Why is the Mazda RX-8 So Hated?

The Mazda RX-7 captured the imagination of millions of car enthusiasts around the world. Its sequel the Mazda RX-8 unfortunately did not do the same. Today we drive a modified Mazda RX-8 and talk all about why this rotary powered car was the end of the legendary engine for Mazda. Let's go for a drive and talk about it.
#mazda #mazdarx8 #mazdarx7 #rotary #rotaryengine
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[@FitmentIndustries]

Hey! I know this car. 👀🤝 -Edgar

[@dadeffone]

Hey! I know this Edgar. - yt commenter

[@fuzzwho20]

Ianetti Ceramic 2mm RX-7 Seals are the secret to a long lasting RX-8 Build.

[@dubiousf00d]

Need to get that wang game going homie!!

[@irishbandit3437]

@@fuzzwho20 i got em

[@mocha6664]

Lmao

[@Mazhura_13B]

Currently restoring an 8 that was pretty much abandoned by a previous owner and left at a shop. Got it for $1k with full interior. Just needed a new engine. Now I'm replacing all the defective parts that plaqued the 8 from factory (starter, coils, better fuel pump, etc)

[@rm4213]

Would love to see pictures got any on IG

[@bapetista5805]

drop some videos 👏🏽🤧

[@DerekMcguire98]

Delete the OMP and premix

[@Mazhura_13B]

Ig is the same as my yt

[@Mister2j86]

I used to restore mine I actually had the shinka edition and got it for $500 and D flooded the engine took care of it and now it's living its life with no worries the secret to these cars and keeping them alive long enough is not only preventative maintenance but getting some reliability mods to help extend the life of the car I actually have quite a few photos from the old build on my ig page

[@azeembocas5708]

To be an owner of one of these machines and to see that in 2022 theres a video from thatdudeinBlue talking about how amazing this car is ! Damn its really a unique experience. Ik to some people talk is everything but its uaully by people who has never drove one. Testimonies are way better and this guys knows his cars so the fact that he LOVES it should tell you that theres something very special about this car.

[@ramonbriones4487]

U think he maybe "loves" it because his friend owns the car? I don't know man

[@azeembocas5708]

@@ramonbriones4487 i dont think that warrants him liking a car. He even posted a video a while back that his friend own a purple legacy subaru ehich he hates but he respects his choice. So i dont think its that. And he also made a video previously on a different rx8 and pretty much have the exact same things to say. Its an underrated car thats worth a drive before following the mainstream talk on it.

[@brunobpereira6522]

the fact that he put the sponsor in the end of the video just made me already a fan

[@TheRedrider05]

Aye! I loved my 2004 Lightening Yellow RX8. Beat the snot out of it and never broke. Had a lot of issues when I first bought it, but warranty paid for it. I traded it for an 2006 STi. Guess which engine ended up giving up first? Give you a hint, TDIB had the same experiences as I had lol

[@junsuzuki1412]

Went through 4 engines in my 2005 STi. 123k miles on my 2006 rx8. I still liked the STi better lol.

[@matthewgonano636]

Subaru is the most unreliable car I've owned

[@Usmc913]

The rx8 is great with a engine and trans swap.

[@nhilist5774]

😂

[@canyouhearmatt5529]

@@nhilist5774 he ain't lying it's the best car Ive ever driven with a k24a2 swap ...going to be turbo soon

[@leftybender9125]

fun fact: its actually good to redline a rotary because it clears out the carbon deposits in the motor, making it smoother fro the apex seals to travel around

[@jackthayer904]

I own an love my rx8 it’s been in the family since 2004 and we have never had engine problems, however the original trans lost 2 synchros in about 20,000km. If you drive them as a weekend car/treat them right there awesome!

[@JB-sv5pr]

04 rx8 in Driven in Boston summer and winter daily! Amazing fun all year sliding! But the oil lines are super brittle and would leak always replacing or upgraded to braided! A healthy rx8 is super responsive and gives a horse and rider connection! Every input is butter! Sure it’s slow on the straight but it’s a back road cruiser or track car! I’ve owned a couple Rx7z and turbo 13bz but the rx8 is a great care just needs a lot of attention gas and oil !!!!!!

[@MAZ11V]

Considering what guys have been doing with the renesis I'd say there's alot to learn and love, I'm getting one built now which will have a pro charger

[@jackhoff8028]

I think if Mazda had put the speed3 motor in the rx8 it would’ve made for an awesome sports car that would probably still be around

[@TheSW3RV3]

I blindly bought a 07 Rx8 GT for 3k, knowing nothing of a rotary. A couple months after, looked back at it thinking "This car looks very familiar". Looked up Midnight Club LA, the game I played freshman year of highschool, that got me into cars. Come to find out, it was the car I loved so much in the game. As if it was meant to be! Had my RX8 for over 3 years now. Never letting her go!

