craigfocus

ive just been looking at one on a forecourt with full history and in really good condition and its only £1400, is it bargain or is the somthing about these cars i dont know?

robp-tt

iTrader: (1)

The engines dont last long and cost a fortune to fix when they do die

tdcitony

yup your rite rotary engine rotars wear new engine easy as that not worth a penny

CrOwSoN15

Same as any car, look after them and it'll look after you.

But if the guy before hasn't looked after it, it's going to cost you!

The Youth.

iTrader: (1)

As said the engines are made of chocolate and you will soon find its a non starter when cold, it also has an issue that when you start it from cold and run it for 2 mins then switch it off it wont restart!

They will soon be one of the rarest cars on the road..

steve

lewis.philcox

because they are shit

dakar

iTrader: (1)

Good cars but useless if you only do short runs,the higher bhp dont seem very quick for the power in my opinion but i do like em to drive oh yeah and they are shite on fuel

clairendave

values MAY go up when Martin gets his conversion for the vag engine sorted out

RS 5tu

iTrader: (2)

Many people don't know how to look after them so they don't last two mins and there crap on fuel.
You can get engines rebuilt and fitted for £1200 not bad IMO if I was looking to get one I would get a late spec 6speed 231 with a knackered engine get it rebult and for around 2k have a decent second car.
Just make sure you look after it as per the service/ owners book

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

They chew fuel and oil at an alarming rate, then once you are finally starting to get your head round that... the engine dies and you put it on eBay/Gumtree for a few hundred note.


Cheers,
Grant

craigfocus

i was gonna get myself a cheap bike after xmas and i might buy this as a weekend toy and use the focus during the week, interior was immaculate and its only 31k on the clock, its give me a dilema. its the 192 version which us fine fa me im not a fast driver.

Maxwell

Does the transmission take abuse when running decent power??? I was offered a really nice blue one for £500 recently as its engine is shot. But i have a 2.0 zetec lay doing nothing. An RX8 Zetec Turbo would be cool lol

But a local guy put an SR20DET into one and was a great car!!

RS 5tu

iTrader: (2)

Lots of people are doing engine conversions in there, tbh there a great spec car for no money at all.
How many cars can you get rwd, 6 speed box, LSD and 220+bhp and pretty new too for the price of a RX8

Ben26

for the sake of £1400 and if its as nice as u claim then fuck it, even if u get a year or so out of it , its a lot of car for low money. when it brakes scrap it.

or u could be lucky and get many years out of her, will the garage offer any warranty with it ?

Ben26

if someone could come up with the apex seal that never failed they would make a few quid I recon

cossie daz

My mate had one and it cost a fortune in petrol

lewis.philcox

when my Dad was looking for a new car he looked at these because of how nice they look. Even the Mazda dealer told my dad not to touch them. They even refuse them as part ex and refuse to stock new ones because there so unreliable. So my dad went and bought a Golf R32 instead the correct choice IMO

minder

as said above they are fucking shit i drove a standard one and the 40th anniversary edition
and are not as fast as people make them out to be but saying that £1.400 will make a good track car being rear wheel drive

RS 5tu

iTrader: (2)

I would have a 231ps as a trackday/weekend toy, but there is no chance i would have one as a daily.

It's Czech Mate

It nothing to do with reliability as to be honest they aren't bad if you are prepared to read the handbook and follow instuctions

They use oil as they are designed to so you need to budget that in, plus horrendous fuel consumption and high road tax, the running costs are why nobody wants them

Brilliant to drive though and really sweet handling, double wishbone suspension etc......deffo worth a punt for £1400

cozzfather

iTrader: (1)

270 quid for 6 months tax or 540 if you did it twice a year,so in 3 years the road tax would of cost more than the pile of shite's initial outlay.

