[LEECE]

Dont think you can compare the two cars totally different cars altogether

[kenny78]

Not my cup of tea & I bet most who bought them now wish they'd waited for the Nissan 350Z. I mentioned this to taxi driver the other night whilst he was driving me home. He was going on about how good it was & how he was glad he'd sold his MCS he almost bite my head off. I thought raw nerve I think & shut up.

[Pepper'D]

think the five door mini is get the samee rear doors as the rx8 so wait for one of those if you want the best of both worlds

[RallyMINI]

The rotary engine has several advantages over the traditional piston powered engine. First is its size. The two-rotor wankle in the RX-8 actually has 6 combustion chambers (one on each face of the triangular rotor). Thus, if you compare a two rotor wankle against a small V-6 you can obviously see how much smaller it is. Since its so much smaller, it can be placed further towards the center of the car, reducing its polar moment of interia, and lower within the car, lowering the center of gravity.

Additionally, a rotary engine has less moving parts, so its easier to run (generally speaking of course, the RENESIS engine is practically a clock in its complexity).

Also, you don't need to "thrash" a rotary to make it rev... Because the internal parts are spinning as opposed to reciperocating, its not really working that much harder at high RPM's than it is at lower RPM's. The only weak link in the chain might be the clutch, but hopefully that has been addressed by the engineers.

It floods because a rotary requires a lot of fuel to start (because each chamber is longer and crescent-moon shaped), and because a rotary runs much cooler than a modern piston engine. Incidentally, this last fact makes the rotary a GREAT hydrogen powered car, it only requires minor modifications to run H2.

In general, the RENESIS engine is quite a piece of work, and with some more tuning and refinement, it should last a lot longer than the old RX-7 engine, because its naturally aspirated, and runs more advanced electronics.

Hope this helped.

ciao
RMout.

Quote: Originally Posted by Cold Side

Can anyone tell me what is so good about the rotary engine? It has no torque low down, it needs thrashing hard to get the power out of it and you might not thrash it that hard becasue when you do it sounds like it is about to break. And it probably is as well, people have had serious problems with the engine. So why is it a plus for the car??

[Drakken]

I had my MINI for almost 2 years and traded it for an RX-8. Totally different cars that do things different. Both are very fun. My MINI was a Cooper with everything but NAV. I've also driven the S a few times too.

Speed ,which is not what the MINI is about, is not in the same league as the RX-8. I had my RX8 at Atco Dragway and ran a 14.8 with a crappy 2.3 60'. For $500 there is a dyno tested ECU mod that adds 25whp. Sure you have to rev that car to get the power but that's where all the fun is.

Handling of the RX-8 is much different that the MINI. The MINI is crazy in tight decreasing radius turns and is just has much fun as kart racing. The RX-8 handles very nicely especially at higher speeds. It is precise and smooth but harder to fling around in the really tight stuff.

Style? Well, that is comparing apple and oranges. The Cooper is an awesome looking car with classic styling and charisma. The RX-8 is agressive and sporty with a more modern look. Neither is better since it's it's up to what you like.

Faults - no winner there. The RX-8 has has some problems but Mazda has remedied them quickly. A friend of mine bought the S I ordered and just settled the Lemon Law on it. My Cooper had a new tranny put in after only 20K miles. Both have recalls. At least for me the Mazda dealer is 15 minutes away and not an 1.5 hours. Also, the Mazda dealer has over 100 loaner cars. My MINI dealer has 3.

Driving experience - Again very different. I always enjoyed driving the Cooper and it always made me smile. The RX-8 does the same thing but for different reasons. Driving position, shifter, wheel placement - all different but works great in both cars.

Basically you drive both and pick whats best for you. In a perfect world I'd still have my MINI and it would be parked next to my Gallardo, parked next to my......

BTW, when I see a MINI on the road I still give the driver a thumbs up. After all we are all enthusiasts enjoying our special machines.

Keith
aka Drakken

[LMB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spy Car

My first car was a RX-4 rotary-engined sedan. Ugly but fast

Now the RX-8...I dunno.

They say the MINI is a "small" car...but I'm a big tall guy but I feel quite comfortable.

Tried to sit in a RX-8...no way I could get my 6'1" frame inside. Might be a fun car if you can fit

It's very narrow.

[ChrisBray]

I'm 6' 3" and managed to fit in an RX8 with a 5' 8" mate behind me. The other 2 seats had 6 footers in so practicacality wise, very impressive, if thats what you are after. I found I had more headroom when sat in the back than in the front passenger seat which was a bit strange.

Very unusual engine. No torque at low revs which made it quite easy to pootle round town. Put your foot down though and the rev limit 'gong' comes in before you know it. If your giong at pace, you could probably see the fuel gauge moving to empty.
My manager is buying one and has been told to check the oil every 2 petrol fill-ups as they go through it rapidly.

Lastly, wheels looked sexy as hell.

[Drakken]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChrisBray

I'm 6' 3" and managed to fit in an RX8
Lastly, wheels looked sexy as hell.

I'm 6'2" 250 lbs and I fit great. However, the roof is lower than the MINI and with a sunroof my head hits. I skipped the sunroof in the RX8 for that reason and coming from the double sunroof of the MINI the RX-8 roof seemed like a waste.

