I Drove a Rx8 For a Year, Here's What I Learned
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- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2024
- One year ago, I pulled the trigger and bought a Mazda Rx8 as my daily driver to replace my Miata which had been my daily for 3 years. I'm in college, and broke so can't afford to keep two cars, this video is what I've learned after daily driving a rotary for a year :)
Thanks for watching!
Instagram: @Jeikune
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 🥲
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.
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
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 :')
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"
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 .
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...
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.
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 )
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.
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
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. 🥲
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.
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.
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’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.
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.
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'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.
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
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
After you learn how to maintain them they become very fun to have.
Upgraded coils and spark plugs.
And do everything else.
Great cars
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
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 😂
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 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.
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.
rx8's are underrated i have both an na miata and a 05 rx8 and i love them so much
Nice! I had a 99NB, unfortunately got totaled in a accident :(
@@Rxjeikun aw sad
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.
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.
I had an FD RX-7 for a while, and so did someone that lived in vaguely the same neighborhood. We'd see each other every 3 or 4 weeks at the local shop picking up our quarts of oil. The burn is real. Loved that car, but it was a pain in the rear sometimes.
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
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.
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!
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 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.
0:44 I love how you swith from RHD to LHD in the first minute 😅 Great video man thanks for sharing your experience!!
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
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😢
These cars are legendary no matter what! Nice video!!!
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.
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.
Loved how dynamic the video feels. Great job
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
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.
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'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
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 👀
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!
The sound of starting rotary engine is just perfect.
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 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
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.
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! 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I ended up buying a 89 MX6 GT, just wanted the reliability. Fun 8 years with zero issues.
Had mine for 7 years, drove 80k miles, didn't premix... always kept the coils and plugs in check, never drove hard (below 4k) cold and drove like I stole it when warm, oil topped and new (yep, oil drinkers) and gas was always related to my right foot... is a sports car with 9k revs to play... what would one expect? Oh, and I changed cat 3 times but Rotaries weren't really cat friendly anyways, i knew that so I kept buying a decent cheap cat, was really no big deal. The only issue I really had was battery, especially on german winter... and a blown cooling fan. In Italy. On Summer. Not fun. Mechanically the car was perfect once you took care of it. Never had an issue and I kinda regret it to have sold it.
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 have been daily driving my 79 SA rx7 since 2019 ( bough in 2015) . This video is spot on ! The reason people hate the rx8 is because the series 1 rx8's genuinely have a bad engine design that starves the rotors of oil , the series 2 rx8 fixed this and are just as reliable as NA 7's .
A big myth is see is that the rx8 was the first "popular" rotary and that's false, America caught rotary fever in 1976 with the rx3 and sales for the first gen rx7 were in the quarter million mark in the states alone , they retained their value up until the mid 90's, the FD rx7 was super expensive and unreliable because idiots were over boosting them , in general japanese halo car's weren't great sellers states side, the supra was being sold at a loss by the late 90's here because no one wanted them .
Rotary reliability is as follows REPU 13b > 12A >>13b NA > series 2 RENESIS > 13b turbo >>>>13bREW >> Renisis from experience, those 12 a's and og 13b's on the repus are tanks .
My engine has never given me an issue, what gives me issues is the radiator going out and oil cooler busting because it was improperly mounted .
6.0lt manual Holden VE SS and i ALWAYS warm any car i drive, that was drilled into your brain in the 80s
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.
Been a rotary guy for 30yrs and have owned 1st gens a 2nd gen, 20b 3rd gen and Rx8 and your warmup info is incorrect. 1. There is no magical 3,000 rpm you should limit cold. 2. Sitting in your car and warming up idling is actually the WORSE thing you can do to a rotary because you not putting any real HEAT into the combustion chamber while idling. The lack of HEAT combined with oily residue from the oil metering pump oil on the rotors is what slowly fowls the spark plugs over time causing a weak spark. Weak spark causes excessive carbon build up which over time lowers the engines compression.
On the Rx8, Ideally you want to start engine and rev to 2,500-3k for about 30seconds or until the air pump turns of. This will rapid fire the plugs and put LOTS of heat into the combustion chamber to help burn off the excess fuel the ecu allows for during a cold start. A cold idle warm up wont do this and you WILL start the process of building carbon on the rotor faces. Over time, that carbon will penetrate the apex seal grooves which makes them move less freely and lessens their ability to make a proper seal against the rotor housing. The carbon will also break away from rotor face and scratch up the housings as the apex seal slides across it. It's not about coolant temps. It's about putting enough HEAT into the combustion chambers to burn off the excess fuel so that unburnt fuel DOESN'T turn into carbon later. I can do this fast warmup to my own Rx8 and shut it off, start later and it will NEVER FLOOD because my engine is carbon free and all the start up fuel has been burned off with the high idle method. Low idle warmup also allows the rotors to sling that unburnt fuel/oil into the spark plugs and foul them out sooner than later. Do the 30sec fast idle method and then GO DRIVE THE CAR. You aren't doing anything by letting it idle as you also have a 9lb hunk of iron called a rotor that will take extremely long time to heat up. Rotors aren't like aluminum pistons that transfer heat quickly. They ABSORB lots of heat until they warm up and COLD rotor faces are a breeding ground to build MORE CARBON.
