My 2004 RX8 came with 245/45/18 Bridgestone radials.

    The tire noise was annoying.  The rear tires are well hidden so
    I recommend getting  down on one's hands and knees an inspect
    them frequently. The life is about 40,000 miles.

    I had a blow out on a back road about 5 miles from home.
    The tread was completely gone and down to the cords.
    I had not noticed that. I drove home at 10 MPH as the RX8
    has no spare. The electric air pump that comes with it does not
    work on a blow out of course. After I got home the tire was completely
    shredded of course. Hardly any damage to the mag wheel.

    I took the wheels off and took them to my local tire shop.
    I paid about $125 each for Goodyear's which is near the
    bottom of Internet pricing on 245/45/18 tires.

    I was pleasantly surprised to find the road noise was much reduced.

    If your RX8 is an early one don't forget to mix 2 cycle oil with the fuel
    as Mazda messed up big time and added too little apex seal oil to the engine
    consequently many early RX8 apex seals failed. Mazda had to replace those
    engines but by now that no longer applies or happens.

    The RX8 is an amazing car. It holds the west coast SCCA road racing
    records for stock cars. The steering, handling and low RPM torque
    (for a 2.6L engine)  is extraordinary. I think the RX9 will be 3.2 L.

    Paul Lamar

Paul,
Totaled RX-8s come up for auction, especially 2004-2005s. . Is there a date when the tip seal oiling was corrected?
Thanks,
Jim Rudholm

I am not exactly sure when then happened. The first thing Mazda did was re-flash
the computer.  The apex seal oil metering system is computer controlled.

Then they added a third oil injector to the center of the rotor housing
about 2006 or 2007. If there are three oil injectors on the rotor housings it
is probably OK.

The other thing to look for on a used engine is brittle or cracked or broken
plastic lines to the oil injectors. Chances are the apex seals and maybe
the rotor housings are shot.


It is absolutely the best to mix 2 cycle oil
with the fuel as it gets better distributed in the engine.
2 cycle oil has no affect on smog because it burns cleanly.

Paul Lamar


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