Cal Club Autocross Forums

KJ Christopher wrote:Yeah, it can be bad. In mixed driving I got 18mpg before modding it. Now about 17 with quite exhaust and still 18 with loud exhaust. About the same as my E46 M3. Highway is very dependent on speed.

Wow, that's almost as good as my Odyssey!

Not quite as good of mileage as my 7900lbs Megacab.....

Will Kalman wrote:

Kurt Rahn wrote:One more tip: if you're buying new, don't test drive with your helmet at the dealer you're actually buying from. That's a warranty red flag ;)

Just go in to the showroom Stig-like, silently sit in the car refusing to speak, then walk out. Then go back to your car and get in your street clothes and go back into the showroom.

ROTF

KJ Christopher wrote:

Dan Shaw wrote: Prepare for a shocker at the pump though! MPG is not for the weak of wallet.

Yeah, it can be bad. In mixed driving I got 18mpg before modding it. Now about 17 with quite exhaust and still 18 with loud exhaust. About the same as my E46 M3. Highway is very dependent on speed.

The problem is most of he kids that own an RX-8, like KJ, tend to be those people who rev the piss out of them because they think its cool. As a result they get crappy mileage - and in KJ's case are a noise pollutant.

From page 2 of this thread (where it should have ended)

Mazda RX-8. Four doors, back seat that fits two adults or a set of four race tires and a decent sized trunk. New they can be had in the very low 20k range, and good used ones are around 12k. Engine warranty till 100k.Factory parts program and contingency money.

Fuel mileage is not great, ours is 17 city, 22 hwy with my normal commute seeing about 20.5mpg.

Some of the early cars, 2004, had a lot of issues, and this made a bad rap for the whole line. Our car has been to the dealer three times in its life for mechanical issues: AC control, marginal EVAP pump and a seat issue. Has around 70k miles on it with five years of autox abuse by two drives.

The cars are competitive in stock (although not likely to win Natls this year) and in STX. The car is easy on tires, and cheap to setup for stock/SK classes.

If you want to run stock or SK just get a spare set of wheels, Rota P's1 are cheap light and legal, Koni sports (full stiff) and a Hotchkis MX-5 front bar (a stock re-drilled bar is not stiff enough for SK-ST tires). In CS trim 245-35-18 V710 will last well over 100 runs and are plenty fast. For SK cram on some 265-35-18 Dunlops.

Will Kalman wrote:

KJ Christopher wrote:Yeah, it can be bad. In mixed driving I got 18mpg before modding it. Now about 17 with quite exhaust and still 18 with loud exhaust. About the same as my E46 M3. Highway is very dependent on speed.

Wow, that's almost as good as my Odyssey!

.... 17-18 right on par with city mileage on our Jetta Wagon VR6 (12v)

RX-8s are well-rounded performers, but the back seat is for kids (or race tires, as mentioned!). Good steering feel, solid gearbox, balanced handling. They are a bit weak in low to midrange torque...more noticeable in street driving, maybe less of an issue in an autocross where you're spinning the engine up high in 2nd gear. I think maybe the guys in the street-driven ones are revving them just to keep in the fat part of the powerband. Kinda like an early 911.

--Doug

I didn't ignore you Jason, I just had to explore all my options ;) . At this point I think I'm pretty much settled on an RX-8, I'm now just waiting for the right one to show up for sale, and enough time to drive down to LA and look at it when it does.

My 6.0 liter GTO gets better mileage than that - it's yours for $20K

What class ...

Max Hayter wrote:My 6.0 liter GTO gets better mileage than that - it's yours for $20K

Ahhhhh...mileage and the driven wheels are the only resemblance between an RX-8 and a GTO.

Kurt Rahn wrote:

Max Hayter wrote:My 6.0 liter GTO gets better mileage than that - it's yours for $20K

Ahhhhh...mileage and the driven wheels are the only resemblance between an RX-8 and a GTO.

But remember, cars built in the southern hemisphere are quicker on counter-clockwise courses...

Jason makes a helluva case for the RX-8.

Hoosiers are addicting.... But I watched Jason testing the streets in SK trim once and it was damn impressive. Sure looked a lot better than when I tried KJ's car in stock trim with crappy tires. But even then with no grip the car was very well behaved and balanced. You could slide the car all over the place like a car mag editor and look cool even if not fast.