3rd gen Rx7 has a factory installed feature called AWS (Accelerated Warm-up system) and has a solenoid that allows more air to bypass the throttle body and allow for a high idle during 1st start. Engine would shoot directly to 3k rpms for about 30seconds mainly to help warm up the cat for emissions. This feature ALSO had a secondary benefit of putting more heat into the combustion chamber. When my FD was stock, I always let that feature do its thing because I wanted that heat in the combustion chamber. After that feature ran it's course, I then just go drive the car like like a normal car. That engine lasted to 108k original miles before I accidentally over boosted it and blew the rear rotor. Funny thing is with ZERO compression on the rear rotor, engine still fired up and drove 10miles back to my parents house before I began my 20b conversion years ago. Aint too many 3rd gens last as long as mine did with OG engine. An engine with weak compression won't do that and after breaking my engine down, the front rotor housing and all the bearings were perfect and I NEVER premixed.
Thanks for the info! It's always interesting to see every owners perspective because sometimes it feels like everyone does something different!
The way I warm up the car is based on the info I've gathered from forums and talking to rotary shops, like IR and JPR on the East Coast. I usually don't just idle until the engine is completely warm, I think I mentioned I drive it but at lower rpm until it's fully warm up. What you said does make a lot of sense, ill have it in mind nedt time i warm up the car, I appreciate you for sharing your experiences 🫡
Edit* is there a reason you don't premix?
@@Rxjeikun For a street car, OMP does the job just fine. The KEY is keeping keeping carbon out of the engine and I do that by doing yearly carbon cleanings with Seaford and the water steam clean method. Also change your plugs sooner than later. People forget that since rotary plugs fire like a 2 stroke, they have about 2 times the amount of spark on them compared to a piston engine. A piston engine at 3k only sparks the plug 1,500 times where as in a rotary, those spark every rotation of the crank so 3k rpm = 3,000 sparks from just one of those plugs. So when Mazda tells you to change your Renesis plugs at 37,000miles, those plugs technically have 74k on them. Too many owners go over that limit and as the spark gap widens, you start to over heat the ignition coils as they try to jump that larger gap. This is WHY Rx8 coils fail so much as they get over worked. I'm telling you all this because all these things lead to more carbon build up and the great running ignition system limits that from happening. With more carbon, you have more debris in the housings getting chopped up by the rotors which all scratched the housings up. Premix is still doable, I just don't waste my time because I do other things that keep the engine healthy which in turn, makes premixing for ME irrelevant.
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!
Rotaries are so cool, respect for doing your research and taking good care of it. Shame they got so little support.
All these extra rituals makes my Exige look like a good daily driver xD
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.
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 ^^
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.
I daily my rx8, owned it for 15 years and port 107,000 miles on it (in the UK we don't do such high mileage), it's never let me down, you don't really want to idle the car to warm it up, as it leads to increased engine wear due to fuel wash and cold oil, get in and drive(but keep the revs below 4k) it's common to get a remap that has a cold engine limiter(so you can't go above about 4k until the engine is up to temp) if you really want to freak people out when you fill the tank, put your pre-mix in an energy drink bottle.
The rotary engine is reliable, it's just not durable, so say a piston engine covers 150,000 miles before issues expect the rotary to last half that(figures are just for example)
Not sure what oil you're running(probably 5-20) but you may want to think about 5-30 or 10-40 as it helps with bearing wear
Currently running 10w40 in the winters and I go up to 20w30 in the hot summers.
I usually do drive it and short shift until it's fully up to temp, however on days with alternate side parking, If I find a spot before my car is fully warmed up, I just let it idle till it's ok to turn off.
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.
You keep making recommendations based on things you find online but don't mention sources, or say that you're "not sure" or need to "double check". Forums quickly end up being an echo chamber and you should always filter any information you find online, including what I'm going to say in this comment. Still, most of what you said makes sense and is consistent with my own experience from driving an RX-8 for 2.5 years and rebuilding my own engine. I think you overdo it a bit on warming up the engine when starting it. Also, as you're worried about carbon deposits, I would recommend looking into alternatives to the standard oil injectors injecting your dirty 4-stroke engine oil into the combustion chambers, either using a Sohn adapter or by disconnecting them and premixing more. My rotors had a ton of hardened soot deposits on them, which I assume were from impurities and non-burnable ingredients contained in the engine oil.
You're right, I'll try to cite my sources next time (I'm sure I'll be making a update in time ), but it was honestly just based on 2 years of like daily researching and talking to local reputable Rotary builders like IRPerformance and JPR on the east coast for recommendations. Also had them PPI a few cars for me.
