baldmike73

i was driving to the dealership with my son in the back and a Mazda RX8 with garbage can exhaust cans was trying to get all over me - i was resisting the urge until i got on the freeway but man i so wanted to romp all over him - sounded fast - my 2 year old is in the back seat saying "faster daddy" - it was kind of comical - wanted to share - never get the opp in SJ to run with anyone - fast or slow

SterlingE55

They handle extremely well but are not straight line cars. No torque. Fun though. Glad you were safe and responsible with your boy in the back!

yeomans

Those cars look fast and that's it. Zero torque.

emoving

When they are even running properly.

jcjmw

Another clown response by removing.

moosejaw

Beware of the 3 Rotor 20B swap that are fairly easy to do in a RX8. A single turbo 20B will put down 500-600 hp on low boost.
The car below is faster than my E55. Well it feels faster on the butt dyno but I'm pretty sure it will beat my E55

Busta Riles

I don't know anyone who's owned one and actually liked the car.

The early 90's RX-7 is another story. That was a pretty hot car.

yeomans

Is that the motor with the lifespan of 20k miles?

cahiil55k

RX-8: Slow, girly, and a waste of gas to race.

moosejaw

No.......
Any rotary can last 100+miles but there is a lot maintenance when overhauling this motor
A rotary that fails at less than 20K miles can account on several things......
But it all boils down to engine builder and his competency.

This is why only experienced rotary engine builders should work on these cars. If you see the pics below....I just pulled my T-78 turbo out to get rebuilt. It had a small oil leak. I had to pull so much stuff to get to that turbo. In fact if you were to add another hour that motor can come out entirely with transmission attached.

BenzoDoc

Sorry, in the kindest way, you're wrong. Owned one for 4 years as a caged and gutted daily driven track car and it ran faster times than our current much more expensive Porsche race car. And I never had an issue even during 110* track days that were frequent at TWS.

The downfall was when I turboed it as I had plateaued with my lap times- the renesis motor wasn't meant to be turboed. I think I will agree that that power plant is the Achilles heel of what could have been an iconic platform.

And to be honest- the car looks like a girl car, a juvenile girl car, no matter how capable it is.

Now you know someone.

emoving

I know two girls that have them and both had their motors replaced under warranty. That to me is JUNK.

pearlpower

You know, even today on the 405, I truly believe Mazda has SBSM (subliminal bull ***** message) feeding through the speakers telling drivers their car has about 500 hp under the hood because wow, those folks are as bad as BMW 318 drivers.

Beyond that, nice car, handles well, had a few RX-7s back in the day with smoke, burned up seals, etc.

AKnight55

RX8 FTL

moosejaw

A lot of present day RX7 owners would buy a RX8 as a daily, prob bc if anything went wrong it would be a easy fix for a rotary mechanic
I wouldnt......Im not really a Mazda fan as much as a Rotary Fan (sorry Turdster)

The story behind the RX8 motors failing is a common story. Thats why many go back to the 13REW of go 20B

BenzoDoc

Strong sample size of 2.

Being women I am SURE that they added oil with every fill up as they were supposed to, right?

baldmike73

kind of figured that - he was driving like an *** and you could tell he was winding it up to really get it going -

moosejaw

Premix is only necessary if you eliminate the Oil Metering Pump
I still have my OMP and I dont premix. Ive been on the same motor for 5+years and i beat the ***** out of it. My compression is +100 on all three sides last time i had it checked. But I have friends who dont have a OMP and swear by the Walmart Supertech 2 stroke. So to each their own

pullejo

I had a TKT package (Along with quite a few other goodies) from Pettit on my '93 R1. Went through three seals (and two complete motors) before I finally gave up on that little demon in '98. That car handled like it was on rails - nothing better. Was faster than my buddies Testarosa (his dad founded AutoZone...so that's why a 24 year old was driving a Testarosa back then)... On a track it would have beaten my 55...but not a chance in hell in a straight line it would. I never took it to the 1/4 mile. I'm guessing low 13's high 12's.

sunil517

No matter what I can afford I will always have a rotary power car to enjoy.
My single turbo 93rx7 is pushing 520 RWHP. My friends 3 rotor is making 630. Remember its is only 1300cc or 70CID so you class that to our 5.5 and 6.2 motors. My bone stock 79 rx7 died at 270K miles 12a bone stock.

pullejo

Comparing a rotary to a piston engine on a standard displacement basis is just silly. A 1300 cc rotary is actually more like a 4 liter piston. All six chambers have a displacement of almost .7 liters, but it takes three revolutions of the output shaft to bring all those chambers through a full cycle. Were it to be rated by the same method as a piston engine (chamber displacement times number of chambers), it would be called a 3.9 liter, which is silly too. So instead they just rate each rotor housing as a cylinder...and come up with the 1.3 liter rating. And I wouldn't even go anywhere near the efficiency argument - I've got over 500 at the wheels and I bet I have a better efficiency rating per/hp than your rotor.

Don't thing I'm dinging your 7 or the rotary at all. Quite the opposite - I think it's a mechanical marvel that I wish had been developed more. Nothing revs like it or is as smooth as it...nothing. You just really can't compare and contrast a rotary against a piston.

And I got tired of my apex seals blowing. :-)

One of the immense benefits of a rotary is the power output to weight ratio. That just cannot be match by a piston engine. Except some two strokes that approach the 250 hp/liter range. But then again, using the math that declares a 13B to be a 1.3 liter, that is still destroyed.

pullejo

Oh - and one more thing. There are very few cars that have held up as well as the 3rd gen 7 in the looks category. A 20 year old car that still looks magical and modern and I see ripped off in many new cars (seen the new Vette concept?).

sunil517

The FD's look like it just rolled out the show room. The rotary powered cars will always have a placing in racing history at the 12 and 24 hrs races. Also 24 hrs of Le Mans only Japanese manufacture to win it.
I think they are very reliable car but we push that motor 400% of what is was design for and nothing will last. Plus the same "block" that is in the race car is in our street cars.
I wish I had my 79 rx7 and my 88 Anny next to my 3rd gen..... be nice ot have all 3 at the same time....
This is my first AMG and it will not be my last but I will give up an AMG for a rotary.....

AMG_punk

i actually have an Rx8 and yes its fun as hell sometimes... It has the thirst of the E55 with out the power... I get like 15 mpg and it has NO TQ, witch sucks.

That's why im saving up for an E55 im almost there!! But the RX8 was my first car and ill never sell that dumb car i just love it to much!!