RX8 anyone

[Darin]

I had a chance to drive one the other day and I was impressed. I have always read how good they are on the road course and I now believe it. Besides the lack of torque and they like to consume oil it had a nice big tach right in the center, great seats, and a nice shifting 6-speed. I might try to pick up a clean used one.

Anyone have any experiences with them?

[TARZAN]

Nimble lil cars, brake good, handle well....still a rotary w/ rotary problems.

-Will

[streetfalcon]

The biggest drawback to the rx8 is the serious lack of vision. That car has the largest blind spots I have ever seen.

I mean from you back to almost straight behind you in the rear view mirror you cannot see.

[MFE]

I have some friends that own them and track them. Amazingly capable cars. From my understanding, drawbacks include really crappy gas mileage, fuel starvation on track at anything under about 2/3 tank, and a perpetual hunger for apex seals. Do NOT get one out of warranty! Other than that they don't seem to go through too much other than oil and fuel.

Here's some video of me behind a friend of mine. He's an outstanding driver, and I have to pedal it a bit on the straights to stay behind him, but he and I are both working our cars to their maximums through the corners. He's within a second or so of my lap times, and I don't think he's got much done to it at all. I started pushing him a little harder at the end, and you can see how they really handle at the limits. If you know what to look for you can see it transition from understeer to oversteer, but usually not very dramatically. FWIW we've spent so much time on the track together there's 100% trust I'm not going to drive through him.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/9...-an_168077.htm

[Darin]

Great vid and that's pretty amazing / surprising considering the mods to your coupe and the RX8's lower HP and TQ. I guess your cars are pretty evenly matched, or is he a better driver? I know you said he is outstanding but how does he compare to you?

Originally Posted by MFE

I have some friends that own them and track them. Amazingly capable cars. From my understanding, drawbacks include really crappy gas mileage, fuel starvation on track at anything under about 2/3 tank, and a perpetual hunger for apex seals. Do NOT get one out of warranty! Other than that they don't seem to go through too much other than oil and fuel.

Here's some video of me behind a friend of mine. He's an outstanding driver, and I have to pedal it a bit on the straights to stay behind him, but he and I are both working our cars to their maximums through the corners. He's within a second or so of my lap times, and I don't think he's got much done to it at all. I started pushing him a little harder at the end, and you can see how they really handle at the limits. If you know what to look for you can see it transition from understeer to oversteer, but usually not very dramatically. FWIW we've spent so much time on the track together there's 100% trust I'm not going to drive through him.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/9...-an_168077.htm

[MFE]

Hard to quantify. I'd call it a draw. We've had a hell of an evenly-matched time no matter what he's brought to the track, from an RX-8 to a 350Z to a WRX. But it's more than lap times, I've been able to watch his line, his corner entry, corner exit, transitions off the brakes, onto the gas, his slides, his recoveries...we're hittin' it about the same way.

[ekcruzin88gt]

I wish there was a track close by that I could take the WRX to. That looks like a blast! The closet one would probably be Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL.

[MFE]

FWIW, he bemoans the lack of torque in the RX8 but says it's a way more fun car to drive on the track than his 350Z was. He was pretty damned fast in the 350Z but he says the RX8 just wants to be there and to do that, whereas he felt like he was constantly whipping the 350Z to perform. I don't recall how he's compared the RX8 to his WRX or what he's likely to get into next. Maybe a Lotus.

[MFE]

Here's another view, this time of him, in his RX8, but now I see it's not an in-car cam, so take it for what it's worth. There are other videos of his on the same page so you can get some more flavor.

http://vimeo.com/4659659

[ATOMonkey]

Needs turbo.

Those roto motors are easy to work on. There's only about 3 pieces to the whole silly thing. The entire motor wieghs about 100 lbs too (that may be an exageration). So, replacing seals isn't a big deal, I guess is the moral of my story.

The wenkel, by design, has to move a lot of air to make power, since it doesn't generate a ton of pressure, like a traditional piston engine.

So, you either need to spin them to the moon if they're NA, or you gotta boost 'em. Luckily, since the wenkel has low compression also, they are very boost friendly.

[bgjohnson]

Wankel BTW. And you have to find somebody to press the APEX seals on and off. Which can be hard to find in places since people break them trying.

As far as handling they are an amazing neutral balance feeling car. I'd love to track one. Predictable, not too stiff of a ride, and fun to zing through the gears.

[ATOMonkey]

You don't have to use a shop to press the seals in and out.

[dba-murder]

A ho that used to work here bought one brand new. I'm not sure of all the details but within a month it was back to the dealer for an engine out repair. Something about not beating on it enough to break in the seals. I've always been taught to go easy on a new engine. They told her the opposite. Don't know if that is true with a rotary engine.

[ATOMonkey]

Always drive it like you stole it. I don't care what the stealership says. They're just trying to cover their ass. If something is actually wrong with the engine, and you're easy on it, then they can fix it without replacing the entire engine.

