Celica Forums General Discussion General mazda RX 8

hey people i have a question. i saw the RX8 and i really like it. what do you guys think. can you give me some pros and cons

its nice, get it, but if you do make sure its the 6 speed. pretty quick, it will beat a gts. if though its a sedan it still a sports car =) they are comfy and nice to drive. doesnt cost a whole lot, but if speed is what your looking for an sti or evo would be better. cons would be bck seats are small and its a pain in the ass to take your car to get worked on cause it has a rotary engine, even mazda doesnt know what they are doing.

It's not a bad car... but it's no faster really than the 6-speed GTS. Plus, it costs as much as a real sports car. I much rather have a 6-speed GTS or a RSX-s if you REALLY need 4 seats.

The engine is made by Ford, which I don't think will be all that reliable. It looks ok, but I wouldn't want to spend 29,000 on it. I would much rather get a RX7, even though it's older. You can get a much better car if your into speed or style, by getting an Evo or STi. I think the Sti engine will last the longest out of the 3. It is entirely your call. If you like the car then get it, but if you're unsure then don't get it yet, wait 2 or 3 weeks and then ask yourself if you really want that car, if you still can't decide then you must not want it all that bad.

I love how smooth the engine was ...

Mazda being associated with Ford does NOT mean that it's "made by Ford". Did you know Yamaha made engines for the Taurus before... and made our engines too? Uh oh. Our engines are made by Ford!

That is one thing rotary engines rock with. They actually have to put a warning sound on the tach when you get near redline, because you can't even tell by the sound of the engine (at 9k!).

Ford did not make the engine. Last time I checked, they never made rotary engines for production cars. And don't give me "oh but mazda is owned by ford...therefore ford this...ford that."

no wonder the lift bolts always break
u put it nicely revmonster, now i believe celica has ford parts on it. gotta go make sure if it really has some.

rx8s are faster then gts. the drive is smooth because they took power away from it to give it a smoother ride so your head doesnt jerk. you can hear when the car is in higher rpms the beep is just a safty feature, and quite annoying. when i first got my rx7 i thought people were honking at me

mazda has made engines for the some of the ford probes, if you pop the hood on some, its says mazda on the block

my old capri had a mazda engine in it. I think they put the 323 engine in my 91 Capri convertible.

But I love the rotary engines and their designs. Wish the RX-8 had a lil more "umf" to it when you gun it, but it's smooth.

audible shift light

i love it.. debating the pros and cons of selling the celi and getting it.. but i like not having a car payment...

maybe mazda speed will make a Turbo for it. a mazda salesman told me however the FD being twinturboed lost a lot of sales because people werent able to afford the insurrance

they actually have a Turbo for it already, it just can't make it to the states. I know Acosta Motorsports is working on (or maybe finished) a Turbo kit for the 8.

that will be sweet, i cant wait to see some dyno's and times for it

ok guys thanks for the info but what about speed wise? i have a sprtsshift gts (sucks) should i get a 6 speed RX* or 6 speed GTS. tell me And when it comes to adding under the hood would it be difficuly because of the rotary engine. Uh yes the the Rx8 starts at 25000 not 29. good deal. it had 237 horses out of stock. i just want 2 make sure that im trading in my gorgeous looking car for a hotter 1. its like cheating on ur women you dont wanna chest on her with someone less attractive. lol

browse through www.rx8club.com [rx8club.com] and find out.

My dads '03 ranger has a mazda engine...mmm...american japanese stuff!

You will NEVER find a 6-speed RX-8 for under $30k. I looked. High 29's and you'd be lucky.

The track times, thus far, are almost the same between the 8 and the GTS. I'd feel much more comfortable modding an engine that people actually know how to repair. If you screw something up and don't know how to fix it yourself on the 8... goodluck.

Also, Mazda isn't going to release a factory Turbo or supercharger for the car. The Mazdaspeed version is only going to have better suspension and looks.

I didn't say that because Ford owns Mazda. I always heard that Ford made the engine for the RX8.