[@thelifeofjp1996]

@thatdudeinblue , you got to get your hands on a single turbo 66/67 3.7 mustang making 600whp on e85! 👍 love to see your thoughts on that!

[@eddiebernays514]

i love mazdas, i own one and have owned another. i think mazda is making the best cars atm. but i really hate the way the rx8 looks. which is weird cause i love how the 2006 mazda 3s and 6s look.

[@johnvangennip1163]

I always like how mine always kept my drinks warm all year long 🙃

[@johnho140]

love my 8, 107K miles, no reliability issues. not sure, but i never had any issues.

[@BoostandBadHabits]

You should drive one on a proper mountain road. The chassis and handling is insane. If you ever come up to do a review i have one you can rip.

[@brandonsever2576]

The best part of the rx8 is the NC Club Miata that it led to. I'm kidding I love these things

[@andrewporter386]

I plan on snachting one up for under 1000$ engine swapping it, widebody wheels and enjoying a rwd sports car that's balanced. Plus I can throw my kids in thr back seat!

[@Madeupfakerobot]

0:16 yeah it’s that

[@AnnatarTheMaia]

That Blue RX-8 is a crime scene. Somebody needs to go to jail over what they did to an RX-8!

[@TheHumphrey367]

Man, i do love the rx8! I love the way it looks.

[@Bilbobaggins82242]

wait...that boot lid...that engine bay shot @2:09 my man that looks rust as hell!

[@sergiocoto1812]

I always wanted one. One day… one day.

[@revelare_xvii6269]

It’s not the car that people hate, it’s the reliability factor.

[@timostedehouder3213]

Always loved the RX8 and probably always will

[@AndysAutowerks]

0:16 "doo-doo"

[@Re1ardedHoon]

Rx8 as a platform is a great car. It's the Renesis engine that's its problem.

[@Redshift42]

The most misunderstood car on the internet. I've had mine for 19 years next month. Original owner, original engine. Never flooded. Well maintained, well modded and it's been a great car. Done many track days, autocross, many long road trips (Canada to Deal's Gap Rotary Rally twice etc.) I'll keep in my fleet forever.

[@WalkingGrave1]

How many miles do you have on yours? And did you have to do any engine repairs at any point?

[@Redshift42]

@@WalkingGrave1 No engine repairs. Only things that has immobilized the car was I put on an LS ignition coil "upgrade" for reliability and one of the LS coils failed.

[@tbay1959]

Yep Mine is almost 18 years old and taking it to redline often is what keeps it reliable. Too many people try to drive them like they had V8,s in them. This causes carbon build up on the apex seals which in turn causes Pre-ignition which destroys Rotaries. Adding a little 4 stroke oil every fill up helps as well.

[@Chris-hw4mq]

So from reading the forum you just need to redline it on every drive and its reliable, granny driving isnt working

[@TheBasher-_-]

@@Chris-hw4mq lmao wow.

[@ThaKenMan]

It’s hard for this car to live in the shadows of the RX-3 and RX-7. If the engine was more reliable, had better fuel economy and could hold power this would have been a another legend in the rotary history. But at least it’s cheap now. Cuz in today time it’s hard to find a cheap rwd car. You just gotta be mechanically inclined and have some money set aside. Plus it’s hard to beat the sound of a rotary engine at 9k. Sounds so good!!!

[@cyberworld9000]

I mean there's tons of cheap rwr cars. You just have to go much further back in time

[@jdmglobalwarehouse]

They've become quite popular in Japan recently. Being unpopular made them cheap, and then the low cost made them attractive for younger people to buy and tune (especially with RX7 prices staying relatively high).

[@Carlos.Rivera]

REW or Turbo II engine swap will fix that

[@randomchannel323]

I had the idea of a niche automaker building a modern RX-7 reboot in small numbers. I think it would be popular.

[@bv2289]

Here's the deal with the Renesis, first of all the apex seals don't really explode like everybody thinks. They either get stuck because of carbon deposits, shrink because of insufficient lubrication (that's why you premix) or the bearings get chewed up, the shaft with the rotors starts to wobble and they hit the housings and break. The RX8 has the same bearings and shaft as the RX7, but because of emissions and fuel consumption regulations it was recommend by Mazda to use 5w20 in the US and 5w30 worldwide, much thinner oil than the RX7's 10w40. The latter didn't get bearing failures, while in the case of the RX8 it was the most common reason for why these engines died, especially in the US where they barely made it out of warranty. They do flood, Mazda changed the starter 3 times during production because of it, so if you upgrade your battery and you put an R3 starter the problem disappears. Another weak point are the coils, they get weak after around 30k miles and don't ignite the mixture properly, clogging the cat, which in turn overheats the engine. The car has some design flaws, but luckily the aftermarket has solutions for all of them, and in the end you end up with a reliable great driving sports car, for very little money. You can't get away from the fuel consumption though, they love to drink! 😅

[@ThatDudeinBlue]

Cooler ranch or Nacho Cheese?