After being part of a family, building all kinds of engines and transmissions for the last 40 some odd years, there is no benefit to "taking it easy" on a new engine transmission or anything else.

[dba-murder]

I've also always heard there is a break in period for a gear swap

[ATOMonkey]

There is a period of time where the gears will establish a contact patch, which is simply burnishing or micro-deforming the metal where the gears meet.

If you run it harder, the gears run in faster. You won't wreck a set of gears by running them hard.

Once again, people recommend you run your new gears easy so that if the backlash or pattern is bad you'll notice it before you break it all the way. If it's setup right, no reason to go easy on it.

[dba-murder]

Damn, you are going all Yoda and stuff!

[bgjohnson]

BEAT IT!!

[bob8797]

There must be a reason Mazda doesn't stick the turbo four from the MazdaSpeed 3 in the RX8, but I don't know what the hell it is.

[ATOMonkey]

RX cars will always be roto-motors. That's just the way it is.

[I3oostedCubes]

Originally Posted by bob8797

There must be a reason Mazda doesn't stick the turbo four from the MazdaSpeed 3 in the RX8, but I don't know what the hell it is.

My God it wouldn't be a RX-what ever then!!!

Really neat cars. Buddy had one but traded in on a 350z. It has a GREAT interior but the power was meh and you can't really get much out of a N/A 13b motor N/A. Handling was awesome though and it looks good. I know you can pick one up for a good price.

I had a 94 RX-7 R2 and it was probably my most reliable car believe it or not lol. I was a huge Rotard.

[stangdriver99]

Originally Posted by bob8797

There must be a reason Mazda doesn't stick the turbo four from the MazdaSpeed 3 in the RX8, but I don't know what the hell it is.

From what I've heard the MS3 has direct injection and has high pressure fuel pump on the back of the engine causing it not to fit in the RX8. That would make for a sweet car though!

[ATOMonkey]

Just put a turbo on the wankel (there I spelled it right this time). The staged turbos on the old RX-7 were a thing of beauty!

[mmeans]

Originally Posted by bob8797

There must be a reason Mazda doesn't stick the turbo four from the MazdaSpeed 3 in the RX8, but I don't know what the hell it is.

Killing the rotary is admitting defeat?


Michael Means

[bgjohnson]

Haha at MM

An MS3 engine swap would be freakin sick. It would be just about the perfect car.

[mmeans]

I'd rather they keep the RWD, a retuned B2300 / Miata (Ford 2.3) with dual stage turbos?


Michael Means

[dba-murder]

Mr. Means hates rotary engines.

[S8ER01Z]

Originally Posted by MFE

Here's some video of me behind a friend of mine. He's an outstanding driver, and I have to pedal it a bit on the straights to stay behind him, but he and I are both working our cars to their maximums through the corners. He's within a second or so of my lap times, and I don't think he's got much done to it at all. I started pushing him a little harder at the end, and you can see how they really handle at the limits. If you know what to look for you can see it transition from understeer to oversteer, but usually not very dramatically. FWIW we've spent so much time on the track together there's 100% trust I'm not going to drive through him.

http://videos.streetfire.net/video/9...-an_168077.htm

Impressive video! What mods do you have? What mods did he have? I can't believe you were not running right past him on the straights? Great driving and makes me want to go run just once.

[mmeans]

I actually test drove an RX8. It was gutless till you got it spinning but it's a refined car. It sure handled well, was pt together well and if not for the fact it was the first year I may have bought it.


Michael Means

[dba-murder]

Mr. Means hates the first year.

You were wise though. Look what happened to nearly all the '93 RX7

[mmeans]

The sales weasel was giving off a bad vibe as well. I could smell the snake oil on his olestra breath.


Michael Means

[dba-murder]

Anal leakage

[mmeans]

It looked like he was speaking but in retrospect you're probably right.


Michael Means

[MFE]

Originally Posted by S8ER01Z

Impressive video! What mods do you have? What mods did he have? I can't believe you were not running right past him on the straights? Great driving and makes me want to go run just once.

My mods are in my sig, and as far as his mods I think they might amount to a tune, maybe exhaust, and I think the same kind of brake pads I have (Carbotech XP8 or XP10). Both of us drive to and from the track in air-conditoned stereo-surrounded comfort. To be fair, I'm driving a car that's 3450 lbs with me in it, with a 57/43 F/R weight distribution, on 245-width tires. His car weighs probably 3125 with him in it with a 50/50 weight distribution.

The reason I'm not flat spanking him on straights is he can go through, and most importantly come out of, slower corners faster than I can, giving him an initial speed advantage onto straights that I have to overcome before I can even start to pull away. "Corner exit speed is everything", and I'm putting maybe 60 more HP to the ground than he is.

[carpediem50]

Seems I remember reading that those things actually get better mpg when driven hard. Maybe someone can vouch for that or otherwise. It would feel weird to drive a car you had to beat on to make it run efficiently.