Rx8

[03 Dinan 3]

Well, yesterday me and my dad went to test drive a 2004 Mazda RX8 and I was impressed (for a Mazda compared to BMW). It has a 9,000 redline and can go up to 10,000!!!! INSANE. A nice short shifter kit, but the one problem I encountered was the low headroom because of the sun roof (lowers it by 2 inches). I'm 6 foot 1 and I had to crunch over a little bit. It also has the option of having 2 tone interior which looked very nice. Anyways, I checked the engine specs at the dealership...this is weird but it's a 1.3 litre engine cranking out 238 HP! It handles very nicely like a track-ready car and the powerband is consistant all the way through to 9500 rpms due to the rotary engine.
$42,000 fully loaded with sun roof and nav.
I even had some ricer in a Cavalier rev his engine as both he and the passenger were leaning out of the window to look at the RX8.
Fun day

[Understated]

WTF 1.3L engine?...thats pretty insane

[03 Dinan 3]

I know sounds so weird...I was like ya I got 2.5...but it only cranks out 200 hp...damn Mazda..

[Quack]

it's been a 1.3L for awhile now, even the old Rx-7 was using a 1.3L

[Ryousuke]

yeah but that 1.3L prob eats as much gas as a 3L car :\

[windwagen]

Cool, but the car looks too weird for me.

I'ts tough to compare the Rotary to 4 cycle engine. A 2 rotor setup has 6 power cycles per rev, wheras a 4 cyl has 2 per rev. What's interesting is the relatively low weight of the Rotary.

[Bigbore]

yep the compactness is crazy too, i wonder how this new motor from mazda stacks up to boost

[T5Man]

The rule of thumb is usually one rotary is rougly equivalent to 3cylinders. So the rx-8 is kinda like a 1.3L V6.

Yeah i test drove my friend's RX-8 when he first got it too. Overall it felt like a really fun car and the interior was designed really well. I liked how they implemented the shifter light that beeps when you rev to redline. Only thing i didn't really like was the short shifter.

It looks like a short shifter, but the actual throws of the shifter didn't feel like it was an actual short shifter. The neck of the shifter still felt like it was a long shaft. It was as if they just changed the shifter knob rather than an actual short shifter kit, like the S2000, where each shift throw was just a click.

also the throw from 2nd to 3rd felt really ackward, there's a big metal bar spaced between 1st and 3rd in the shift positions made shifting from 2nd to 3rd really slow.

[rodo]

let me summarize your post for everyone else:

short shifter short shifter shifter short shifter shifter


don't forget shifter

[rodo]

"It looks like a short shifter, but the actual throws of the shifter didn't feel like it was an actual short shifter. The neck of the shifter...."

Do I hear a shifter?

[Justin e36]

being a former rotary owner... and still have a blown rx7 in my driveway, figured I'll add some background to this post. By the way.. rotary engines have been in concept since 1846 with the rotary motion steam engine. Mazda's been pushing out rotary engine performance cars since 1967 starting with the with the Cosmo Sport 100S.



------------------ benefits of rotary:
Lighter weight
Because there is no need for pistons, connecting rods or a crankshaft, the main engine block of the rotary engine is correspondingly smaller and therefore lighter in weight with better handling and performance.

Smaller size
Proportional to its output, the rotary engine is substantially smaller in size than a conventional engine. The new RENESIS is about the same size as a small four-cylinder in-line engine. The rotary engine’s small size is not only beneficial with regard to weight, but also allows improved handling, optimal positioning of the drivetrain and increased space to be given over to driver and passenger comfort.

Lower vibration
All the parts in a rotary engine spin continuously in one direction, rather than violently changing directions like the pistons in a conventional engine. Rotary engines are also internally balanced minimising vibration levels.

Higher power
A rotary engine’s power delivery is smoother. Because each combustion event lasts through 90 degrees of the rotor's rotation, and the output shaft spins three revolutions for each revolution of the rotor, therefore each combustion event lasts through 270 degrees of the output shaft's rotation. This means that a single-rotor engine delivers power for three-quarters of each revolution of the output shaft. Compared to a single cylinder piston engine, in which power is delievered to only a quarter of each revolution of the output shaft.

Higher reliability
The rotary engine has far fewer moving parts than a comparable four-stroke piston engine. A two-rotor rotary engine has three main moving parts: the two rotors and the output shaft. Even the simplest four-cylinder piston engine has at least 40 moving parts, including pistons, connecting rods, camshaft, valves, valve springs, rockers, timing belt, timing gears and crankshaft.

[Justin e36]

and for anyone who wants to see some videos on the Rx8's performance, handling.. or learn how the rotary engine works.. or see a video of the rotary engine heritage and how it progressed through the years. click here: http://www.mazdarx8.co.uk/upclose/videos/default.asp

[03 Dinan 3]

thanks for the ton of info Justin!

[windwagen]

I'm suprised the rotary is not more popular. Bad mileage to blame??

[Mystikal]

Originally posted by Superman87
WTF 1.3L engine?...thats pretty insane

It's not truly a 1.3L, the method of calculating the volume of a rotary is quite different. It's really more like a 2.6.