3 yr old cars = £7,-8,000
1 year old = £12,000
I knew there were engine issues early on - say 6 years ago, and they are heavy on fuel
They are surely excellent value at that price or are they a money pit.
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Don't they also need servicing at stupidly high intervals too?
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Servicing seems to be 12,500 miles or twelve months (same as our 2007 Ford based Mazda 2). I think too many look at the engine size (1.3 litre), ignore the fact it is a wankel engine producing around 231 bhp, and expect the same sort of economy as a 'normal' 1.3 litre petrol engined car. It would be fairer to compare the fuel consumption to a 2 litre or larger petrol engine.
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The couple who bought my sister in laws MX5 arrived in an RX8. Got chatting to the guy. Reckoned it used a litre of oil every 700 miles or so, and averaged 24 mpg.
Not fast or powerful enough IMO to have to put up with that kind of nonsense.
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"a litre of oil every 700 miles or so"
I've had cars like that...
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Ironically the Mazda I drive, the Mazda6 diesel, has a problem of rising oil levels :-)
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>> Ironically the Mazda I drive, the Mazda6 diesel, has a problem of rising oil levels :-)
I'm hoping you know that this is a bad thing:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/mazda/6-2002/?section=bad
Last edited by: AnotherJohnH on Wed 16 Feb 11 at 08:37
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>> "a litre of oil every 700 miles or so"
Nearly as bad as a Ford Anglia I ran as a youngster.
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>> It would be fairer to compare the fuel consumption to a 2 litre or larger petrol engine.
They go down as 2.6 litres on the V5
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I looked into these in a bit of detail a while back, could tick the sports car box, and you don't half get a fine bit of metal for your pennies.
High fuel consumption and top band emissions.
Prone to refusing to start - flooding. Can't be totally cured but can be improved with new seals on the rotors (very expensive) and a cooler (or is it hotter?) spark plug, which come in at around £25 each and should last a full year, but anything longer is a bonus.
After flooding, the spew neat fuel into the cat, rapidly wrecking it. The cat is the size of a house (and still top band emissions!), and has a price tag to match. The weight of it helps with the roll centre of gravity in the car though (couldn't think of any other positive to finish on there :-).
Rotary requires major strip down overhaul regularly, 60k miles? There's a specialist tool required, however there are plenty of indies with the tool now. Still expensive to do.
The trim over the transmission tunnel and the glove box is crap rubbish plastic, but otherwise the interior is very nice. Clutch pedal noticably heavier than even more performance oriented modern stuff.
Handling is spot on, very very good.
Extremely smooth engine, and pretty quiet, although you need to wring it's neck if you want to get a shift on.
They all drink oil, you will need to top up every 1k miles, even though they're on a 3k oil change anyway.
Steer clear :-) Very nice cars though.
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Do you remember the guy on HJ who wound us all up by claiming he was going to buy one for his short trips to the station and back?
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>> Do you remember the guy on HJ who wound us all up by claiming he
>> was going to buy one for his short trips to the station and back?
>>
Yes I do :-) I think a lot of people assume it would do better mpg and emission wise because it's only a 1.3 litre engine. Of course it's swept capacity is worked out differently - if that's the correct term to use.
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Power output of the engine is probably more like a 3.9 litre. And fuel consumption too.
Not good for popping to the shops because if you start it and stop the engine before it's warmed up it might not restart without draining petrol out of the engine at the dealers.
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Theoretically 1.3 ltr per rotor and twin rotor so theoretically 2.6 ltr AFAIAA. Can't really be measured in capacity / swept volume terms though.
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No torque, one for the petrol head screamers.
But the previous RX8, in black, what a superb beast, it looks like the bodywork has been poured over the car. You can transplant the 5.7 LS1 corvette engine.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2cXrTHy_hg&feature=related
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You should check out the road tax band one good reason not to buy one.
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It's a lovely looking car, but why would anyone want a rotary engine? It strikes me as a lot of compromise (lack of torque, questionable durability, excessive fuel and oil consumption) for the sake of smoothness.
To my mind, this car would have been so much better with a good, brawny V6 under the bonnet (like the Nissan 350/370Z) or even a blown, direct injected 2.0 four like the Scirocco giving more power and torque than the rotary with near guaranteed 100+k life, and 30+ mpg.
I just don't get the ownership appeal of that engine at all.
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I like this one, as driven by Honest John's evil twin :)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmACTP69Zh0&feature=related
It's not really a Mazda RX7 anymore though..
