2004 Mazda RX-8

We bought a 2004 base model because we love the rotary engine. We thought it would be a cool edition to our family. As a soon to be Mom, I was concerned about my husband wanting a sports car. They're usually 2 doors and not the safest of vehicles. He showed me the Mazda RX-8 and the safety ratings. I was blown away. Then I saw it in person. The suicide back door is perfect for parents. You can fit a front facing car seat in it with no trouble. Because of the split door set up, there's no more back breaking to get the kids in and out.

But it's not just about being family friendly. This car is awesome to drive. We added a couple of aftermarket parts (intake and exhaust) which made it a bit more fun, but honestly you don't need all of the extras. The base model is incredible. The handling is the best I've driven. It blows away the Porsche Boxter S, Celica and other similar cars.

It's certainly the best car we've ever owned. There are only two things I'm not too much of a fan of:

1. It eats oil (well, it is a rotary engine). If your oil light comes on, pull over and get some oil in it quick.

2. The gas mileage isn't the greatest. We got 18/23 most of the time. After we added the new intake and exhaust that went up a few MPG, but not a whole lot. Still, that's no worse than any other sports car.

One interesting point - The Mazda RX-8 is not treated like a sports car by your insurance company! Because of all of the safety features (and most don't understand the power behind the rotary engine) it was a lot less to insure than other cars we looked at. It's cheaper than my 2003 Toyota Matrix!

Would I buy this again? Yes, in a heart beat.

Wow, this car drives! It is a one owner car and just a pleasure to drive. It is like glued to the road and the Rotary engine sounds awesome. What a feeling with a 9000 rpm redline. I have driven many sport cars and I am seriously impressed with the RX8. I got this car with a brand new engine (0 miles)at 129k miles, brand new tires and like new interior and all from a big Mazda dealer giving me 12 month or 12k miles warrante on the engine. This is one of the nicest options of a sports car with back seat that can be used. Nice!!

I purchase this vehicle for my wife. It is a very peppy sport car.
She has been driving a family type car for years and this is definitely an
image change for her. She loves the car very much. It handles well and
the craftmanship of this car is superb for the money we spent. Since then we
have been involved in customizing the car and there are lots of suppliers
that support this car. I definitely recommend any car enthusiast to look into
mazda rx-8

The mazda RX-8 is the unsong hero of sports cars. Very reliable, stylish, well built, good acceleration, handling and the list goes on and on. The most impressive aspect about the car is it is cost affordable. Very good bargain for anyone looking for something that is sporty & affordable.

I pre-ordered my car in 2003 and kept it until just after the warranty expired with not even 40k miles on the odometer. It was a wonderful car, delightfully tactile and gorgeous from some angles (not the fat side view). Also a great value price and high quality interior and loaded with features. Did need some torque and to ditch the rear seats IMO.

What disappointed me was the horrible resale value after that time, and that it began to have some problems with what else but the rotary engine. Mazda still doesn't have this thing figured out, and there have been numerous engines just replaced by mazda, instead of repaired. That, to me, is a RED flag because after the same mileage they will just have the same problems since no one knows why. I think that is why the resale values were so low, if they had been more reliable like hondas, owners could have enjoyed them more instead of being in the shop for repairs. I must say though, that I didn't have many problems at all during my ownership and I was impressed at the time. Do a search on RX8club.com if you want to see what other owners are experiencing with the engine flooding issue, it will help you make a more informed decision. Also, Mazda turned it's back on RX-8 owners telling their dealerships that we had too many complaints and basically that we were "pesky". Not the treatment you expect when buying their flagship vehicle for almost $40k. Buyer beware.

UNBELIEVABLE HANDLING ! Great fit and trim, excellent ammenities, a little more power would be nice. Maybe a turbo or supercharger ! I LOVE THIS CAR!

I bought this car used a little over a month ago and I love it.

While it's not as blazing fast as the last-generation RX-7, it's got plenty of power on tap. At the same time, it's not clunky in traffic or around town. It handles well through the curves and has rock solid stability whether you're going 60, 80 or 110 mph.

After picking it up in Florida, I drove it 900 miles home and it's almost as comfortable as my CR-V. I wouldn't want to drive from New York to LA in it, but on the hilly, back-country roads where I live, it's a blast to drive.