Why cratisize someone, before you know why something was said?

one word-"slow" i saw them at the drags

You believe everything you hear?

ok i guess im getting a negative response from the Rx8 by a show of hands who will go 4 an Rx8 or a gts?

yes they are safe to mod, rotary engines respond very well to exhaust mods. rear wheel drive so it would make a better drag car then the celi. they start off at 25k for the automatic version, it has like 30 something less horsepower. the 6 speeds are 28-29k

Most the time I don't, but I had never heard that Ford didn't make the rotary for the RX8 so I thought it was the truth. If thats a problem then I'm sorry.

alot of people with celis dont think it has enough bang for the extra bucks, who cares what we think, you will be the one with the payments. as for my vote lemme tell ya this... you buy me a 8 and you can have my gts

Most the time I don't, but I had never heard that Ford didn't make the rotary for the RX8 so I thought it was the truth. If thats a problem then I'm sorry. [/quote]

who really cares who makes it? i havent heard about any problems with it and thats what matters. ford is getting better anyways i mean the lightning is quality and the new ford gt when that comes out, car and driver has only ever tested one car better then it, and that was the enzo

actually I have heard some of the problems with the 8, including flooding, poorer gas mileage than mazda claims and some other things. I've always been a fan of the rotaries, but it's not something I'd want as a daily driver.

RX8 hmm.. what can I say?
I like the design

well i went and drove one of these bad boys the other week. like people have said it is very quiet, but it is fast. it also has a perfect 50:50 weight ratio, so handling is really good. i liked it a lot, but there is a limitation on big Performance mods at the time. pretty much all they have is Intake/header/exhaust, which to me is still pretty good.

the front driver and passenger seat and leg room is pretty good. the only thing that i would say was wrong was the since the engine and trans sit so far back in the engine back, that the transmission itself is partly in the legroom area in the front. it kinda bulges out a little bit, but it was fine.

the back seats arent all that bad. there is more room back there then in the celica thats for sure. but it does have divider/cupholder thing between the back seats which i didnt like.

trunk space is alright, i think the celi has a little more room.

overall the car is decent. and yes you can get a 6 speed for under 30K a base model though. fully loaded with a few common packages added is going to put you into the 30-33K range.

my 2 cents
50:50 weight ratio is nasty for handleing plus it's rear wheel drive

and

it is light as hell with a 1.3liter that puts out as much as a 2.0 liter

The 8 wasn't built for a drag car, it's a track car. Take that thing out on auto-x and it'll fly

yeah my rx7 has shitty gas milage too, it the way the engine works because unlike normal engines that spray fuel and stop and then repeat it sprays fuel the whole time. same thing with oil too, when you start the car is sucks oil inside to lube everything, you should put a quart in every 1k. not the worst upkeep. i was talking to a saleman about the evo, you have to change the tires once a year, the kind for it or soft for grip but wear faster of course, and for oil changed you have to put mobil 1 synthetic

All I know is that the RX8 looks freakishly SEXY!

at those drags where a bunch of 'stock' street legal cars...and he got creamed on every race he was in, including an suv who beat his ass...haha

im sorry but you dont know what you are talking about, first off all the rotary engine can last well over 80k if taking car of, my rx7 has 114k and still runs great. if you abuse an engine it wont last as long, there are people on this board who have bent valves on there car and well under 80k. the average life of an rotary is over 150k.

as for the "loss" of hp for the 7 to the 8 that is a joke. the fd has 254hp and is twin Turboed you lose a mere 20 hp and your na wich, is more reliable. the new engine as a whole is more reliable. if an fd was na it would be a lot closer to the 160-170 mark. both the fd and the rx8 run 14s high 13s can be acheived with a stock fd. Turbo the 8 and it will be a beast

Ford owning them means cheapo Ford bin parts, much like on the uber-exspensive Vanquish.

I'd never spend $30K on a car with Ford parts

I worked on 3 FD before... so yep i know how FD's are not reliable. where as FCs those are pretty reliable(very reliable compared to FDs). So i think i know what im talking bout(^_^) and yet im not the owner of rx7 so i wouldnt say much about it. All i know is, rx7 fc's last very long compared to rx7 fd's. rx8s are more reliable than those two... yes i know that because they are completely different engine than the previous two. but i still dont know if the rx7 fd's would last 150k tho... because all the fd's that i worked on... they had about 150 k km's only... not miles

Just to add tho..
Im not saying rotary engines are bad(^_^) I think it's the best thing japanese had invented because they are so different and unique. I wouldnt mind having (I want one~~) FC, FD or 8s and I wont care how much problem I ran into... I think vonduchguy puts it the best:

for 30K? there are Zs,STIs,and EVOs lurking about...for 30K range i would consider those first

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the rotary engine as used by Mazda was invented in Germany by Felix Wankel. Audi worked with it for a while but eventually didn't think it was economically viable. One of the early problems, even existing in the first engines Mazda produced, was the durability of the apex seals. Another was, and is, the mileage, although for the power produced compared to piston engines it may not be that bad. Mazda didn't invent the engine, they just developed it into a smooth, light powerplant. In my book the 3rd generation RX-7 was the best, miles ahead of the RX-8 in styling. The 2nd generation RX-7 was just plain ugly.