Thanks for watching everyone! I mentioned it in the video but I just wanna pin this since I'm seeing a lot of comments about it You CAN and I do, drive the car after starting up the car, I just wait till the rpm normalize and I short shift at 3000 rpm until the engine reaches temp, then I can rev it out. However, there are times when I have to let the car idle till temp, that's because of alternate side parking situations. As you might imagine, parking in nyc is extremely annoying, on days where I have to move my car, ill start it and drive around, if I find a avaliable parking spot before warm is fully warm, I'm taking that spot and sitting there till car is ok to turn off 😂 if you live in a area where that's not a issue, I recommend short shifting till car is warm, saves time and better for the engine 🙂. Thanks everyone's comment!
From what I've heard, and also in my own experience so far, having a good ignition system will essentially eliminate flooding concerns related to shutting the engine off cold. I have the Bennett Built ignition kit and new spark plugs... I shut my car off cold while moving it short distances quite often, and I have no issues at all.
Yea, I run premium on every fill up, it also says premium recommended on the gas cap. But there is a lot of people that have ran regular and have had no issues so it's probably fine to run regular. Better safe than sorry is pretty much why I stay w 93
Do you run the the idemitsu oil in the engine as well, if so what weight? I’m about to pick up an rx8 and ordered the idemitsu pre mix and oil to run in mine.
@@justinhayden7814 I do not use the idemitsu brand oil in the engine, mostly cause of cost, I'm currently running valvoline VR1 10w40 in the colder months and 20w50 in the hotter months. Sorry for the late reply!
I had an rx8 for nearly 2 years, I didn't do any of the special things people advise you to do except not turn off the engine when it's still cold. Didn't premix, didn't wait for it to heat up before I drove, didn't redline it every time I drove etc... bought it at 67k km and sold it at 178k km and still ran perfectly fine and always started immediately. I think you just have to be lucky with the engine you get.
Yea, I've seen people who didn't do much and managed to get the motors to last a long time. I'm assuming you just didn't drive it hard it got to temp cause I don't see how it could've lasted so long 😱
@@Rxjeikun yeah I did always keep it under 3k until it was at temp ofcourse. I think you can have what I call the "golden engines" that just outlast the others, surprised me that it lasted as long as it did, contacted the new owner recently and he said he added another 40k km and it's still running. I miss my beauty so much.
@@Rxjeikun if you don't premix you reduce your chance to kept it alive a long time, you got lucky, but you have to do so, these things too such as 3-4k change oil with partially synthetic oil 10-40 hot rod, spark plugs 8k max 20k. coil ignition 50k and tranny oil every 32k and coolant change every 32k too and air filter 50k (all in kilometer)
I had a red rx8 for like 2 months. In that short amount of time i absolutely fell in love with it. Not enough people talk about how smooth the engine is compared to a normal car.
having a rotary engine sounds just like 2-stroke bike. Warm up before driving, premix gas, redline often, funny exhaust sounds, breaks easier than "normal"
hey, Series 2 RX8 R3 owner here! Love the video, you made some great points. Online forums such as RX8club, RX8help, and Essex Rotary are godsend and so much help. I’m closing in 90k miles, bought it from a good friend a while ago. Compression is getting below average but havent had a single problem at all with it. All the struggles are worth it
For sure worth it! I wanted to buy a R3 so badly when I was shopping for mine, could not find a decently one up for sale, which is crazy cause now I'm seeing so many on marketplace :')
It’s important to note you’ve got a series 1. There are many things you have to do on a series 1 that you won’t have to do on a series 2. This being said, your use will vary. Been a proud rotary owner for 25yrs now. Both my FD and my RX8 R3 are used as the manufacturer intended. A lot of things are covered in the manual. A lot of people deviate and listen to the internet. If you follow the manual, you won’t have an issue. 😉 I daily my RX8 for the past 5yrs now. In -40c all the way up to 45c in the summer. I’ve put on 50k km’s on her so she’s seen some action. A hell oh a lot more than the previous owner did. She’s 13yrs old now and she just crested 100k on the clock. My FD has 168k after the first owner put on 48k. Not too bad considering she’s 29yrs old. 😉 I would agree you’ll need to premix for your series 1 since it doesn’t have the 3rd oil injector the series 2 has. As for the warm up, yeah, as soon as the stock needle shows just above C, it’ll be alright to turn the engine off. Regardless of model, get into the habit of blipping the throttle before turning it off. Makes it easier to start for the next time. 👍🏻 Otherwise, keep on rotaxing! 😎
@@billbones92 a lot of people end up comparing the 2 as if they’re equal. I can tell you they’re not. The FD is much hardcore driving vehicle than the 8. The 8 is a lot more civil and “plushier”. Which makes it an idea daily driver. The FD is more of a dedicated summer vehicle now. Keep in mind, I did daily it for the first 2yrs I owned it. Never during the winter months of course since it was kept in the garage and had to resort to public transport (those were some hard years). Over the years I’ve come to realise its a lot more of a “special occasion “ car than a day to day car. They both have their purposes and I’m fortunate enough to be able to maintain them myself. Especially the FD since a lot of people have no clue when it comes to rotary vehicles. I do love them both and thankfully I’m able to appreciate them for what they are. 👍🏻
Also fd motors are generally more reliable than the renesis in the rx8 because it's just way better designed in terms of cooling. Which makes it impossible for the rx8 to handle any boost cause it just overheats and blows the coolant seals. More recently, there have been success found with running very low amounts of boost like 3psi and it be reliable. I do see FD engines blow more commonly, but honestly that's just cause of boost, people turn it up without supporting mods to handle the power and boom goes the engine.
@@Rxjeikun there in lies another problem with comparing the 2. People are trying to make more power on the renesis not knowing the engine was redesigned from the beginning to avoid using force induction. Apart from trying to achieve emissions compliance of course. The 8 was designed and should not be pushed any harder from its oem power output. If you do want more power, an entire engine swap to a 13b FD would have to be done. Which I turn creates a lot of headaches since you’re changing out a ton of equipment. Appreciate the 8 for what it is and try not to be power hungry. If you’re about power, look for another platform. Unless of course money is no object. 🤷🏻♂️😉
Crazy because a rew swap is in my head for when the renesis eventually goes 😂 already spoke to a few reputable rotary builders, we shall see when the time comes.
17 1/2 years later , and I am still in love with my 2005! Thanks for the video and storytelling . RX8 is certainly not the perfect car , but yet, there’s just nothing else like it .
So in short: You really have to love this car to be ready to deal with its downsides. Not many people have the passion to jump through all those hoops just to get from point A to point B everyday. My neighbor had an RX-8 and this video kinda showed me why he sold it so quickly.
I own one and I’m getting ready to sell it. I love the power and everything about the car, I just don’t love it enough to deal with the bad gas mileage and the horrible reliability. Since I’ve only ever driven rotaries going to a piston car is going to be weird lol
@@praiseglock3652 they shouldn't get a rotary in that case but they also shouldn't talk shit about it when they either don't own one or never took care of one. The internet is wrong. Maintenance is really not that bad. Just change the oil on time and make sure it's topped off once a week. Replace ignition system ever 20-30k. Not that complicated. If people did that, they would not be so much crap about them. Just most who owned them in the second and 3rd hand market are cheap broke kids who have no clue about anything
@@ve2430 yeah the internet is always talking down on these type of cars the only true answer of if it’s worth it is to honestly get one and take care of it
Yea, I feel like the rx7 was such a icon, the rx8 could've never met the expectations people had, plus with emissions getting stricter, it came w more issues. But still a great car and I enjoy it 😌
Not only the rotary's almost all JDM cars. And i feel bad about it. Like R34 GTR for example. People mod the sh*t out of that car and made stock R34 GTR hella expensive because how rare they were nowaday even entering collector car category...
I own a 2008 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 (only 1000 made like this in the world) . I bought it new in 2008 and now it is insured as a Classic Car for 150% of what I bought it for new in 2008, full value, no depreciation. I have owned seven rotary Mazdas since the 70's; one RX3, two RX4, all three generations of the RX7 with two of those RX7 modified by Racing Beat for the track. I easily have over a million rotary miles on street and track . Yes I have upgraded and improved my RX8, cooling modifications with Koyo-Rad radiator, Pettit Racing closed system, Racing Beat hoses, low temp thermostat, oil cooler low temp thermostats , low temp fan control, upgraded water pump, ; Mazdaspeed CAI, high performance BHR ignition coils and wires, upgraded starter, performance Cat and mid-pipe from Rotary Performance, BHR clutch pedal assembly, Series Two fuel pump upgrade, new clutch and engine (from Mazda warranty, no cost to me), new engine mounts, and a few other things. I also upgraded to Conti Contact DWS06+ tires. I will be keeping my 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 forever. Wish I could have kept them all. Nothing drives like a rotary. FYI, I use 5W-30W non-synthetic oil and yes I pre-mix. Cheers and best to you.
RX8 Club’s recommended maintenance schedule, more comprehensive and proactive than Mazda’s schedule. 30,000 miles: - Replace Ignition coils - Replace Plug wires - Replace Spark plugs - Clean MAF (mass air flow sensor) - Clean ESS (e-shaft sensor) - Reset ESS profile - Clean power steering connections - Clean battery terminals and clamps - Replace transmission fluid - Replace coolant (Mazda FL-22 is highly recommended) - Replace air filter - Replace brake fluid (fluid in the brake lines AND the clutch line) ~$300 USD in parts if you shop smartly. every 60,000: ...all 30,000, plus... - Clean all chassis electrical grounding points - Replace accessory belts - Clean OMP lines - Replace rear differential fluid - Replace thermostat - Clean / Straighten AC condenser fins - Clean / Straighten oil cooler fins - Inspect catalytic converter - Clean / Inspect intake valving - Consider / inspect all points in 90,000+ as well, many items fail early ~$130 USD in parts if you shop smartly. 90,000: ...all 30,000, plus any 60,000 not yet done, plus... - Replace coolant bottle - Replace radiator hoses - Replace radiator - Replace front O2 sensor - Replace motor mounts - Inspect clutch pedal assembly for flex / weld breaks ~$900 USD in parts if you shop smartly. At 100k, anything original in the cooling system and any original cat are really suspect and failure prone. They represents the biggest threat to your engine. Replace.
You must have spent a fortune on that car, being red on red, and under 30k! I'm another college student RX-8 owner for one year, and I absolutely love it as well. You just can't beat the driving experience and the cool factor for the money. Just changed my spark plugs and installed upgraded ignition coils, and it sure makes a big difference! My car is on the second motor, but in one year my clutch pedal bracket and clutch master cylinder have failed on me (at different times) but apart from that, no major issues yet!
I have been seeing a lot of clutch pedal bracket failing comments, I never even knew those were an issue but now i gotta keep a eye out 😭 Spark plugs and ignition coils were one of the first things I did too and was a great upgrade!
own an RX8 and for the first 40k miles didnt premix and my apex seals failed. Ive learned my lesson and premixed ever since. definitely takes a certain type of owner to maintain this car
For sure, the rx8 had its flaws but I think it was amplified by the fact the rx8 sold a lot of units, and a lot of owners went into it thinking they can drive it like a normal car. 🥲
In terms of premixing. If you 100% know your omp is working then there isn't a need to pre mix at all, problem is that you will have no idea when or if it stopped working. It's more preventative maintenance than anything else. Sure you don't have too but if you want assurance you should
I like this video, it’s very informative. People don’t understand that not all cars are maintained the same way and how important it is to keep up with the schedule in order to make sure the car lasts long. People assume cars are unreliable because they don’t maintain them properly. I think people should change that mentality and start maintaining there cars better.
yoooo, i daily an 2009 rx8 at 99xxx miles as a fellow college student also for the past 2 years now. i put atleast 40k miles into it since i bought it. the things that broke for me was a clogged cat, blown up trans, blown up driveshaft, the clutch lolol. cant wait to see more content from you :P
Loved the video man, when I got my license 2 years ago I really struggled with the choice to buy an rx-8 or an Lexus is200. Eventually got the IS since its unbelievably reliable and generally an easy car to work and learn stuff from. The rx-8 gets a lot of hate what scares most of us. But I would still love to own one one day. They are just so cool and make all the right noises!
Oh man, even considering an RX-8/IS200 as a first car sounds insane to me. Insurance companies in the UK will literally rip you a second ass hole just for considering to buy one...