[@butters6634]

Cool ranch😎 I’ve never been this early 🤘🏻💙

[@fezcarstuff5851]

Cool ranch

[@crisgonzalez7961]

the purple bag

[@harveyhernandez6619]

Cooler ranch

[@ThatDudeinBlue]

@@crisgonzalez7961 NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHING

[@interwebuser]

Well, in term of reliability and longevity Rob Dahm made a special on which parts needs to be changed/buffed to make one bulletproof it would be nice to see a colab/update on this blue baby being improved.

[@btkchaosreaperj.c7642]

Yep First thing is Upgraded starter system especially the OEM starter that sucks real bad and one of the main reasons why it flooded in the first place. Once u do it never floods

[@jerryglennie5375]

i believe Rob Dahm also pointed out the major issue with the apex seals was with the main stud dowels to hold the plates together.

[@btkchaosreaperj.c7642]

@@jerryglennie5375 Seals only go out if you don't Red line your car on a regular basis and don't Premix. I have my car for years and it's like having a regular car. Thing is the car only has bad rep because everyone who got it back then had no clue about cars especially that one. Now people have forums and knowledge of stuff plus people are now used to not having Hondas were u can ignore maintenance it's whole lifetime and the engine is immortal none the less. Just do the first Upgrades to the Starter System, regular maintenance, Red line it along with Premix it and it should last u like a regular car. Seals go out because it all starts with the Bad Starter system. Which in turn causes more problems and it just landslide from there on. Check RX8 formus for more info. IMPORTANT MUST IS UPGRADE STARTER AND IGNITION SYSTEM FROM OME DAY ONE

[@BriscosmotorsportsLLC]

@@btkchaosreaperj.c7642 your both so horrible wrong it’s halarious

[@tayvonrose2528]

@@BriscosmotorsportsLLC so what’s correct then? I don’t mean that in a rude way, I just don’t know rotary engines

[@IStratz]

I love my RX8. My engine died in it and almost had to sell it because I could not afford a rebuilt engine. Managed to work that out and I still don't regret it. It's probably cost me over 10K in repairs at this point when the car is probably only worth 6K (at the time) on the market. It's such a fun car to drive and hoon around. I don't want driving to be a tedious boring thing that you have to do. I want to have fun doing it if I can, and the RX8 definitely accomplishes that. I get thumbs up from people all the time in it, and it's always cool to see someone else on the road with their own RX8. It's kinda like "If you know, you know".

[@Toymonkeyjr]

swap a 13B-REW in and you double the value of the car, cool factor, fun, and reliability.

[@user-zl5gi8sv7u]

Had an 8 and regret selling it. Was an amazing car

[@juggnautbitch]

@@Toymonkeyjr easy swap as well since several companies make the parts to make it turnkey swap.

[@inoahmann7542]

@deadrabbits most of the parts bolt right up. You can take an rx8 manual transmission and bolt it to the 13b in a 1st gen rx7 and vise versa.

[@omaetmaldonado8903]

How much is it to rebuild the engine cause I’m thinking of buying one rn and I have just enough for it but I don’t know if I wanna risk having to dump that much money into repairs after wards

[@JLOT13]

Love My RX8! Has gave me no problems except for a failed clutch slave cylinder ! Engine still running strong with 158k miles factory motor!

[@davidzz4750]

That’s dope

[@hitmixhyepock9405]

See...it's the part where you think 158k is a long running engine that's hilarious to the rest of us.

[@bradyg499]

@@hitmixhyepock9405 not really

[@justarandomf-4gphantom170]

@@hitmixhyepock9405 A factory rotary hitting 160,000 miles and still kicking is pretty damn good. I have nothing but love to hear something like that.

[@Deagers]

@@hitmixhyepock9405 Theres a lot of engines that fail before 150k out there on today's market, lol.

[@CelicaDan]

in my heart, I think people dislike the RX8 because the Renesis (and it's flaws and drawbacks) kind of shows how non-viable the rotary engine is in an ever more emissions stringent industry. Personally, I love the RX8, but it really is sad seeing just how many issues the Renesis had from all it's emissions-fighting techniques and knowing that the situation likely wouldn't be any better *IF* a modern rotary engine were to be produced.

[@gagematthews1142]

I love mine

[@CelicaDan]

@Jules yeah, CO2 emissions with hydrogen fueled rotaries are almost 0, the issue is the NOx emissions, which are still quite high from what I've read, and that's a big issue with trying to sell any car in the US market.

