With an eye to the day the coupe finally meets it's maker, I was looking at the Mazda RX8. The styling isn't to everyone's taste but the performance is pretty good and they are cheap!
There seem to a fair number with engine faults though and being a Wankel I guess that is terminal?
Anyone tried/had one?

Nothing but horror storys of low power output, crappy warm start issues, massive fuel usage and general reliability issues.
Me, I would walk very very far away...maybe you would even see me run.

They are great value, Can pick up one for a couple of Grand! example Bose stereo system, RWD, pretty quick and well made. You can't treat them like a piston engine though, for instance turning the key and then killing the engine after a minute can flood the engine and cause bore wash. They like a drink of oil and the MPG is pretty woeful. Buy wisely though and you got a lot of car for little money!

...and check the cost of a years car tax before you take the plunge!

£260 a year, or £45 more than a Fiat Coupé.

I know a girl got rid of hers as it cost her so much to run. She now drives a Nissan GTR so that must say something

Judging by the recent threads on Pistonheads, the engine issues are overblown - buy wisely with a compression check pre-purchase and with eyes open in respect of oil usage and fuel consumption and you're buying a lot of interesting car. Get on Pistonheads and search out the thread where Dale Lomas bought one for c.2k as a track/'Ring car (he's based at the Ring) - comments on the threads there from guys that have experience of the cars back up the above. Tales of cars used hard on track with 100k on the engines etc etc. ETA: IIRC correctly the engine has a sort of "on demand" oil system, so if you use it hard it will get through it at a cracking rate, which if you're not aware of it can obviously cause issues. Also seen recommendations of adding oil to the fuel to make a sort of two-stroke-style "premix" for added peace of mind.

Having read them, I'm putting RX-8 "all the engines blow up and they never start from cold" views in a box with "all M3 Evos need their VANOS units replacing" and "you need to take the engine out to change the cambelt on a coupe"

Somewhat mixed views then!
Not sure the tax is much of an issue but more than GTR???
It's only about 1300cc!

If you like them, definitely get some research done and speak to owners - never driven or passengered in one myself but they're on my list as a potential RWD "toy" to look into.

Depends on the age - get a later (2006 on) one and its £460

And here's the story and comments on Pistonheads

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/25094.htm

They are slow as hell though, so if you're looking for something remotely quick, this might not be it.

146mph?

I thought they were all at the £400+ tax bracket?

They are torqueless wonders though - if you want something to give you a kick in the back like a coupe does, then the RX8 isn't it.

I do like them, but for the performance you get the economy is catastrophic especially when compared to the coupe. Ok for a weekend fun toy I guess, but I wouldn't want one to commute in.

Get one with engine problems, and replace it with a supercharged 1.8 MX-5 engine (or something else).

I wouldn't touch one due to engine reliability. A guy over on MX5Nutz took his time researching them, bought one, loved it for 6 months then it died.

There's an exception for cars registered before 23rd March 2006. The cost is capped at tax band K ie £250 per annum at the moment.

Do you see this cap being removed then? I thought they had already tried to remove it (back to post reg 2001) but the idea got stopped.

they all dyno far far less than the manufacturers claims
my 231 certainly didnt feel anywhere near this.

handling wise they are awesome seriously good, you can get some real bargins now for around £3k ripe for supercharger conversions for £4k

fuel as you know is very poor 17mpg at best

That's pathetic. RIP Wankel, you made us laugh with your name and kudos for being different.

Nowhere near as pretty/stunning as the fiat coupe either and more common

I used to get an average of 24mpg. If you thrash it to death it would drop to 20mpg.

Basically when driven hard it is more fuel efficient that a 20VT, but tootling around at 50mph the RX8 uses about 30% more fuel.

Drive it hard and get your money's worth!!

Awesome handling.

Highly recommended

I thought these looked ok when they launched against the 350z but the Datsun looks much the fresher car today......