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HMC- AUTOSHITE 2.0


HMC

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Well I went, I saw, and I BOUGHT

 

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It's as straight and tidy as it looks; almost mint which is an unknown world for me. Full history etc etc. Drives like only a rotary can. It's at this point I have to admit to knowing virtually nothing about these engines. Hot start problem = not good. However it's so straight and tidy and unrotten it's like a mobile spares bank in waiting for somebody should Dr felix Wankel's engine blow up.

 

I figured I'd just live with it like this and strategically plan journeys (5 min delay when hot= won't go, leave it 15 and it's fine) worry about other stuff like a recon engine some other day (or let a future buyer decide that one) In the meanwhile it looks great and sounds amazing. Hopefully this brief fling with something high maintenance will be fun*.

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Before you reach any conclusions at all about the engine, change the plugs. These are probably quite expensive but Wankel engine plugs are pretty special. They spark twice as often as a plug in the equivalent four cylinder fourstroke and most significantly they never get the suck squeeze blow time to cool down, it is just bang bang bang. Poor plug!

 

I'd change the oil too, just to make sure it had the reccomended stuff in there. Wankel engine oil stays clean because the oil that lubricates the combustion seals is always burnt rather than returned to the sump.

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I loved driving my RX8 but hated the 16-22mpg (22mpg was a 60mph motorway run) and the depreciation (lost £3k in a year). Admittedly I got mine when it was only a few years old, so not sure how well they go after time and owners has taken their toll on them.

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I looked at one of these earlier in the year but got outbid as I was trying to snag one at no brainer money. My mate has one and it sounds awesome, hes had no major issues with his at all.

 

Is yours the 231 full fat version?

No this is the 192bhp because it doesn't have the headlight washers for the HID lights. They only came on the 231bhp.

[/geeky]

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Barg. Were these designed by Mazda UK? I can just imagine the conversation in the pub.

“Roight then lads, we’ve been asked to build a big brother to the MX5, but it’s got to break the mould. Forget reliability, conventionality and longevity, and let’s build the RX8.”

 

Piss-taking aside, I still think they look good, despite their relative age.

Would.

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Failing coil packs can (and do) kill the engines.  Annoyingly there's no feedback to the ECU so this doesn't often trigger the check engine light.  It causes a missfire and results in fuel washing the oil film on the inside of the combustion chamber = wrecked rotor seals in short order.  Doesn't make a major difference to the engine behaviour at the time though.

 

...why they didn't put feedback in there to provide warning to the driver this was happening I've no idea.  I honestly didn't believe it was true the first time I heard someone mention it.

 

As such I believe coil packs are considered items that need to be replaced every X years or after y miles.

 

I looked at one of these a couple of years ago when they started to appear for silly money - then looked at the vehicle tax band!  Stopped looking then.

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RX8 FTP! Actually this was a planned one. To get it up to temperature I went for a moorland spin and parked it up in a convenient if it FTPs place to try a hot start. Tried a hot start and it didn't want to know. Left it 15 and it didn't want to know. I receipts show fairly recent coil packs for ££££ and some other stuff for £££ but no note of a plug swap. The recommended iridium plugs are about £80 for a set of 4. Worth a punt maybe?

 

After pondering this I gave up for the evening and took a dash at night pic...

 

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