[@brianrobinson9979]

From everything I have read, it's not the Apex seals that are the problem with the Renesis but the exhaust ports being too small. It's a hot running motor and that mixed with the undersized exhaust ports usually causes the coolant seals to fail right at the exhaust port/header. Rebuild and port the engine while it's still young and healthy and you'll probably have a healthier motor longer

[@tony_5156]

@@CelicaDan slap on a diesel catalytic converter, problem should be solved

[@joealex65]

@@brianrobinson9979 You nailed it, that's why they fail, is always funny to see how people blame "ApEx SeAlS" for everything in a Rotary 😂

[@therotaryguy1863]

I’ve been owning my rx8 for almost 3 years and I know every single thing about this car, I’ve rebuilt and ported and machines my engine myself and now I build rotaries all the time and it was automatic so I manual swapped it myself as well which took 2 days to do and I’ve installed tons of suspension and performance and reliability mods to it and it’s great! Love it and would never sell it, zero rust on it as well. Planning on making some KZbin/tiktok videos with it :)

[@SpiceofLifevariety]

I've always eff'd with this one because NfS carbon. First, you can use it to beat the initial boss lvl RX-7. Next, even if you don't lottery win the pinks to that whip; you can almost build the 8 just as good. Video games aside, I'd drive this any day. My best (pos) car was an '11 SRT Charger and I wish I had the 8 instead.

[@thelifeofjp1996]

Ps2 nfs carbon was the best Nfs imo 👌

[@SpiceofLifevariety]

@@thelifeofjp1996 straight up. 360 pro street was a close second.

[@thelifeofjp1996]

@@SpiceofLifevariety that was the track only one right ? That was easily 2nd place , i had a 1000hp supra that would kill it in the wheelie comps lol 😆

[@SpiceofLifevariety]

@@thelifeofjp1996 nah but it had a hemi and like 480 but the handling was shit all lol

[@imadriverfr]

I remember rage quitting pro street on the Wii as a kid because I didn't know how to build a wheelie car to beat the drag king 😅, but pro street on the Wii otherwise was really fun especially drag racing.

[@racerx2084]

I actually like the way the rx8 looks. All the reviews when it came out love how it handled. I believe it made car and driver car of the year bc of it. As the engines aged the issues of unreliability came from a lot of the emissions crap on them. Also dealers didn’t really tell owners that they had to mix the fuel with some oil. That’s a game changer there to help the apex seals. I think the biggest let down was the fact that the auto engine and manual engine were different. The hps were way lower in the auto. But the biggest thing I don’t understand is how now with the hype of the rotary kinda coming back that nobody takes an rx8 and puts a rx7 13b engine in or even. 3 rotor for more radness. I think I’ve seen more non Mazda swaps in them

[@lamma109]

I had one, great experience in terms of driving, really world class. The gas mileage made no sense, i got around 8-13 mpg for ~200 hp lol Also mine blew up, so theres that lol.

[@tonyconley970]

the exact story arc of my rx8... and it was my first car.

[@tyty._.317]

…same story haha. Flooded the engine, had it swapped and sold it. Sad I got rid of it honestly

[@RidinDirtyRollinBurnouts]

I always joked that as "sporty" as the car was, it more or less made the same horsepower as my old mazda6 v6 lol

[@pushslice]

Ha, good vid, thanks for posting it. the haters can do as they please. I'll just be over here, quietly continuing to enjoy mine (on the canyons , and at the track); my 18th year of ownership starts next month. 😀

[@AliasProductions801]

Drove my RX8 for years, every day, and never had any issues. Keep oil in it, premix the gas, and beat the hell out of it and it’ll live forever.

[@Oborowatabinostk]

This

[@andrewhammond2851]

Had a speed3 and now a 370z. My ex had an r3 . In terms of driving I'll take the r8 all day

[@otonielaburtobermejo4774]

What do you mean premix the gas ?

[@nate13b]

@@otonielaburtobermejo4774 in order to better lubricate the apex seals, you can mix in 2 stroke oil with your gas. The only drawback is that it will produce carbon buildup in the cats so if you want to premix you should probably go catless

[@betodo9984]

Well, here is a story about RX8's engine that why it can be unreliable but also bulletproof in the same time (from one of my friend who fixed&tuned a lot rotary engine) Stock early model RX8's engine is directly from Mazda's Hiroshima factory, they're nice with good build quality.... except the Ignition coils. When these owners bring their RX8 to the dealer trying to fix this issue, dearler's mechanics can't really figure it out...So their solution is replace the entire engine. By the time, Ford have relationship with mazda, so no suprise that Ford also supplying 13B twin rotary engine for US market. And holy crap, they're TERRIBLE. This is due to ford's assemble workers ignore Mazda's guide book and just slap everything on and call it the day. These engine flood, blew up and etc. were mostly Ford's engine.AND FORD DIDN'T BOTHER IT FOR NEXT FEW YEAR. Untill the end of RX8's production run, the refreshed RX8 not only fixed the Ignition coils issue but also directly sent engine over-sea from japan if anyone need to replace their engine. So when u heard someone said his RX8's engine is totally fine, think again before u say something bad.

