Why the Rx8 Is A Great Budget Track Car - Super Reliable!

[@arrebufoo]

Completely agree. One of the most underrated cars ever. I have one I also bring it to the tarck and in 3 years 0 issues.

[@VictorMPR]

You didn’t convince me… because I was already convinced. I have I tried who had an RX-8 with intake, exhaust probably the same Tein lowering springs, track pads and sticky tires. He went to the same Corvette museum track and said he was passing Corvettes (around the corners). He said the guys came up to him to see what turbo kit he had on the car and were pissed… literally were mad because he would open the hood and show them it was an otherwise stock rotary. I have driven a stock one, and my friend took me for a ride in his. What a car. You got yourself a subscriber.

[@jduncan569]

I mean, it is a mildly stretched Miata NC chassis. Despite the huge holes in the side of the car for the suicide doors, it has higher chassis rigidity than the FD. They are a terrific handling car.

[@cypher1018]

Actually, it's a bespoke chassis for the RX-8. The NC is a shortened version of this chassis, to the point where a lot of RX-8 stuff can get swapped into the NC.

[@fakevirus8828]

You have no clue as what you are talking about. MX chassis are conventional rail chassis the very last mX5 was a half and half derived from the bottom end of the RX8 mixed in with older MX8 conventional chassis. RX8 is a full cockpit type full unibody one of the only chassis of its type at the time and now the same as what's used in hypercars. The RX8 the entire front suspension is held on by the end section of the unibody it has no structural front subframe. The rear of the RX8 is a full 5 point multilink, meaning its not just two suspension arms and a few other bars linking the suspension, I mean the RX8 has full 5 different individual bushed bars and arms holding the rear hub as well as the shock and spring as the only reliable way to run a cone type torsen diff (rx8 has a special diff that is not just a torsen spring it has cones that act as a taper so the diff has torque vectoring by default) and this requires a proper 5 point rear suspension to even work. For you to claim MX5 is the same chassis is a joke, the only thing that is common swap is the steering rack, some of the suspension parts the MX5 can upgrade to the RX8 and that's it. The RX8 chassis is as different to any of the MX5 chassis, even the one that the bottom uni tub is based on as say a Lambo or even a Prius. If you want to argue with what I've just said then your next comment Is getting screenshotted and put on the latest UK rotary and MX5 forums and I will put up the links showing what both of them say to your nonsense. This S20 I'm on has more in common with RX8 full unibody tubular railed chassis than any MX5. Ridiculous level of BS going on here.

[@fakevirus8828]

👆 for anyone looking at the above comments I'm Scottish I worked for Mazda for 22yr I'm part of MS now I'm also one of the last rotary engine rebuilders in Scotland I mostly do rebuilds for a certain company in the north of England and companies outside UK now and ship them back. I learned the full shebang coachbuilding wise so have seen maybe fifty mx5 of all ages needing various work and modifications and maybe 30 odd RX8 and 150ish rotary cars in total. My ebay shop has over 500 buys for my templates for porting and I have personally attributed to Mazdaedit on long coding so my shop is a certified epifan Mazdaedit seller. To claim an MX5 chassis is remotely close to an rx8 is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

[@vpr123west]

The sudden overheating while on track is usually due to the water pump cavitating at high rpm. The 04-08 cars have a compromised water pump design that was fixed with the 09+ redesign. The 09 pump fits with some adjustments and will no longer have sudden overheating issues even with the stock rad and ducting. Good luck with the build!

[@RADPotential]

Yes sir!! I think my intent is going to be to swap to an electric water pump, Goal is to stay as budget as possible for now, prove to ya'll it can be sustainable for cheapS!!!

[@valesco_rx]

Upgrade the starter motor, get some upgraded coils and a fresh battery and you don't have to worry about flooding :).