Imagine choosing between these cars as the first car, that's completely out of ordinary for me. I would need a decade of working, even with a bachelor's degree, to achieve something like that.
@@surrealtom luckily in the Netherlands its still pretty decent to insurance it yourself. Right now I pay around 60 for Insurance. But the good part is nobody here drives these cars. Its the golf's for beginners that are like 150 to insurance, and we all know you get a lot less "car" with an golf then with an rx8 or IS
@@bemvas2484 an clean IS200 here is around 2000 euros. At least when I bought it, right now the prices are around 3 to 5k. And we're pretty lucky with our salary here. Normally it takes around 2 months to work for it, buy it and maintain.
my girl had an rx8 we had nothing but problems never could figure out what the issue was took it to multiple mechanics even got desperate enough to use dealership. they would always say coils or spark plugs but it would always break down again we finally just had to sell it as is. loved the look and the drive of the car when it was running
Yea these are very high maintaince car and because of the extremely rare engine, many mechanics wouldn't know how to maintain these cars including dealerships but its drives really well if you can get pass them! From the sound of it, it sounds like maybe the car was being turned off before it's fully warmed which floods the engine, and the excess gasoline ends up killing the spark plugs. But that's just my speculation 😅
@@Rxjeikun oh no your 100% correct i did learn all this info but it was too late at that point. plus we bought it used so im sure it wasn't being done by the previous owners either just wish mazda was more upfront about what the car required plus it was 08 so the info wasn't as available as it is now.
The coils failing at an alarming rate is normal for these for some reason. That's why people change out the whole set every 20k miles, haha! I go until they completely fail, and I've changed every single one of those within like 30k miles, that's with proper driving.
Ever consider swapping to the BHR, Ryan's or the Sake Bomb kit? Could be a worthy investment, I'm currently running BHR coils. Considering sake bomb upgrade 👀
Great video mate. I used to own Rx-7 and then Rx-8 and was always happy with them, great performance and handling. It takes extra effort to take care of them, but you actually learn much more about the engines and parts when you own rotary cars 😄 So there are positive factors!
For sure, I've always wanted to get my foot in the rotary platform and I think the rx8's are a great way for many people to do so since they are so cheap, even the nice ones don't run for that much. ( For now, I'm sure thatll change eventually )
cool to see someone who lives with an RX-8 and cuts through all the negativity we see online with it. always wanted one but the internet scared me into the next closest thing i could get which is an nc miata lol. subbed to see more rotary content 👍
Same I ended up getting an NB Miata over an RX-8 since I needed reliable transportation to work. Sometimes I don't have ten minutes to wait for the car to warm up. You can't be late for work. 😅
Selling my RX-8 and getting an NC Miata. Trust me I learned the hard way that all the little “quirks” like horrible gas mileage and the engine that likes blowing up every 80k miles makes it not worth it to me. Save yourself the pain
I've had an 09 for two years now also in college, and have had no issues at all. I don't even premix or anything, all I've done is decatted and upgraded to BHR coil packs and let it warm up is all.
Nice! I wanted a series 2 when I was shopping for my car but couldn't find any clean one at the time. But series 2 engines added an extra port for the omp so it had better lubrication than series 1 so probably not really necessary to premix 🤔
I really want to try a rotary car... but on one hand, I hardly has the time AND money to dedicate to owning a higher maintenance vehicle. I work 60-80 hours a week just trying to keep up. It's left me with no time to even take care of my own vehicle. Missed an oil change a few times by 1k-2k miles at least. That could be a death blow to a rotary. Which would take more time. But on the OTHER hand, I hear a lot of great things about how fun these cars are. My little chevy is up to 300k rusty miles, and I doubt i'll ever get anything like that out of a rotary vehicle. I want to have fun, I just don't have the time or money to do so.
I’ve had my lovey RX8 for about a year as well! It just reached 111,000mi fresh oil changes as well! (I’m saying that so it forces me to remember when I did it 😅) What I found is that despite everything the online people say, this car is actually really reliable. Of course, as long as you take care of it. I made mistake before so I’m sure my engine isn’t *that* good. But it’s got good compression still. (I hope) I find a 1:1 ratio for premixing easy for me. Plus I don’t care much about my cat anyways. It’s gonna be expensive but I’d much rather replace a cat than have an engine rebuild. I’ve got the p0410 code thrown in my face but that’s emissions and doesn’t effect my drivability much, minus even *worse* MPGs. In fact, after I fix it I’m just thinking of building a new exhaust system for cat-less and hopefully my current cat will still be okay enough to pass smog when ya time again.
To be honest, as a Subaru owner (spec c 03 sti), I can truly say what you do is not much and definitely not a problem for such cool car. Good luck mate, love rx
I have RX8 .. 2004 .. about 7 and half years and now the engine loose compression .. 132k km ... but i rebuild it and I think it will drive for more happy kilometers .. yes .. you have to warm it up .. dont drive it cold .. premix and shit ... but that driveability and those rpms are just pure joy .. I dont want to sell it because I love that car SO much ...
With my SOHN adapter, I dont build any carbon inside the engine. It just injects premix through the OMP instead of motor oil. Burns cleaner, then i premix the tank 3/4oz per gallon. Car runs like a dream!
That's not how carbon buildup works, that's the same as pre-mixing at the gas tank except more convenient. It still builds up carbon and still needs to be redlined to burn it out. Its just like your car still makes carbon dioxide, you adding oil in a different container doesn't change the fact you're burning a fossil fuel, which deposits carbon on the engine and emits it additionally as CO2.
Having owned one for 8 years and then realizing that I didn't have to go through all the hassle to have just as much (if not more) fun in something else was eye-opening.
@@wes.9353 That's true, and it just turned out that I didn't really care for it. I much prefer lower-end torque, light weight, an open top, and easy cruising, which are all things the RX-8 can't do. (Might be a hot take, but I think 50-50 weight distribution is a little bit overrated.)
Having owned one for 1 year I realized that although fun as hell, owning these cars in the long term absolutely sucks. Selling it and getting an NC Miata soon. Very excited to actually be able to mod my car instead of throwing that money in the “saving up for a rebuild” jar or for gas money. The low price point of these cars is the main issue. Younger drivers see the price point and think, “holy shit, a sports car that looks cool for only $5k!! Then underestimate the problems people face with these cars because they already like the idea of a cheap sports car too much. Then boom they buy it and get slapped in the face by the reality of these cars and sell it.
Subscribed! Nice to see some sensible, down to earth, common sense rotary content. Not sure why the RX7 has such JDM legendary status, in most respects the RX8 is a better car, even power wise it's not that far off a stock RX7, and that's NA! My RX8's have always been reliable, I've had plenty more "conventional" cars that have cost a lot more in repairs than my RX8's 😅
The rx7 definitely has a lot of achievements under its belt but most people I've seen that drove both a rx8 and rx7 says the rx8 is a better chassis, even Rob Dahm said it. I think the rx8 got the bad stigma because it was the first sold rotary that sold as much as it did, and a lot of owners drove it like a regular car.
the rx7 came out around the same time the 300zx, Mk4 Supra, 3000gt, r34, etcetera did. it was always going to share legendary status with the other legends that existed by its side. the looks also went over much better for the public than the rx8 did. unrelated to the FD, but the rx7 has the most wins under its belt in IMSA than any other car in history. that helped.
I had mine for 9 years. Velocity red with the read and black interior. Never left me stranded anywhere. Most reliable car I've owned. Only mechanical issue was a front droplink failed. Replaced with uprated and all was good. Everything else was normal consumables. Brakes were replaced with better grooved discs and EBC Yellow stuff pads all around. Great combination. It hit 9k rpm every time I drove it. Did the coil packs HT leads and spark plugs myself on the drive after using it for 30k miles. Replaced with uprated and was good for another 6 years until I sold it. I did let it warm up, but then it was all RPM all the time. 😁 Didn't run premix. And found the oil consumption to be extremely reasonable to be honest. It was less that my neighbours BMW of the same year. 🤣 Before I sold it, I requested the local dealership to do a compression test. Results were between 105 to 115psi. Apparently very healthy for a rotary. If I could find another good one, I would absolutely have another in a heartbeat. So much fun at legal speeds. Comfortable and surprisingly practical. Just the fuel consumption/price now. Just looked at the MOT history of my old one, and it's still on the road 4 years after selling it. With another 30k miles on it. Makes me extremely happy to see that.
like checking your oil level every time you fuel up. Proper heating is needed as you have iron and aluminum pressed together and expand at different temperatures. Premixing is not necessary on a properly functioning rotary. You are more likely to clog your injectors premixing when you don't need too. 88 Fc with 120k was riding strong with no premix but I ran regular sea-foam in the tank to keep the carbon down. When I bought the car the injectors were clogged from premixing and the car wouldn't idle. 12 MPG!!! WTF I had a 30 year old Rx7 and got 18 at least. Oh Leaking fuel line almost killed me and affected my gas mileage. Fixed one leak, and 3 more sprung up after increased gas pressure. Definitely worth the love and shell send ya zooming. I think you will find working on an FC a lot easier as the engine is not so far tucked under the dash and the electronics are a lot simpler.
Honestly, you got a car that you really wanted and it's worth it for you, that's what's important. I personally wouldn't realistically want a rotary because of their milage (or lack thereof). New and improved rotataries have the potential of superior mileage compared to piston engines, which is pretty cool.
I properly heat cycle my S2000 with its F22C1, even though it's not really that necessary. Though your rotary is a bit sensitive to treatment, high revving engines are special and won't be around to experience forever.
Spot on! Rotaries aren’t like any other car, but that’s why we love ‘em! Used to own a 10AE FC and loved it to death before I had to sell it due to it being such a huge money pit. Would always look through the RX7Club forums for maintenance tips. Would love to own an R3 RX-8 in the future! Happy motoring and thanks for sharing!
Premixing changes the octane of the fuel. Premixing causes my 2004 RX8 to overheat in the summer to the point of causing my engine to hesitate and eventually shut down. I stopped premixing and it ran perfectly even in 95 deg with the AC on. Premixing is not for me.
Immediately put a clean oil adapter on the car if you have one. The biggest issue is injecting dirty sump oil directly onto your seals. Side seals fail more than apex seals. When the adapter is installed you can safely use synthetic oils in the sump. The only reason you can’t normally is because synthetic oils resist burning. You’ll get seal failure from carbon buildup because the oil won’t burn.
Yep! Already running a sohn adapter to feed in clean 2stroke, and running synthetic in the motor. Though I'm thinking about getting rip of the omp completely in the future and just premixing.
I know from dirt biking that the premix is heavier than gas and goes to the bottom of the tank. Since you can't shake a car like a jug I would put in half of the gas first,then premix,then the last half of the gas. The a few wiggles like warming up the tires should mix it up. Dreaming of a rotary that's a hybrid. Windings in the housing would create a field. This would suspend the rotor and redirect it so it never contacts the wall. Gas and electric power can work together seamlessly on demand.
Great Article Jerkin. I'm New to the RX8 Community. Literally....Just got home from the Mazda Dealership in South Florida with a 2nd Gen 2009 RX8 GT Manual. Very impressive Service History from Carfax and this was my 3rd 'Test Drive' in 3 months and there was simply NO COMPARISON to the 1st Gen RX8s I drove. OMG....Why anyone would want to stare at a CEL 24/7 is beyond me. I have nicknamed my RX8 Unmolested for a reason....OEM Stock everything. Garage Kept. 3-4K Mile Oil Changes. The Dealer Service Dept. replaced the Radiator and Reservoir Tank for me. Partial Service. Your suggestions on Premixing are appreciated but I'm going down that rabbit hole today. Stock OMP with 6 Injectors vs. 4 on the 1st Gen (2004-2008)? I do agree with most of the advice to run a Semi Synthetic Blend in 10W-40 here in Florida. Good advice on warming her up with sub 4K RPMs before lighting the fuse. The RX8 Community is VERY helpful and I can honestly 'hear' where most Owners will ditch the OEM Exhaust or at least the HUGE Muffler. Keeping the Cat and I refuse to gum it up with anything.... 93UL and Ethanol Free is what she drinks and 20.2mpg on the Hwy and 14mpg so far in the City with spirited driving. Good Looking Night Time Cockpit and you did very well with your 1 year of 'Sage Advice'. Thanks... JP
Dude those things break way too often. Mine's broke like 2 or 3 times... When mine broke the first time (it looked like it had been already replaced by previous owner), it was breaking in 3 separate places! One of the pivot pins was like a hair away from walking the hole all the way through, it was cracking in like 2 or 3 spots almost all the way through, and I think there was even something else. I fixed it while sitting in my car upside down with nothing but a drill, some scrap metal from a monitor, and a lot of determination because it was broken in the company parking lot and I wasn't about to ride my bicycle back and forth that far again! Oh and a penny is acting as a washer for some screws I grabbed off my race quadcopter holding that thing together, but its so much stronger than original with just a little modification (and the aftermarket kits that improve strength, none reinforce the area that catastrophically broke). They need to stop using soda cans for those, because its ridiculous, might as well make the brake pedal out of tissue paper too because that's totally safe having your pedals break off and getting jammed under the brake pedal like the clutch can do...
