Is the RX8 a platform worth getting into?Or any rotary?
If you like rotary engines, go for it.Have you heard them? They sound bad enough that it makes a difference.I think the FD is the best-looking car ever and think the RX-8 is an amazing chassis, but I don't want a rotary.I respect people who do like rotaries and keep them alive, but I don't want it.How about an NC miata?
>>29105412I already have a nice NA. Just kinda bored and want to add something else to play around with.
>>29105414You do you I guess. But my personal answer to your question is no. I'd rather have an NA. I have had an NA.
>>29105400Rotary autism is genuinely expensive nowadays, wouldn't touch an RX8 if I was going to invest in rotaries.The RX8 is truly just a big NC Miata and everything they did to the RX8 was an attempt to pacify the rotary. It failed horribly.
>>29105400The RX-8 is absolutely worth getting into if you LS swap it.
Rotaries are like 2 strokes. They require dedication.
>>29105400Hot take incoming, the Rx-8 is better than a base FD (not the Spirit R but we never officially received the Spirit R).1. Turbos remove some of the soul of the rotary and the non-turbo rotaries have some of the best throttle response of any engine2. Rx8 has a 9k redline, FD has an 8k redline, FD is faster yes but something about the sound of a motor at 9k feels good too3. Rx8 has backseats, having owned and daily driven an Rx7 for a few years, I wished it had backseats There's more benefits as well as flaws but yeah, I'm kind of in the same boat, I found a local high mileage rx8 for sale and I have the technical know-how to tackle rebuilding the motor myself but anon above is right, rx8s are going for cheap because rebuilding them is going to be stupid expensive, every single part is basically unobtainable now
As an RX-8 fan, I'd honestly say no if the price is high. Engine prices keep going up and the whole appeal of the rx-8 (IMO) was that you got fd rx-7 level performance in a sedan for only ~$30k. The chassis and the NA rotary experience ARE great, but it's ugly, slow and has gay EPS. My RX-8s were much less expensive to own and maintain than the FDs, but even with a really sweet R-3 spec RX-8 I always felt the need to go back to an FD. The problem is that as the RX-8's age, their value proposition goes down. You now get a shitty/ratty sedan with a low quality interior that you won't want to use as a daily making its only good use as a sports car, but it's ugly and slow and the engine is unreliable so those are major negatives for a collectible car. In that case, just get a modern Miata and save money, or buy an FD when you can afford one, or buy a slightly more expensive older sports car that will appreciate as it ages (S2000, vantage, etc.)In Japan, RX-8's in clean condition are still $3000 - $5000 for the earlier models and in that case I think they can be a great buy, especially if you're young and just getting into RWD cars. However, US prices seem higher and I wouldn't spend $10k on an old RX-8 unless maybe it's clean and has a brand new engine. >t. daily driven RX-8's and RX-7's (FDs) for about 15 years now
If you buy a nice running example (expect $15k~) with sub 100k miles, its had good compression... you should rebuild it. Immediately.check variances on the housing of each rotor, hopefully nothing is wrong and you put it back together with new springs/seals and possibly port it a little bit for better power.If you do it yourself? Probably around $500-1500 barring needing new housings or rotors. If you don't? $3000-8000So really you need about $20k for a nice RX-8 if you don't wrench and to make sure it's running properly.They're amazing, 9k revving six speed 2 door with backseats N/A rotary on one of the best chassis that mazda ever made for road cars. with a nice streetport you can be making around 250hp and add some QOL things to prolong your engine seals and it can be pretty reliable.But they're expensiveThe parts are becoming rarer if you need OEM, many things on them are no longer madeyou need to either do the work yourself or find a very competent mechanic who isn't going to drain your walletThe parts are skyrocketing, so if you buy a shit one, buy two. Hopefully you'll have enough off of one car to fix the other.
>>29105590I'll elaborate a bit more:RX-8 pros:>useable as a daily>amazing NA engine feel & sound>performance is good for its time / cost>cheapRX-8 cons:>ugly>unreliable engine>zero tuning potential (without spending absurd money)>bad paint quality (it WILL peel)>shitty interior quality (way worse than the FDs IMO)Driving the RX-8 feels a lot like driving my Giulia, but the RX-8 has the advantage of a nice manual gearbox. However, a Giulia is more reliable, much newer, more practical, better looking, has a much nicer interior, and costs about the same here. I think there's just a lot of other better cars when you start seeing RX-8s go for around $10k.
>>29105400They are great for EV swaps lmao
>>29105453Too bad the RX8 is ugly as fuck
Lfx swap and they are fantastic
>>29105400such a cool looking car. i don't even care about the engine, i just like the tasteful retrofuturistic styling.
>>29105634Its not ugly at all. Especially not compared to other mazdas
>>29105412>think the FD is the best-looking car everfact
>>29106111Especially the ones without the front plate holder. That bothers me so much.This one appears to have been in an front driver side accident, but you get the gist.
>>29106116Look at how the rest have the car is riced out; ricers just NEED a front plate for some reason
>>29106120It's factory rice, Spirit R(ice), the license plate mount was a legal requirement, the earlier FDs didn't need to comply with that
>>29106116The '99 spec front bumper looks goddamn gorgeous when it's smoothed to remove the front plate mount. I get why it's there, it was never sold in markets that didn't mandate front plates, but fitting one to a car in a non-retarded country/state just looks so good.
>>29106113Spic
Why is this fucking autist making this thread all the time? It's been a decade, take your ritalin already you fucking sperg
>>29105400sissy car with a fag engine get something good instead, something with a v8