Checking in
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 11
From: Austin, TX
Hi, guys and girls.
I'm feeling a little like a fish out of water right now, because although I was a rotorhead for many years, I drive a Miata these days.
My first rotary was a '74 RX-3 Coupe, the first of several I owned Down Under. It was a 10A body with a stock 12A, and eventually met its demise on a dirt bank at the Morwell Hillclimb during a round the Victorian Hillclimb Championship in about 1978. Its replacement was a later 12A body, and retained the 12A for a while before I dropped a bridgeported 13B into it. It met its demise when my co-driver rolled it into a sand trap during practice for an enduro at Adelaide International Raceway. No mechanical damage, but she dinged every panel and broke all the glass. We completed the race though, with full-face helmets and flow-through ventilation!
Number 3 was another late RX-3 Coupe, with all the mechanicals from #2 transplanted into it.[attachment=46386:car1.jpg][attachment=46387:car2.jpg] That became a dedicated track toy when I picked up a 1st Gen RX-7 as a road car. The 7 retained its stock 12A and became my daily driver.
After I moved to the States in 1998, I picked up an RX-7 GSL SE, and drove it for a year or so until it needed more money spent on it than it was worth. It was at that time that I first drove a Miata, and wound up buying a '99 10AE.
Then in late 2003 I heard about the upcoming RX-8, and I became one of the first pre-order customers the day they opened the list. I sold the 10AE and took delivery of my Winning Blue 2004 RX-8 Sport.[attachment=46392
SC01460-small.jpg][attachment=46391SC_1435-small.jpg]
Unfortunately, about three months after taking delivery I was laid off. Fortunately (for me) Mazda was offering a complete buy-back due to the whole overstated-horsepower debacle, so I reluctantly returned my blue beauty for a full refund. In the end, I effectively had free use of that car for about four months, with my only expenses being the fuel I put into it.
Meanwhile my wife had gotten the Miata bug too, so we became a Miata household again for a couple of years until she got tired of it and wanted something quieter and more comfy. She was dithering around wondering what to get, when she said "I really liked that RX-8 you had." Well, long story short, we leased a 2007 Velocity Red Touring for a couple of years.[attachment=46390SC_2378.JPG]
The Rotary has now left the building again. She's driving a G35 coupe, and I've just picked up a Competition Yellow '09 Miata GT. But who knows, I may be tempted back to the rotary fold again if something else comes down the pike. I still miss my old RX-3 and wish I'd shipped it over with me instead of selling it off when I moved.
Cheers,
Jon.
I'm feeling a little like a fish out of water right now, because although I was a rotorhead for many years, I drive a Miata these days.
My first rotary was a '74 RX-3 Coupe, the first of several I owned Down Under. It was a 10A body with a stock 12A, and eventually met its demise on a dirt bank at the Morwell Hillclimb during a round the Victorian Hillclimb Championship in about 1978. Its replacement was a later 12A body, and retained the 12A for a while before I dropped a bridgeported 13B into it. It met its demise when my co-driver rolled it into a sand trap during practice for an enduro at Adelaide International Raceway. No mechanical damage, but she dinged every panel and broke all the glass. We completed the race though, with full-face helmets and flow-through ventilation!
Number 3 was another late RX-3 Coupe, with all the mechanicals from #2 transplanted into it.[attachment=46386:car1.jpg][attachment=46387:car2.jpg] That became a dedicated track toy when I picked up a 1st Gen RX-7 as a road car. The 7 retained its stock 12A and became my daily driver.
After I moved to the States in 1998, I picked up an RX-7 GSL SE, and drove it for a year or so until it needed more money spent on it than it was worth. It was at that time that I first drove a Miata, and wound up buying a '99 10AE.
Then in late 2003 I heard about the upcoming RX-8, and I became one of the first pre-order customers the day they opened the list. I sold the 10AE and took delivery of my Winning Blue 2004 RX-8 Sport.[attachment=46392
SC01460-small.jpg][attachment=46391SC_1435-small.jpg]Unfortunately, about three months after taking delivery I was laid off. Fortunately (for me) Mazda was offering a complete buy-back due to the whole overstated-horsepower debacle, so I reluctantly returned my blue beauty for a full refund. In the end, I effectively had free use of that car for about four months, with my only expenses being the fuel I put into it.
Meanwhile my wife had gotten the Miata bug too, so we became a Miata household again for a couple of years until she got tired of it and wanted something quieter and more comfy. She was dithering around wondering what to get, when she said "I really liked that RX-8 you had." Well, long story short, we leased a 2007 Velocity Red Touring for a couple of years.[attachment=46390
SC_2378.JPG]The Rotary has now left the building again. She's driving a G35 coupe, and I've just picked up a Competition Yellow '09 Miata GT. But who knows, I may be tempted back to the rotary fold again if something else comes down the pike. I still miss my old RX-3 and wish I'd shipped it over with me instead of selling it off when I moved.
Cheers,
Jon.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 11
From: Austin, TX
Of course, rereading my original post I realized I got the original RX-8 dates confused. I placed the order in January 2003, took delivery in July, and had to return it in October of that year.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 11
From: Austin, TX
Thanks. Right now I'm trying to think of fifteen things to say before I can post to the For Sale forum. 
I recently uncovered a bunch of stuff that Mazda sent me when I pre-ordered the RX-8 back in 2003, and with Christmas coming up I figure it would make great rotorhead stocking stuffers!
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,833
From: peru, IN
haha nice! we have several rx8 owners that i'm sure would like that stuff for collective worth. check out the general forum, we shoot the breeze in there so i'm sure there's something you can talk about in there haha
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 11
From: Austin, TX
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 11
From: Austin, TX
It'll be my daily driver and weekend track toy. I drove it onto the track at Texas World Speedway the day after I drove it off the lot in Austin, so a hundred or so of its 500 break-in miles were on the track though I was using a 4500rpm red line and being gentle to everything except the tires.
It's done two more track days since then, and the front pads hit the squealers on the way home from the third, at 3200 miles! It's now sporting Hawk HP Plus pads all 'round.
I'm very impressed with the grip levels available from the stock suspension and tires, though I'm sure that's partially due to the OEM RE-050A's being treadwear 140! I have the Suspension Package with the LSD and Bilsteins, and the damping is really very nice but the ride height is a little tall and the body roll is more than I would like, as evident at Eagles Canyon last month:
I've picked up a set of RX-8 "yellow dot" bars and have a set of springs on my Christmas wish list, so it should be cornering a lot flatter early in the new year.
It's done two more track days since then, and the front pads hit the squealers on the way home from the third, at 3200 miles! It's now sporting Hawk HP Plus pads all 'round.
I'm very impressed with the grip levels available from the stock suspension and tires, though I'm sure that's partially due to the OEM RE-050A's being treadwear 140! I have the Suspension Package with the LSD and Bilsteins, and the damping is really very nice but the ride height is a little tall and the body roll is more than I would like, as evident at Eagles Canyon last month:
I've picked up a set of RX-8 "yellow dot" bars and have a set of springs on my Christmas wish list, so it should be cornering a lot flatter early in the new year.
