13B, 20B, Can someone enlighten me?

[erick pina]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmAaIB7wzDk

 

[Katner]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmAaIB7wzDk

Wicked.

 

[jmsj578]

That's it? Just keep herheart pounding every time you take her out and she'll basically return the favor?

I read in a couple of other threads that most of the Rx8s that die are due to middle-aged men trying to baby there car so they never rev it up and eventually they die from the carbon. One other car I'm considering is an AP1 s2000 which also revs to 9000rpm. But when people say "ya the f20 loves to rev" I think to myself 'how can that be true of a piston engine?' That has to simply be an expression meaning "you have to rev this thing or it feels like a del sol" whereas with the rx8 that expression is actually true.

OK, I'm not a middle aged man, any longer. Now that I get SSA checks, I guess that makes me a senior. I guess that middle aged comment was aimed at folks like me; so, I'll give my perspective on it.

When I talked with the maintenance manager of the dealer I bought my wife's RX-8 from, he said his worst customers were daughters of parents who want to give their child something nice for graduation. These daughters don't drive them as assertively as young men do. Their cars can end up in the shop.

I probably drive our RX-8 more conservatively than most of the folks on here; but, I don't baby it through the shifts. I just don't see the need to redline it when I take it out for a drive. I do tend to shift in the 5K-6K range. That should be plenty enough to keep the seals cleared of carbon. There is nothing in my wife's car's manual that says I need to redline it each time it's driven, either. I'm sure there'd be a note about that, if it were to be done. I must admit I do feel the need to drive the car, from time to time, to be sure it does get the carbon cleared. I know my wife is more gentle on it than I am, even though I've told her to rev it up. However, I don't worry about it very much because it has a 96K/8year warranty on the core of the engine. If it fails, I'll let Mazda fix it. We'll not have it when the warranty runs out, I'll bet. She'll want something else, by then. The next owner can worry about it, then.

There is nothing wrong with pampering a car, though. I do pamper our cars. That's why they look good for as long as we own them. Our cars don't even come out when there's bad weather. We use our old truck for that. Even it still looks pretty good, after over 14 years in our fleet.

 

[Katner]

OK, I'm not a middle aged man, any longer. Now that I get SSA checks, I guess that makes me a senior. I guess that middle aged comment was aimed at folks like me; so, I'll give my perspective on it.

When I talked with the maintenance manager of the dealer I bought my wife's RX-8 from, he said his worst customers were daughters of parents who want to give their child something nice for graduation. These daughters don't drive them as assertively as young men do. Their cars can end up in the shop.

I probably drive our RX-8 more conservatively than most of the folks on here; but, I don't baby it through the shifts. I just don't see the need to redline it when I take it out for a drive. I do tend to shift in the 5K-6K range. That should be plenty enough to keep the seals cleared of carbon. There is nothing in my wife's car's manual that says I need to redline it each time it's driven, either. I'm sure there'd be a note about that, if it were to be done. I must admit I do feel the need to drive the car, from time to time, to be sure it does get the carbon cleared. I know my wife is more gentle on it than I am, even though I've told her to rev it up. However, I don't worry about it very much because it has a 96K/8year warranty on the core of the engine. If it fails, I'll let Mazda fix it. We'll not have it when the warranty runs out, I'll bet. She'll want something else, by then. The next owner can worry about it, then.

There is nothing wrong with pampering a car, though. I do pamper our cars. That's why they look good for as long as we own them. Our cars don't even come out when there's bad weather. We use our old truck for that. Even it still looks pretty good, after over 14 years in our fleet.

I appreciate these comments. I hope I didn't sound offensive in my previous. I meant those original words figuratively. Your discussion on the young girls being the ones who cause problems with these cars seems to be a little more accurate. These facts are relevant to me because realistically I'll be getting like an '05 and putting some money into performance upgrades. I don't know how to shop for a used RX considering it's care and maintenance is different than a typical car.

