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Am I mad? Or Just addicted somehow.
Am I mad? Or Just addicted somehow.
#1
About six months ago, I did a silly thing.

I bought a car.

But that's not silly, you might say. I suppose, that depends on what sort of car I bought. What I bought, was a Mazda Rx8. You know, with the wankel engine.

Now, a picture should've immediately formed in your mind if you're in any way knowledgeable about cars and you're probably nodding your head and going, yep, that's a stupid thing to buy. It made sense at the time, believe me. It's a sports car, but because of the unique engine having a low-tax capacity and the fact that it was registered as a 4-door saloon means that the annual tax and insurance I pay on it, is a good deal less than I would otherwise.

It still took me a while to find a good one. The first one I tried was a shed, with a dying engine. But, the third one I found - which I bought - is fairly decent. Good engine, solid interior. All happy.

The thing I'm finding with this car however, is that it tends to make demagogues of people. If you drive it, you either love it or hate it, and it makes you want to shout about it. You can probably guess which side I fall on.

I paid about 4,900 for it. Since then, I've had a full service that cost me a grand, then another grand in a repair and upgrade of the ignition system. It's a lot of money for me – but at the same time it's not especially something I regret doing.

Because this car's just so damned intoxicating. I'm not sure what it is exactly.

I learned to drive in the family diesel. It was a chugging, gutless, heavy thing but harmlessly numb to drive. It sort of made the process of operating it as forgettable as possible. This Rx is basically the exact opposite to it in every way.

It allows you to be involved, if you want to. It tells you what it's doing and responds to you. The front wheels snout there way over imperfections in the road, tugging at the wheel to let you know what's down there. Inside meanwhile, it's comfortable, with a proper entertainment systems and enough luxury features to make it feel like a proper, high-priced Grand Tourer. Then put your foot down in the right gear and it takes off with a howl from the engine.

That engine is part of it, I think. It's a wankel motor. In this day and age, it's literally unique. It's an endangered species, slowly becoming rarer and rarer. No more are being made. It's entirely likely that no more will be made for road-going vehicles. The experience it offers is effectively unique.

It's this compact little cube of power. And because there's no reciprocating motion in it like a conventional engine, it runs smooth as a turbine, without ever feeling under stress. There's no vibration like you feel with any conventional engine, no harshness. There's effectively just three moving parts in it; two rotors, and an eccentric shaft.

And that's its biggest strength, but also the biggest weakness of the engine. When something does go wrong, it has a tendency to cascade through and damage more and more parts, until it finally kills the motor.

A worn sparkplug damaged an ignition coil on my car. It also damaged the catalytic converter by blasting it with unburned petrol. I replaced the sparkplugs, but the damaged coil continued to get worse before finally failing. It was replaced with an upgrade kit that came in at a cool 500 quid. The damaged catalytic converter finally failed and clogged itself, effectively half-blocking the car's exhaust and causing the engine to run hot and suffocate on it's own backpressure. Eventually, that'd kill the engine seals, which kills the engine.

I had the catalyst removed before that happened. It smells like a refinery fire going down the road, but it seems to back to full health. Still, there's the possibility that I did damage to the engine core that'll show itself in the near future.

And that's the first thing that everyone says to me about it. Don't you know those things like to blow their engines? Well, yeah? The engine seals do tend to wear out; it's the nature of the beast. You can help it live longer by adding a little lubricating oil to the fuel, and changing the engine oil regularly – but eventually it's going to lose compression and say 'nope'.

And when it does, I'll end up paying another 2,500 to a specialist to overhaul it.

Why would I do something that mad?

It's almost quixotic, isn't it? It just sort of makes you do it, like an addiction. And I can sort of justify it, buy saying that with the cheaper tax and insurance, I'm saving the cost of an engine overhaul every year compared to owning another car with similar performance. Buy a BMW, being the obvious suggestion.

But none of them will be quite like the Rx. None of them will have that eerily smooth engine. None of them will scream up to 9500rpm, with the only sign that the engine's in any way perturbed by this being a little beep from the tacho. And if you just need to get somewhere down a motorway, it'll happily sit back and let you get on with getting there, humming quietly along.

There's another thing I like about this car. Since that first service, I've done a lot of my own maintenance on it. I fitted the upgraded coils. I replaced the brakes. I can follow the maintenance schedule, no problem. It's just that simple to work on. It's probably one of the last cars that responds really well to the home mechanic. And it needs some care in the way modern cars just don't.

