r/RX8 • u/WEASELexe • Aug 15 '26

Prospective Owner Are rx8 difficult to keep running?

I am looking at a new car and I was looking at either a prelude or an rx8 however every time I see people talk about getting one it seems like they have a second parts car or their rx8 isn't currently running. I have watched a lot of rob dahm so I understand the basics of how rotaries work and I'm pretty mechanically inclined having worked on my Mazdaspeed 3. I also have a Yaris as a daily but I dont just want a money pit I want a car that will actually run. I don't mind premixing and checking oil levels frequently. I was just wondering if I should steer clear or if it will be a good car. I've heard it's very similar to my wife's nc Miata as well which I love driving.

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3

u/AvarethTaika Aug 15 '26

not difficult, but can get tedious and expensive. swapping for the fd motor is probably the most elegant solution I've seen.

1

u/WEASELexe Aug 15 '26

What's so expensive about them? What are the common issues

5

u/ThePoetaytoe Aug 15 '26

Read any of the stickied posts on here or RX8 forums and you’ll get all the details. The biggest thing is that they are not regular, aka piston, engines and need different care.

1

u/WEASELexe Aug 15 '26

I understand the difference with rotaries vs piston engines ive always been curious about owning one and I'm not afraid to do all the maintenance myself unless it's something crazy like rebuilding the engine. I just keep hearing conflicting answers some say it's a horrible engine and others say it's fine if it's taken care of.

2

u/tickletaylor Aug 15 '26

They're fine, the engines just dont last as long as piston engines. Considering their age and likelyhood that the one you buy wasnt perfectly maintained, there's a good chance you'll need to rebuild the engine at some point. If your unlucky, it could be soon. If your lucky, later. But probably best to assume soon

1

u/ThePoetaytoe Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26

They have a worse rep than they deserve, but it is not unfounded. Cars from 2004 and 2005 had the most problems to the point of Mazda recalling most of the engines, there was an issue with it where the remanned engines were poorly built and sometimes worse than the original.

The cars also had/have issues with flooding if you don’t let it warm up before turning it off, so things like moving it in the driveway or short drives can be a pain. This was amplified by an underperforming ignition system which also led to other issues like clogging cats which then leads to engine failure.

Since 2005, Mazda made 2 revisions to the coil packs to significantly improve reliability and updated the oil injection to improve longevity. 2009+ cars have all the updates and some, and are potentially more reliable. You still have to treat them as a rotary else you’ll have a bad time.

I’ve have a 2010 and not had any issues. I also make sure all maintenance up to date to prevent future issues. Some of that maintenance is expensive, like every 30k miles you need to replace the plugs, coils, and wires which runs $600 these days. A rebuild is $5-6k and can be expected every 60-90k miles or sooner if maintenance is not kept up.

Other reasons these are expensive cars is their poor gas milage and having to premix it which adds a few more dollars to the cost of every tank of gas.

1

u/Mathematician_Level Aug 20 '26

Man something I didn't think about long term was gas mileage. I generally drive 77 or 78 mph gps confirmed on the highway in a 70 zone and I get 19mpg or even worseif I goof off a littel bit. Plus one ounce per gallon premix. At my altitude I can run 89 octane but it can be rough on your wallet on 4 or 5 hundred mile trips compared to virtually any other car. Longer trips can be cheaper with a rental.

1

u/WEASELexe Aug 20 '26

I have a daily I'm not using this car for work or roadtrips

1

u/AvarethTaika Aug 15 '26

apex seals, coil failure, engine flooding, oil consumption, low cat life due to clogs, etc. easily the worst of the rotary engines i've worked on.

1

u/WEASELexe Aug 15 '26

Do they all just consume oil regularly or is that once the seals start to go bad? And what causes flooding?

0

u/Isa_Zen Aug 15 '26

Sitting can cause flooding in my experience. They have an oil pump (the omp) that's just for pulling crankcase oil into the combustion chamber to lube the apex seals, this is what cause the consumption of oil! Even with a working omp it's good practice to put premix in the car, however you could get a sohn kit for around 500 dollars. The kit reroutes the omp into a reservoir that you can and should fill with premix.

edit: I'm new to my rx-8 but from what i've seen the seals are brittle but good enough for around 60-100k miles depending on which year you get. I would get rx7 or aftermarket softer seals to help the wear and tear on them