When driving any old car, always have triple A, or some other roadside plan so that you don't dump money into towing your ride. That stuff adds up quickly especially for builds or older daily drivers. Love the content brother 👍🏾
Insurance in Sweden allows free towing as long as you yake the most expensive plan. But it was not that expensive for my car since we did it on my dads social sec nr.
I like my RUclips recommends nowadays; I've owned my RX8 for 8 years now. If you want some pointers, feel free to message me. I have replaced almost every bolt on that car and had to do a complete chassis swap. Dumped thousands of dollars, but I didn't want to keep it stock. I've done quite some heavy modding to it, just short of turbo. The biggest issue is buying used, not knowing what the previous owners did. Second to that, is the age of the car and the environment it's been in, whether it requires replacing a lot of parts because of wear and tear. There's a lot of improvements done to the Series 2 RX8's over the Series 1, so if ppl want to try it out, I'd recommend hunting one of those instead, as there have been far less rebuilds needed on Series 2 RX8's than Series 1's. Oil thickness is also something that needs to be taken into account. 5W20 doesn't cut it for these cars, especially if driven hard. Given all the knowledge acquired over the years, several reputable shops have come up with solutions to fix many of the problems that the 13B-MSP came with. I think my most annoying issue with mine was not the engine (even though it did blow up on me eventually and I needed a rebuild), but rather the clutch slave cylinder going bad ever year... Had to do a complete swapout of every single part of the car's hydraulic system to clean out all the gunk that was making its way into the slave, clogging it up.
As someone who uses a piston engine: no engine should be pushed before it's up to operating temperature. This includes piston engines as well, especially high pressure ones. This is because the metals have to expand to their correct shapes for them to function properly. It's also not the RPM that matters, it's the amount of pressure you create in the engine, you can drive 6000 rpm no problem with a cold engine, but if you supply it with a lot of gas and create a lot of torque the pressures created will dislodge parts in your engine creating problems.
Bought my 09 Rx8 R3 series 2 almost new, drove it for many years, up to 168,000km on original engine, still hot starts and never had any problems all the way up to when i had to trade it for a new truck (life style change), that was 3 years ago now, i still miss it and am now on the hunt for another of the same to buy for a project.
i own a RX8 FL... soon to hit 100k km on the dial.... this that i have encounter owning it for 5 years... 1- will need to top up engine oil (use mineral oil if do you do not have sohn/rohn conversion, as it wills till eat oil even wen you premix) 2- radiator will eventually go (changed to aftermarket alu rad) 3- radiator spare tank will eventually give way as well (due to high heat of the engine) 4- premixing will cause your fuel tank to be gooey (ended up failing both my fuel pump) 5- aftermarket sports catalytic converter will cause engine light to occasionally pop up (unless you disable it via ecu remap) 6- did not warm down the car after a heavy traffic, causing heat issue to the spare thank and radiator 8- unsolved rattling sound on uneven road (wish anyone could give me input) 9- unsolved squeaky sound when move through bump fast (wish anyone could give me input, have changed to coilovers) 10- unsolved loud body knock sound when cruising through highways/freeway (currently sending the coilovers for servicing, unsure if it's knocking my exhaust) the FC is 12.5km/100liter, not the best not the worst either.. last check compression was about 7-8 as when i first bought it used though with all the issues i have went through, im still loving the rx8, the response and feel of driving it is lovely.
I'll be honest Nissan is my go to. I've had 4 240SXs, a 240Z, 3 Altimas, a 300ZX and 2 Maximas. One day I'll get a GT-R and a Silvia to complete the set lol. The 240Z I never got to drive. I was a kid when I got it and didn't have the money to fix it. I wish I kept it fr... all the 240SXs were automatic so I eventually sold them. The Maximas were nice but one got totaled and the other one had something going on in the hub. I fixed it replaced the hub 4 times and no matter what I replaced it eventually did it again... but it was an older car that somebody ragged out before I even bought it. I never liked Altimas until my current one so I only kept it... but I've had to do very little with it to keep it in great condition. Just tripped 60K and it still runs like it did off the lot
Hey! Been a rx8 owner for 5 years absolutely fuckin LOVE this car! Alot and I mean ALOT what people say are far overblown, and they have no idea what they are talking about, but like you said it doesn't come from nowhere. The OEM ignition coils are shit, they burn out after 15-30K miles, there was a recall nightmare in the beginning and They hired the company CAT to do the rebuilds and they had no idea what they where doing, like you mentioned the temp gauge is a dummy gauge all it does it twls you when the cars warmed up, or it has ALREADY overheated and likely now has warped rotor housings. The coolant reservoir is shit and leakes, and lastly the average person has no idea how t take care of a rotary. Most Renesis engines died from overheating, a leaky reservoir + dummy gauge = dead engine, ignition coils going bad quick going to OEM mighta had a proper good engine swapped out with a horribly built CAT made engine failing again, Then there's the non enthusiast owning a rotary and killing it by not premixing, not letting it warm up, letting the cat clog ect. Check the community nowadays where none of us have any issues with the car yet the bad rep exists with people who do not understand rotaries.
I wish I still had mine. I had fun driving it every time I got behind the wheel. Hoping I can revisit it one day. Maybe I'll get it as a project car but for now, If I want to get a sports car, I would get a new one, and that Supra is calling my name lol.
I have an 1987 NA fc on 180k miles original motor. Some times I premix sometimes I don’t. The best thing is the redline it. Any 2-stroke oil works unless ur racing the car to save some money.
I have a 2008 series 2 GT. I’ve had it about 4 years. I love this car. Every time I lean in to turn it on, I get a smile. I don’t premix but I do warm up every time. I also, only use 98 fuel. Starts every time on first rotation
Owned RX8 since 2009. Never had any issues and never had to do anything special to it. Oil change and normal maintenance. Never did a premix and get good gas mileage.
I've had my RX-8 since June of 2020 & I gotta say I absolutely love my car! Bought it at 64k miles & I've put 10k on it so far. Honestly never understood the hatred that the car community has for the 8. Sure it might not be as fast or as reliable (depending on how well you or the previous owners took care of it) as other cars, but it's still awesome in its own right! Rotaries rule! 🤘
@@Rxjeikun Something to think about. I wanted for the longest time and did test drive one. I'd love to get the Neela paint job. Maybe when I retire. I have a 2008 MIata now and a Corolla SE. Had a 2007 Mazda 3 and that was a great car. Test drove a Mazdaspeed 3, that was a great ride.
Driving rx8 in NYC is kinda hard. For premixing, any JASO FC or FD rated oil will work, you don't have to buy Idemitsu. For the don't shut off a cold engine part, not necessary if your ignition and starting system is strong, your car will only flood if you have weak ignition or starting system.
The thing with rotary engine cars like the RX8 is that to buy them you usually find that the ones up for sale are ready for new seals and an engind rebuild. Also the fuel costs are very high in comparison to standard petrol cars, especially in the UK where currently we pay £1.40 per litre.
In the UK we have 99 Octane premium fuel at most petrol stations so I don't tend to premix my R3. As well as the R3 being a bit of a better build quality than the S1's.
My wife bought a 2004 231 Rx8 with 47,000 miles on it. The car was 5 years old at this point and had already had coil packs replaced under warranty. It wasn’t premixed, but in our ownership I did my best to change the oil every 6000 miles, and I did encourage her to keep it under 3000 rpm until it was warm, but I don’t think she strictly followed that! I also replaced a further set of coil packs. The Rx8 never gave any trouble and never broke down. At 130,000 miles the engine was getting tired so we replaced it. It now has 150,000 miles. I think if we had had the car from new then it would still be running on the original engine. My opinion, heavy on fuel yes, but brilliant cars to drive and reliable provided you care from them properly.
Even replacing the engine at 130,000 miles (which is a lot of miles for an RX8) blows my mind. My car (daily) just hit 130,000 miles last month and the only thing i've done to the engine / mechanical bits is basic maintenance (plugs, fluids) and replaced a section of the radiator hose once ($180 USD total). Engine still great and should be up to well over 160,000 miles. New vehicles shouldn't (hopefully) have to replace the engine in 60k, 90k, 130k miles.....
i've owned lots of rotaries, probably around 12 in the last 10 years my main two driver cars being my pink rx7 and my black rx8. i definitely never wait that long to drive off. that would be insufferable to wait until it reaches temp every time, my rx8's been on its engine for 6 years now, around 150k miles on the clock. my rx7's engine is brand new though, so not comparable. mostly i just ensure to premix, plus i have a sohn adapter that uses 2 stroke instead of recycling the engine oil. for my rx7 i deleted the oil metering pump entirely and just premix. other than that, just drive it like you love it and you dont have to worry too much about carbon buildup. do fuel treamtent once in a while and use good gasoline and you should have a happy car ^^
Ok so definitely get a remote starter for extra time to get the engine warm.Rev it nicely a day.Get an oil cooler and that oil premix mod(I forgot the name it’s like an extra oil reservoir)
Great video I own a RX8 but I have a Mazda SP23 as a backup incase the RX8 dies or I just can’t afford to drive it, I also premix so it does get expensive, I’m only 17 I wanted a Rotory so I brought one as my first car not a mistake I think it’s great just more on the expensive side.
Been driving an rx8 daily for the past 3 years have had 0 issues so far I absolutely love the rx8, I do always premix and let it warm up. But I enjoy the process and love the daily 9k redlines
You’re right. I bought a brand new RX8 when it first came out. After owning it for about a year, I started praying before I start my car to just so there might be a chance that it won’t break.
You don't have to warm it up. Just turn it on, eventually wait until the air pump shuts off (for me it's the time to take it out of the garage, shut the door and wait for the gate to open) and then just drive it under 3k until it's warmed up. Staying there to wait 10 minutes it's just going to build up carbon deposits and waste unnecessary amount of fuel that's wasted already by the car to begin with xD To shut it off while cold, just rev it to 4/4.5k rpm for a couple of seconds, keep the gas pedal on, turn off the key, leave the pedal 1-2 seconds after you hear the ignition dying. That's it. No flooding will ever happen. Premixing is ok, idemitsu is ok tho for racing applications, I generally use royal purple HPC. Also because the latter is somehow more available. And I go around with readied up bottles to pour. Or remove everything and get a sohn adapter with 2 stroke engine oil. Remember to anyone to check the engine oil level roughly every 2 fuel tanks and keep it in the 80-90% level (don't 100% fill it or it will spill into the accordion pipe). Change oil every 5000 km and the whole ignition every 20/25k km or when you begin to see a fuel consumption increase, that's the sign a coil is going bogus. That's it. Surely it requires more care than an average car but it's doable if you can look after it.
I could get used to waiting for it to warm up and pre mixing. The costs on the mix would get a bit annoying after a while but there is a certain give and take on cars. The thing that is keeping me away from the RX8 is the roll of the dice on the previous owners taking care of it. If the seals break or something happens, I'm not exactly mechanically inclined or have the resources to do the work myself so it would have to go to a mechanic. I currently drive a VW Golf and it's a pain to find anyone in my area (i live in a small podunk town in the middle of nowhere in TX. Bunch of shade tree mechanic shops) that is willing to work on it if something happens let alone a Mazda rotary. I'd love to have one. It's on my list of fave cars just for the how awesome I think the car looks but the lack of ppl that know how/want to work on rotary engines is what's keeping me away from it.