[@DanMarcelino]

Lol was about to leave this in the comments.. thank you 😂👍🏼

[@Maxst33le]

The s2 rx8 has a 2kw starter vs the s1 1.4kw starter ijust wanted to drop this knowledge here lol, deff gonna upgrade my 1.4kw and also to a s2 battery

[@Ayatollah_Khamenei]

Never had flooding issue but I did install a fuel pump kill switch if it does flood just kill fuel pump let starter spit out all the gas, turn on fuel pump and your good

[@dilsher12]

Out of the box rx8 handling and suspension can't be beat , especially for the $$

[@CaramelColored]

I feel like I got an insane deal on my 2004 RX8. Bought it a little over a year ago for $1200. It has a clean title, perfect interior, perfect body, no underbody damage, had all the recalls done, perfect cherry red OEM paint, complete trunk and the only think wrong with it was the engine was removed (not sure why though.) I bought it WITH $1,400 BC (BR) Racing coilovers, upgraded brakes (front and rear), WHITELINE front (3 point) and rear (2 point) swaybar kit and it feels like the rearend has had some work done to it as well because it feels tight and accelerates a bit faster than other RX8s I've seen. I got SUPER lucky on mine because someone already did the big money stuff on it and I just had to get an engine ($2.5k) and put it all back together (maybe 5 hours of work start to finish) and now it is one of the best handling and confidence inspiring cars I have ever been in. Seriously, if someone has not bought one of these yet then you need to before the price skyrockets and for the love of god....don't be stupid by swapping it. You'll ruin the handling characteristics and the entire point of the car. If you want to swap something then get a Miata or a Honda because anything other than a rotary in the RX bodies just ruins their value.

[@RADPotential]

That's an epic deal!!!! Sick!!!

[@CaramelColored]

@@RADPotential Right!? Guy I bought it from is a 90s 300ZX specialist and thought a rotary “Is as easy as a piston engine in mechanics and operation.” He ended up buying a used “working” eBay engine and…well…we all know how that goes. lol

[@RADPotential]

@@CaramelColored Dang!! yea, every used engine, unless I know who built it, is nearly a guaranteed rebuild around here. Just to make sure everything is ok on the inside.

[@CaramelColored]

@@RADPotential Yeah! Thankfully I live fairly close to well known engine and Mazda builder (Kurt Robertson) and he built the engine for me with a 12,000 mile/1 year limited warranty.

[@michaelangelo5783]

Engine swap ruins their value? Lol i think not. A properly swapped LS vette engine, lfx V6 or even a honda K-series swapped rx8 will sell for top dollar versus a renesis rotary RX8.

[@melanos2000]

the flooding issues appeared on first model and solved with the newer software. i shut down the car twice to get out off my parking and no problem. only engines that are at the end of their lifes flood because they cant start right. thanks for the videos ,are great

[@sofakingdom3076]

Truth. I have an 06 and have never had an issue with starting/flooding.

[@SgtJinlip]

Great video! I took my 09' R3 to the tail of the dragon this year....WOW! I was surprised how well it performed on the stock suspension even compared to much more powerful and modded vehicles. You're spot on about the soft rear, the suspension is designed to ride on the bump stops and they are pretty soft, by the time I left the dragon there were no bumps stops left. Can't wait to get some coilovers and hit some actual track days. S1's are great because they're cheap, but the S2 is a better car all the way around. Oh, and ditch the cat, it's the biggest killer of these cars!

[@RADPotential]

Thank you sir!!! In an earlier video...I ditched the cat :)

[@joogullae3456]

Ditch the cat?

[@slipstreamautosport]

Just tried this weekend a RX8 race car and yes yes and more importantly yes!

[@nathanreid2974]

you can turn your engine off cold, but just rev the car to near 3000rmp, then shut it off with foot still on gas pedle, unles you have carbed it

[@Finding_Finance]

Get offset bushings for the an arms to gain more negative camber up front.

[@seaturtle828]

You gotta go through the bads of rx8s everyone talks about like what are they why do they happen why are people just complaining about rotarys to much🤣 also my names Eric as well I like first gens and your videos convinced me to buy my 82 gsl and I love every minute with it.

[@readcrafter8288]

Super surprised that the price for these hasn't skyrocketed yet. Great video! Might suggest a wireless lav mic ;)

[@CelicaDan]

SHHHHHHHHHHHH DON'T LET THEM HEAR YOU

[@meyerpropertymaintenance4462]

You have the best rotary channel easy love your videos.

[@tonem427]

This is the good side- had me rolling. Great ride brother 😂

[@LSCBTHEWAVY]

Dude that pitbull you got JACKED MY GUY

[@bryanhood4067]

Can't buy a RX8 in Australia for under $10k. My youngest son wants a manual RX8, but we need to pay $13,000 for a 2005 model done 190,000klms in stock condition. Looks like a great fun little car. I had an awesome beautiful RX5 manual 13B PP back in the mid to late 80's. Just loved that car. Would be worth over $85,000 in Australia nowadays.