[@Ben-Rogue]

The RX-8 is one of the nicest cars I've ever driven. So smooth, the chassis is solid, it goes where you point it, revving it to the limiter is glorious, the 6 speed transmission is one of the best feeling (especially with the factory shifter). It feels like you're driving a budget supercar, with the reliability of one too

[@michaelcanton7282]

Rx8 are amazeballs and extremely fun when they work. Mine is currently in my driveway dead lol

[@willbroccolo8389]

I worked at mazda when these first came out, SOOOOO MANY RECALLS! we hated them.

[@ThatBustedVQ]

K swap and done, it’s a great car after that lol

[@cse5975]

I think an RX8 with a taurus SHO motor would be a lot of fun... The original SHO motor needed to be in a rwd platform.. I should build one🤔

[@dubiousf00d]

I wouldn't mind doing this..need an Rx8 shell..i have SHO motors.

[@v8_sami]

The question is can you still use the factory 6 speed or you have to get a new transmission?

[@dubiousf00d]

@@v8_sami I would say maybe. As the original maunal transmissions that came in the Taurus SHOs were made by mazda. Wouldn't that be cool if it did.

[@AxnerSaab]

I personally really like the RX-8. It doesn't beat the older RX-7s but it's still quite good looking car. I also think that the 4 doors is kind of neat with the rear doors being somewhat hidden even though I could imagine them being a little difficult to open and close from the inside.

[@brotherloops]

A few things to keep in mind: in the RX8, the side seals were the likely culprit to fail and cause compression loss than the Apex seals unless you went FI and went with too much boost. flooding the car would only occur if you shut it off quickly after a cold start, once the car is warmed up they are basically impossible to flood unless you have a bad ignition system. A lot of the failures early on were from people who literally did not know how to look after the car (for example keeping the oil topped up, let the car warm up before shutting it off etc etc) Mazda kinda went weird marketing this car as a sports car and also a family car meaning the latter market treated it like a normal car. I believe most of the bad rap comes from the early failures of these people but mazda also has a bit of the blame, bringing the car out with a weak starter motor in the beginning and sacrificing oil metering for emissions resulting in excessive wear in the low end.

[@micahkelly2620]

I drove an Rx8 for 2 years and it was fun and unique (I've also owned 3 other rotary cars) but this is outweighed by the extra maintenance, poor fuel economy and potential reliability issues. You can find cars that are just as fun without the headache. Want more power out of the Rx8? Good luck unless you have about $10k lying around. It'll kill you at the pump and you'll lose every race. If you ring it out clear to 10k RPM and power shift, you'd edge out an older Honda accord.

[@junsuzuki1412]

Yup, have a racingbeat race tune on mine. Revs to 10k and put down 160rwhp on the tired ass 120k+ mile engine. It's slightly faster than my wife's Scion XD.

[@hayeduce]

I just love how even after all these years people still think its the aPeX sEaLs that kill the engine. There are so many other things that can go wrong before an apex seal wears out, like coolant seal failure or bearing failure. Fix the cooling, use premix, use the right oil and the engine should last.

[@NakedChickfilaFightClub]

there are two types of people with opinios on rx8s- those that think the apex seals/engine fails easily, and those who know how to do basic care for them and have them be reliable haha

[@uhhhe8478]

115k in the rx8 and compression still going good and strong

[@jayharris5460]

I nailed the living shit out of mine all over, I beat that thing like it owned me money and it never went wrong, not once and I out 40k miles on mine without issue, changed oil every 3k miles, premixed as I should, full service every 5k, upgraded the coils to D585s, had a mini map on it and the car never missed a beat, loved every second of it. only died cause some clown slammed into the side of it.

[@fastec5]

My FB had 166k

[@lawsonharsch3332]

Sike, even with all the basic care covered perfectly they still blow up long before any other engines in modern cars. There’s no defense for the reliability of these things.

[@Mike.Macmyazka]

As soon as I saw the thumbnail I knew it was Gels car. I laughed because of course since you were on FI for SZN FOR of Driver to Driver, you’d get some content too. Also kind of cool you were so close yet so far to MN to film something. As far as the car goes I’ve always like rotary engines and RX’s. Never driven one though. Lastly…Fifty Shades of Blue. You know what Dakota said…lol

[@passionnotparked9099]

I have a lot of Sports cars and my 04 and 06 RX8s were THE.....worst cars for reliability. Lemond the 04 and sold the 06 after 2 years. Beautiful, Fun, and fairly fast, but everytime you drive it...its almost as bad as EV range anxiety. Drive it like it's not yours and it's worth it, keep it like your paying for it and you will hate it. Bitter Sweet Relationship.