OE coil packs in similar size to piston engines will wear down and clog your cat past 30k miles, which will kill the side seal springs and throw side seal into engine 100%. Upgrade to Black Horse Racing direct fit coils, 2x bigger! Use 10w-30 oil instead of 5w-30 factory spec made to pass gas mileage and emissions.
Premix is a must for S1 engines due to lack of middle injection. If you rebuild, use series 2 rotor housings, add third injectors, switch to S2 oil pan to work with S2 rotor housing bottom. Call it a day.
Always liked the looks of these cars but went with a red mk7 celica.. Couldn't be waiting in the car every morning before setting off for work.. Already late enough as it is. Good vid
I have a 04 (05/03 build date) that I've had for a year now. Got it at 103k and it's been my daily til recently (got a 06 v70r). She's sitting 136k and no major issues. I don't have a cat and put a aftermarket cat back on. Everything is pretty much stock except the upgraded ign coils. I use the AmsOil Dominator oil for my premix and I only use about 4.5oz to get from a 1/4 tank to full. I recommend not letting your 8 going below a 1/4 tank.
You learnt that it uses a truck load of fuel. You learnt that you had to keep a bottle of oil in the trunk. You learnt that it can overheat in hot weather. You learnt that your friends don't like the submarine feel in the back. You learnt that it's a car that requires a fair bit of tweaking and up keep. But it was fun. I had one for about 4 years and it did a lot of nice roads in the south of France, but at the end of the day it isn't practical.
I had one for a few years. They're super fun lightweight, well balanced cars with a really nice smooth feeling engine. Driving it at speed around windy roads or on a track day, they're excellent cars. I'd say that's what they're for, for sure. The problem is that they're ridiculously thirsty and need far more care and attention than any regular 4-cylinder with similar power. For the same fuel consumption and maintenance effort, you could drive a Viper, or a TVR if you're over the other side of the Atlantic. And the RX8 is a 4-door coupe with back seats as if you supposed to daily drive them. I had my RX8 flood the engine due to accidentally shutting it off before it warmed up a couple of times in the 3 years I owned it. The fix for that is to remove the fuel pump fuse and jump-start with another car for several minutes to burn out the extra fuel. That's not always convenient! My Catalytic converter disintegrated (at 60k miles) and my local garages refused to touch it because it's attached to a rotary engine. When I sold it at 80k miles for basically nothing at all because who wants to buy a rotary with 80k miles, one of the rotors had half the compression of the other - tested by a rotary specialist, so it was rapidly on its way to an engine-out rebuild - or the scrap yard. My point is that besides the rather unique feel of the rotary engine, you could get something much better for the same money spent altogether. The RX7 made sense because it was a pure sports car and had more power, and felt special. The RX8 makes no sense. It's a daily driver that can't be daily driven without hassle. Buy a GT86 for nearly the same experience, and save all that money.
@@Rxjeikun If you want to use it as a weekend fun car, or specifically for track days - I totally agree. The RX8 is great to drive, and - due to their reputation - are very cheap to buy. My only issue is with them as daily drivers which is how Mazda sold them, and for which I think they're not ideal. The RX7 has many problems of it's own, but it feels like a supercar, especially with the classic status it now has and so that's not so big of an issue.
6:44 nothing you’ve said so far leads me to believe this is true. 🤣 It’s fun watching the love you have for the car. 👍 I can’t imagine going through this stuff myself. Not without a significant benefit. It’s a fun car. But, so are plenty of others so I’m not clear on what the reward is when you could love something else just as much that was just as much fun and wasn’t so demanding.
I had three subarus, I'm used let the engine warming up every goddamn time... I turn the car on and keep doing my stuff lol, then I remember the car is on for the last 10 minutes, and now I need to go to the gas station, subaru and rotary life... RX8 and GF8 now, never been happier
I bought an RX8 new in 2004 and put 100k on it over the next 14 years. I did need an engine replacement due to the apex seals which was thankfully covered by warranty, and I had an electrical gremlin that caused the cruise control to only work half the time, but other than those 2 issues it was a great car. Sadly it was totaled when someone crashed into it while it was parked. Replaced it with a 987.2 Cayman S, which was a suitable upgrade.
I've owned my for ten years. The only 'weird' thing I do is premix it, and just don't beat the shit out of it cold, but drive it normally. I've had problems, but none were specifically 'rotary' problems. Lost an engine - but that was a broken sparkplug falling into it shortly after I serviced it, rather than anything rotary. The only reason I rebuilt it was because I had it for a long time, had some spare cash, and it was better to do it on a running engine, rather than wait for it to break. When it was cracked apart - it was in great condition inside. Clean and unfucked, with everything in spec (Albeit right at the edge of being in spec). It solved a lot of minor issues like blowing exhaust gaskets and sticky valves. The worst thing I did for it, was not drive it for 8-10 weeks over the virus - and it hasn't been right since.
You DO NOT NEED premix if your oil injection is still in place and operational, and you don't let oil change go over 4k miles. How do I know? I cracked open 48k miles engine and it was prestine except for carbon build up. No wear on rotor housing. Remember to drain BOTH oil coolers of old oil during oil change.
Adding to the premix note, you can get a $100 12-bottle bundle off of EBay for Idemitsu premix.. that’s what I get every time! It comes from Mazdatrix and it comes with a big measuring bottle and funnel that are nice to have handy
I drove my rx7 FC daily for 18 months. I would start my car while I was getting ready for work or having a cigarette. I don't smoke indoors or in my cars. My coolant seal blew so rebuilding it. It blew and that afternoon I pulled the engine. REBUILD IT EARLY TO AVOID MAJOR REBUILD COST. Also if your omp is questionable use 1 Oz per gallon.
From what Ive learned you don't need to wait for engine to warm up. Just drive it calmly when it's cold and change gear at max 3,5k rpm. It will warm much faster when you drive it
I get 22mpg freeway and 18mpg city. By the way,the fuel lines are being replaced for free as a warranty issue as well as the 2 front airbags. Just a heads up.
My friend owns one, car is frustrating, electric stuff are quite finicky, for example he wanted to put a tablet for his audio system so it can use USB drives but it was one of the 9 different models that if you remove the audio system you cant use the aircondition. When buying a used one which is the most likely to happen you have to see the engine pressure to be high enough and generally speaking a lot will try to trick you with false numbers just to get rid of it. Idk how it is called in english so i'll tell what happened, the fuel that went into the engine didn't got burned when entering and did a huge malfunction which was expensive to fix, something that on regular cars even if it happens you just put neutral and press on the gas and it will burn the fuel that got into the engine. When shutting down the engine you have to run it on high RPM's something a lot do not know. Moving the car to A to B when it is cold is not an option cause of risk of damaging the engine aka lowering the pressure inside the engine. Dashboard at the passenger's side tends to make cracks, idk why but this is quite common issue. Pro's Well balanced car, the weight distribution gives it a nice grip on the road, interior looks quite superb and generally it is a good looking car even for today's standards. Here in greece they are dirt cheap to buy and funny enough mazda themselves still sells you the engine brand new, i assume there is quite a fanbase so they still produce and sell them.
hey thanks for this video came across it when looking at older content from Mazda this being one of them. I can safely say as nice as these cars are, & I've worked on a car before myself with the minor maintenance stuff, I can say I'm glad I'm not an owner of an RX. seems alot to manage even after 1st glance. plus I don't know I looked at a technical breakdown of the rotary engine that shows the design flaws of the past from another channel and talk about cutthroat of Mazda. they sold these pieces of machinery to enthusiast customers which is fine to do since we're talking about a group of ppl who will want to know their car inside & out. thr part that's cutthroat is that this also made its way into the hands of regular customers.......meaning ppl that just expect things to be alright with the car & if something happens it should be treated like a regular car. as of typing this I'm having 2nd thoughts about saying I'm glad I don't own one. like for me I would do the extra steps to make sure things stay intact. it's a pretty eye catching car. I myself get my car maintenanced every 5k miles & say to techs take as long as you need to & just make sure everything checks out full diagnostic almost every time. but a regular customer, this car would be lucky to even last a year to me! I've seen some other comments on here that have talked about they didn't do all of what you're doing & it was alright still. but I don't know give it time & I think the underlying problems will start to show for them or whomever's hands it's in now if they sold it. glad you were able to get one and replace your former daily driver, I know the issues when it comes to money & a car payment, recently paid off my car, fellow Mazda owner myself -GEN2 2013 MazdaSpeed3. Definitely a time when Mazda was actually relevant.
I plan to buy a rotary of some sort in a few years, as a second/weekend car. I'm not brave enough to own one as my only car, at least not yet, but will use it as a daily as long as it's running properly. Mostly looking at either a FB RX-7 or RX-8 (leaning towards the FB but with the Japanese car market I don't know if this will be feasible in a few years)
Do better research for rx7 as they're a fun, sport car (rx8 isn't that sport) so they're way harder for daily like the rx8. Rx8 daily isn't for everyone but sure it's great but Rx7 daily is even more not for everyone and it's... fine fore daily
Its like daily driving a exotic I appreciate it think i will get one I'm doing research and the algorithm sent video the good part about it is there are alot of enthusiasts that specialize in rotary engines besides the engine do you have any other problems electronics etc?great video
Thanks for watching everyone! I mentioned it in the video but I just wanna pin this since I'm seeing a lot of comments about it
You CAN and I do, drive the car after starting up the car, I just wait till the rpm normalize and I short shift at 3000 rpm until the engine reaches temp, then I can rev it out.
However, there are times when I have to let the car idle till temp, that's because of alternate side parking situations. As you might imagine, parking in nyc is extremely annoying, on days where I have to move my car, ill start it and drive around, if I find a avaliable parking spot before warm is fully warm, I'm taking that spot and sitting there till car is ok to turn off 😂 if you live in a area where that's not a issue, I recommend short shifting till car is warm, saves time and better for the engine 🙂. Thanks everyone's comment!
From what I've heard, and also in my own experience so far, having a good ignition system will essentially eliminate flooding concerns related to shutting the engine off cold. I have the Bennett Built ignition kit and new spark plugs... I shut my car off cold while moving it short distances quite often, and I have no issues at all.
Would you recommend to use supreme 93 instead of regular ?
Yea, I run premium on every fill up, it also says premium recommended on the gas cap.
But there is a lot of people that have ran regular and have had no issues so it's probably fine to run regular. Better safe than sorry is pretty much why I stay w 93
Do you run the the idemitsu oil in the engine as well, if so what weight? I’m about to pick up an rx8 and ordered the idemitsu pre mix and oil to run in mine.
@@justinhayden7814 I do not use the idemitsu brand oil in the engine, mostly cause of cost, I'm currently running valvoline VR1 10w40 in the colder months and 20w50 in the hotter months. Sorry for the late reply!
I had an rx8 for nearly 2 years, I didn't do any of the special things people advise you to do except not turn off the engine when it's still cold. Didn't premix, didn't wait for it to heat up before I drove, didn't redline it every time I drove etc... bought it at 67k km and sold it at 178k km and still ran perfectly fine and always started immediately. I think you just have to be lucky with the engine you get.
Yea, I've seen people who didn't do much and managed to get the motors to last a long time. I'm assuming you just didn't drive it hard it got to temp cause I don't see how it could've lasted so long 😱
@@Rxjeikun yeah I did always keep it under 3k until it was at temp ofcourse. I think you can have what I call the "golden engines" that just outlast the others, surprised me that it lasted as long as it did, contacted the new owner recently and he said he added another 40k km and it's still running. I miss my beauty so much.
I'm sure you'll have opportunies to get one later on, that, or a rx7, which what we all probably want 😂
@@Rxjeikun if you don't premix you reduce your chance to kept it alive a long time, you got lucky, but you have to do so, these things too such as 3-4k change oil with partially synthetic oil 10-40 hot rod, spark plugs 8k max 20k. coil ignition 50k and tranny oil every 32k and coolant change every 32k too and air filter 50k (all in kilometer)
Yep I drove mine for 3 years had a tire go out, and my clutch besides that it's still good. Still starts and drives fine at 120k miles
I had a red rx8 for like 2 months. In that short amount of time i absolutely fell in love with it. Not enough people talk about how smooth the engine is compared to a normal car.
I'm still surprised at how smooth the engine is on the highway sometimes 😂
Had mine for about 3 months I want another one when I can afford to keep it running
Opportunities will come knocking!