If you're nitpicking, here are some things to gripe about:

*The AC is a little underpowered.

*Rear and ¾ visibility is poor.

*Headroom is tight (and I'm 5'5"!)

*The fuel economy is truck-like (18 mpg city/22 mpg highway).

*Trunk space? Fuhgittaboutit!

*Kids will be fine in the back seats, but full-size adults will be cramped.

With that out of the way, you don't buy a car like this to haul a lot of people around or get great gas mileage. The RX-8 is built to be driven. You strap in, open the sunroof, roll down the windows and tell anyone with you to sit down, shut up and hang on!

My car is Velocity Red with the aero package and it turns heads just about everywhere I go. People either rave about the styling or they're just "meh", but I happen to love every curve.

The highlight of the car is the Wankel engine, and oh what a motor it is! Displacing only 1.3 litres, it puts out something like 240 horsepower, most of which is available in the 3-6,000 rpm range. The engine is built to spin up to 5 or 6,000 rpm and the six-speed gearbox's short throws love to shift up and down.

There's a little bit of road noise, but it's not excessive or harsh. Don't expect it to be Lexus-quiet, but nor it is Jeep Wrangler-loud either.

This is a good car to buy used. The build-quality seems to be good (ask me again in a year) and is free of rattles, shakes and wobbles. The previous owner of my car took good care of it, inside and out and it only had 33,000 miles, despite being 4 years old.

The RX-8 has a lot of standard safety features such as ABS, traction control, airbags in front and on the sides and LATCH seat anchors to hold your child seat. Plus, as other people have mentioned, being a "4 door" means that you will get a lower insurance rate than something like a 350Z or S2000.

The controls are intuitive, easy to reach and simple. There are two cupholders in front and two in back. The two 12 volt accessory sockets in the cabin make it simple to hook up your GPS, your iPod or charge your cell phone. The cruise control holds it speed no matter if your going uphill, downhill or cruising along on level ground.

I'd buy this car again in a heartbeat.

I love my RX8, it handles curves in the road just wonderfully. I really like the body design & lines. I have found it to be a real treat to drive. After my wife drove it for the frist time she said Oh My God, I could really get in trouble in this car Zoom Zoom & we're gone! The only negative thing that I can say is that the head room on the drivers side is a bit restricted when entering the car, but after getting in its very comfortable. I drive semi trucks for a living & the run that I'm on is 565 miles each way which I do three time a week, & every trip I find myself really looking forward to getting in my RX8 & driving further down the road, & that has NEVER happened with any other car, I think that says more than anything else that I could add to this review. If having heads turn & giving the thumbs up sign counts I get that ALL the time.

Extremely attactive vehicle. Runs well but had some minor mechanical issues. The first was the Check Engine light which came on after one day of driving. The second was the body components such as trim peeling. Overall the vehicle is in excellant condition and will hold its value. I believe that the price I paid was correct for this vehicle. My favorite feature of this car is the way the engine turns on, it purrs like a jet engine. The ride is similar to that of a Corvette and the rotory engine is unique and functions well.

Was one of the first to get an RX8 in Aug/Sept of 2003! Man that was quite an experience I would like to repeat again! No one knew what I was driving. At least 50 times, people would ask how many cylinders it had!

All in all, I have had minimal problems after 46K miles. If you keep it under 4K on the tach, you will get around 22 or 23 miles a gallon. However, that is not much fun and hard to do! Once you run it about 4K, it opens up more fuel into the engine and you end up with about 18 to 20 mpg. I use 87 octane and it runs great. About every 3 or 4th tank I will put 93 in.

The car, for being right at $30K originally, can corner with $60 to $80K sports cars. It really drives on rails. The car easily can double or triple the off ramp speed on a freeway exit. Its quite confident in sticking and corrects easily.

The interior (red with black) is a lot of fun and has held up VERY well. The car has been stored for over 22 months with no issues while I have been deployed.

Driving in snow isnt a good thing without winter tires on. Once you remove the speed rated tires and put on new rims and turn off the computer steering systems, it will function even in Penn State winter weather.

Now that I am finally off the warranty, I will be putting in a K&N Intake System, Paint the rotors, and maybe think about an exhaust.

I hope that a three stage Mazda rotary with a turbo is in the not too distant future. Whether its a RX7 or RX8.