[@skip741x3]

The apex seals blew on my 86 rx7 turbo, though I had the boost turned up a bit too high..that dreaded cranking where the engine spins with no compression at all...Replaced the block with a factory new one, broke it in carefully and didnt overdo the boost.. ran killer till it tried to Kill Me! throttle linkage stuck wide open, fishtailing outta control into a curb then rolling over a few times ..that was the end of that and my last rotary... suffered with a dodge caravan for a yr till I got a new 94 probe gt which i still have and daily drive... not as cool looking, nowhere near as fast nor as good handling and not even that reliable though better in that regard than the rx7

[@promxriderfromcanada]

Honestly I've always wanted one, they're incredibly cheap when they inevitably break, and as far as I know, the chassis is decent. Great candidate for a motor swap. Nice looking car, front engine, rear wheel... the recipe is there.

[@xavierlarive6911]

people swap LS engines in them quite a bit

[@Dudeman9339]

They are NOT a candidate for engine swaps. You have to shred the firewall just to put a K in it

[@Dudeman9339]

@@xavierlarive6911 they do not…

[@xavierlarive6911]

@@Dudeman9339 they do lol trust me it's not an easy build where you can just drop the engine in it, but it's probably the most common swap for the rx8 if you have the time or money. Essentially double the power for the same mpg and better reliability on a rwd 6spd manual that you can pick up for a couple k🤷

[@Deagers]

@@xavierlarive6911 Its the most common swap for any car.

[@njs461]

Everything is great about the rx-8 except the horsepower to mpg ratio, there can’t be anything worse. Power of a 4 cylinder mpg of a v8

[@bagelbytes69420]

Uggh, man... So my 2016 5.0 Mustang would get ~28-30mpg on the highway if I tried. Couldnt ever manage that in an RX-8

[@CarputingYT]

Great video. I like the RX-8, I just think it's not as nice looking as the FD RX-7. I don't think it's ugly though

[@devonyoung1807]

Honestly I love these RX8s! I’m glad everybody isn’t in to them compared to the earlier predecessors! A lot of support available for them. Once I snatch mines do a full rebuild and enjoy it! Glad the prices aren’t bad on this platform compared to other JDM cars that’s rising in value! 8s are steady and thats that!

[@BigBenlolz]

We rebuilt my friends RX8 couple years back, then he sold it and bought an E36 and an E46. The Mazda was more reliable than the 2 bimmers combined, and it still runs perfectly at his new owner.

[@jonathanc1741]

They are great cars, yes they are fragile, but there is more support for it nowadays. Many diy mods to help the engine last longer. It's hit or miss with them, either you get a good engine that lasts or one that dies faster than the 0-6 times. They are making a comeback and it's such a niche platform. It's honestly great.

[@DigitalSubset]

The rx8 is still a legendary car in my opinion it was in so many video games in the early 2000s. The truth is the rotary just isn’t that reliable and also a lot of owners didn’t know how to properly care for a rotary so it gets disregarded. It’s a great platform for swaps

[@barbedwings]

I owned multiple of them, including a 330 whp turbo one. I never had to replace an engine, but they are extremely finicky cars, very underpowered, and quite heavy. The only thing they really have going for them is the *extraordinarily* good handling. They handle very similarly to the late gen higher end Porsche Caymans, at a tiny fraction of the price. I don't regret having owned one, as its the platform that got me into heavily modifying cars, but I would never own one again.

[@acedrifts]

Its a dope car. Everyone just likes to base their opinion/hate on it from what they heard on the internet.

[@Spg-93]

Damn if you've ever owned one you will for sure miss driving it, the sound of the engine and the whole driving experience was amazing. Will never forget that.

[@Alex-vz2jz]

I bought one and i have to say it doesn't sound like the Rx7 FC. My FC broke down and i can't get it to start again so i bought an Rx8. First drive and it doesn't give me that Rotary sound i know and love. I will install an exhausts and maybe that will do the trick.