Drive a Subaru, you turn it on and can't hear or feel an engine
my first car was an rx8😭 absolutely loved the thing but sadly i couldn’t afford the fuel bill 🥲
having a rotary engine sounds just like 2-stroke bike. Warm up before driving, premix gas, redline often, funny exhaust sounds, breaks easier than "normal"
hey, Series 2 RX8 R3 owner here! Love the video, you made some great points. Online forums such as RX8club, RX8help, and Essex Rotary are godsend and so much help. I’m closing in 90k miles, bought it from a good friend a while ago. Compression is getting below average but havent had a single problem at all with it. All the struggles are worth it
For sure worth it! I wanted to buy a R3 so badly when I was shopping for mine, could not find a decently one up for sale, which is crazy cause now I'm seeing so many on marketplace :')
It’s important to note you’ve got a series 1. There are many things you have to do on a series 1 that you won’t have to do on a series 2. This being said, your use will vary.
Been a proud rotary owner for 25yrs now. Both my FD and my RX8 R3 are used as the manufacturer intended. A lot of things are covered in the manual. A lot of people deviate and listen to the internet. If you follow the manual, you won’t have an issue. 😉
I daily my RX8 for the past 5yrs now. In -40c all the way up to 45c in the summer. I’ve put on 50k km’s on her so she’s seen some action. A hell oh a lot more than the previous owner did. She’s 13yrs old now and she just crested 100k on the clock. My FD has 168k after the first owner put on 48k. Not too bad considering she’s 29yrs old. 😉
I would agree you’ll need to premix for your series 1 since it doesn’t have the 3rd oil injector the series 2 has. As for the warm up, yeah, as soon as the stock needle shows just above C, it’ll be alright to turn the engine off. Regardless of model, get into the habit of blipping the throttle before turning it off. Makes it easier to start for the next time. 👍🏻
Otherwise, keep on rotaxing! 😎
Would you mind comparing and contrasting the rx7 fd to the rx8? What do you prefer about each one? Thanks a bunch in advance.
@@billbones92 a lot of people end up comparing the 2 as if they’re equal. I can tell you they’re not. The FD is much hardcore driving vehicle than the 8. The 8 is a lot more civil and “plushier”. Which makes it an idea daily driver. The FD is more of a dedicated summer vehicle now. Keep in mind, I did daily it for the first 2yrs I owned it. Never during the winter months of course since it was kept in the garage and had to resort to public transport (those were some hard years). Over the years I’ve come to realise its a lot more of a “special occasion “ car than a day to day car.
They both have their purposes and I’m fortunate enough to be able to maintain them myself. Especially the FD since a lot of people have no clue when it comes to rotary vehicles. I do love them both and thankfully I’m able to appreciate them for what they are. 👍🏻
Also fd motors are generally more reliable than the renesis in the rx8 because it's just way better designed in terms of cooling. Which makes it impossible for the rx8 to handle any boost cause it just overheats and blows the coolant seals. More recently, there have been success found with running very low amounts of boost like 3psi and it be reliable.
I do see FD engines blow more commonly, but honestly that's just cause of boost, people turn it up without supporting mods to handle the power and boom goes the engine.
@@Rxjeikun there in lies another problem with comparing the 2. People are trying to make more power on the renesis not knowing the engine was redesigned from the beginning to avoid using force induction. Apart from trying to achieve emissions compliance of course. The 8 was designed and should not be pushed any harder from its oem power output. If you do want more power, an entire engine swap to a 13b FD would have to be done. Which I turn creates a lot of headaches since you’re changing out a ton of equipment.
Appreciate the 8 for what it is and try not to be power hungry. If you’re about power, look for another platform. Unless of course money is no object. 🤷🏻♂️😉
Crazy because a rew swap is in my head for when the renesis eventually goes 😂 already spoke to a few reputable rotary builders, we shall see when the time comes.
17 1/2 years later , and I am still in love with my 2005!
Thanks for the video and storytelling .
RX8 is certainly not the perfect car , but yet, there’s just nothing else like it .
So in short: You really have to love this car to be ready to deal with its downsides. Not many people have the passion to jump through all those hoops just to get from point A to point B everyday. My neighbor had an RX-8 and this video kinda showed me why he sold it so quickly.
I own one and I’m getting ready to sell it. I love the power and everything about the car, I just don’t love it enough to deal with the bad gas mileage and the horrible reliability. Since I’ve only ever driven rotaries going to a piston car is going to be weird lol
@@modelrc9500what's wrong with the reliability?
@@ve2430gas mileage is honestly just not great at all u need lots of maintance not many people are wanting to deal with that
@@praiseglock3652 they shouldn't get a rotary in that case but they also shouldn't talk shit about it when they either don't own one or never took care of one. The internet is wrong. Maintenance is really not that bad. Just change the oil on time and make sure it's topped off once a week. Replace ignition system ever 20-30k. Not that complicated. If people did that, they would not be so much crap about them. Just most who owned them in the second and 3rd hand market are cheap broke kids who have no clue about anything
@@ve2430 yeah the internet is always talking down on these type of cars the only true answer of if it’s worth it is to honestly get one and take care of it
Subscribed, good to see someone not bashing the last rotary.
Yea, I feel like the rx7 was such a icon, the rx8 could've never met the expectations people had, plus with emissions getting stricter, it came w more issues. But still a great car and I enjoy it 😌
Not only the rotary's almost all JDM cars. And i feel bad about it. Like R34 GTR for example. People mod the sh*t out of that car and made stock R34 GTR hella expensive because how rare they were nowaday even entering collector car category...
I own a 2008 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 (only 1000 made like this in the world) . I bought it new in 2008 and now it is insured as a Classic Car for 150% of what I bought it for new in 2008, full value, no depreciation. I have owned seven rotary Mazdas since the 70's; one RX3, two RX4, all three generations of the RX7 with two of those RX7 modified by Racing Beat for the track. I easily have over a million rotary miles on street and track . Yes I have upgraded and improved my RX8, cooling modifications with Koyo-Rad radiator, Pettit Racing closed system, Racing Beat hoses, low temp thermostat, oil cooler low temp thermostats , low temp fan control, upgraded water pump, ; Mazdaspeed CAI, high performance BHR ignition coils and wires, upgraded starter, performance Cat and mid-pipe from Rotary Performance, BHR clutch pedal assembly, Series Two fuel pump upgrade, new clutch and engine (from Mazda warranty, no cost to me), new engine mounts, and a few other things. I also upgraded to Conti Contact DWS06+ tires. I will be keeping my 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 forever. Wish I could have kept them all. Nothing drives like a rotary. FYI, I use 5W-30W non-synthetic oil and yes I pre-mix. Cheers and best to you.
RX8 Club’s recommended maintenance schedule, more comprehensive and proactive than Mazda’s schedule.
30,000 miles:
- Replace Ignition coils
- Replace Plug wires
- Replace Spark plugs
- Clean MAF (mass air flow sensor)
- Clean ESS (e-shaft sensor)
- Reset ESS profile
- Clean power steering connections
- Clean battery terminals and clamps
- Replace transmission fluid
- Replace coolant (Mazda FL-22 is highly recommended)
- Replace air filter
- Replace brake fluid (fluid in the brake lines AND the clutch line)
~$300 USD in parts if you shop smartly.
every 60,000:
...all 30,000, plus...
- Clean all chassis electrical grounding points
- Replace accessory belts
- Clean OMP lines
- Replace rear differential fluid
- Replace thermostat
- Clean / Straighten AC condenser fins
- Clean / Straighten oil cooler fins
- Inspect catalytic converter
- Clean / Inspect intake valving
- Consider / inspect all points in 90,000+ as well, many items fail early
~$130 USD in parts if you shop smartly.
90,000:
...all 30,000, plus any 60,000 not yet done, plus...
- Replace coolant bottle
- Replace radiator hoses
- Replace radiator
- Replace front O2 sensor
- Replace motor mounts
- Inspect clutch pedal assembly for flex / weld breaks
~$900 USD in parts if you shop smartly.
At 100k, anything original in the cooling system and any original cat are really suspect and failure prone. They represents the biggest threat to your engine. Replace.
Replace Apex seals weely: COST priceless.
You must have spent a fortune on that car, being red on red, and under 30k! I'm another college student RX-8 owner for one year, and I absolutely love it as well. You just can't beat the driving experience and the cool factor for the money. Just changed my spark plugs and installed upgraded ignition coils, and it sure makes a big difference! My car is on the second motor, but in one year my clutch pedal bracket and clutch master cylinder have failed on me (at different times) but apart from that, no major issues yet!
I have been seeing a lot of clutch pedal bracket failing comments, I never even knew those were an issue but now i gotta keep a eye out 😭
Spark plugs and ignition coils were one of the first things I did too and was a great upgrade!
Needing a second engine wasn't a "major issue"..? Lmfao. If that isn't one, nothing is.
@@oxypillix The previous owner did the engine replacement years before I bought my car. Engine has about 40k on it now and is running great
own an RX8 and for the first 40k miles didnt premix and my apex seals failed. Ive learned my lesson and premixed ever since. definitely takes a certain type of owner to maintain this car
For sure, the rx8 had its flaws but I think it was amplified by the fact the rx8 sold a lot of units, and a lot of owners went into it thinking they can drive it like a normal car. 🥲
In terms of premixing. If you 100% know your omp is working then there isn't a need to pre mix at all, problem is that you will have no idea when or if it stopped working. It's more preventative maintenance than anything else. Sure you don't have too but if you want assurance you should
I like this video, it’s very informative. People don’t understand that not all cars are maintained the same way and how important it is to keep up with the schedule in order to make sure the car lasts long. People assume cars are unreliable because they don’t maintain them properly. I think people should change that mentality and start maintaining there cars better.
yoooo, i daily an 2009 rx8 at 99xxx miles as a fellow college student also for the past 2 years now. i put atleast 40k miles into it since i bought it. the things that broke for me was a clogged cat, blown up trans, blown up driveshaft, the clutch lolol. cant wait to see more content from you :P
Thank you! But how did you blow up the drive train? Were you drifting it?😂
@@Rxjeikun it blew up when i went over a speedbump going 90 LOL + my car is really slammed
pothole**
@@intrnlBlitZz why would you do that what
the clogged cat means your ignition system was worn out at some point
Loved the video man, when I got my license 2 years ago I really struggled with the choice to buy an rx-8 or an Lexus is200. Eventually got the IS since its unbelievably reliable and generally an easy car to work and learn stuff from. The rx-8 gets a lot of hate what scares most of us. But I would still love to own one one day. They are just so cool and make all the right noises!
When you have some extra cash, try it out! Luckily these cars are still cheap, even the clean ones 😄
Oh man, even considering an RX-8/IS200 as a first car sounds insane to me. Insurance companies in the UK will literally rip you a second ass hole just for considering to buy one...
Imagine choosing between these cars as the first car, that's completely out of ordinary for me. I would need a decade of working, even with a bachelor's degree, to achieve something like that.
@@surrealtom luckily in the Netherlands its still pretty decent to insurance it yourself. Right now I pay around 60 for Insurance. But the good part is nobody here drives these cars. Its the golf's for beginners that are like 150 to insurance, and we all know you get a lot less "car" with an golf then with an rx8 or IS
@@bemvas2484 an clean IS200 here is around 2000 euros. At least when I bought it, right now the prices are around 3 to 5k. And we're pretty lucky with our salary here. Normally it takes around 2 months to work for it, buy it and maintain.
my girl had an rx8 we had nothing but problems never could figure out what the issue was took it to multiple mechanics even got desperate enough to use dealership. they would always say coils or spark plugs but it would always break down again we finally just had to sell it as is. loved the look and the drive of the car when it was running
Yea these are very high maintaince car and because of the extremely rare engine, many mechanics wouldn't know how to maintain these cars including dealerships but its drives really well if you can get pass them!
From the sound of it, it sounds like maybe the car was being turned off before it's fully warmed which floods the engine, and the excess gasoline ends up killing the spark plugs. But that's just my speculation 😅
@@Rxjeikun oh no your 100% correct i did learn all this info but it was too late at that point. plus we bought it used so im sure it wasn't being done by the previous owners either just wish mazda was more upfront about what the car required plus it was 08 so the info wasn't as available as it is now.
The coils failing at an alarming rate is normal for these for some reason. That's why people change out the whole set every 20k miles, haha! I go until they completely fail, and I've changed every single one of those within like 30k miles, that's with proper driving.