Anyone have experience with CarMax? My first reaction is to not go anywhere near them, but they have a nice RX-8 that fits my needs. Unfortunately their "no-haggle" price is waaaaaaay too high, I'm wondering if that's just what they do and I'll be able to talk them down?

Here's a link to the car:
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/def ... 36441352f4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keep looking ... check out Craig's List

Steve Ekstrand wrote:Jason makes a helluva case for the RX-8.

Hoosiers are addicting.... But I watched Jason testing the streets in SK trim once and it was damn impressive. Sure looked a lot better than when I tried KJ's car in stock trim with crappy tires. But even then with no grip the car was very well behaved and balanced. You could slide the car all over the place like a car mag editor and look cool even if not fast.

Hey...I resemble that remark!!

--Doug

Jeff Stuart wrote:Anyone have experience with CarMax? My first reaction is to not go anywhere near them, but they have a nice RX-8 that fits my needs. Unfortunately their "no-haggle" price is waaaaaaay too high, I'm wondering if that's just what they do and I'll be able to talk them down?

Here's a link to the car:
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/def ... 36441352f4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Have you tried AutoTrader.com? That's my preferred browsing ground.

--Doug

Jeff Stuart wrote:Anyone have experience with CarMax? My first reaction is to not go anywhere near them, but they have a nice RX-8 that fits my needs. Unfortunately their "no-haggle" price is waaaaaaay too high, I'm wondering if that's just what they do and I'll be able to talk them down?

Here's a link to the car:
http://www.carmax.com/enUS/view-car/def ... 36441352f4" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No haggle means just that, so keep looking if you want a better price. Keep in mind that Carmax has a 5-day money-back guarantee, a 30-day warranty, and several other guarantees (cars with no frame damage, clean title, etc.). Lots of people like the Carmax business model, but if you want to sell them your current car (or trade-in), they won't give you much over wholesale for it, if at all (in other words, sell it yourself). I haven't heard of anyone who has bought a car from Carmax and been dissatisfied with their purchase, but that just means I haven't met them yet.

Doug Kott wrote: Have you tried AutoTrader.com? That's my preferred browsing ground.

--Doug

Yeah, that's actually where I found the CarMax car. I have feeds set up for the LA area and Santa Barbara/Ventura/Oxnard areas on Craigslist, and email alerts set up on AutoTrader. I guess I'll just sit back and wait.

Jeff Stuart wrote:Yeah, that's actually where I found the CarMax car. I have feeds set up for the LA area and Santa Barbara/Ventura/Oxnard areas on Craigslist, and email alerts set up on AutoTrader. I guess I'll just sit back and wait.

I'm sure you saw the white one that popped up last night then:

http://tinyurl.com/2eh9dcd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Leonard Cachola wrote:

Jeff Stuart wrote:Yeah, that's actually where I found the CarMax car. I have feeds set up for the LA area and Santa Barbara/Ventura/Oxnard areas on Craigslist, and email alerts set up on AutoTrader. I guess I'll just sit back and wait.

I'm sure you saw the white one that popped up last night then:

http://tinyurl.com/2eh9dcd" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Heh, nope. It's white, that's a problem. I'm after blue, black, or red. Yellow could also work, but they're rare.

Racist

Jeff Stuart wrote:
Heh, nope. It's white, that's a problem. I'm after blue, black, or red. Yellow could also work, but they're rare.

Yellow was only available in 2004. They look great, but I would stay away from the 04's.

FYI, the only winning combination ever has been a silver 05'.

Jeff Stuart wrote:
Heh, nope. It's white, that's a problem. I'm after blue, black, or red. Yellow could also work, but they're rare.

I wouldn't turn away a good deal on a used car just because of the color, but that's just me (and I'm not saying the white '05 at CarMax is a good deal).

So how's the search going? Any interesting prospects?

--Doug

Doug Kott wrote:So how's the search going? Any interesting prospects?

--Doug

I have two RX-8s I'm looking at right now. If it's not one of them, it will probably be the other. We've agreed on $16.5k on a red '06 with ~25k, so assuming it checks out mechanically (KJ has graciously agreed to take a look at it), I'll probably end up buying it.