Assumming you want to oriental, have you thought about a Subaru Impreza WRX sportwagon? £13k will get you an 04 WRX turbo with faily low miles.
Loads of room for the dog (or other stuff), 0-60 in under 6 seconds, bags of torque and great handling. Downside is IG19, mpg 30, have fallen into the hands of chavs and reliability doesn't seem great.
Saying that, your 328i Coupe is IG 16 and has worse mpg.
I've got a jap turbo and an 8 mile trip shouldn't cause problems as long as you let the (fully synth) oil get hot /cool down before enthusiastic driving.
Ian
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I wonder how many of the comments above come from people who have driven or really know anything about the RX8?
Oil consumption is around 600-1000 miles per pint - hardly 'voracious' - there are quite a few 'ordinary' cars that consume this much or more (ask an Alfa driver...). Just make sure you check it each weekend. It doesn't require any special oil - it needs a 5W-30 semi-synth (NOT fully synth). Magnatec is fine. In fact the rotary engine is fairly 'easy' on oil spec., so long as the oil burns without leaving too much residue. Mpg is around 22mpg, which is not too bad for a 2600cc 200+ bhp car..
I used to own an RX-3 and have driven both versions of the RX-8. As with any rotatry the torque is more or less proportional to RPM - that means they are not good for urban crawling. Also on the 230 version you have a 6-speed box with fairly close ratios - that means a lot of gearchanging. I found the lower powered version with the 5-speed box to be nicer to drive. Both are very rapid and as with any powerful RWD car you have to take care, I wouldn't like to drive one on icy roads. Motorway noise levels are not too bad and of course the engine does sound 'different' but not unpleasant.
Finally, one snag is that the brakes are rather too powerful for the car, which makes them feel over-sensitive and snatchy.
Flooding has been mentioned, but is something of a 'red herring'. A number of cars suffer this (including stuff as diverse as BMW and Nissan Micras) - the solution is disable the fuel pump (pull the fuse or the relay) and crank the engine on an open throttle to clear it. The average owner is unlikely to suffer it unless they habitually 'shuffle' cars for a few minutes at a time on cold mornings - when the post-start enrichment kicks in. Rotaries need extra enrichment because of the low combustion chamber surface-area:volume ratio.
Other than that they are a fine car and bear comparison with any other coupe - I would certainly choose one over a Hyundai, although I'd have a Nissan Z above all.
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I haven't driven one and I don't really know anything about the RX8 but I'm still entitled to a view.
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>Halmer
Of course you are entitled to a view. We all are:-)
And as a reader of this thread, I'll treat your view with all the gravitas that your experience and knowledge of the car in question deserves:-)
madf
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Ok, so you're aware of the 'known' poroblems anyway & other Broomers have got them easily dealt with, for you.
Now here's my bit... as you're looking used, you'll have EXCEPTIONAL value for £$£$ new, will, in MOST cases been either fleet user chooser vehicles, or
Mazda 'enthusiasts' , who had been in Mx5, or away from the brand, due to lack of an appropriate model, for them.
Either way, the former will have a good main dealer history & later also, plus spotlessly presented.
So you won't go far wrong, with either!
The things I don't like...
The 'funky' trim, especially the leather colured seats, not wearing too well on some higher mileage auction examples.
Sunroof option, if fitted, is too far back, due to the curves of the actual roofline.
The lump protruding & rubbing against the side of your left leg, on the transmission tunnel, in the footwell, is uncofortable enough for you to not be able to sit properly.
& THE worst thing of all, Lightning Yellow pearlescent body colour, was only available for a verrrrry short time in UK, so you might not find one in this, the BEST colour!! Do a Google Image search for yellow Rx8 & see what I mean!!
Better grad one quick - else you'll end up with an Audi TT, by mistake!!
VB
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Aprilia,as ever spot on,and just to add i used to own a RX3 Coupe and have driven/owned later RX7s and 8s and would not worry about owning one today.In my lottery winners garage i would most definitley have a '74 RX3 coupe,they ocasionally come up on ebay Australia,and i am often tempted to push the buy button.
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Those first RX3s, podgy little Japanesey things that went like rockets, remember one getting wheelspin in Portobello Road on a weekday, but perhaps I'm romanticising and perhaps it was a Thursday...
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Don't forget Norton's final death throe - that bike was a smoothie.
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Agree with Aprilia, they are well priced second hand compared with the competition, 22mpg is fine for this performance, and the engine note is just different, not unpleasant.
In fact, I'd love to source a 192 RX8 engine for my Ro80! And all this coming from a guy who drives day to day a torquey VW Group 2.0 TDi
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I get the impression that for some people, if it isn't a Laguna or Mondeo TDi, then it isn't worth bothering with.
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Loads of RX8's here as personal cars (no Co. cars) everyone I speak to is more than happy, they all mention fuel consumption & 22mpg is the best, used hard or aound tound it's sub 20's. But the all reckon oil use is nothing to worry about & just top it up every so often.
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I seem to remember that the official Mazda advice was not to use the RX8 for trips less than 14 miles.
A backroomer got very uptight a while back about this as he wanted a car suitable fror driving a mile or so to the station.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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A backroomer got very uptight a while back about this as he wanted a car suitable fror driving a mile or so to the station.
Who subsequently turned out to be nothing but a wind up merchant.
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subsequently turned out to be nothing but a wind upmerchant.
Not on this forum, surely? You must have misunderstood him DD.
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PU: you can have one for a mere £15,000: www.nortonmotors.co.uk/Bikes.htm Parts and service on offer from Norton Motors, and a potted history on the site. No connection with me I should point out.
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I'd like to thank everyone for their contribution to this thread. I can't say that I have made up my mind yet, but all your information will help.
My heart says yes... my mind, well not sure. Most importantly I need to broach this with my better half (lol).
One thing I have learnt is that this is a very useful site and I'll try and contribute where I can.
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