Ever consider swapping to the BHR, Ryan's or the Sake Bomb kit? Could be a worthy investment, I'm currently running BHR coils. Considering sake bomb upgrade 👀
@Jake Garrett On a rotary they fire more frequently than on a piston engine, coupled with high revs means they like to wear out.
Great video mate. I used to own Rx-7 and then Rx-8 and was always happy with them, great performance and handling. It takes extra effort to take care of them, but you actually learn much more about the engines and parts when you own rotary cars 😄 So there are positive factors!
For sure, I've always wanted to get my foot in the rotary platform and I think the rx8's are a great way for many people to do so since they are so cheap, even the nice ones don't run for that much. ( For now, I'm sure thatll change eventually )
cool to see someone who lives with an RX-8 and cuts through all the negativity we see online with it. always wanted one but the internet scared me into the next closest thing i could get which is an nc miata lol. subbed to see more rotary content 👍
That was me 3 years ago except I went and got a nb miata. 😂 loved that car, took it on so many road trips.
Same I ended up getting an NB Miata over an RX-8 since I needed reliable transportation to work. Sometimes I don't have ten minutes to wait for the car to warm up. You can't be late for work. 😅
Facts 😂 I'll probably get a nb as a second car in the near future, been looking at the mazsaspeeds. Bargain for the price they at rn
Selling my RX-8 and getting an NC Miata. Trust me I learned the hard way that all the little “quirks” like horrible gas mileage and the engine that likes blowing up every 80k miles makes it not worth it to me. Save yourself the pain
@@modelrc9500 No matter how many coupes I research it always comes back to Miata Is Always The Answer.
The sound of starting rotary engine is just perfect.
I've had an 09 for two years now also in college, and have had no issues at all. I don't even premix or anything, all I've done is decatted and upgraded to BHR coil packs and let it warm up is all.
Nice! I wanted a series 2 when I was shopping for my car but couldn't find any clean one at the time. But series 2 engines added an extra port for the omp so it had better lubrication than series 1 so probably not really necessary to premix 🤔
No premixing(additional apex seals lubricating) is never good in longterm.
I had an 06' revelation spec for ~1yr/20k KMs with no issues.
The warm up/down and redline or two once hot is good practice for any engine imo.
These cars are legendary no matter what! Nice video!!!
I really want to try a rotary car...
but on one hand, I hardly has the time AND money to dedicate to owning a higher maintenance vehicle. I work 60-80 hours a week just trying to keep up. It's left me with no time to even take care of my own vehicle. Missed an oil change a few times by 1k-2k miles at least. That could be a death blow to a rotary. Which would take more time.
But on the OTHER hand, I hear a lot of great things about how fun these cars are. My little chevy is up to 300k rusty miles, and I doubt i'll ever get anything like that out of a rotary vehicle. I want to have fun, I just don't have the time or money to do so.
I’ve had my lovey RX8 for about a year as well!
It just reached 111,000mi fresh oil changes as well! (I’m saying that so it forces me to remember when I did it 😅)
What I found is that despite everything the online people say, this car is actually really reliable. Of course, as long as you take care of it.
I made mistake before so I’m sure my engine isn’t *that* good. But it’s got good compression still. (I hope)
I find a 1:1 ratio for premixing easy for me. Plus I don’t care much about my cat anyways. It’s gonna be expensive but I’d much rather replace a cat than have an engine rebuild.
I’ve got the p0410 code thrown in my face but that’s emissions and doesn’t effect my drivability much, minus even *worse* MPGs.
In fact, after I fix it I’m just thinking of building a new exhaust system for cat-less and hopefully my current cat will still be okay enough to pass smog when ya time again.
Back in 2014, for my first car I daily 86' S4 Turbo II for 1.5 years no problem. Occasion flooding was most of my problem.
Car ran tho, that's most important 😂
To be honest, as a Subaru owner (spec c 03 sti), I can truly say what you do is not much and definitely not a problem for such cool car.
Good luck mate, love rx
I have RX8 .. 2004 .. about 7 and half years and now the engine loose compression .. 132k km ... but i rebuild it and I think it will drive for more happy kilometers .. yes .. you have to warm it up .. dont drive it cold .. premix and shit ... but that driveability and those rpms are just pure joy .. I dont want to sell it because I love that car SO much ...
Completely understand how you feel 😂 especially when you get to take it on some nice backroads
0:44 I love how you swith from RHD to LHD in the first minute 😅 Great video man thanks for sharing your experience!!
After you learn how to maintain them they become very fun to have.
Upgraded coils and spark plugs.
And do everything else.
Great cars
With my SOHN adapter, I dont build any carbon inside the engine. It just injects premix through the OMP instead of motor oil. Burns cleaner, then i premix the tank 3/4oz per gallon. Car runs like a dream!
That's not how carbon buildup works, that's the same as pre-mixing at the gas tank except more convenient. It still builds up carbon and still needs to be redlined to burn it out.
Its just like your car still makes carbon dioxide, you adding oil in a different container doesn't change the fact you're burning a fossil fuel, which deposits carbon on the engine and emits it additionally as CO2.
Having owned one for 8 years and then realizing that I didn't have to go through all the hassle to have just as much (if not more) fun in something else was eye-opening.
just won't be the *same* fun
50/50 weight with an engine that touches 9k and is inherently smooth isn't something you just find in something else
@@wes.9353 That's true, and it just turned out that I didn't really care for it. I much prefer lower-end torque, light weight, an open top, and easy cruising, which are all things the RX-8 can't do.
(Might be a hot take, but I think 50-50 weight distribution is a little bit overrated.)
Having owned one for 1 year I realized that although fun as hell, owning these cars in the long term absolutely sucks. Selling it and getting an NC Miata soon. Very excited to actually be able to mod my car instead of throwing that money in the “saving up for a rebuild” jar or for gas money. The low price point of these cars is the main issue. Younger drivers see the price point and think, “holy shit, a sports car that looks cool for only $5k!! Then underestimate the problems people face with these cars because they already like the idea of a cheap sports car too much. Then boom they buy it and get slapped in the face by the reality of these cars and sell it.
For sure, plus its got seats for thr homies in the back. Definitely need more videos out here go inform new buyers
Subscribed! Nice to see some sensible, down to earth, common sense rotary content. Not sure why the RX7 has such JDM legendary status, in most respects the RX8 is a better car, even power wise it's not that far off a stock RX7, and that's NA! My RX8's have always been reliable, I've had plenty more "conventional" cars that have cost a lot more in repairs than my RX8's 😅
The rx7 definitely has a lot of achievements under its belt but most people I've seen that drove both a rx8 and rx7 says the rx8 is a better chassis, even Rob Dahm said it. I think the rx8 got the bad stigma because it was the first sold rotary that sold as much as it did, and a lot of owners drove it like a regular car.
@@Rxjeikun and if I remember right the engines in the 8 were harder to do rebuilds on, but don't quote me on that.
the rx7 came out around the same time the 300zx, Mk4 Supra, 3000gt, r34, etcetera did. it was always going to share legendary status with the other legends that existed by its side. the looks also went over much better for the public than the rx8 did.
unrelated to the FD, but the rx7 has the most wins under its belt in IMSA than any other car in history. that helped.
I had mine for 9 years. Velocity red with the read and black interior. Never left me stranded anywhere. Most reliable car I've owned. Only mechanical issue was a front droplink failed. Replaced with uprated and all was good. Everything else was normal consumables. Brakes were replaced with better grooved discs and EBC Yellow stuff pads all around. Great combination.
It hit 9k rpm every time I drove it. Did the coil packs HT leads and spark plugs myself on the drive after using it for 30k miles. Replaced with uprated and was good for another 6 years until I sold it.
I did let it warm up, but then it was all RPM all the time. 😁 Didn't run premix. And found the oil consumption to be extremely reasonable to be honest. It was less that my neighbours BMW of the same year. 🤣 Before I sold it, I requested the local dealership to do a compression test. Results were between 105 to 115psi. Apparently very healthy for a rotary.
If I could find another good one, I would absolutely have another in a heartbeat. So much fun at legal speeds. Comfortable and surprisingly practical. Just the fuel consumption/price now.
Just looked at the MOT history of my old one, and it's still on the road 4 years after selling it. With another 30k miles on it. Makes me extremely happy to see that.
like checking your oil level every time you fuel up. Proper heating is needed as you have iron and aluminum pressed together and expand at different temperatures. Premixing is not necessary on a properly functioning rotary. You are more likely to clog your injectors premixing when you don't need too. 88 Fc with 120k was riding strong with no premix but I ran regular sea-foam in the tank to keep the carbon down. When I bought the car the injectors were clogged from premixing and the car wouldn't idle. 12 MPG!!! WTF I had a 30 year old Rx7 and got 18 at least. Oh Leaking fuel line almost killed me and affected my gas mileage. Fixed one leak, and 3 more sprung up after increased gas pressure. Definitely worth the love and shell send ya zooming. I think you will find working on an FC a lot easier as the engine is not so far tucked under the dash and the electronics are a lot simpler.
Honestly, you got a car that you really wanted and it's worth it for you, that's what's important. I personally wouldn't realistically want a rotary because of their milage (or lack thereof). New and improved rotataries have the potential of superior mileage compared to piston engines, which is pretty cool.
I properly heat cycle my S2000 with its F22C1, even though it's not really that necessary. Though your rotary is a bit sensitive to treatment, high revving engines are special and won't be around to experience forever.
Spot on! Rotaries aren’t like any other car, but that’s why we love ‘em! Used to own a 10AE FC and loved it to death before I had to sell it due to it being such a huge money pit. Would always look through the RX7Club forums for maintenance tips. Would love to own an R3 RX-8 in the future! Happy motoring and thanks for sharing!
Premixing changes the octane of the fuel. Premixing causes my 2004 RX8 to overheat in the summer to the point of causing my engine to hesitate and eventually shut down. I stopped premixing and it ran perfectly even in 95 deg with the AC on. Premixing is not for me.
Maybe you could fit an electric heater for the coolant? If you have access to a receptacle, you could warm up the car before starting!
Immediately put a clean oil adapter on the car if you have one. The biggest issue is injecting dirty sump oil directly onto your seals. Side seals fail more than apex seals.
When the adapter is installed you can safely use synthetic oils in the sump. The only reason you can’t normally is because synthetic oils resist burning. You’ll get seal failure from carbon buildup because the oil won’t burn.
Yep! Already running a sohn adapter to feed in clean 2stroke, and running synthetic in the motor. Though I'm thinking about getting rip of the omp completely in the future and just premixing.
I know from dirt biking that the premix is heavier than gas and goes to the bottom of the tank.
Since you can't shake a car like a jug I would put in half of the gas first,then premix,then the last half of the gas.
The a few wiggles like warming up the tires should mix it up.
Dreaming of a rotary that's a hybrid.
Windings in the housing would create a field. This would suspend the rotor and redirect it so it never contacts the wall.
Gas and electric power can work together seamlessly on demand.
Great Article Jerkin. I'm New to the RX8 Community. Literally....Just got home from the Mazda Dealership in South Florida with a 2nd Gen 2009 RX8 GT Manual. Very impressive Service History from Carfax and this was my 3rd 'Test Drive' in 3 months and there was simply NO COMPARISON to the 1st Gen RX8s I drove. OMG....Why anyone would want to stare at a CEL 24/7 is beyond me. I have nicknamed my RX8 Unmolested for a reason....OEM Stock everything. Garage Kept. 3-4K Mile Oil Changes. The Dealer Service Dept. replaced the Radiator and Reservoir Tank for me. Partial Service. Your suggestions on Premixing are appreciated but I'm going down that rabbit hole today. Stock OMP with 6 Injectors vs. 4 on the 1st Gen (2004-2008)? I do agree with most of the advice to run a Semi Synthetic Blend in 10W-40 here in Florida. Good advice on warming her up with sub 4K RPMs before lighting the fuse. The RX8 Community is VERY helpful and I can honestly 'hear' where most Owners will ditch the OEM Exhaust or at least the HUGE Muffler. Keeping the Cat and I refuse to gum it up with anything.... 93UL and Ethanol Free is what she drinks and 20.2mpg on the Hwy and 14mpg so far in the City with spirited driving. Good Looking Night Time Cockpit and you did very well with your 1 year of 'Sage Advice'. Thanks... JP
Had mine since 2012, 100k miles no premix just normal oil changes. Only thing that has broken is the clutch pedal bracket.