[@Xehanortlw]

Honestly I had one and yes had all the problems but I enjoyed driving the car so much I fell in love and started to work on it myself it was the first car I learned how to work on and found the problems and fixed them, the major issue is the compression and the ports that why it keeps flooding it needs a rebuild immediately to breathe, personally between the rx7 and the rx8 the 7 is actual a bitch to repair due to the turbo and all the vacuum lines and cost more to repair, the best bet you can do is rx8 rebuild with FD rotors and appex seals and boom you have a good running 13b

[@datnillavondizzle]

@Redshift 42 Awesome to hear! I had to get rid of my 04 a while back, had the car almost 5 years and never had an issue. The main reason these cars get a bad rep for reliability is not the cars fault at all, it is the lack of knowledge from the owners about ho to properly care for the engine. The apex seals get shot because owners NEVER keep their oil level in mind and after 2 weeks for redline pulls you WILL BURN OIL!!!! If you take it easy and keep the revs under 4-5k you can make a quart last almost a month, if you are racing the engine constantly then you are looking at about 2 quarts a month. I know this because I tested it ;-) So I am with ya fam! And to all the nay sayers, DONT HATE THA RX-8!!!!

[@specialgaming1403]

The Mazda RX-8 actually was my first car, until a tree fell on it... It's one of the coolest cars I've ever driven and it handles just great!

[@QBDLettuce]

AT the time when it released, it was hated, because there's no way it could live up to the RX-7 legend. That 'hate' carried over throughout the years, with people finding reasons to justify it over time. But as time goes on, appreciation for what it offers has grown. Especially, seeing what modern cars are, we realized what we had.

[@andrewszabo1552]

I remember buying mine 2 hours from my house - and the pit in my stomach forming as I watched it delete gas on the highway drive home. I still have mine 10 years later. But like a family pet that's lived past its quality of life, I'm debating if I should put mine down or put in a rebuild. Sigh..

[@mattmitchell5320]

The most under-rated chassis/suspension tuning of any car built in the last 25 years. Couldn't agree more. I would take a Series 2 RX-8 R3 on a back road, over a multitude of modern cars, EVERY day of the week.

[@y.o.h.i]

Im glad rx8s receive so much hate because that means they will never go up like the rx7 in price so I can buy one.

[@alexross5620]

They were painfully slow when they came out and they're painfully ugly that was their issue if they looked better it's better and not like an abortion on wheels If they weren't so ugly they would have Been acquired a lot more ! Every time you see one you just think of low budget people that don't know what they're doing And a girl's car You just don't look at them like the RX7A mark 4 supra or even a 3000 GTVR4 I'll about 3:00 GX20 Turbo stirs more emotion than that car

[@DEVILTAZ35]

It's not hated but it's not reliable from factory either. Plus these cars are just getting on a bit now. Also compared to the beautiful RX7 it's kind of an ugly duckling.

[@IamGearboy]

The biggest reason the Rx8 is so unreliable is with emissions to make it meet them they deleted oil ports so it burned less oil... but the rotary in nature requires oil In the combustion chamber to not blow up. 60-120k miles with someone who doesn't know how to maintain it.

[@sixteenseven123]

I seem to remember a few months ago I saw something about Mazda Europe making a patent for a rotary engine to be used in a rear-wheel drive application. I know this happens all the time in the automotive industry with ideas that never come to market but it is exciting to think Mazda could be working on brand new architecture for a rotary using modern manufacturing designs and techniques that weren’t available 20 years ago when the Renesis was developed. Side note, I’m curious if they’re inspired at all by the Liquid Piston design and if we’re going to see any design elements from that make it’s way into the Mazda design🤷‍♂️

[@Tain950]

Damn how cool would it be to throw a K swap into an RX-8 🤔

[@rm4213]

Amazing definitely a good idea

[@GlazzedDonut]

787b swap instead

[@SuperNuclearUnicorn]

Man, I fucking love the RX-8 and I remember when it came out everyone else loved it too. Top Gear absolutely raved about it

[@Henry.P]

Crazy, my coworker got this new back in day. He became a slave to the dealer. Felt bad for the guy. Issue after issue.

[@hmandre144lb7]

top 3 driving experience for me the handling was so pleasing to me,given i was new to driving at the time my buddy let me drive/ride with him and besides that rotary screaming at us at 5k+ it was very nice driving experience, also interior is no slouch either.

[@bobtremblay3168]

I don't like the look of that rx8 too low but im alone, keep the rotary stocks they are going to completely disapear one day

[@iraqifoodcart8447]

the Mazda RX8 is so hated because the first two years of the RX8 was Mazda's worst iteration of the rotary engine ever. the renesis 13B is such a poorly designed rotary engine, that not even hardcore lifelong fans of the rotary engine will touch it. Avoiding the renesis 13B rotary engine is like avoiding the early 2000s V6 Ford Taurus. it is a plague of an automobile, and it gives the manufacturer a bad name simply by existing. that, and most people who make the argument that rotaries are unreliable, they will often point to the Mazda RX-8 and the Renesis 13B as their example of all rotary engines ever made being unreliable pieces of crap, when rotary enthusiasts all know better than to judge every rotary engine ever made by the same metric that made the Renesis so terrible.

