Conduite, Météo et Coûts
Source : RX8Club.com - New and Potential Owners START HERE! Auteur : RIWWP
How to Drive It — Comment conduire le RX-8
The rotary engine loves revs. It's power is up top, it has no torque down low, and can get carbon choked to death if it only ever stays down low. So the very nature of a rotary engine is higher revs. It only has 3 moving parts, and they handle high RPM very very well. Why? Because nothing is stopping and starting, it's just spinning. The engine is also very small, so there isn't much mass that is actually spinning around. So high RPM is nothing to be afraid of at all, and high RPM is NOT considered "abuse".
If you stay low, driving it like a piston engine, you will find that it is even more gutless than common opinion, and you will be killing it from choking it to death with carbon. So low RPM lugging is "abuse" for a rotary, high RPM is where it loves to be.
This behavior may be considered as abuse by piston engine standards, but it's not. You can't "beat the s**t out of it" though, in that you can't ignore the maintenance. You have to pay close attention to what it's telling you. Ignition health, oil health, and cooling system health are CRITICAL to maintain at high levels. Let something slip and cascading failures will give you a rather painful kick in the ass.
Now, all that being said, high RPM DOES generate a lot of heat. So don't just sit up in high RPM cruising there all the time, you are just cooking the engine and transmission. It loves going full throttle to redline, but then shift and let the engine cruise around 4-5k when you are just driving around. It's happy there.
Cold Weather — Conduite en hiver
I would recommend working on getting a set of alternate rims and winter tires. The rims can be complete garbage (mine are mismatched), but it makes any winter condition drivable, and even fun! (as long as you are still clearing the snow with your air dam, but if you aren't, no one else should be on the road there anyway, the government would probably be shut down) If you take this route, buy them sometime in the summer when no one is looking and you can pay significantly less.
Cold itself is nothing to worry about unless your ignition system is weak. Stay on top of your ignition system (learn to subconsciously pay attention to the stability of the revs and how smooth, or not, the power band is, etc... Start feeling that hesitation and roughness, and it doesn't go away with WOT runs to redline, your ignition system is starting the downhill. Doesn't mean it will go right away, but the longer you wait, the greater and greater your flood risk, power loss, and mileage drop.
Also throwing in that I have driven my 8 through the last 4 New England winters. The car you have doesn't matter for anything but sheer ground clearance. FWD vehicles and SUVs are more likely to have more winter friendly tires on OEM, sports cars are more likely to have OEM summer tires, and this is where the difference is. As long as you have ground clearance though, my 8, with winter tires, will out-drive any SUV or jeep on OEM tires. My work is on a hill, the highest point in the state, and each winter I regularly climb the last steep hill into work, often winding my way around stuck SUVs and trucks.
Outside of tires, the 8 is low torque, more weight over the rear than most big engined sports cars, and a great set of driver aids. My only concern for driving it in the winter at all is the salt. The only time I got stuck was when it started dumping snow and the plows were not sent out until literally half of the state was stranded in gridlock and ditches, and the snow was simply too deep to push through. The low ground clearance was a bonus though, I was one of the first stuck, and thus got one of the only tow trucks. The tow truck got stuck on my street about 30 yards from my driveway after dropping my 8 off. Even he needed the extra weight at that point.
Résumé pneus hiver
| Type de pneus | Résultat |
|---|---|
| Pneus été en hiver | Vous allez crasher. |
| Pneus toutes saisons en hiver | Aléatoire, conduite prudente, risque de rester bloqué régulièrement. |
| Pneus hiver en hiver | Maîtrisez la route, amusez-vous jusqu'à ~10-12 cm de neige poudreuse. |
It's all in your tires ALWAYS. Every car.
Gas Mileage — Consommation de carburant
The reality is, a healthy RX-8 will get 17-18mpg city, 22+mpg highway. But 'healthy' means completely healthy: healthy coils, wires, plugs, O2 sensors, carbon free engine, good compression, healthy cat (or no cat), good transmission/diff fluid, no vacuum leaks, clean MAF, clean ESS. Let even one of these slide, and your mileage WILL drop, and it will drop fast. If you believe that RX-8s simply can not get this mileage because you have never seen it, then there is only 1 person to blame, and that is YOU. If you don't get this mileage, then there is something wrong with one of the above points. Or with your foot. Your right foot can make the mileage drop quite a bit as well. And I don't mean granny driving as the answer to good gas mileage. Smoothness is more important than speed. Smooth and fast is better mileage than unstable and slow.
People also tend to point at it being a 1.3L engine, and assume that a 240/238/232 hp rotary "2-stroke" engine is as efficient as a 1.3L 4-stroke piston engine (which is probably in the 70-90hp range). This simply is NOT the case.
So if you can't get this mileage, start poking around for what is wrong.
Cost of Ownership — Coût de possession
The cost of owning this car isn't low. It's not as high as some people think, but it is a lot higher than people expect that aren't actually thinking it through. DO NOT MAX OUT YOUR FINANCES purchasing this car. Any car really, it's stupid. But here are the costs you should have over the first 30,000 miles:
Coûts sur 30 000 miles
| Poste | Quantité | Coût estimé |
|---|---|---|
| Essence (17mpg, $3/gal) | 1,764 gallons | $5,294 |
| Huile (vidanges) | 40 quarts | $160 |
| Filtres à huile | 10 | $120 |
| Huile (appoint) | 30 quarts | $150 |
| Bougies | 4 | $80 |
| Bobines | 4 | $140 |
| Fils de bougie | 4 | $60 |
| Pneus | 4 | $800 |
| Huile de boîte | 2 quarts | $20 |
| Huile de différentiel | 2 quarts | $20 |
| Total | $6,844 |
Pannes potentielles supplémentaires
| Panne | Coût |
|---|---|
| Catalyseur | $1,400 (gratuit si < 80,000 miles) |
| Sonde O2 | $285 |
| Crémaillère de direction | $2,000+ |
| Collecteur d'admission ou SSV | $2,000 (concessionnaire) |
Multiply any items by 2 if you purchase them from a dealer.
Multiply any items by 3 if you purchase them from a dealer and have the dealer do the labor.
Young Owners — Les jeunes propriétaires
To be brutally honest though, we often make heavy attempts to steer kids (sorry, you are) away from the 8 as a first car. First cars are usually neglected, abused, and/or wrecked. And we don't imply that it would all be your fault either. My first car last 2.5 months, ending it's life with an SUV landing on it's hood while I was stopped. Shit happens. How prepared are you to lose a car that you will probably form an emotional attachment to? (it happens. Everyone either loves or hates this car)
Abusing the 8 doesn't have the same definition as other cars, but, with no real road experience, driving the 8 properly is insanely easy to land you in significant legal trouble. My first day driving my 8 I was up to 123 on I-70 winding through the mountains without any straights before I got woken up from heaven by passing another car like it was standing still, glanced down at the speedo and was shocked to realize how fast I was. Most owners have this same type of experience. If it happens at a bad point, you are talking arrestable.
Regardless of your decision, I highly highly highly recommend you get to local SCCA autocross events. Seriously. Even 1 event will help improve your driving. Keep doing it for fun and education though, it's the best bang for the buck that you can have in your own car. Driver mods before car mods.