DirtyDaily Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 I think it's best to keep you guys up to date with the RX8 as I feel this is the kind of totally unreasonable car to own but something you'd love to experience. Well buckle up as we are about to embark on a great adventure. Incase you've been under a rock this car was bought by a fellow shiter[mention=27783]Jamie[/mention] who owned it for all of 5 minutes before deciding to roffle. I was very keen and was tempted to buy outright however I respected the roffle and took a punt on 2 tickets. Predictably I lost and our good friend[mention=4295]aldo135[/mention] was the lucky winner. Aldo then owned it for 10 minutes before chucking back up for grabs on here for a measly £800. At this point I felt I had to take the punt as rotary engines are always going to be a risk and it sounded as though it was in reasonable enough condition for me to take the chance on it for very little cash. I met aldo in Edinburgh where he threw the keys at me from about 20 yards away as he ran to the train station to buy another shiters car. Literally didn't even wait until I had paid him. I like the trust we all have for each other it's a very nice change from car purchasing outside of autoshite. What I have learnt in the day and a half of ownership:Rust is creeping in at the rear of the sills which will need addressing sooner rather than later or the scrap man will be collecting The steering is rather annoying as you are really fighting it when turning right. I've done some googling and it looks like some have said to clean up some connections. I hope that sorts it.The exhaust blow is causing the eml to be illuminated and also making a horrendous racket. I'll see what that takes to fix when I get under the car. I'll also see if there is any other rust creeping in.The engine I think is as solid as a 70k rotary could be! Whilst driving there seems to be good compression (engine braking) and good throttle response with easy starting from hot. Also revs smoothly up to the redline even with the eml on. I think once that's fixed it'll unlock even more power.Aircon doesn't work and it was a hot day. Interior is a nice place to be. Feels a little skittish over bumps. I'll check for play in the rear end but no knocks so possibly a tracking issue.I will be addressing all of these things over the coming weeks I think in order of importance:Steering (really unpleasant at the moment)Exhaust leakRust I may also have to find a friendly MOT tester due to the decat should it have not blown up by that point. 50/50. Once I've addressed all of those points I think a track day is in order where I will no doubt kill it! privatewire, Bren, eddyramrod and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Never actually looked at the history til alan picked it up but it looks to have been looked after in the past Loooikf foewaed to the updated I am a bit pissed CreepingJesus, crad, aldo135 and 1 other 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 Picture of it next to the 240 hoping it rubs off some of its reliability on the rx8 as the 240 has plenty to go around!Sent from my SM-A715F using TapatalkJust to add as well. The RX8 has really good "look back" factor for me anyway. Always a good/bad sign. Good that you like it. Bad could get dangerous on the wallet. aldo135, privatewire, juular and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldo135 Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Sounds like it’s with the right owner good luck with it mate! DirtyDaily 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldo135 Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 Loving the 240 as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 Just testing if this picture quality is betterMuch better! juular, Tickman, Isopon and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agila Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 After a couple of one night stands it now looks like it's found "the one". Or the correct custodian for now at least. I definitely fancied it myself and got a random, not mad enough to spend actual money obviously. The first thing I would of done is take it to rotary revs in batley for a compression test. Congratulations on the shrewd* financial investment. (Might be wise to check where your local food bank is 😉). There appears to be a real following with these and lots of forum support for the issues. Hopefully they are "cheap and easy fixes" and you can find the time. But joking aside £800 ain't bad for some cheap fun. If it's this or a weekend in Benidorm I know what I'd pick. Jamie and DirtyDaily 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted May 30, 2021 Author Share Posted May 30, 2021 After a couple of one night stands it now looks like it's found "the one". Or the correct custodian for now at least. I definitely fancied it myself and got a random, not mad enough to spend actual money obviously. The first thing I would of done is take it to rotary revs in batley for a compression test. Congratulations on the shrewd* financial investment. (Might be wise to check where your local food bank is ). There appears to be a real following with these and lots of forum support for the issues. Hopefully they are "cheap and easy fixes" and you can find the time. But joking aside £800 ain't bad for some cheap fun. If it's this or a weekend in Benidorm I know what I'd pick. It had a compression test in 2018 along with some uprated coil packs. I am therefore working on the assumption it's fine. If its not then well sorry rx8. Unless I rebuild it myself... Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk Agila 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted May 30, 2021 Share Posted May 30, 2021 1 hour ago, DirtyDaily said: .... I met aldo in Edinburgh where he threw the keys at me from about 20 yards away as he ran to the train station to buy another shiters car. Literally didn't even wait until I had paid him.... That is the entire AS ethos, summarised. wesacosa, 1duck, juular and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 I don't like to hang around. Some very nice rotary revs coil packs. The fact it's gone via their hands has to be a good thing. Those two connectors are power steering connectors which I have cleaned and reset the power steering. I don't think it's cured but I think it's improved! Also found a K&N air filter which I have cleaned out a little bit but I didn't have the proper kit so a quick brush and tapping it against my leg removed some visible dirt. The rust of the rear sill is bad. I will be addressing that sooner rather than later.I'll report back on how the steering feels after a run out to a car show today about 10 miles away. Peter C, mercedade, tooSavvy and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tooSavvy Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 For those 'hard to reach' bits n bobs.... privatewire 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted May 31, 2021 Author Share Posted May 31, 2021 Got offered to display it! At Capesthorn incase any shiters are here Wack, The Moog, 1duck and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low Horatio gearbox Posted May 31, 2021 Share Posted May 31, 2021 I was sorely tempted by this, fond memories of my white FB RX7 lingering. Looks to have been well cared for as you say, sort the rust and reap the benefits somone else paid for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 Quick update. Starting has become a little more difficult. Pretty typical. I've started putting in shell v power and I know it has carbon cleaning detergents in it so I'm wondering if there was some carbon that was helping compression and this has reduced it? Drivability seems unaffected as does the idle. It does still start but take 3 or 4 seconds of cranking and it fires into life.On the steering point has anyone got a forscan I can borrow to try and reset the torque sensor? If I can fix that then it's going on track. Been on rotary revs and looking at the engine rebuild packages too...I can't throw money in to it I just can't but I really want to.Platinum engine refresh with street port. Weld up the rear (quoted £400 for both sides) and that should give it a new lease of life. Talking 4k though. It'd be a pretty amazing drive after that though I think. The Moog, mercedade and aldo135 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercedade Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 Also, just the unusually hot weather might be playing a part. See how it does when the weather cools a little. DirtyDaily 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldo135 Posted June 2, 2021 Share Posted June 2, 2021 It was Sainsbury’s Super unleaded it got the two times I filled it up. Just got an email from WBAC but they are a wee bit late 😂 Although I’m sure someone told me you have to have owned the car for 6 months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted June 2, 2021 Author Share Posted June 2, 2021 I had a look underneath and it looks like it's had a new starter motor very recently. Another example of being well maintained however I feel it may be an example of struggling compression. Poor car. I think it needs to be rebuilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rover414 Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 If it's had a new starter motor it is probably one of the uprated ones to help it start, sometimes done often to help poor compression cars to start easier. I've had two of these, a 2004 192 which I had rebuilt and sold earlier this year to a work mate who always wanted one and a 2009 R3 231 which is a second generation model - these tend to be a little bit more reliable. It is coming up to 100k and hasn't had a rebuild so it is possible to get some good mileage out of them. Driving wise the most planted cars I have ever driven they just stick to the road in most conditions. I really get on with mine, other than the 17-20mpg - as a daily driver that does hurt but ah well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyDaily Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 Minor update:I've fixed the blow in the exhaust which is quite nice. Was coming out of the join from the manifold to the mid pipe so easy fix.Steering I am still no closer. I jacked the car up and the steering was no different with the engine off going left to right. I need to download forscan on my laptop and properly try to reset the torque sensor.Hot startups are becoming more tricky. To be honest even cold start ups are becoming trickier but car doesn't feel all that down on power. Quick check on the 0 to 60 showed a mid to low 7 seconds with a very poor launch. Very slight hesitation in power at about 7.5k rpm but nothing drastic. Slightly odd but I've reset the engine codes so wondering if that's "upset" the fuel trims or anything like that and it needs to readjust? I'll run it more and see what's what. Maybe I put too much 2 stroke in but it's not smoking. Deep concern for the compression. I can imagine RX8 owners who have invested a considerable sum into their cars have this compression anxiety x 1000!I started car warm post writing this post and it seemed to start fine? Weird cars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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