I find rotaries to be more intriguing to me every time I look into them. I like the fact that spirited driving is what these engines love. I like that they rev forever, and I like that although not extremely powerful compared to some competitors, they make huge hp/cc.

The way I'm starting to see it, it's like a cat vs. dog thing. Cats require less care, less feeding, and often live longer in better health than dogs. They are easier pets. Dogs require more devotion, but you bond emotionally with dogs, and feel a loss when they die.

Dogs = RX cars
Cats = other JDM stuff

 

[Bose]

One thing you should ask for before you buy an 8 is have the dealer do a compression check, if they can have them find someone who can. I would say get on '05 or newer model, not that '04's are awful, I have an 04 and have no problems. But you might as well go for newer. The saying is a redline a day keeps the carbon away. It has to be in gear and taken up to at least 7250 rpm when the final intake ports open up, that's what helps blow the carbon out. So it doesn't need to go until you hear the beep or see it hit the redline, just need to open all the ports and give'em a thrashing, so to speak. Babying this car does it no favors. (Not meant to be a jab at anyone, just my $0.02)

 

[Katner]

Bose, is there any other reason for buying newer than '04? I can find '04s and '05's for relatively the same price, but I'm hearing more and more that both of these years have issues with a bad fuel map or something, and that this is one of the big contributors to reliability issues. People are saying that the '06s and beyond were fixed.

Anyone confirm?

 

[jmsj578]

I've watched the RX-8s in "Consumer Reports" and see that most of the bad stuff was in the '04-'05 time frame. We have the '06 GT that has been just fine. However, keep in mind that we don't put that many miles on a car. My wife's car was bought over two years ago and is still short of 12K miles. The model years after '05 seem to be holding up well, though. CR recommends them, now. If I were looking to buy one, I'd buy one of the newer ones, as well.

 

[Bose]

^^^ What he said pretty much.

With the new flash from the factory the issues the 04 05's were having aren't a problem anymore. I have an 04 and haven't have any major issues. Change plugs and ignition coils, wires if it has mileage over 40,000 and hasn't been done.

This car has it's quirks for sure, if you don't mind them it's worth every minute of it.

 

[TheMAN]

Great links...

put it this way...

13B is all u will buy.. unless u get lucky and find a 20B swap.. 9wotn be in an rx8 but in an rx7 u can find them)

13B RE is out of the cosmo and is a hell of an engine..

Some hybrids have been built like mine which is a 13B RE irons, FD (13B- REW) housings etc..

The G35 or even 37 is a great car.. u will get more umph and more mpg out of it.. BUT.. go drive an RX7 or RX8 and see what it does for you.. I dont think these are cars u buy hoping it grows on you.. because the rotary engine is a fun engine but if u dont enjoy the car and the little bs (like fuel economy, maintence, future rotary issues) will piss u off and u wont enjoy the car..

good luck on your search..

BTW this is my opinon on the 13B engine

RX7 86-88 13B series 4 (not worth the money, slow, relaiable but not a big power maker)

RX7 89-91 13B series 5 9roughly 25hp more, more fun, better tq band, better internals

RX7 87-91 13B turbo (series 4 or 5) more power then the non turbo, fun engien to play with, great potential

RX7 93-95 (13B REW twin turbo) loads of fun, but put in a much heavier car, the REW was a weaker engine maitnence wise as it did seem to have more issues, mainly due to the 2 hitachi turbos.

RX8 13B renises (side port) emission built engine, internally the parts are GREAT, the design is good but even with this "emissions rotary" it does not give u better mpg, there is more power but in a heavier car IMO it feel a little numb.. over all the car is fun, the motor is good (not sure on longevity yet) but I know these engines will not be the future for high hp builds.. they already have known issues of e-shaft snapage at higher hp levels.

uhh, the FD was a lot lighter than the FC... just because the car is bigger, doesn't mean its heavier!