[@RADPotential]

That would be a sweet RX5!!!! The rx8s are getting more expensive over here. But in general everything is now. Can't find engines for reasonable price any more!

[@nobodyinparticular83]

Fuel cutoff switch to prevent flooding

[@nathgallagher9566]

Nice vid bud* Your editing is getting way better, keep it up & Brapp on!

[@RADPotential]

Thanks!!!!

[@theregoesmiller389]

i am curious what my 2zz swapped mr2 spyder would do against a rx8 with same mods ( besides the 2zz swap of course lol )....( coilovers , swift springs , xp8 front pads , hankook rs4's ) both platforms are HIGHLY under-rated and under appreciated / respected.

[@CretanGuy01]

If the RX8 get a good street port and some weight reduction,it will be super

[@thx54]

I drive a Rx8 as a weekend fun car, but im 6.2 and i have problems sitting comfortable, after 1 hour driving i get some back Problems, dont know what to do about it.

[@andrewabbott4387]

I want to drop my t2 in a rx8, love the video👍👍

[@SamuraiRyosuke]

Loving my streetported Greddy turbo 8 nice video man

[@ATLRIOT]

Its what we use for our endurance race car.

[@themaswholesauto6334]

In one of your videos you said you did swap and was bad ground what ecm ground or what ground was it.

[@willjunkin732]

Are you planning on doing any porting to the engine? Great car. Would love to have one but wife says have to get the fb running first

[@RADPotential]

Id like to do an auxiliary bridge and a big race port

[@DeePunter]

Im considering getting one im never worked on cars before, whats a considered a good price to milage?

[@clubtouge1052]

First time i drove an rx8 i had the same thought about seating position. Miata gives similar driver feel. I think Mazda thing haha

[@nathgallagher9566]

Never even been in a moving Rx8.. owned my Rx7's almost ten years, luv them. I really like how they feel, such a good sports car feel".

[@jo-qp7mz]

Do a compression test... I dare you lol

[@RADPotential]

It's better to not know hahahah

[@shazmaster]

@@RADPotential FACTS!

[@rotaholikzhds906]

how about the rear end setups,diffs and axles what can they take compared to the ser5 fc,s etc everyone seems to always miss out diff setups lol,,

[@osky7777]

looking into getting one for my son

[@joogullae3456]

I thought the Rx8 came with 238 horepower?

[@williamporter7495]

At the flywheel, not the wheels

[@hockeydudejerry]

Awesome vid !!

[@Carlos.Rivera]

Wow... better than FC?!

[@irwingponce6282]

what front brace is that?

[@RADPotential]

autoexe

[@jo-qp7mz]

How much did you pay?

[@RADPotential]

2,000

[@thatangrymazda4308]

@@RADPotential nice I just bought one for 3000 what should I do first it has a an intake Mazda speed exhaust misimoto radiator and water temp oil pressure

[@tg9388]

@@RADPotentialspent 3800 here for 2004 manual, waiting for my compression test results but my frame has tons of rust so I'm looking for those parts that must be replaced while I install that rx8 performance oil cooler kit and lines and CSF radiator plus all new hoses, love the videos keep it up please

[@Zonewest]

@@tg9388 Don't get the RX8 Performance Radiator, I've had two of them and they both started leaking at around 3k miles of use. I sent one of the radiators back to Rx8 Performance to see if they could figure out the issue and possibly warranty the radiator. I kept contacting them, and the answer was always the same. They haven't heard back from the manufacturer yet. Pros are they keep the coolant cooler than any other radiator that I've used, even when the leaking started and they looked amazing. Right now I'm using the Ron Davis Radiator with no issues to report.

[@SLYDIT]

Rbf660 is not a good fluid...it really lacks pedal feel. Use the RBF600 and reap the FAAAAAR BETTER pedal feel

[@RADPotential]

I've swapped to the rbf600 in everything now. I'd would agree!

[@theapeoflove]

I bought my rx8 for £500 🤣

[@blacksta-r]

"budget" lmao

[@RADPotential]

Race track and budget aren't really in the same sentence. More like less expensive lol

[@MultiMinors]

Looks alone of rx7 are worth the money, cant really compare to rx8

[@ClappinTaz]

I disagree completely everytime I drove my rx8 had 3-4 people yell nice car