Potential new owner
-
- Forum Guest
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed May 22, 2019 11:00 pm
- Location: Nuneaton
- Has thanked: 0
- Been thanked: 0
Potential new owner
Good evening, and thank you for adding me to your group. As a motorcyclist with 45 years experience I have always regarded cars as at best a utility and at worst a hazard. However, as a 14 year old putative engineer I read Jan P Norbye's book on the Wankel engine and have retained a lifelong fascination. Now I either buy another bike or... a car! And it has to be a Wankel. May I call on your accumulated wisdom and experience to advise me what to look for and what to avoid when purchasing a Mazda RX-8? Practicality is not an issue; I have a BMW RT and an ugly van for that stuff, I just want to experience the idealism of pure rotary motion that appealed to me all those years ago in its most perfected manifestation.
-
- Former Member
- Posts: 64953
- Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:57 pm
- Location: Somewhere in the UK
- Has thanked: 1581 times
- Been thanked: 365 times
Potential new owner
GreySilver Beast-Test Drives Unlimited (Nigel)
Club Member from 2006 - present
Events Team from 2015 - 2024
Events Coordinator from 2017 - 2023
Administrator from 2012 - present RX-8 Owners Club UK
Tesla M3LR AB 363 AWD " Blue Beast "
Club Member from 2006 - present
Events Team from 2015 - 2024
Events Coordinator from 2017 - 2023
Administrator from 2012 - present RX-8 Owners Club UK
Tesla M3LR AB 363 AWD " Blue Beast "
-
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 32772
- Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 1:54 am
- RX-8: 192
- Colour: Sunlight Silver
- Location: Kent (out in the sticks - nothing urban here)
- Has thanked: 266 times
- Been thanked: 320 times
Re: Potential new owner
Hi and mr grumpy. Add your location in your profile, there may be a local meet or two we can point you towards if you want to come along for a chat in person and there may be specialists nearby we can recommend who may have a car or two for sale.
I am told by my biker mates and from reading stuff by bikers that the RX-8 is as close to riding a bike as you can get in a car or that it has very similar characteristics at least. First thing to do if you are thinking of getting an RX-8 is to read the Buyers Guide viewtopic.php?f=25&t=24047
I am told by my biker mates and from reading stuff by bikers that the RX-8 is as close to riding a bike as you can get in a car or that it has very similar characteristics at least. First thing to do if you are thinking of getting an RX-8 is to read the Buyers Guide viewtopic.php?f=25&t=24047
'Grington.
former Club Treasurer 2010-18 (now finally retired)
Silver 192 green interior LEDS, Nordic Green hoop spoiler, roof inserts and wheels Silver Stripes (now finally retired)
former Club Treasurer 2010-18 (now finally retired)
Silver 192 green interior LEDS, Nordic Green hoop spoiler, roof inserts and wheels Silver Stripes (now finally retired)
-
- Spin Doctor
- Posts: 32582
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:56 pm
- RX-8: 231
- Colour: Lightning Yellow
- Location: Groomsport, Co Down, NI
- Has thanked: 442 times
- Been thanked: 2086 times
Re: Potential new owner
There aren't too many Suzuki RE5s around these days, or Nortons, or DKW's, so an RX8 it is then...
-
- Club Member
- Posts: 17152
- Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 1:12 pm
- RX-8: Kuro
- Colour: Kuro Black
- Location: oswestry shropshire
- Has thanked: 219 times
- Been thanked: 350 times
Re: Potential new owner
welcome mate,if you do get a decent rx8,you will have to change your title to Mr Ecstatic,good luck.
Rob
-
- Club Member
- Posts: 3643
- Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:58 pm
- RX-8: R3
- Colour: Velocity Red
- Location: Milton Keynes, UK
- Has thanked: 233 times
- Been thanked: 146 times
Re: Potential new owner
Welcome.
It kind of depends on your budget - A good condition, well looked after, fairly standard series 1 is probably in the £1k-£2k depending on mileage etc. A special edition maybe a bit more, a series 2 (R3) is probably more like £4k-£6k, due to newer age and restricted circulation (about 550 left on the road).
Anything registered after March(?) 2006 will be ~£550/year road tax, before that will be ~ £200 less.
Most of the good information (and probably most of what I've put here) is in the buyers guide already mentioned.
Look for rusty sills, bubbling around the 3rd brake light in the boot lid. Check whether the ignition system has ever had any updates, and has it got a recent (proper rotary) compression test? Are the numbers fairly even across the rotors and at a reasonable value (opinions vary, but generally 6 / 6.5+ is considered reasonable?)
If I've written anything particularly erroneous, I'm sure someone much more knowledgeable will be along to correct me momentarily!
It kind of depends on your budget - A good condition, well looked after, fairly standard series 1 is probably in the £1k-£2k depending on mileage etc. A special edition maybe a bit more, a series 2 (R3) is probably more like £4k-£6k, due to newer age and restricted circulation (about 550 left on the road).
Anything registered after March(?) 2006 will be ~£550/year road tax, before that will be ~ £200 less.
Most of the good information (and probably most of what I've put here) is in the buyers guide already mentioned.
Look for rusty sills, bubbling around the 3rd brake light in the boot lid. Check whether the ignition system has ever had any updates, and has it got a recent (proper rotary) compression test? Are the numbers fairly even across the rotors and at a reasonable value (opinions vary, but generally 6 / 6.5+ is considered reasonable?)
If I've written anything particularly erroneous, I'm sure someone much more knowledgeable will be along to correct me momentarily!
Alan (he/him)| 2010 R3 | stock apart from a couple of dings and scrapes! (Black diamond discs, yellow stuff pads, RRP MkII Coils, MSD leads...)
-
- Former Member
- Posts: 2636
- Joined: Fri Feb 11, 2011 7:47 pm
- RX-8: 231
- Colour: Velocity Red
- Location: Cambridgeshire
- Has thanked: 4 times
- Been thanked: 13 times
Re: Potential new owner
I propose sticking to the 231 for the higher redline. It's not a lot faster than the 192, but especially as a biker you'll enjoy the wider power band and know how to work it.
Read the buyer's guide several times. Most cars on the market now are effectively lemons in need of a rebuild, so you can bargain hard and be choosey. A crunchy gearshift can be an easy fix with the engine mounts, but a borked synchro is always borked. A "rebuilt" engine is not a guarantee. Find out who did it and how much it cost, then ask here.
The car is tyre sensitive, and ditch-finders will spoil your sense of enjoyment.
Rev it out.
Read the buyer's guide several times. Most cars on the market now are effectively lemons in need of a rebuild, so you can bargain hard and be choosey. A crunchy gearshift can be an easy fix with the engine mounts, but a borked synchro is always borked. A "rebuilt" engine is not a guarantee. Find out who did it and how much it cost, then ask here.
The car is tyre sensitive, and ditch-finders will spoil your sense of enjoyment.
Rev it out.
-
- Former Member
- Posts: 761
- Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2017 8:30 am
- RX-8: 13B 4-port
- Colour: Velocity Red
- Location: Dorset
- Has thanked: 33 times
- Been thanked: 56 times
Re: Potential new owner
‘A redline a day keeps the Rotary doctor away’*
*Results may vary. Ensure engine is at operating temperature. We can’t help you if you get pulled over. More than one redline a day is optional.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
*Results may vary. Ensure engine is at operating temperature. We can’t help you if you get pulled over. More than one redline a day is optional.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk