What people opnions on them? Any good? Heared they like to drink fuel though?

 

Someone told me they drink and not that fun :S

 

My dad had one the 231, use abit of oil MPG is shocking for the performance you actually get, but they handle well enough make a nice noise, fairly nice inside

but people have really become to hate them thats why you can get them for about 20quid

 

Lovely looking car and thats about it.

Everything else about them is rubbish.

Terrible engines, terrible mpg, cold start problems, have droped in value.

Just my opinon of course.

 

mazda have washed their hands of the rx8 knowing they built a very mechanically hindered motor. try getting spares for them, impossible. mazda know the engines have a poor life span, and as such only really fix cars under warranty, other than that the spares are like rocking horse shit!

check the classifieds, u can buy really clean rx8s with blown engines for peanuts. but then try and find an engine....

some bargains to be had, but if u get a lemon, and it does inevitably go wrong, u may find yourself up shit creek lol

 

Fair enough, just thought they seem to be tidy looking for car for little money. But obviously there is usually a reason why they cost so little.

 

right,I went in to all the pros and cons of these the other week as I went to buy one.

Compression test is a must!!!
Mazda say if the compression at 250rpm is less than 6.9bar the engine is as good as scrap,this must be done when the engine is hot!
Also from one rotor to the other there must be no more than 1bar difference else the engine will give you problems.

Coil leads and coil packs slowly break down and should be replaced as often as 25-30,000mls because when the plugs don't spark as strong it can lead to flooding which then as such "bore washes" the rotors and the apex rings (side piston rings) tend to wear giving low compression.

Coil packs and leads are cheapest from the USA in the uk 4 coilpacks will cost you £200 easily,from the USA you can get leads and coilpacks delivered for the same price.

The rotary engine is actually designed to use oil,but the problem is there is only 2points of lubrication,after 2008 Mazda changed this to 3 to aid the lube of the apex rings and rotor tips.
There are infact oil aditives that can help prevent wear,you put this in the fuel.

There is a rotary engine builder in Coventry that I spoke to get this info from and is most trusted.
Fuel wise around town expect 17mpg on a run maybe 23mpg at best.

If you buy one get the lowest mileage car possible,I looked at one with only 24,000 mls on the clock and the rotors compression from one side to the other had a difference of 1.1bar,I was advised to walk away.

Anything with about 50,000mls on it could have a short life ahead,the engine builder words not mine,for the life of me I cant remember his name now either.

Mazda gave a de-flooding procedure,which is a pain but does work,join the AA just in case.
If you start the car,you're supposed to let it warm up properly before you turn it off because this again can cause flooding,to turn off the car you're supposed to rev it to about 4-5000 rpm then turn it off,this blows all unburnt fuel out to aid in not flooding again when restarting

Insurance wise not to bad.

£6000 would get you a good one (compression test though) the one i looked at had 24,000mls on it and was an 06 plate, even that still had the compression problem from one rotor to the other though.

To me it was a great looking car, the 230bhp can nudge 150mph with a 0-60 of about 6.2 seconds, but at the end of the day it seem like just too much of a pain in the ass to watch out for this and that, dont do this or that, when you can get a focus ST-2 for simila money which you simply service, fill with fuel and drive it as an every day car.

ask more questions to jog my memory and I'll help where I can

 

Thirsty

No torque

Smooth and rev like a bitch

Sublime handling, real good rwd fun with smooth power delivery ( double wishbone suspension )

Designed to drink oil so not unusual

Take not of the compresson test warning above

Lots of car for the cash providing you can live with the quirks - rebuilds are also way cheaper than a conventional reciprocating piston engine so dont let it put you off too much!

 

the ones i have worked on have also had quite a bit of corrosion which seems a bit of a problem for newish mazda`s