[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Rotary Engine conked out! (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 8/22/2011 8:58:20 AM EDT
Mazda discontinues RX-8 production citing lack of sales. Sold less than 2k last year.
Automotive News is reporting that Mazda has stopped production of its RX-8 sports car due to lackluster sales and ever tighter global emissions standards. Mazda managed to move a mere 1,134 of the models last year, and 2011 hasn't treated the rotary any better. Sales are down 21 percent through July. The Japanese automaker was forced to remove the model from European showrooms last year after it failed to meet emissions standards, and the company says that it simply can't justify continuing to manufacture the vehicle without sales in the old country. |
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i think they're snazzy looking little cars, and the rotary engine is interesting.. but just that - interesting. I'm too afraid of outrageous maintenance and repair prices to own one.
Here's an article link: |
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Obviously they don't sell to well, so the smog impact is minimal. .gov's need to stay out of the marketplace telling ppl what they can and can't buy.
Rotarys are a blast to drive, I think the thing that is killing it is the fact that they don't have a bigger body to be able to move into a different/non sport car market. |
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Bad power to fuel ratio. It's a Miata that traded fuel economy for a little extra horsepower. Not a bad thing, just tough to stomach with today's gas prices. There are better alternatives if you really wanted the extra horsepower. There is more to the Rotary than the extra power. It's a very smooth engine and you have to see it to believe how high it can rev. That is why I say people don't know how to drive them. "Life starts at 5000rpms" is the motto of Rotary owners |
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Bad power to fuel ratio. It's a Miata that traded fuel economy for a little extra horsepower. Not a bad thing, just tough to stomach with today's gas prices. There are better alternatives if you really wanted the extra horsepower. There is more to the Rotary than the extra power. It's a very smooth engine and you have to see it to believe how high it can rev. That is why I say people don't know how to drive them. "Life starts at 5000rpms" is the motto of Rotary owners Take away the four doors, and the back seat. Put it in an actual Miata chassis (stiffened up) with removable top, and it would still sell. |
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Bad power to fuel ratio. It's a Miata that traded fuel economy for a little extra horsepower. Not a bad thing, just tough to stomach with today's gas prices. There are better alternatives if you really wanted the extra horsepower. There is more to the Rotary than the extra power. It's a very smooth engine and you have to see it to believe how high it can rev. That is why I say people don't know how to drive them. "Life starts at 5000rpms" is the motto of Rotary owners Take away the four doors, and the back seat. Put it in an actual (stiffened up) Miata chassis with removable top, and it would still sell. If I wanted a miata I'd have bought one. Not to mention I'm 6'1" and don't fit in the damn miata's. |
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I kinda dig the way the rx8's look and handle but rotary's are notoriously guttless. revving the hell out of them can be fun but sometimes you want some tq in your diet.
they should have kept it turbocharged like the old wankel on the rx7 but addressed the apex seal issue so they'd be more reliable. then it'd be a VERY fun car. |
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Bad power to fuel ratio. It's a Miata that traded fuel economy for a little extra horsepower. Not a bad thing, just tough to stomach with today's gas prices. There are better alternatives if you really wanted the extra horsepower. There is more to the Rotary than the extra power. It's a very smooth engine and you have to see it to believe how high it can rev. That is why I say people don't know how to drive them. "Life starts at 5000rpms" is the motto of Rotary owners RX8club.com? 
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Bad power to fuel ratio. It's a Miata that traded fuel economy for a little extra horsepower. Not a bad thing, just tough to stomach with today's gas prices. There are better alternatives if you really wanted the extra horsepower. "Life starts at 5000rpms" is the motto of Rotary owners Usually the advantage of small high revving engines is it will be easy on gas at lower RPM's around town but put out good power at high rpm's when you need it. The RX8 seems to get crappy gas mileage even around town so I fail to see what the rotary engine brings to the table other then weight of the actual engine. I bet an LS1 in that thing would get similar mileage around town as the rotary engine would. |
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RX-7 Full of win. RX-8 Full of fail. Gen 3 RX-7, now that was a car for the time. It's a car for any time imo. Timeless Jap sports car. <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/rx7r.jpg/" target="_blank">http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7559/rx7r.jpg</a> i tend to agree...they're damn sexy the one in the picture is a little overdone for my tastes though. |
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RX-7 Full of win. RX-8 Full of fail. Gen 3 RX-7, now that was a car for the time. It's a car for any time imo. Timeless Jap sports car. <a href="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/rx7r.jpg/" target="_blank">http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7559/rx7r.jpg</a> Minus the wing, that looks pretty good, tbh. |
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LOL Apex Seals I, too, think they should have stopped with the 3rd-generation RX-7. That was a terrific little car. My lawyer bought a new RX-8 in '05. I went with her to pick it up, and drove it home from St. Louis with her. I drove it back to St. Louis last yer when she unloaded it and got an A5. The RX-8 was always gutless, to me.
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RX-7 Full of win. RX-8 Full of fail. Agreed. The RX-7 was a thing of both mechanical and aesthetic beauty. double agreed. My brother owned an RX-8 and it had its engine replaced under warranty...twice. He sold it when the third engine began to exhibit the same problems the original had. Car had ~35k miles on it. Third engine had ~2k miles on it. First dealership offered him 10k trade-in value on it due to the poor reputation and shit engine. IIRC he ended up getting 14 or 15k trade-in on it and he bought a truck. |
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i think they're snazzy looking little cars, and the rotary engine is interesting.. but just that - interesting. I'm too afraid of outrageous maintenance and repair prices to own one. Here's an article link: I feel the exact same way. Maybe if I had a hangar full of 87 cars, an RX-8 might be in there. I'd rather have a Saturn Sky Redline or Porsche Boxster. |
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http://i473.photobucket.com/albums/rr98/ProjectFocusFast/RX7%20pics/090509-3.jpg See username. Been in a couple RX-8's, they're decent. They just don't have the soul of the RX-7. I always wondered why they didn't offer a rotary Miata/MX-5. To me, that was an obvious thing to offer. Sweet! My grandmother had a couple of 1st & 2nd Gen RX7s. Fun little cars. The 3rd Gen was a beast. I had high hopes when the the RX8 was coming out, but it failed to deliver, especially when compared to the last of the RX7s... |
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Bad power to fuel ratio. It's a Miata that traded fuel economy for a little extra horsepower. Not a bad thing, just tough to stomach with today's gas prices. There are better alternatives if you really wanted the extra horsepower. There is more to the Rotary than the extra power. It's a very smooth engine and you have to see it to believe how high it can rev. That is why I say people don't know how to drive them. "Life starts at 5000rpms" is the motto of Rotary owners That's part of the problem though - it sucks the fuel like mad at those high RPMs. |