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DP I am totally with you on this. The engine is a compromise to the car. Could it not be fitted with a normal 4 cylinder or V6 and not spoil it too much? Okay the alternatives are heavier engines.
I don't understand why they didn't do something else with the car design. I suppose to Mazda the engine makes the car. Aren't they thinking of a hydrogen powered Wankel next?
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>> Aren't they thinking of a hydrogen powered Wankel next?
Not on these shores. The rx8 is obsolete and the salesman told me the replacement isn't being made in RHD... i didn't bother to check it out :-(
I like the idea of the car as is, it's clear what type of car it's supposed to be when you're driving along. I reckon on a track this would be much more fun than a 370z.
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BUt its made in Japan for the Japanese market where its RHD!
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>> BUt its made in Japan for the Japanese market where its RHD!
>>
Cars in Japan have a short life due to their tough MOTs, so engine longevity probably isn't an issue.
A lot of cars in Japan fail their MOTs whilst being prefectly serviceable, which is why we get so many used imports over here.
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IIRC, Mazda won the 1991 Le Mans race largely thanks to reliability. Mechanically, rotary engines are remarkably simple, and they can withstand staggering amounts of tuning and turbo boost.
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Replacement for the RX8 will be the RX7. It might not make it to the UK for all I know but it will be RHD. It's a Japanese car for goodness sake and hence RHD :-)
Edit: Zero posted just before me.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 15 Feb 11 at 21:49
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Aye. There's a clue in there somewhere :-)
*Zooooooom*
Or should that be *Zoooooom* *Zoooooom* :-P
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Mazda should have re-introduced it with standard engine.
That would have cured fuel consumption + emission + reliability issues.
Rest of the car is very good.
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>>Mazda should have re-introduced it with standard engine.
There's a good chance I'd be driving one now if they had.
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"why would anyone want a rotary engine?"
I would, but then I like the unusual. I applaud Mazda for sticking with the Wankel design when so many bean-counters would have got rid. It's some time since I drove an early Mazda rotary, but the smoothness was something special.
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There is a Mazda RX8 near where I live. I discovered the first time it drove past me that it makes a noise like a washing machine, which is a bit sad. Mazda claim the RX8 needs the small, light rotary engine to lower the centre of gravity to improve the handling without a boneshaking ride. Alternatively they offer the same platform with a reciprocating engine and a lower price, but only 2 seats. It's called the MX5.
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The one I liked was the RX3, a dumpy little saloon powered by a twin-rotor engine. It looked very boring but could go like a scalded cat. I know this because I saw one wheelspinning away from rest in a crowded Portobello Market some years ago. Not a courteous display of driving, but a very gung-ho one.
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"RX3"
I remember those - still going strong in the antipodes, it seems...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Yr5vjiBc8&feature=fvw
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By chance I saw an immaculate 56 plate RX8 on the M6/M56 interchange - it was pooteling along driven by a woman who probably realised that 55-60 was the key speed for economy....! My wife commented that she test drove one as "promotion" from an MX5 she owned - she reckoned that it was fast and very smooth but she couldn't live with the dire economy and oil consumption.....nice car though. I think that Norton are toying with a Wankel again..
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>> It
>> was pooteling along driven by a woman who probably realised that 55-60 was the key
>> speed for economy....! >>
What rubbish!
The woman didn't have a clue about optimum speed for economy. She was quite clearly in another world, day-dreaming about her next shopping trip, and what colour outfit she should wear to the next 'do' and didn't have a clue what speed she was going!
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My mum test drove one when she was looking at a new coupe in 2005. She liked it in the main, but then she drove a V6 Hyundai and she quickly forgot about the Mazda.
She doesnt have car prejudice, she just knows what she likes and the Mazda didnt even stack up against a Hyundai Coupe in her eyes, middle aged women being big buyers of large coupes, its valid.
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>> >> It
>> >> was pooteling along driven by a woman who probably realised that 55-60 was the
>> key
>> >> speed for economy....! >>
>>
>> What rubbish!
>>
>> The woman didn't have a clue about optimum speed for economy. She was quite clearly
>> in another world, day-dreaming about her next shopping trip, and what colour outfit she should
>> wear to the next 'do' and didn't have a clue what speed she was going!
>>
>>
Great! Now we have two completely different explanations for the woman's behaviour.
Pugugly .... MPG
Boxsterboy ... MCP
Since PU was actually THERE at the time, I think that I'll believe his version.
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Mazda RX8 - Surely they cannot be that bad! - RattleandSmoke
