Project RX8 ends... abruptly

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Details

Details

Parent Category: Old projects

Category: Project RX8

Created on Saturday, 01 September 2012 13:33

Last Updated on Saturday, 01 September 2012 14:32

Published on Saturday, 01 September 2012 13:33

Written by Dale

With a heavy heart and my ears ringing to the cries of "I told you so", I'm reporting the death of the BTG Mazda RX8. Its rotary heart having expired on the Nordschleife, just up from Bergwerk.

You can read more about it on my Pistonheads Fleet Report, but suffice to say that there was no warning, and it wasn't expected. Oil and water levels were perfect, prior to my purchase the car was compression tested and found healthy.

What I learnt during 10 months of RX8 ownership:

• The Mazda RX8 is a flawed genius. It's light, perfectly balanced, seats four adults and is awesome on a race track.
• The flaw is that lightweight, high-revving wankel motor. My car was in good condition, serviced, had healthy compression. It still blew up after less than 100 laps.
• Renesis motors may be light and mechanically uncomplicated, but they're a pig to remove and expensive to buy.
• It has the biggest brake rotors fitted to any current model Mazda road car, and they work great on track with only a pad and fluid upgrade.
• The gearboxes are made of cheese, so as to better match the motor. The later R3 gearbox is tougher, but has crap ratios.
• Two-stroke oil is not just for scooters and old motorcycles.
• You can convert the beam pattern of RX8 headlights from UK (RHD) to European (LHD) with nothing more than a screwdriver and a good quality oven.
• The only way to have peace of mind with an RX8 is to buy with a warranty. Either a new one (not available since 2011) or an old one with a new warrantied motor from somewhere like Haywards or Rotechnics.
• Even on crappy tyres, the RX8 is pretty damn quick:

What's next? You'll have to wait and see... not long though. It should be arriving next weekend!

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