I'm currently running a sohn setup, I'm considering just blocking off the omp and just premixing since it seems a lot easier.
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 😵💫
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.
No need to idle 10 minutes to warm it up. I have owned 3 early rx-7s, two RX-8s, never warmed up any by idling,or any of my other petrol or diesel piston cars. Between them I’ve driven over 1 million rotary engine kms. As with every car keep the revs down, gentle throttle until warm, but don’t “lug” the engine either,just drive gentle like your Mum until warm. A rotary doesn’t like to warm up too quickly. Series 2 rx-8 lowered its redline when cold. For the 13B-REW ;1. Use the correct oil, mineral not synthetic , if don’t use the 5w20 some regions mandated super thin oil to meet fuel economy requirements at the detriment of engine life. Make sure it’s 5w30, keep the oil topped up 2. Make sure Mazda has updated the PCM in a series 1, and flooding issues are 99% reduced. You don’t have to fully warm up when driven a short distance, just don’t drive it extremely short distances multiple times in a row( who does that anyway). I’ve had only 2 flooding incidents, one where dirt clogged the carbi of a 25 year old 12A NIKKI, I gave the carbi a tap with a hammer to unstick the needle, started it at full throttle and within 3 minutes it was running. My first gen Rx-8 flooded after I stupidly moved it around the drive 4 times to allow others to leave a driveway. After the PCM update it didn’t flood again in the 260,000 kms I had drove it from new. I only used premix in my Rx-7 setup as a race car, it had no oil metering pump.Change both coolant and oil on time!
I have a miata but I’ve debated buying an RX8 for the longest time. man these cars seem scary lol. I noticed that I do some of the same rotary maintenance things with my non-rotary miata, i.e. let it warm it up before driving hard, and drive it hard every once in a while (give it the ol’ Italian tune up). But I think I’ll have to wait till one day I could have an RX7 or RX8 as a secondary car, because if I daily’d one, I’d shit my pants out of sheer anxiety. My miata and previous Honda Civic spoiled me with reliability haha. Plus the whole fear of getting an unlucky RX8 that still shits the bed despite proper rotary maintenance and doesn’t live up to my expectations. My commute is very short so sometimes my car’s oil doesn’t fully get up to temp before I get to my destination, I don’t have a mechanic that knows rotary’s near me, and while I do admittedly know more than the average person about maintaining a rotary, they still scare me a bit. Which is a little sad because I remember falling in love with RX8’s playing Midnight Club LA, and RX7’s way before that playing NFS underground 2. One day I’ll learn the dark magic of rotary engines. But seriously thanks for the video you’ve made, since there isn’t that many actually good videos detailing living with an RX8 😇
I've had my 2009 Rx8 GT since April, my only issue I've ever had with it was a dead battery, bought it at 76,000 miles. If you ever do buy one do yourself a favor and try to find a series 2 (2009-11)
For sure, I felt the same way and that's how I ended up with my miata as a first car ( I loved that car ) and yea there isn't many actual content on people daily driving a rx8, which was honestly what inspired me to start filming. I'm glad you watched it :)
Also what the other guy said is true, if you can find a series 2 rx8, it's more reliable than a series 1, but if you can't, don't let it discourage you from getting one, if you do your part, it'll work out!
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
Will never own a rotary car, still watched attentively
Respect from a Miata owner 😂
Thank you! I'm tryin to get a miata again as a second car 😂 that or a mazda 3
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 wish I knew all this back when I had My rx-8 I feel this car is better for the weekend and not a daily driver is a car you can take to the track and have fun and drive it once in a while
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.
1. Warming up your car isn't really different for turbo car owners either. Turbo's and seals and piston rings and so on don't like taking boost until the oil and the components are nice and warm. So those that say get a different car, and it has a turbo, you should still warm it up.
2. Once you park, you should also let your turbo engine cool off, because turbo's want to cool off and most cheaper cars with turbo's don't have active cooling when the car is off.
3. You should also rev out your turbo car, GDI and turbo systems don't like idling and granny driving, also because of carbon deposits.
4. Okay, you don't have to premix with a turbo piston car.
It is probably the most parted out late model vehicle out there.
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.
Sounds like loving in NY is more of an issue than owning a rotary.
😂😂 there's it's issue but I love 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.
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.
Daily driving a RX-8 for 2 years now and zero issues🤙🤙
I'm tryin to be like you!
Warm/cold is the most important thing on all engines. Especially for a wankel engine. You doing a good thing, keep doing what you doing.
yes the Italian tuneup definitely a must.
😂 definitely
It’s a race engine plain and simple. Exceptional performance if maintained by a team of mechanics. But not for the person who thinks it will behave like an ice. Mazda won the 24hr Bathurst here with an rx7, amazing accomplishment but again, had a team of leaders in that field to do it.
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.