13th Feb 2008, 13:31

All,

I am here to say as well that I own a 2004 RX-8 (pre-owned BTW), and the only issue I have had with the car was having to have the tires replaced.

Now I know that my luck is that I possibly got the used one the old mid-life crisis guy returned with 20k on the dial, so lucky me.

Anyway, I enjoy this car on the weekends as well as my daily driver, and I do so like I have stolen the damn thing. Yet just like a mistreated dog, it still keeps coming back if you take care of it.

That being said RX8's can be slow taking off, but that is if you take off below 4k RPM's. So all you piston Nazi's out there really need to revisit your opinion and rev the 8 up to 9.5k. Don't worry, she can take it, but try doing that on a piston and you may see your rods thrown through the hood ;-)

/troll mode off.

16th Mar 2008, 22:01

I recently bought my 2005 RX-8 within the last 2 months. I use it for daily driving. I also bought it used, but I was lucky enough to buy it with less than 6000 miles on it. Saw it on the web and immediately went for a test drive and bought it that day.

There is certainly a way you have to drive this vehicle. It was designed, like all rotary engines, to do its work at the higher RPM. Do not expect to hit 60 mpg if you are taking off at 4000 rpm or shifting at low RPM. I am more impressed at how well it goes from 60 mph to 100 mph. Very smooth. You will not believe you are going that fast until you look down.

As far as the suicide doors are concern, that is one of the reasons I liked the car. Besides that fact that my friends say there is more room in the back than they expect, it makes it a lot easier to get in. I put my briefcase, golf clubs, etc. quickly and easily by just opening that single door.

If you do not know that a rotary engine eats oil, then I suggest you do not buy one. THIS IS A SPORTS CAR. It takes a little bit of commitment if you are a weekend driver and a lot if you are a daily driver. It is well worth it for this car; I'm not so sure about the other affordable sports car on the market; not a ton of after market things to add to it, but you really do not need them.

I like this car so much that I think that in five years I am going to buy a new version of an RX-8 or whatever model is out there and give the one I have now to my son.

27th Jun 2008, 21:15

I'm buying one tomorow does anyone live in a colder climate? I'm going to drive it to the day they put salt on the road. I test drove it, wasn't impressed with the acceleration... At first! Rev er up and she's good to go. I am curious what kind of out of the ordinary maintenance is needed for the rotary engine, I drive em like I stole them so I'll let you know how I make out.

24th Feb 2010, 00:25

Being a new owner of a 2005 RX8 (trading from a tuner car), the RX8 is a great car, it may be slower than others in the a straight line, but the car was designed to be a track car, meaning tracks similar to the Japanese mountain roads the car was designed for. You can push the RX8 aggressively and she just wants more, and is very forgiving.

11th Jul 2011, 07:53

An answer to a question in here that has not been answered correctly.

How do you drive the RX-8?

Well, the first thing that you should think about is revving high. But remember that it is a rotary engine, which means that you have to be careful that you do not rev it above 4000 RPM when it's cold. To do that, on the dash in front of you, there is a temperature gauge that has 'H' and 'C', and in the middle is a line. If the needle on this gauge is not over the middle line, then that means that your engine is cold, so wait till it’s over the middle line to drive it in high revving, but don't worry, this doesn't take as long as a piston engine to reach the middle!

This car needs to be driven hard, which means high revving.

High revving is good, because it keeps the carbon build up away from those seals, so to make sure this is not happening, rev it to 9000 RPM or where the red line is at on your gauge. Do this at least once a day if you're driving it every day, and don't worry, you don't need to do this every day if you're not driving it every day, or if you use it as a weekender, or every time you drive it, give it a red line (when it's warm) at least once.

Flooding is an issue in these cars, and can conclude in replacing the engine, or rebuilding it (if the car has not been taken care of).

- To prevent flooding, you have to service the car every 5,000kms, and change the spark plugs and coils every 60,000kms.

- NEVER and NEVER switch the car off when it's cold; this is the main reason why people flood their engines.

- NEVER use synthetic oil, because it's designed to avoid burning oil, and rotary engines are designed to burn oil. So it does what a rotary engine tries to avoid.

- Always rev high when warm to keep the carbon build up away. If you don't, it will occur over the valve, and it will never open again.

- You have to use a high CCA battery, good sparks, and good coils to avoid misfires, or any other ignition problems.

- Top up the car with oil to top up, or fill the oil when the car is cold, aim between 3rd dot and full line, and if the car is hot, top up to full line 8. This is normal, because rotary engines use a lot of oil for those rotors to spin fast and freely to 10,000 RPM.

I RECOMMEND THOSE WHO WANT TO BUY THE AUTOMATIC VERSION TO ONLY BUY THE SERIES 2 RX-8, BECAUSE THE SERIES 1 WILL NOT MAKE YOU HAPPY IF IT'S AN AUTOMATIC, UNLESS IF YOU REALLY WANT A SPORTS CAR WITH NO TORQUE AND SLOW :) GET THE MANUAL; IT'S A REAL SPORTS CAR LIKE NO OTHER!

I am very sorry if I missed any other valuable information.

To learn more on the RX-8 visit the RX8club forum.

Please don't post a comment up if you don't know about these cars and then talk bad things that don't even exist.

Thank you for your time.

Ali, cheers.