Love to hear that ❤️
Dude those things break way too often. Mine's broke like 2 or 3 times... When mine broke the first time (it looked like it had been already replaced by previous owner), it was breaking in 3 separate places! One of the pivot pins was like a hair away from walking the hole all the way through, it was cracking in like 2 or 3 spots almost all the way through, and I think there was even something else.
I fixed it while sitting in my car upside down with nothing but a drill, some scrap metal from a monitor, and a lot of determination because it was broken in the company parking lot and I wasn't about to ride my bicycle back and forth that far again! Oh and a penny is acting as a washer for some screws I grabbed off my race quadcopter holding that thing together, but its so much stronger than original with just a little modification (and the aftermarket kits that improve strength, none reinforce the area that catastrophically broke).
They need to stop using soda cans for those, because its ridiculous, might as well make the brake pedal out of tissue paper too because that's totally safe having your pedals break off and getting jammed under the brake pedal like the clutch can do...
I was not even aware that the pedal was a problem area, I gotta keep a eye out 👀
Loved how dynamic the video feels. Great job
When driving any old car, always have triple A, or some other roadside plan so that you don't dump money into towing your ride. That stuff adds up quickly especially for builds or older daily drivers. Love the content brother 👍🏾
You right, I'm signing up 🫡
Insurance in Sweden allows free towing as long as you yake the most expensive plan. But it was not that expensive for my car since we did it on my dads social sec nr.
You don't need to buy Idemitsu, any good 2 stroke oil is fine for premixing. I personally use Castrol Racing 2T.
I'm always running late somewhere. Needing to wait before driving is a dealbreaker. Thanks for the tip, I was considering one of these.
Maybe as weekend car 😂 or track
Good title for the video. I've been curious on these cars for a while now. A clean one popped up in my local town not too long ago.
I think the rx8s are a great entry into the rotary platform for those interested, its still relatively cheap for a clean one!
I like my RUclips recommends nowadays; I've owned my RX8 for 8 years now. If you want some pointers, feel free to message me. I have replaced almost every bolt on that car and had to do a complete chassis swap. Dumped thousands of dollars, but I didn't want to keep it stock. I've done quite some heavy modding to it, just short of turbo. The biggest issue is buying used, not knowing what the previous owners did. Second to that, is the age of the car and the environment it's been in, whether it requires replacing a lot of parts because of wear and tear. There's a lot of improvements done to the Series 2 RX8's over the Series 1, so if ppl want to try it out, I'd recommend hunting one of those instead, as there have been far less rebuilds needed on Series 2 RX8's than Series 1's. Oil thickness is also something that needs to be taken into account. 5W20 doesn't cut it for these cars, especially if driven hard. Given all the knowledge acquired over the years, several reputable shops have come up with solutions to fix many of the problems that the 13B-MSP came with. I think my most annoying issue with mine was not the engine (even though it did blow up on me eventually and I needed a rebuild), but rather the clutch slave cylinder going bad ever year... Had to do a complete swapout of every single part of the car's hydraulic system to clean out all the gunk that was making its way into the slave, clogging it up.
As someone who uses a piston engine: no engine should be pushed before it's up to operating temperature. This includes piston engines as well, especially high pressure ones. This is because the metals have to expand to their correct shapes for them to function properly. It's also not the RPM that matters, it's the amount of pressure you create in the engine, you can drive 6000 rpm no problem with a cold engine, but if you supply it with a lot of gas and create a lot of torque the pressures created will dislodge parts in your engine creating problems.
It is probably the most parted out late model vehicle out there.
Bought my 09 Rx8 R3 series 2 almost new, drove it for many years, up to 168,000km on original engine, still hot starts and never had any problems all the way up to when i had to trade it for a new truck (life style change), that was 3 years ago now, i still miss it and am now on the hunt for another of the same to buy for a project.
i own a RX8 FL... soon to hit 100k km on the dial....
this that i have encounter owning it for 5 years...
1- will need to top up engine oil (use mineral oil if do you do not have sohn/rohn conversion, as it wills till eat oil even wen you premix)
2- radiator will eventually go (changed to aftermarket alu rad)
3- radiator spare tank will eventually give way as well (due to high heat of the engine)
4- premixing will cause your fuel tank to be gooey (ended up failing both my fuel pump)
5- aftermarket sports catalytic converter will cause engine light to occasionally pop up (unless you disable it via ecu remap)
6- did not warm down the car after a heavy traffic, causing heat issue to the spare thank and radiator
8- unsolved rattling sound on uneven road (wish anyone could give me input)
9- unsolved squeaky sound when move through bump fast (wish anyone could give me input, have changed to coilovers)
10- unsolved loud body knock sound when cruising through highways/freeway (currently sending the coilovers for servicing, unsure if it's knocking my exhaust)
the FC is 12.5km/100liter, not the best not the worst either..
last check compression was about 7-8 as when i first bought it used
though with all the issues i have went through, im still loving the rx8, the response and feel of driving it is lovely.
I'll be honest Nissan is my go to. I've had 4 240SXs, a 240Z, 3 Altimas, a 300ZX and 2 Maximas. One day I'll get a GT-R and a Silvia to complete the set lol. The 240Z I never got to drive. I was a kid when I got it and didn't have the money to fix it. I wish I kept it fr... all the 240SXs were automatic so I eventually sold them. The Maximas were nice but one got totaled and the other one had something going on in the hub. I fixed it replaced the hub 4 times and no matter what I replaced it eventually did it again... but it was an older car that somebody ragged out before I even bought it. I never liked Altimas until my current one so I only kept it... but I've had to do very little with it to keep it in great condition. Just tripped 60K and it still runs like it did off the lot
Rotaries are so cool, respect for doing your research and taking good care of it. Shame they got so little support.
Hey! Been a rx8 owner for 5 years absolutely fuckin LOVE this car!
Alot and I mean ALOT what people say are far overblown, and they have no idea what they are talking about, but like you said it doesn't come from nowhere.
The OEM ignition coils are shit, they burn out after 15-30K miles, there was a recall nightmare in the beginning and They hired the company CAT to do the rebuilds and they had no idea what they where doing, like you mentioned the temp gauge is a dummy gauge all it does it twls you when the cars warmed up, or it has ALREADY overheated and likely now has warped rotor housings. The coolant reservoir is shit and leakes, and lastly the average person has no idea how t take care of a rotary.
Most Renesis engines died from overheating, a leaky reservoir + dummy gauge = dead engine,
ignition coils going bad quick going to OEM mighta had a proper good engine swapped out with a horribly built CAT made engine failing again,
Then there's the non enthusiast owning a rotary and killing it by not premixing, not letting it warm up, letting the cat clog ect.
Check the community nowadays where none of us have any issues with the car yet the bad rep exists with people who do not understand rotaries.
yes the Italian tuneup definitely a must.
😂 definitely
I wish I still had mine. I had fun driving it every time I got behind the wheel. Hoping I can revisit it one day. Maybe I'll get it as a project car but for now, If I want to get a sports car, I would get a new one, and that Supra is calling my name lol.
If I had to buy a "new" sports car rn, I'd definitely be going with the nd2 miata 😌 wish we could all have more money to buy cars
@@Rxjeikun Its a very beautiful car and fun to drive despite what haters say.
I have an 1987 NA fc on 180k miles original motor. Some times I premix sometimes I don’t. The best thing is the redline it. Any 2-stroke oil works unless ur racing the car to save some money.
I have a 2008 series 2 GT. I’ve had it about 4 years.
I love this car. Every time I lean in to turn it on, I get a smile. I don’t premix but I do warm up every time.
I also, only use 98 fuel. Starts every time on first rotation
Such a fun car! I feel like premixing on a series 2 isn't as important because they improved the omp system
drove one daily for a year, loved it tbh and had 0 issues. Its only only car you can watch the fuel guage go down on the motorway though
Me watching my fuel gauge go down a tick after filling up :')
Me watching fuel gage go down everytime it warms up😢
Owned RX8 since 2009. Never had any issues and never had to do anything special to it. Oil change and normal maintenance. Never did a premix and get good gas mileage.
I've had my RX-8 since June of 2020 & I gotta say I absolutely love my car! Bought it at 64k miles & I've put 10k on it so far. Honestly never understood the hatred that the car community has for the 8. Sure it might not be as fast or as reliable (depending on how well you or the previous owners took care of it) as other cars, but it's still awesome in its own right! Rotaries rule! 🤘
Yep! It's a awesome car especially when you consider how cheap you can buy one for with a rebuilt engine!
@@Rxjeikun Only paid $2,800 for mine!
@@Rxjeikun Something to think about. I wanted for the longest time and did test drive one. I'd love to get the Neela paint job. Maybe when I retire. I have a 2008 MIata now and a Corolla SE. Had a 2007 Mazda 3 and that was a great car. Test drove a Mazdaspeed 3, that was a great ride.
Driving rx8 in NYC is kinda hard. For premixing, any JASO FC or FD rated oil will work, you don't have to buy Idemitsu. For the don't shut off a cold engine part, not necessary if your ignition and starting system is strong, your car will only flood if you have weak ignition or starting system.
The thing with rotary engine cars like the RX8 is that to buy them you usually find that the ones up for sale are ready for new seals and an engind rebuild. Also the fuel costs are very high in comparison to standard petrol cars, especially in the UK where currently we pay £1.40 per litre.
In the UK we have 99 Octane premium fuel at most petrol stations so I don't tend to premix my R3. As well as the R3 being a bit of a better build quality than the S1's.
My wife bought a 2004 231 Rx8 with 47,000 miles on it. The car was 5 years old at this point and had already had coil packs replaced under warranty. It wasn’t premixed, but in our ownership I did my best to change the oil every 6000 miles, and I did encourage her to keep it under 3000 rpm until it was warm, but I don’t think she strictly followed that! I also replaced a further set of coil packs. The Rx8 never gave any trouble and never broke down. At 130,000 miles the engine was getting tired so we replaced it. It now has 150,000 miles. I think if we had had the car from new then it would still be running on the original engine. My opinion, heavy on fuel yes, but brilliant cars to drive and reliable provided you care from them properly.
Even replacing the engine at 130,000 miles (which is a lot of miles for an RX8) blows my mind. My car (daily) just hit 130,000 miles last month and the only thing i've done to the engine / mechanical bits is basic maintenance (plugs, fluids) and replaced a section of the radiator hose once ($180 USD total). Engine still great and should be up to well over 160,000 miles. New vehicles shouldn't (hopefully) have to replace the engine in 60k, 90k, 130k miles.....
i've owned lots of rotaries, probably around 12 in the last 10 years my main two driver cars being my pink rx7 and my black rx8. i definitely never wait that long to drive off. that would be insufferable to wait until it reaches temp every time, my rx8's been on its engine for 6 years now, around 150k miles on the clock. my rx7's engine is brand new though, so not comparable.
mostly i just ensure to premix, plus i have a sohn adapter that uses 2 stroke instead of recycling the engine oil. for my rx7 i deleted the oil metering pump entirely and just premix. other than that, just drive it like you love it and you dont have to worry too much about carbon buildup. do fuel treamtent once in a while and use good gasoline and you should have a happy car ^^
Ok so definitely get a remote starter for extra time to get the engine warm.Rev it nicely a day.Get an oil cooler and that oil premix mod(I forgot the name it’s like an extra oil reservoir)
Great video I own a RX8 but I have a Mazda SP23 as a backup incase the RX8 dies or I just can’t afford to drive it, I also premix so it does get expensive, I’m only 17 I wanted a Rotory so I brought one as my first car not a mistake I think it’s great just more on the expensive side.
Been driving an rx8 daily for the past 3 years have had 0 issues so far I absolutely love the rx8, I do always premix and let it warm up. But I enjoy the process and love the daily 9k redlines
You’re right. I bought a brand new RX8 when it first came out. After owning it for about a year, I started praying before I start my car to just so there might be a chance that it won’t break.
You don't have to warm it up. Just turn it on, eventually wait until the air pump shuts off (for me it's the time to take it out of the garage, shut the door and wait for the gate to open) and then just drive it under 3k until it's warmed up. Staying there to wait 10 minutes it's just going to build up carbon deposits and waste unnecessary amount of fuel that's wasted already by the car to begin with xD
To shut it off while cold, just rev it to 4/4.5k rpm for a couple of seconds, keep the gas pedal on, turn off the key, leave the pedal 1-2 seconds after you hear the ignition dying. That's it. No flooding will ever happen.
