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Heard a piece about the new Mazda RX8 on the radio this aft' - sounds a very, very nice car. Rotary engine, 4 doors (2 rear doors open backwards & allow better access), enough room in the back for 2 adults (big problem with Toyota Celica) ll starating from about £19k or thereabarts ! Anyone know any more about it ? I'd be interested to know what the reliability is likely to be and whether there are any inherent problems or prohibitive costs associated with the rotary unit. Seem to remember the old RX7 had a Wankel rotary engine and people raved about it. Anyone got any more info ?
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Stunning motor isn't it Volvoman?
Also interested to know reliability and perhaps more importantly longevity levels.
Colleague reckons about 100k on a set of rotors on his 1990 RX7 - the engine is amazing but someone buying a brand new motor in 2003 doesn't expect a full engine rebuild at that kind of mileage as a matter of course.
One of the few cars to look absolutely amazing in yellow (in my opinion of course!)
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I have had a few RX7s and have found them to be stunningly fast and with a MPG of around 18 to 22.Never had any engine problems but a couple of poor running problems that Rotechniks of Reading sorted out without drama or high cost.Keep them away from anybody other than a specialist,ordinary mechanics do not understand them.
My first car in 1977 was a Mazda RX3 coupe,15-20 mpg on 2 star fuel,fantastic car compared to the rest of the stuff available then(cost me £400) 2 years old!No problems with that either.
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I had the little R100 coupe and later an RX4 saloon, both nippy and good in their day, once Bridgestone bothered with tyres suited to the UK. There was no trouble, other than thirst and the dreaded tin-worm, but some people grossly over-revved the smooth motors and did in the rotor tip seals. They went fine on fifty/fifty petrol/paraffin, but the smell tended to give the show away; the Lenzie petrol station had, it happened, a self service paraffin pump in an obscure corner. The RX4 would produce a very loud bang if switched off for a couple of seconds and on again, which could provide amusement on the road adjacent to the golf course if a stroke was being played!
Sadly, the RX4 passed to my brother who panicked at 13 mpg on one outing (leadfoot indeed!) and passed it to a person who contrived to replace the motor with some Ford lump. It would have been more fun to put the rotary in a Ford; but at least, it finished up as a beautifully finished sectioned exhibit in a technical college.
What I'd have liked would have been a late (after Mazda had sorted them out) NSU RO80.
This RX8 may well be a cracker and I'd love to try one, but I've never been able to look as if I might buy something except when I was probably going to - not cheeky enough, I suppose.
Tomo
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"It would have been more fun to put the rotary in a Ford"
Absolutely! Lots of lovely RO80's were ruined by the substitution of Ford V4's, possibly the roughest engine of its day.
Nice to know that Mazda are sticking with a rotary-engined model when everyone else makes do with the reciprocating stuff. Citroen put one in a GS once, which must have been huge fun...
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See car by car breakdown. It's also in the Sun, Mirror and probably The Star today.
HJ
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It has "suicide doors". The rear ones won't open until the front ones are open. Doesn't make for an easy getaway in the event of an accident if the two front passengers are injured.
It's still an absolutely stunning car though. Mazda are doing something right. The new 6 is also a great looking car.
Shark Ahoy!
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Sorry to be such an idiot, but why are
"suicide doors" so called?
Thanks, DPM.
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Well at a guess: they open the 'wrong way' around so if they get struck when open by traffic travelling in the same direction as you the door will be shoved into the exiting passenger (suicide?) whereas with a 'normal' door the door would be knocked away from the exiting passenger....
hth
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I thought it was simply that if they opened while on the move, the air stream tended to fling them back, possibly with you holding the inside handle! Mind you, they're safer for following motorcyclists...
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Ok - 20K+ is not cheap for a car but against its competition the Mazda looks excellent value for money:
The Audi TT is an overpriced Golf in a party frock and they are EVERYWHERE!
The Toyota Celica is also a very nice car but the T-sport is 21K and the RX8 will surely be more sought after.
Mazda will be opening up a web site shortly where you can pre-register for a car by placing a deposit of £1000 I think - so not much chance of a discount!
Questions
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1. What is Mazda's pricing strategy going to do to e.g. the new prices/used values of Toyota's Celica? (Toyota and Audi must be kicking themselves - the RX8 isn't on sale until the summer but by announcing prices just now they must surely have caused a few potential Toyota/Audi buyers to think again...
2. Given Mazda's track record with high performance sports cars is buying one these when they first come out with no discount a wise move? How many are they planning to import? If you want one is it not best to wait say 6 months when the initial fuss has abated?
thoughts/comments anyone?
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Not going to be a big seller in UK,people are frightened of the Rotary engine and 'Fat Bloke'and other equally unimformed people will trot out the same old myths.I'm sure it will be a great car.
Mazda UK stopped importing the RX7 quite some time ago,production only recently stopped in Japan where it was still very popular.
There are some great new models out in Japan at the moment including the rather swish Nissan 350Z which i'm not sure if Nissan UK will import.(Leaves room for us importers)
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I'm responding to Martin Wall's posting. Back in 1992 (seems so long ago) I was involved in the launch of the Mazda Xedos 6 and RX7 Twin Turbo. ("Le Mans '91. Le Mazda '92" and that sort of stuff.) I found myself on a bus in Nice talking to the then boss of MCL and he told me what the UK price of the RX7 was going to be: £33,500, I kid you not. I told him that was bananas. He reckoned he had no choice. Anyway, it didn't work and within a couple of years MCL had to cut the price to £25k just to get old stocks shifted. Now, 11 years later, Mazda is launching what might be an even more expensive car to make at £19,995 or £21,995 for the full house version. Okay, they've cut out the middleman (MCL). But this is still seriously cheap. So ask yourself who controls Mazda? The answer is Ford. By a quirk of Japanese law, an investor only has to own 34% of the shares in a company to assume full control. And who is Ford's enemy number 1 in Europe? And where does Ford's enemy number 1 make its biggest profits? That's right. So promise a car which undercuts the Audi TT by at least £6k and you really worry VAG, even if you never intend to dupply the market with all the cars it would take at your amazingly low price.
HJ
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So if you fancy (and are lucky enough to be able to afford!) an RX8 then get your name down asap as they won't be importing that many and there will not be any discounts - yes?
Interesting to see what speculators will do wrt the RX8...
As nice as it looks I think agreeing to buy a car that you haven't even sat in let alone driven is mad!
HJ is right about the price though - well used RX7s aren't that much cheaper than a brand new RX8!
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