SWMBO retires at the end of the year and she has promised herself a nicer car. She has presently got a Hyundai Sports Coupe and likes it a lot, but she's recently been drooling over the RX-8 and I wondered if anyone here can give me any details about reliability and economy of the rotary engines (totally alien to me)

Just check out the tax bracket, IIRC newer ones are up in the 400+ a year bracket? Other than that I know very little, sorry!

Expensive on fuel, 20mpg touring, cheap to buy though and they drive great.

Drink petrol BIG TIME. A couple of lads at work have them ( young guns ) and even they complaib about fuel economy. just town driving at the weekend results in low 20's

Coil pack faults if not done lead to tips burning out bye bye engine plus the above comments there are better cars out there

Been quite a few posts like this one over the last few months... have a search, the general feeling is usually to go look at something else :p

Nissan 350Z.

RX 8 also likes a drink of oil!

Hmm I had my doubts to start with but now ....

She wants a 'sporty' car but needs something economical with 4 seats and a boot (or hatch I suppose)

The trouble is, she keeps lusting after the top end marques like Mercedes, BMW, Maserati so I am trying to calm her down a bit and get more practical - any suggestions guys?


[Edited on 29-3-11 by RazMan]

Mate has one - very pretty, nice to drive, engine very smooth (but sounds like a hoover), been reliable for a good few years, dreadful fuel economy. One point, and I mean no anti-women-driver disrespect, is that if she's likely to drive at all, er, spiritedly, will she understand and know how to deal with the response of a RWD? My mate is about as far from a knowledgable enthusiast with mechanical sympathy as you can get (has it for posing basically) and has had a couple of lucky 180 degree moments in the wet even with the TC (I think they all have TC but not sure).

Leon fr diesel.
Golf gt tdi

Alfa Giulietta.....love 'em

Very easy to flood the engine and a pita to get going again. Just make sure if you start the engine leave it to run for at least 5 mins before you switch it off.

I looked into these cars recently and drove a number. They handle beautifully and are an absolute pleasure. However they are fragile and high maintenance. History is a must and the oil must have been checked weekly. If its been run low the engine will likely be damaged and many don't last longer than 100k as a result. They must be allowed to warm up properly once started or they will flood. So no short journeys. They can be had for very reasonable money though. Just be sure whoever you buy it off is an enthusiast otherwise you can't guarantee it's been looked after. I looked at 6 cars and had concerns with then all. Bills for repairs will be expensive. Mazda Exeter basically advised me to steep clear! Look on the rx8 forum for a list of things to look for. I didn't have the bottle to invest due to apparent fragility. Paranoid about big bills to come!

Work collegue of my daughter has had two, both required new engines at relatively low mileage - not sure of reason. She also complained about dreadful fuel consumption.

If 2 door acceptable and only require 4 seats occassionally how about a Sirrocco. I had a sit on one while waiting for a test drive in the golf end of last year. I was staggered how much space there was in the back and boot. 170 bhp diesel like my golf goes well and runs on fresh air - well almost. I am averaging 50+mpg from the GTD. Sirrocco looks cool as well.

At the end of last year a number of outlets were offering great contract hire or personal contract terms on them.

Drove a colleagues RX-8 (co. car) for a couple of weeks when he used my Passat to go on holiday in. I found it drove very well in terms of handling, but for some reason it just did not feel fast. I put it down to the smoothness and high rev range of the rotary engine, which didn't seem to have a distinct power band like a good conventional petrol engine. It was crushing on fuel and that was a couple of years ago when fuel was considerably cheaper than it is currently. He also had to keep topping it up with oil although as a co. car this didn't come out of his pocket. I loved it for 2 weeks and he loved it as a leased co. car, but we both agreed we'd not want to own one privately.

My Mrs had a Hyundai Coupe which she loved. Nearest replacement we could find was an Alfa Gulietta which she also thinks is great.

RX-8 great car, crap engine. There was a company exhibiting at one of the car shows last year putting V8's (LS1?) into them. I seem to remember the finished article costing about £16k.

Tim