Premixing is ok, idemitsu is ok tho for racing applications, I generally use royal purple HPC. Also because the latter is somehow more available. And I go around with readied up bottles to pour. Or remove everything and get a sohn adapter with 2 stroke engine oil.
Remember to anyone to check the engine oil level roughly every 2 fuel tanks and keep it in the 80-90% level (don't 100% fill it or it will spill into the accordion pipe). Change oil every 5000 km and the whole ignition every 20/25k km or when you begin to see a fuel consumption increase, that's the sign a coil is going bogus.
That's it. Surely it requires more care than an average car but it's doable if you can look after it.
I could get used to waiting for it to warm up and pre mixing. The costs on the mix would get a bit annoying after a while but there is a certain give and take on cars. The thing that is keeping me away from the RX8 is the roll of the dice on the previous owners taking care of it. If the seals break or something happens, I'm not exactly mechanically inclined or have the resources to do the work myself so it would have to go to a mechanic. I currently drive a VW Golf and it's a pain to find anyone in my area (i live in a small podunk town in the middle of nowhere in TX. Bunch of shade tree mechanic shops) that is willing to work on it if something happens let alone a Mazda rotary.
I'd love to have one. It's on my list of fave cars just for the how awesome I think the car looks but the lack of ppl that know how/want to work on rotary engines is what's keeping me away from it.
Yea I understand that, luckily there are some reputable rotary shops near me but even the closest one is almost 3 hours away 😵💫
OE coil packs in similar size to piston engines will wear down and clog your cat past 30k miles, which will kill the side seal springs and throw side seal into engine 100%.
Upgrade to Black Horse Racing direct fit coils, 2x bigger!
Use 10w-30 oil instead of 5w-30 factory spec made to pass gas mileage and emissions.
Yep! Currently running BHR coils and 10w30
Premix is a must for S1 engines due to lack of middle injection. If you rebuild, use series 2 rotor housings, add third injectors, switch to S2 oil pan to work with S2 rotor housing bottom. Call it a day.
Always liked the looks of these cars but went with a red mk7 celica.. Couldn't be waiting in the car every morning before setting off for work.. Already late enough as it is. Good vid
I have a 04 (05/03 build date) that I've had for a year now. Got it at 103k and it's been my daily til recently (got a 06 v70r). She's sitting 136k and no major issues. I don't have a cat and put a aftermarket cat back on. Everything is pretty much stock except the upgraded ign coils. I use the AmsOil Dominator oil for my premix and I only use about 4.5oz to get from a 1/4 tank to full. I recommend not letting your 8 going below a 1/4 tank.
It def went below 1/4 tank a rew times but I try my best not to let it get there 😭
@RxJeikun I have to but it's best not to. Possibility to get some bad sediment that might be in the tank sucked thru the system
You learnt that it uses a truck load of fuel.
You learnt that you had to keep a bottle of oil in the trunk.
You learnt that it can overheat in hot weather.
You learnt that your friends don't like the submarine feel in the back.
You learnt that it's a car that requires a fair bit of tweaking and up keep.
But it was fun. I had one for about 4 years and it did a lot of nice roads in the south of France, but at the end of the day it isn't practical.
I ended up buying a 89 MX6 GT, just wanted the reliability. Fun 8 years with zero issues.
I had one for a few years. They're super fun lightweight, well balanced cars with a really nice smooth feeling engine. Driving it at speed around windy roads or on a track day, they're excellent cars. I'd say that's what they're for, for sure.
The problem is that they're ridiculously thirsty and need far more care and attention than any regular 4-cylinder with similar power. For the same fuel consumption and maintenance effort, you could drive a Viper, or a TVR if you're over the other side of the Atlantic. And the RX8 is a 4-door coupe with back seats as if you supposed to daily drive them.
I had my RX8 flood the engine due to accidentally shutting it off before it warmed up a couple of times in the 3 years I owned it. The fix for that is to remove the fuel pump fuse and jump-start with another car for several minutes to burn out the extra fuel. That's not always convenient! My Catalytic converter disintegrated (at 60k miles) and my local garages refused to touch it because it's attached to a rotary engine. When I sold it at 80k miles for basically nothing at all because who wants to buy a rotary with 80k miles, one of the rotors had half the compression of the other - tested by a rotary specialist, so it was rapidly on its way to an engine-out rebuild - or the scrap yard.
My point is that besides the rather unique feel of the rotary engine, you could get something much better for the same money spent altogether. The RX7 made sense because it was a pure sports car and had more power, and felt special. The RX8 makes no sense. It's a daily driver that can't be daily driven without hassle. Buy a GT86 for nearly the same experience, and save all that money.
I plan to get a rx7 in the near future, the rx8 was my gateway into the platform, and honestly for the price, it is a performance bargain!
@@Rxjeikun If you want to use it as a weekend fun car, or specifically for track days - I totally agree. The RX8 is great to drive, and - due to their reputation - are very cheap to buy.
My only issue is with them as daily drivers which is how Mazda sold them, and for which I think they're not ideal.
The RX7 has many problems of it's own, but it feels like a supercar, especially with the classic status it now has and so that's not so big of an issue.
Recently joined the club too! Here up in montreal Quebec! Store mine for the 3 winter months though.
Wish I had a garage to storage it 😭
6:44 nothing you’ve said so far leads me to believe this is true. 🤣
It’s fun watching the love you have for the car. 👍
I can’t imagine going through this stuff myself. Not without a significant benefit.
It’s a fun car. But, so are plenty of others so I’m not clear on what the reward is when you could love something else just as much that was just as much fun and wasn’t so demanding.
I had three subarus, I'm used let the engine warming up every goddamn time... I turn the car on and keep doing my stuff lol, then I remember the car is on for the last 10 minutes, and now I need to go to the gas station, subaru and rotary life... RX8 and GF8 now, never been happier
I bought an RX8 new in 2004 and put 100k on it over the next 14 years. I did need an engine replacement due to the apex seals which was thankfully covered by warranty, and I had an electrical gremlin that caused the cruise control to only work half the time, but other than those 2 issues it was a great car. Sadly it was totaled when someone crashed into it while it was parked. Replaced it with a 987.2 Cayman S, which was a suitable upgrade.
That's definitely a nice upgrade 😂 I wish my car was still under warranty too
Yea when your car costs more than your house is fair to call it a "suitable upgrade" :O
I've owned my for ten years. The only 'weird' thing I do is premix it, and just don't beat the shit out of it cold, but drive it normally.
I've had problems, but none were specifically 'rotary' problems. Lost an engine - but that was a broken sparkplug falling into it shortly after I serviced it, rather than anything rotary.
The only reason I rebuilt it was because I had it for a long time, had some spare cash, and it was better to do it on a running engine, rather than wait for it to break. When it was cracked apart - it was in great condition inside. Clean and unfucked, with everything in spec (Albeit right at the edge of being in spec). It solved a lot of minor issues like blowing exhaust gaskets and sticky valves.
The worst thing I did for it, was not drive it for 8-10 weeks over the virus - and it hasn't been right since.
You DO NOT NEED premix if your oil injection is still in place and operational, and you don't let oil change go over 4k miles. How do I know? I cracked open 48k miles engine and it was prestine except for carbon build up. No wear on rotor housing.
Remember to drain BOTH oil coolers of old oil during oil change.
12 mpg?! Most of the rx8's in my country get 11-14 l/100km.. If you're pushing it, yes
I do a lot more city driving than I'd like, the stop and go traffic does take a toll on mpg but it's better when I do highway drives 😅
Adding to the premix note, you can get a $100 12-bottle bundle off of EBay for Idemitsu premix.. that’s what I get every time! It comes from Mazdatrix and it comes with a big measuring bottle and funnel that are nice to have handy
Just found the way you are talking about! $44 in shipping tho, but the extra bottles are nice.
I drove my rx7 FC daily for 18 months. I would start my car while I was getting ready for work or having a cigarette. I don't smoke indoors or in my cars. My coolant seal blew so rebuilding it. It blew and that afternoon I pulled the engine. REBUILD IT EARLY TO AVOID MAJOR REBUILD COST. Also if your omp is questionable use 1 Oz per gallon.
From what Ive learned you don't need to wait for engine to warm up. Just drive it calmly when it's cold and change gear at max 3,5k rpm. It will warm much faster when you drive it
I currently do, do that, unfortunately not the case all the time because of parking situations ☹️
I get 22mpg freeway and 18mpg city. By the way,the fuel lines are being replaced for free as a warranty issue as well as the 2 front airbags. Just a heads up.
My friend owns one, car is frustrating, electric stuff are quite finicky, for example he wanted to put a tablet for his audio system so it can use USB drives but it was one of the 9 different models that if you remove the audio system you cant use the aircondition. When buying a used one which is the most likely to happen you have to see the engine pressure to be high enough and generally speaking a lot will try to trick you with false numbers just to get rid of it. Idk how it is called in english so i'll tell what happened, the fuel that went into the engine didn't got burned when entering and did a huge malfunction which was expensive to fix, something that on regular cars even if it happens you just put neutral and press on the gas and it will burn the fuel that got into the engine. When shutting down the engine you have to run it on high RPM's something a lot do not know. Moving the car to A to B when it is cold is not an option cause of risk of damaging the engine aka lowering the pressure inside the engine. Dashboard at the passenger's side tends to make cracks, idk why but this is quite common issue.
Pro's Well balanced car, the weight distribution gives it a nice grip on the road, interior looks quite superb and generally it is a good looking car even for today's standards. Here in greece they are dirt cheap to buy and funny enough mazda themselves still sells you the engine brand new, i assume there is quite a fanbase so they still produce and sell them.
the RX-8 seems like its happiest as a track car or as an enthusiast's car as you really have to push them
For sure, I never took a car on track before but I'm hoping this summer will be my first time!
hey thanks for this video came across it when looking at older content from Mazda this being one of them. I can safely say as nice as these cars are, & I've worked on a car before myself with the minor maintenance stuff, I can say I'm glad I'm not an owner of an RX. seems alot to manage even after 1st glance. plus I don't know I looked at a technical breakdown of the rotary engine that shows the design flaws of the past from another channel and talk about cutthroat of Mazda. they sold these pieces of machinery to enthusiast customers which is fine to do since we're talking about a group of ppl who will want to know their car inside & out. thr part that's cutthroat is that this also made its way into the hands of regular customers.......meaning ppl that just expect things to be alright with the car & if something happens it should be treated like a regular car.
as of typing this I'm having 2nd thoughts about saying I'm glad I don't own one. like for me I would do the extra steps to make sure things stay intact. it's a pretty eye catching car. I myself get my car maintenanced every 5k miles & say to techs take as long as you need to & just make sure everything checks out full diagnostic almost every time. but a regular customer, this car would be lucky to even last a year to me! I've seen some other comments on here that have talked about they didn't do all of what you're doing & it was alright still. but I don't know give it time & I think the underlying problems will start to show for them or whomever's hands it's in now if they sold it. glad you were able to get one and replace your former daily driver, I know the issues when it comes to money & a car payment, recently paid off my car, fellow Mazda owner myself -GEN2 2013 MazdaSpeed3. Definitely a time when Mazda was actually relevant.
6.0lt manual Holden VE SS and i ALWAYS warm any car i drive, that was drilled into your brain in the 80s
I plan to buy a rotary of some sort in a few years, as a second/weekend car. I'm not brave enough to own one as my only car, at least not yet, but will use it as a daily as long as it's running properly. Mostly looking at either a FB RX-7 or RX-8 (leaning towards the FB but with the Japanese car market I don't know if this will be feasible in a few years)
Do better research for rx7 as they're a fun, sport car (rx8 isn't that sport) so they're way harder for daily like the rx8.
Rx8 daily isn't for everyone but sure it's great but Rx7 daily is even more not for everyone and it's... fine fore daily
Just subbed g I’ve been wanting one of these cars for a minute dawg but anyways this was a great vid and can’t wait to see more!
Thanks!
Its like daily driving a exotic I appreciate it think i will get one I'm doing research and the algorithm sent video the good part about it is there are alot of enthusiasts that specialize in rotary engines besides the engine do you have any other problems electronics etc?great video