Cossie Sean

propper petrolhads car IMO

we all love high revs, shit econnomy, and iffy (at best) reliability dont we?!

i love these

nice interiors, cracking gearbox and lovely looking things too

hopefully people come up with engine conversion mounts and bellhousings etc as they would make em worth the money they should be IMO

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

Engine conversions for them aren't that tricky the engine bay is quite roomy Dyno Torque are currently dropping an LS2 into one and it fits no bother.
I big problem thou is dash and dials they all work through the ECU that does the engine too. Not really a problem as the car is question as it's having a Stack Dash but a plug and play conversion will always have down fall of not having a working dash
Unless someone quite clever can do the nessasary wiring, but I think many people have tried and failed.
Rich

mp1

Because they are chudd!!

Cossie Sean

Rich,

most folks after an RX8 dont want a huge LS motor,

as Martin has brainstormed, the 1.8T is perfect for the body IMO

or a late 200ish BHP reliable engine that isnt a highly strung caffine addict, but a gentle item that can go once prodded with a stick!

theres loads of ideas out there from MANY platforms, Even the Mazda/Ford "duratec" (fuck all Ford about it lol!)
2.3 Turbo RX8???? Perfect
I would have one tomorrow for £2k/£3k

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

I just used the LS as an example of what can be possible with these great cars, but like I said a plug and play conversion is pretty impossible due to the complex wiring issues.
I believe this is one of the issues Martin hasn't been able to over come either.

Rich

Cossie Sean

"standalone" managment and instrumentation, wiring and displays are easily available

although getting the donor car instrumentation to fit, shouldnt be much of an issue if it isnt too modern, or supported by CAN BUS,

but it ramps the prices up with everything you do

again which is a shame

GVK.

Most cars in the last 10 yrs have CAN going through the instruments., clusters part of immo, gateway for CAN etc.

cossiestu

pmsl Blunt and to the point I guess!?

But, I totally agree!!

Cossie Sean

Rich, didnt mean to sound like i was "telling" you anything matey, just how my mind works with cars

Gary, tell me about it!
when i put that 5 pot in my A4 the clocks drove me mad beeping/flashing........ fuckers lol 1999 car but they have immob3 from 1997

MrC

Engines are like chocolate, eats fuel eats oil, strange mayonnaise appears under the oil cap, even from factory :-/

Alloys corrode within 12 months, and no guts, shit at overtaking, no torque at all.

Ade

A mate of mine put a 1JZ in his.
550bhp with a Holset and piggyback, works well... but was a massive job!
He even made all the dash work too which is quite a task....

Carlos-Titx

If it had a better engine they'd be great. I think they look really good and love the doors and interior.

Never driven one though but a neaghbour has one and sounds like a motorped.

massivewangers

iTrader: (1)

I drove one a few years ago and really liked it. Yes you have to rev it to get it to go, but you have to do that to Hondas and people rave about them.

I think the rear doors were a bit pointless. A nice gimmick but the rear legroom is non-existent so they should have saved the effort and made it a two door.

I think a lot of the unreliability is down to poor maintenence or understanding. I think if it was turbocharged, like the RX-7, people would be talking about it very differently.

For £1400, if it's in good condition and you can stomach the fuel bills, it's a good fun car for the money.

jaiscossie

I've had a couple over the years, the first one was the pz prodrive model. Get a low mileage one as possible, I bought a blue 07 plate a couple of years back that had only done 8k miles from new and was like a new car all for the bargain price of £5500. You couldn't even get a fiesta with theft sort of mileage for that price. Loved driving mine and if you can put up with the fuel consumption and high tax bracket for 06 onwards cars then they make a great car.

craigfocus

thanks for the opinions and im still tempted as it wouldn't be used on a day to day basis I have my focus for that, think I need to drive it and heres a link for it.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...s/20?logcode=p

jaiscossie

Cheap car and let's be honest for £1400 what other sports car can you get on an 04 plate? There isn't one.

Bailes1992

To be honest I think an RX8 would be a perfect weekender.
If I wanted a car to rag about on the weekend then I'd like something high maintenance. Something I can 'tinker' with and service.

I quite like the rotary engine too! But I would never consider one for day to day usage.

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

Are you sure about that Rich??

Sonic Boom

iTrader: (11)

Only what the Twinny's have told me.
Rich