RX8 as a family daily...

Should i take the radio silence as nobody's been silly enough to do this?! 😂

A mate of mine runs an RX8 as a daily, and I considered one before buying an RX7 to run as a daily instead. Both of us don't have families though!

I found the RX8 to be a really nice car to be in, well equipped, nice to look at, practical for a coupe and very cheap to buy.

The engine in them is a bit... compromised by having to meet 21st century emissions standards and lacks torque to pull what is a relatively big car. Fuel economy isn't great as a result but it is a very smooth engine and quite addictive to rev out.. (it will need a fair bit of revving to get it going though, might be a bit of a shock from the torquey Jag)

The rotary engine itself doesn't scare me so much now, with a bit of understanding about them and driving to their strengths (i.e don't do short journeys with the engine cold all the time) they're fine as a daily.

The main thing that put me off about buying an 8 was the process of finding a good one in the first place. I was torn between either getting a slightly more expensive one with loads of history, or a cheaper one that had had a recent rebuild so the previous owner wouldn't have had time to mess it up

You can mitigate this a bit by asking the seller for compression results, asking about when the ignition coils, cat were changed etc.


I'd say test drive one and see what you think. Personally I'd probably happily run one as a daily, but I'm not sure if I'd do the same with a family..

I know what's meant by getting a new boring car as a daily and spending money on a project, but i hate the idea of that. Ive discovered that with family comes drastically reduced tinkering time. I've washed the Jag twice in 10 months. I had a rusty Lada that got waxed once a week! So i need to enjoy my daily driving, i need to enjoy my commute! However, as much as if love a foray into the world of rotaries, much internet research tells me it would be a bit daft. God knows what ill get though, nothing for 2k will top the Jag, sadly. Bear ib mind it must be safe.. our beloved old retros wouldnt stand up well in a shunt, so my search has to ignore lots of awesome metal. It also has to fit a baby seat - not an easy task... it also has to be alright on fuel (20mpg+ although higher would be better). Cant be fwd as i hate the handling.... lifted 4x4 could be the next eBay search. Thanks for the advice, guys. 👍

My friend had one from nearly new and described the positives as well equipped, great to drive and addictive revs!
Downsides were very very very thirsty, and not quite as practical as it first seemed. she sold it when hot starting became a problem and one or two gremlins elsewhere.
There is no such thing as a cheap RX8 apparently, mind i was told the same thing about the Boxster-S i just bought despite the naysayers

I guess the question is, cheap to buy but how much to own and run ?

My standards are high for buying a car but like yourself I lack time for tinkering. OK, that's a like but if the car goes wrong I generally need it pronto! That and I maintain my sister's car (services etc.) so that also impacts what I can do.

IME £2k these days doesn't buy you much in the way of reliability unless you go quite old and for stuff out of vogue. When I was looking for a car for my sister to replace our 324k Mondeo most £2k stuff was iffy and worse than the Mondeo. I was only selling it as it had a crank seal leak which was uneconomical to repair albeit I came close to doing so. I got very lucky with a '57 Saab 9-3 1.8t Cabrio which literally came to me at a good price by pure luck.

The RX-8 I'd say is on the cusp of being semi in vogue due to their repuation. The Engines with understanding are better than you think. As long as you adhere to shutting them down correctly when cold etc. they can be reliable ; I believe some even have done 6 figure mileages on their original engines with car. They removed the oilers for the rotor tips which can be reinstated with a 2 stroke oiler system which massively helps engine life. The chassis is a joy as are the interior touches.

BUT IME they feel slow. When I went to Spa in 2010 a mate had a 192 RX-8. The 205 GTi felt faster everywhere ; I was shocked when I overtook him at Spa! You really had to scream that RX-8 to get it to use the power. I actually used this to my advantage when I sold my 106 GTi ; yup, he also had an RX-8 and he felt that my midly tuned 106 felt fast in comparison.

The best thing to do is to drive one and make your mind up.

As someone who has bought their share of performance cars cheap (and potentially one I still own) I can say there is rarely such a thing as a bargain. The cheap cars tend to be good pricier cars with searching IME.

I've looked at getting one a few times. £2k IME doesn't get you much and can get you alot of rust for your car. If I could have got a tidy one I would have done 2 years ago.

During the W123 days poverty spec also goes down to a non-heated rear window and no radio! A bit of a shock by most modern cars, espeically an XJ.