turbo's 8) Plus RX8 is completely new unit.

 

Joe did it sound nice (always important) :D

[ReekieVR 0]

I had a test drive in the faster one (225?)

 

loved the car but dont think i could live with the engine sound - kept laffing during the drive. It sounds like a sewing machine !

[Leonard 0]

I had a test drive in the faster one (225?)

 

loved the car but dont think i could live with the engine sound - kept laffing during the drive. It sounds like a sewing machine !

 

LOL Oh dear doesnt sound good, wonder if an aftermarket exhaust would help? Then again may just make it sound like a strimmer! :?

[gradeAfailure 0]

Yup, nice enough car but the engine sound is laaaaaaaaamo... :lol:

 

Spend the £6k difference on the C...!

[Leonard 0]

Yup, nice enough car but the engine sound is laaaaaaaaamo... :lol:

 

Spend the £6k difference on the C...!

 

I'll have you know I was thinking more like 4.5k difference cheeky :D

 

Tis tempting tho!

[Jim Bowen 1]

aren't the engine only good for 70,000ish miles?

[Leonard 0]

aren't the engine only good for 70,000ish miles?

 

That was the case with the RX7. Dont think that is the case with the new Renesis engine tho.

[Jim Bowen 1]

RX7 was a nice car, i not a fan of the RX8, too many people have them and think they are gods gift.

 

although there is a mazdaspeed one???? something like that, with kit and spoiler local to me that is very nice looking, its blue

[yeti 0]

The renesis engine won an award if i remember rightly, it is a comepletely new development of the old rex 7 engine and is a much more civilised beasty, the bloke who sits behind me at work has an 06 one and seems to love it, its in that lightish blue colour too and looks stunning! o one thing to look out for is the alloys and silver rotary shaped badge corroding, the wheels are a mazda fix and they will order a new set for you if yours are fooked, not sure what age of car this covers but worth askking the dealer

[Phil K 0]

tbh there's a lot of cars you could pick up for £10K - the LCR being one of them.. OK it's a different league to the RX8 but still worth considering IMO (I am biased though :lol: )

[Leonard 0]

Thanks for the info Yeti :-)

 

And Phil I like the Cupra R drove real nice. However Im just not a fan of the 1.8T VAG engine, sorry.

[jonnyboyo 0]

My mate drove a 225 last week and liked it, saying it was fast, but he did say you needed to rev the nads of it as there was no low down torque. I have sat in one and blipped the throttle. Have to agree with the above on the engine note. They really don't sound like engines as we know them. Rather quiet really and a tad thin sounding.

[studentgti 0]

I've driven the 225 (think thats the top spec one). Nice looking cars, interior is seriously nice as well. The traction control and handling are completely mental, but the engine definately lets it down, uses masses of fuel, loads of oil and sounds a bit daft. Plus you do have to rag it (the 'redline' beep is at about 9k I think) to get the best out of it. Didn't like how twitchy the steering was either, especially at speed, but it definately held the road.

 

It was my mates and he only had it a couple of months before selling up and building a 20VT MKII Golf, which he much prefers, faster too!

[Sonicriot13 0]

I find that with a lot Japanese cars though. You have to rag it to get any power out. Certainly every one that I've driven. My girlfriend's Celica is the same. But when you do rag it it comes to life in a big way! 8)

[dr_mat 0]

Anyone ever driven a Lotus Carlton? There's one on autotrader for £39k .. (7900 miles old!)

Always fancied one of those .. 419 lbft through the correct wheels ..

Have to say, that bodykit looks a little dated now, but hell, when it goes like that, who gives a crap?

[davedub 0]

Talk about hi-jacking the thread :roll:

 

Anyway rx8s, let me begin by saying nnnnooooooo

 

It dont matter what you bolt on the back of it , you aint gonna improve that engine note.

 

They only ever, ever look good driven by women, or richard hammond, you get my drift either way.

 

Mpg is seriously low, only ever low twenties, forget about the 70000 mile lifespan, you'll be broke before it gets there

[tonedef 8]

Don't know if he still gets on here but BlueRado used to have one, talked to him about it when I went to look at the VR that Billcor bought in the end. He was very thorough with keeping details of a car's history and would tell you exactly what one cost to run, certainly didn't make pretty reading. PM him, see if he's still around.

