I can't agree, if the rotary engine is still so fickle in this day and age then it shouldn't be sold to the masses, its as simple as that.

I firmly believe that Mazda thought they had sorted the RX-8 out. Lets be honest here, alot of cars now have 12months / 30,000 miles between services.

I can see your point though, as most car tests actually say you should check oil, water, lights etc everytime before you set out on a journey.

 

the only way to make it less "fickle" is to continue to produce/advance the technology being made. and there was nothing wrong with the engine persay, i think most engines would have the same problem if they didnt get enough oil.

how many engine failures have their been for the renesis engines?

 

^ Exactly, this engine is a massive step forward, I just fear Ford will pull the plug if this costs too much and with the end in sight that'd be a massive shame

 

Everyone,

The oil starvation problem was the result of Mazda miscalculating on one of it's earlier reflashes. Mazda has since corrected it with subsequent reflashes and the motors that don't pass the compression and vaccuum checks are being replaced.

Before RX-8 production ends, it will likely go down as being the largest mass produced rotary vehicle in Mazda's history. Some problems are bound to come up. The only thing I wish they would do is extend the warranty more than the paltry additional 10K (from 50 to 60K) miles. I believe that if the company truly stands behind rotary they should extend the warranty to 100K. This action would satisfy their current customer base and show prospective new owners that they stand behind their products and are confident in rotary reliability.

 

Agreed...

 

Its a new design, but NA rotarys are great motors. Give them time, It didnt win motor of the year twice for nothing

 

thanks for the info . maybe this will calm down all the chicken littles.......

 

yeah if anyone cares, so far they have all passed the testing, here

 

Cool. Good to hear.

 

+1.

i want the rx8 to sucessful or else BYE BYE rotary

 

after spending 30 seconds on research (what, i'm about to head to the bar), it is said that Ford owns 33% of Mazda. with that said, i don't think Ford has the power to pull any plug. a strong persuasive word, sure, but not full ownership.
if anyone can elaborate or correct me, please do. i understand that a owning a third of a company is an extremely large chunk, but it's not the whole pie. not even america owns all of america.

 

True. True. But if the rest of that pie, the remaining 77% is in 77 different slices (owned by 77 other persons/compaines), then that 33% piece then is HUGE and may be able to nix the engine. Now I know I'm overstating something to make a point here, but I wouldn't count Ford out as being unable to pull the plug yet. But I hope you're right that they can't (or at least won't.)
I think the rotary should be produced by multiple car manufacturers so the engine will become more and more competitve thereby giving us enthusiasts more options, creating more new parts, rotary mechanics, etc, etc so I'm really hoping they don't abandon this car. By the way, good luck with the bar I hear it's a tuffie.

 

77+33=110. The new math ?

 

well ford has owned that third for a really long time. in the early 90's when mazda was having troubles, is when ford stepped up. *i think* it had something to do with mazda getting bank loans, or more money, the early 90's was bad for mazda, the cars weren't selling, and they had a bunch of new models...

at this point mazda definately gets the good end of the stick, they seem to have a whole lineup of neat cars, and while not all of em are japanese like they used to be, the days of the $400 sunvisor are gone as well

 

Two club members motors here in Phoenix out of ~30 RX-8 member owners in the club. Both were autos, one 2004 and one 2005. I've heard that they had an unusually high number of failures on Automatics in Las Vegas. Not sure if this is true or not, but that's what I've heard. Anyone from the Vegas area care to chime in??

 

THIS SOUNDS LIKE ANY OL ROTARY TO MEE lol

 

Uh, that's normal. Quit complaining. On average it burns 1 qt., but 2qts. is still within range. I think they mean opening the OMP at a lower rpm. You probably won't be affected. In fact, I bet you're lucky since you're driving at a high enough rpm to avoid under-lubrication.

In spite of all the stories, 2004 RX-8's have okay reliability. 2005 RX-8's have ridiculously good reliability, except for some rust problems. This is according to Consumer Reports. 2006 numbers aren't out yet, but CR predicts a drop. What a horribly biased article...