[@Its_Me_Romano]

Well said1

[@mexicorolls]

Hey we LS turbo swapping ours haha 😂🤷🏻‍♂️

[@SquatPenguin2]

Honestly I like the RX8 and wanna get one in the future as a 2nd or 3rd vehicle.

[@tougedriftman492]

Welp i love rx8 Even Deoxide make it EPIC in FORZA HORIZON 4 :)

[@lmfscrew]

Custom offsets HQ 👀

[@guilhermekr1677]

I remember the first time I saw this car was on NFS CARBON,that time I didn’t even know how does a rotary engine worked haha…

[@k_cliques1103]

the rx8 just looks dumb with its stupid little smile and weird chin and then dont get me started with them stupid half doors

[@stevemanjowski6055]

Heya! I'm a R2 Rx8 owner (2010 sport) and after owning and maintaining the car for 4 years and 30,000 miles. I've never flooded the engine while doing immediate restarts and parking. It's my understanding that it's the R1 2004-2008 Rx8 models that have these issues a lot more than their R2 and R3(?) counterparts. Any other 2009-2012 rx8 owners who wanna call me out on this please feel free to. That said I love my car and plan on keeping it for as long as I can. After 30,000 miles with a decent amount of scheduled preventative maintenance my biggest headache so far was a flat tire (granted my car was purchased with only 17k miles on it). That said I definitely suggest that anyone who is considering buying an Rx8 have a compression test done on it before purchasing it and (and if it passes and you decide to buy) keeping a 1.5-5k fund to the side for the eventual and inevitable rebuild hahaha. Watch the oil levels (Rx8s eat up oil by design need a weekly checkup), consider the benefits and downsides of pre-mixing and de-catting the car, and replace the ignition coils every 10-20k miles and don't compromise on spark plugs, wires, and on a psychological level be content with the fact that no matter how well you keep car together, the apex seals will eventually blow haha.

[@stevemanjowski6055]

Also get the car in manual, the automatics are speed limited to 125mph. I've done 135mph+ in my manual.

[@Torresmeza9]

Series 2 rx8 (09’-11’) are probably the most reliable rotary’s ever made.

[@dougcook5167]

I've daily driven my 2010 s2 for seven years without any problems.

[@Aaron48219]

Nothing wrong with the RX8...after you do an LS7 swap.

[@thevulgarsaint9696]

Had one once. Loved everything about it. Too bad it was just a video game 😂

[@jasonhermann1291]

They fixed most of the problems after 2005. But by then it was too late. The reputation was shot. I Had a 2006 and it never flooded. It was my daily driver until 2019 with no issues.

[@tacticalyuzu8278]

RX-8 is a really good car that gets way more hate than it deserves. It`s actually very good at handling corners and also has enough aftermarket support. You can make it pretty fun with a little bit of intake/exhaust manifold tuning. If you can get it for real cheap, you can turbocharge it and get like 350hp which can be a better deal than getting the RX-7. It is very unreliable and you have to be a rotary expert to drive one, but it`s reliable enough to be a fun weekend toy.

[@cyberworld9000]

The american car community is one of the most gatekeeping cultures that exists, really wish it would return to its hot rod era where everyone had a general respect even if you didn't vibe with the car or build.

[@SuperWaterskiboy]

*me wondering how he got his hands on Gels RX8* *me realizing he was just on driver to driver which means he was in Wisconsin and less than 10 miles away...* i knew there was a disturbance in the force.

[@OneNation_SpeakTruth]

Underrated drivers car. Most responsive blippable motor I have ever driven. Knife edge handling in the R3 version which is good and bad for the same reasons.

[@OrrinWhitley]

Nfs carbon is the main reason I love this car

[@TheRiceguy78]

As a 350z de owner i could care less about how the rx8 is a torqueless wonder. The RX8 chassis is the stiffest and best in its class imho, wonderful handling... its the zenki renesis motor that was so problematic, and not talking about the apex seals (mazda resolved that issue long time ago) but the warped plates and side seals and carbon!

[@atn1874]

350z or RX8?

[@TheRiceguy78]

@@atn1874 The RX8, its an awesome handling car, perhaps one of the best, achilles heal is the first version of the renesis motor

[@kingston1547]

I have a friend who put a 13b into his. banana yellow with a huge spoiler and everything. Obv the engine swap is keeping it alive but the thing is such a fun ride. Still only making abt 230hp, still only doing what it could from the factory, just the older format powerplant. Ive driven it 3 times, never once did it scare me or make me dislike it. Its just a lovable little banana.

[@LuisRamirez-nb6sh]

Just bought a rx8 shell for 500 and I already got a k24 to put in it

[@canyouhearmatt5529]

Check my videos out. You won't regret your decision!