Rx-7/8 Alternatives

I'm trying to decide which car to go for, I've fallen in love with the look of the RX-8 and also RX-7 to a very slightly smaller degree, saving for and buying one isn't out of my budget but from what I can tell maintaining them will be. My question is what alternatives are there with a similar style design but lower cost to maintain, ideally that can be bought at AUD-$7500-$15000? Power/speed isn't a priority for me, if I had to name something I did care about it would be handling.

Don't know about Australia, but RX-8s are pretty cheap here. As long as you get one that has been properly cared for, and you continue to properly care for it, the cost to maintain isn't any higher than average.

I've had my RX-8 for a few years, and the only thing different from the maintenance I did on my Civic is that I change the oil a bit more often.

I´d say the GT-86 is a similar concept, but a different style.

>if I had to name something I did care about it would be handling.
mr2 series.
Accept. no. substitute.
unless you can find an elise which is very likely in that price range.

miata

with

a

renesis

swap

How does it compare regarding performance and on-going cost to the RX-8?

Any advice on finding one that has been looked after?

It has a 2.0L NA boxer with about 200hp and roughly the same weight, so its performance should be similar.
I don´t know about the exact costs, but the engine should be more efficient and relieable.

better chassis, 200bhp but comes on space savers from factory.
Swap to real wheels and you'll have grip for days

>200bhp but comes on space savers from factory

what sure what you mean by comes on space savers desu, what do you mean?

A compression test is the best way. If the seller is willing to throw one in, it means he knows his shit and probably took good care of it.

Otherwise, you have to pay for the test yourself. If the owner has given it regular oil changes, has consistently waited for the car to heat up before driving it, and has made sure to redline the car at least once per drive; then it's probably worth getting a compression test done.

>pay for the test yourself

Uhh, why not just do it yourself?

Swapping to grippy tires on a 86 ruins the point of the car tho. It was made to be a cheap road legal drifting car.

He meAns they come with thin, cheap tyres with adequate grip for a Yaris, but not a sports car

it comes on prius wheels so you can drift it within speed limits.
Swap for decent wheels and you get a grip monster.
Even on prius wheels this car does like 8:13 on burgerking.

Ahh right, thanks for clarifying

Do you happen to have a rotary engine compression tester lying around?

If so, it's easy to do the test yourself.

After taking a quick look it seems like to buy an 86 it would cost me about twice as much as an RX-8, cheapest being about 19k.

>rotary engine compression tester

Troll or retard?

if handling is your concern
MR2 is a god tier lineup considering they cost peanuts and have engine in the middle and are cool because they're dangerous as fuck.
Miata is great too because of its never ending aftermarket and popularity (here in north/east europe mr2 is more popular tho).
miats and mr2s here are both rare enough that you can have owners of both fit snugly a small bus.

A standard piston engine compression tester will work too, it'll just be a tad more work.

Have you ever encountered various parts breaking/failing? My older brother used to have an RX-8 but he ran into trouble with it all the time. Namely the ignition coils failing, the level sensor in the coolant reservoir sticking so you'd get a constant low coolant alarm and his air con radiator getting a leak off the top of my head.

I wouldn't say it's a concern but more something I'm a fan of, what makes the MR2 so dangerous?

It's less forgiving than most FR cars, which most people don't realize at first. They try to push it to its limits, expect it to behave like an FR car, and end up backwards if they're lucky, or in a tree if they aren't.

I haven't. My maintenance has all been normal shit, like replacing air filters and flushing various fluids.

The the ignition coils are a common issue to keep an eye out for though.

The early (04/05) models are the main ones to worry about.

it punishes you for being a pussy or not being able to manage weight shifting.
It gives no warning when its about to turn itself around.

Basically take it to a big empty carpark or racetrack, learn how its limits work and you will be golden after that.
There are many people who total mr2's and go out and buy a new one immedieately.

It's a drift car you mouth breather

No it isn't

Rotard/Nissan scum/old American car shill (my interests are diversified) here

Maintaining an RX-7 can get expensive quick, and now even more so since the body and suspension parts are aging out (that and Mazda/Ford's notorious bizarre suspension failures [how do springs break before a shock wears out?]). That being said the Mazda chassis is far from unreliable, the dorito powering it however...
Which gets us to the RX-8. The cool ranch flavor makes it last about as long as a Subaru flat engine before needing a rebuild (or headgaskets in Subaru's case). That word |REBUILD| on a rotary is not as bad as the same word on a piston engine. Think about apex seals like headgaskets, on a RX-7 without anal care you get about 60-80k miles on a set of seals unless you're going full retard where the number drops to about 30k (don't go full retard). On a RX-8 that number goes up to 150-180k miles, in normal piston terms that'd be like doing headgaskets at 150-180k miles, which doesn't sound that bad does it? Mazda fixed a lot of reliability issues with the wankels after the FD, they didn't fix fuel economy issues, but that's neither here nor there.
So if you buy a RX-8 you can put the normal amount of money on maintenance and still get a decently long life out of the car.

Similar style:
300ZX (Z32)
S2000
Thunderbird(did AusFord sell these?)
Corvette

Similar styled cars (for cheap):
Probe(did AusFord sell these?)/323
Miata
Celica

Similar handling:
Miata

Mazda made a good chassis here, there isn't much that's comparable in the handling department outside of other Mazdas (there are cars that handle better/comparably, just not in the same way).

Due to the low torque of the rx-8, but the fact that it does come with an LSD (which I've heard should be replaced), what else can I do to help it go sideways? It's a very fun car to throw around, and I'm actually looking at several of them now, but I'd like to drift it. I think it'd be a fantastic platform.

>better chassis
lmao in your dreams

>what else can I do to help it go sideways
drive it like any other car?

Don't listen to this guy, the renesis is literally the laziest rotary Mazda designed. If you're gonna go through all the time and work involved in swapping that motor you'd best swap in a 13b rew or a v6/v8

You are an absolute retard.
About 90% of what you said is wrong

Which model Celicas are notable if any are?

gt-four any other sucks and is wrong wheel drive famalamborghini

What makes it the only good one?

Also how does a Celica compare to an MR2?

My 05 has 106,000 miles on it and runs perfect, don't believe the memes.

As long as you change the oil every 3k and red line it occasionally to open the secondary ports so they don't carbon lock it'll be fine.

which 90%?

GT-Four and All-Trac celicas are awd turbo.

All-trac is the us market gt-four, though we only got the st-185 model

In what condition did you get yours and how much did you pay for it?

celica is an FF shitbox.
MR2 is a midship touge monster.
Celica GT4 is tarbo awd so its more like wrx and lan evo except insanely cheap.

Bought it for 3k from the original owners, (friends parents) with just under 80k miles.

Came with a huge folder of all the dealer maintenance history, oil changes, coolant/tranny flushes, tuneups etc.

So it was really well taken care of.

Really easy. The rx-7 will have collector value, probably depreciated as much as it'll go. 8 is regarded as ugly and less desired to the masses. If you love the 8 that is a good thing because you can get one cheaper.

>As long as you change the oil every 3k and red line it occasionally to open the secondary ports so
Isn't premixing necessary for long life as well?

Not really. That's just another oil delivery method.

Only on 1.gen Renesis engines with only one oil injector/rotor since they suffer from oil starvation on the meme seal.

but he cares about handling, so it'd make sense.