[Toad 0]

You can't fit big turbos or fiddle with the RX8's engine, it doesn't like them, it might be very reliable as standard, but has none of the tuning potential of the 7s

[dr_mat 0]

Talk about hi-jacking the thread :roll:

 

Completely related. They're both cars I would like to try out .. !

[Leonard 0]

Thanks for all the imput everyone even about the lotus Calton :D

 

Well I test drove an RX8 at the weekend and i have to say i was very impressed. Engine is soooo smooth it has to have a buzzer at the 9000 redline to tell you to change up! Steering feel was lovely being rwd and having the engine mounted so far back in the bay. Plus the ride and handling were spot on for UK roads and was very forgiving if pushed to the limit. You could even get the tail out with all the driver aids on which eas nice :lol: Very practical as well and the interior is very very nice. BUT yes the engine note was the big let down and it sounded like a milk float :( Only other negatives are poor fuel economy and having to check the oil every 500 miles :shock: But hey you could live with that.

 

Still thinking about it as there are some decent low mileage 230 bhp cars around at around £10k and if I keep the C i will be wanting to spend 4k on it so.........

[DGL 0]

I have driven both a 231 and a 190 RX8 and there is not a great deal to choose between them in every day driving. The 190 has a bit more low down torque and uses less petrol. The 190 costs less too.

 

An RX8 does sound like it is electric but the engine is so smooth that you really do need the buzzer - the rev limiter is pretty abrupt in stopping you blowing it up when it kicks in shortly after the buzzer - not least because it is so tempting to drive everywhere at high revs. The handling is spot on and the ride is better than many saloon cars. The leather interior is really nice and an RX8 will carry four adults comfortably - the half doors make it easy to get in the back. The standard Bose stereo is top notch. You do have to check the oil every 500 miles, but how hard is that? It takes only a few minutes. A 190 RX8 does about 22 mpg but a VR6 only does 25mpg, if that - so who really cares about the petrol?

 

A VR6 will pull away from a 190 RX8 from a rolling start but the Mazda will close it down if you go fast enough. If you have to travel a long way the Mazda is much much quieter, you would hardly know you were doing 100mph, it is so very civilised. An RX8 does not have the character of a Corrado, it is wider and the boot opening is small but an RX8 looks good. particularly in dark colours, it is fast, practical and comfortable and loaded with useful extras. And the brakes and the handling are splendid.

 

I was convinced, so I bought one. But I kept the Corrado. One day I might sell the RX8 but I doubt I will sell the VR6.

[Andy665 0]

I was responsible for running the European launch event for the RX8 and writing all of the dealer training material so have a reasonable amount of experience with them, including driving development models in Hiroshima and Laguna Seca.

 

Fuel consumption isn't great no matter how gently you drive them, low to mid 20's is about all you can reasonably expect. The Renesis is a completely new engine and theres little scope to upgrade the powerplant as an owner but it is certainly pretty reliable, certainly no less so than a conventional piston engine, after all there are only 3 moving parts in the engine itself. The engine is supposed to use oil, a mist of oil is sprayed continuously into the rotor chamber to lubricate the rotor tips, an RX8 that didnt use oil would concern me more than one that did.

 

I actually preferred the engine characteristics of the 192PS engine to the 231PS, the 192PS was designed to be a lot torquier (comparatively speaking) than the 231PS and is a lot less frantic.

 

Build quality is very good althought the interior plastics and especially the hard shells of the seat backs on cars with leather trim scratch incredibly easily.

 

Handling as standard is a bit soft with more body roll than you might expect but its very controllable, the three stage traction control is pretty decent and at least you can completely disengage it if you really want to.

 

I think a lot of the horror stories have come about as a result of people buying RX8s when they have been used to BMWs etc where you never need to lift the bonnet, like any engine, if you neglect it it will cost you money and the Renesis does need to have its oil checked pretty regularly - I would look to buy one with a full service history and ideally a full Mazda Approved warranty - just to be safe.