[markjenn]

I think the discussions of the RX-8's "engine problems" are mostly bogus. The rotary engine has matched piston engine reliability and durability since the 2nd generation in about 1981. Yes, the turbo versions had more problems, but you could say the same about the 300ZX and other turbo cars.

Bottom line: I'd match the RX-8's reliabilty up to the Mnii's any day.

The RX-8 is a wonderful car - one of the few cars out there now which has payed attention to the weight gain that has afflicted most recent cars. The rear doors are clever and lend some practicality to a true sports car. It is a different ride than a Mini and I don't think very many would cross shop them, but if you want a great RWD sports car with the ability to occasionally carry an extra passenger or two, this is THE car to get.

- Mark

[myzamboni]

Test drove and RX-8 and then raced over to test drive an MCS (15 minutes later). The Mini experience could not be matched. I noticed myself smiling in the Mini. In the RX-8 I felt like I was sneaking around town sitting so low.

Never looked back, ordered an MCS. No regrets. End of story.

[stryder]

I know there's plenty of the normally aspirated rx-7's still running around (up in the north it seems rust is their worst enemy, ohh and electrical gremlins on 2nd gens) but that doesn't account for the fact that there are people with rx-8's who had their engines blow. The MINIs engine is a totally new piston engine, and one of them is supercharged, and no one has complained on here of engine failures that I've seen. (Besides people who went into deep water, that's not really Chrysler/MINIs fault).

I maintain in a few years if the popularity of the cars stays there, Mazda can fix the inital problems, and the engines will be reliable, but that's not the case at the moment, so I think buyers should be a bit wary.

[naparish]

Quote: Originally Posted by myzamboni

Test drove and RX-8 and then raced over to test drive an MCS (15 minutes later). The Mini experience could not be matched. I noticed myself smiling in the Mini. In the RX-8 I felt like I was sneaking around town sitting so low.

Never looked back, ordered an MCS. No regrets. End of story.

Similar experience for me, except it was more like a half-hour between test drives. The MINI was just more fun to drive -- plus there's the fact that the sunroof in the RX-8 is practically pointless.

[markjenn]

I'd like to see some documentation on all the blown RX8 engines. I perused several RX8 forums and did the usual Google searchs and could not find any reports of serious RX8 engine problems.

- Mark

[Drakken]

Quote: Originally Posted by markjenn

I'd like to see some documentation on all the blown RX8 engines. I perused several RX8 forums and did the usual Google searchs and could not find any reports of serious RX8 engine problems.

- Mark

The only "big" problem had been flooding which has been corrected with a new PCM flash. I haven't heard of anyone who has blown apex seals on their car.

Both the MINI and the RX8 have had their share of mechanical troubles.

[CooperS4us]

The RX-8 is substantianlly more expensive than a base trim cooper or Cooper S. The RX-8 is a RWD GT car and it is in a totally different class from the MINI. The RX-8 competes primarily with the Nissan 350Z. Between teh 2 I'll pick the RX-8 anyday of the week. A good friend of mine has a '03 350Z and never cared for the thing. However, the 350Z is brutally fast off the line, something the RX-8 is not...very low on torque for my liking on that class of car. The 350Z after a while gets boring, it is uncomfortable, rides extremely harsh and overall is a very nice but somewhat blah car. Is like Nissan forgot a key ingredient before releasing it.


But between the RX-8 and the MINI, I'll stick with the MINI anyday of the week. I have nevver been a "pure" sports car type of guy, so the agressive lines of the Mazda don't do much for me. The MINI is a way cooler car, has much, much better resale value and appeal than the Mazda RX-8 ever will.


These cars are good choices but very different from each other in price, market audience and overall performance expectations.

[HardTimes]

I'm 6' and had no problems fitting in the front or back of the RX-8. Taken one for 4 test drives now and once you know how to drive the thing it is AWESOME and torque is not a problem you just need to be revving right and staying in the proper gear.

One of the problems people have been having the sales man was saying is getting used to NOT changing gear. The thing revs to 9,500k and it explodes into a flying machine at around 5.

I stuck with a Suzuki GSXR 1000 from the lights. Needless to say he didn't expect it!

As many people have mentioned it's a completely different car from the Mini and although I've ordered an RX-8 and pick it up in August we still have a Mini in the family so I have the best of both worlds

Chris

[AmRov]

Nope, just not me. I considered the RX-8, briefly, until I actually saw one up close, and that was that. It's not bad looking, mind you. I just think it screams "single guy" -- and I am neither. Just my opinion; you did ask...

[HardTimes]

I guess I'm lucky then because the missus talked me into getting one!

Not that I needed much talking to

Chris

[kenny78]

If you stuck with a GSXR1000 of the line he wasn't just not expecting it he'd fell a sleep mate. Not as long as I've got a h0L3 in my a55 would it keep with a GXR1000 or even a late model 600 sports bike for that matter.

[agiduda]

Quote: Originally Posted by HardTimes

I stuck with a Suzuki GSXR 1000 from the lights. Needless to say he didn't expect it!

Something was amiss there. My 94 RX-7 will dust an RX-8 but not a GSXR1000.
Maybe he was ont he phone.