Hey RX8 guys a couple of questions for you...

[tybrenis]

Hey guys,

I've always been a mazda guy, and I've had miatas and I now drive a mazdaspeed protege. I love my car, but its getting up there in miles, and I'm going to be moving away for a four year college program and I want something I can rely on for those years. I've been thinking about getting an RX8 for a while, but have questions for you guys...

With an intake and an exhaust, is this thing going to be as fast as my protege right now? Its a quick car and I don't want to downgrade in terms of power.

Is the fuel economy really like 15 mpg or can I suck more out of it?

How reliable are these cars?

 

[solidtrance]

Hey guys,

I've always been a mazda guy, and I've had miatas and I now drive a mazdaspeed protege. I love my car, but its getting up there in miles, and I'm going to be moving away for a four year college program and I want something I can rely on for those years. I've been thinking about getting an RX8 for a while, but have questions for you guys...

With an intake and an exhaust, is this thing going to be as fast as my protege right now? Its a quick car and I don't want to downgrade in terms of power. Unless you go FI this car is not going to be fast in a strait line. Its just not built with 1/4 mile speed as a priority. I don’t have any experience with an MSP to compare it to, so i can't comment on the difference between the two power and strait line speed wise.

Is the fuel economy really like 15 mpg or can I suck more out of it? You can get more than 15, but don't count on much of an improvement. If you drive it very easily with a light foot it will get better gas mileage, but it is significantly less fun to drive.
How reliable are these cars? They are as reliable as the regular maintenance makes them. With that said 06 and newer models seem to have a lower failure rate (with 04's having the highest failure rate), but then again the older cars have seen more miles so I think the data will even out over time to some degree.

I added my comments in red above. You can read through the Thread in my sig for a lot more information on all these subjects. From what I gather i think you could be very happy with an 8 as your next car, but I honestly think you should look for something else. College parking lots are not great places to store cars and cars there tend to get trashed. With an 8 I think that you will find yourself driving your friends around a lot, because its a bad a$$ car and your buddies will want to ride in it. The maintenance requirements are not overly expensive, but could easily be a burden on some college budgets. If you want to keep a "fun" car i would recommend finding an older well cared for NA or NB Miata. This offers a few advantages, its still very fun to drive as you know, cheaper to maintain, better on gas, and its only a two seater which will cut down on the number of rides you give others. Selfish I know, but I'm just being real about the situation. Wait until you are out of school to get an 8 and you will enjoy it much more. Good luck with your decision.

This thread has 4 pages of a pretty healthy discussion about the 8 and MSP: http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123765460&page=4

 

[newbie713]

if your worried about gas, or maintaining, or reliability the rx8 aint for you. not trying to be a d-bag just being honest