Maybe that's it.

It's the end of an era. It's the last of the affordable, entertaining, sports cars that used to proliferate before the automobile became an appliance. It's the last wankel – the final-result of a fourty-year experiment that was long since abandoned by everyone else. It's one of the last cars that can be worked on effectively the amateur at home. It's not a corporate exercise in cynicism and artificially packaged, overpriced fun, but something put together because the company doing it decided it would be a fun and interesting thing to do.

It's a passion-project, and maybe that's why it inspires so much passion in some people.

I've taken a few people for a drive in it, and the response has always been the same.

I can't believe you bought this thing, and I'd never buy one myself, but I'm glad it exists.

I guess I'm just one of the madmen who feel the need to keep these unusual things moving, because when the last one finally splutters to a halt, the automotive world will be a less interesting place to be.

Would I suggest someone go out and buy one? Probably not. But if someone came to me and asked me if they should buy one, I wouldn't tell them not to.
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#2
I salute you, sir. I feel the same way about some of the cars I've loved and continue to love from a distance even if I don't own them. Particularly that bit about being able to work on them yourself. I personally can't STAND the fact that if I open the hood(bonnet) of any car made since the 80s that I not only can't see the ground, I can't even recognize half of what's under there. Whereas with an old MGB or Austin Healey or a Morris Minor or a 67 Ford Mustang I can see everything that needs to be seen and I can easily get to it all and I know (generally) what it all does. And I know what you mean about the Wankel engine. Had a friend who owned one at one time. The car's interior was terrible, with upholstery so bad he just threw sheepskin covers over the seats and didn't bother. The outside bodywork badly needed a repaint. The dash was only half-lit at night. 
But DAMN if that car just absolutely refused to die. He kept up the maintenance and oil on that engine, and that Wankel powerplant just kept on going. I think we used to call it the Millennium Falcon, because it didn't look like much, but it had it where it counted. 

I swear - and this is meant with all possible complimentary affection - your post sounds like one of the truly sentimental non-jokey car reviews that the boys at Top Gear sometimes indulge themselves in concerning the classic cars they truly love. 
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#3
I'm glad I'm not the only one in that regard.

The older Mazda engines were notorious for being unburstable if properly looked after by the owner. Put oil and fluids in it and it'll always get you where you need to go. It isn't hard to get them back running either, provided nothing is physically damaged.

As for home maintenance, it helps when the core engine design dates to 1973, before getting 30 years of continuous developement. It was designed back in the day when people did do a lot of work on their own cars so it still lets you do it, even under all the modern EFI stuff. If anything, the ECU will help by telling you the general area of where the problem is. As a counterpoint, the family Renault doesn't even come with a dipstick. Just a spanner-symbol on the dash.

I'm not very good at it yet, but I sort of have to through lack of money. I can buy poor quality parts and pay a mechanic, or buy good quality parts and try it myself. I prefer the quality parts.
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#4
Congratulations, and I hope you enjoy it.

And is it me, or was anyone else compelled to read the OP in the voice of Jeremy Clarkson?
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
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#5
I'm still rocking the 'rolla, the only mod's I've done to it besides the radio, is suspension related: front brace & rear sway bar. I suspect I'll need to do something about the brakes next, say go some braided brake lines. And I got a gizmo that's supposed to communicate with the 'rolla's ECU, big load of fail there. Bloomin' South Africans.....

Logan, you've obviously haven't looked under the bonnet of a 90-00s low end Toyota I can certainly see the ground and have a rough idea of what does what. It even carried over to a more recent vehicle, when I was waiting at reception one day at Ford HQ looking at the open bonnet of a turbocharged four cylinder Falcon (see Crown Victoria for US equivalent) parsing out in my head what part did what.

As for a wankel motor the main thing I've read up about them is to make them more resilient, the air coming down the intake should be the coldest temperature possible. Obviously not sub-zero as that's only achievable outside of winter by the aid of mechanical assistance. More along the lines of room or human body temp as apparently sending 60C-200C air down the intake is bad for the apex seals.
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#6
Same is true for any engine. The colder the intake air the better. Te best thing for a wankel is to keep it maintained, and put some good oil in with the petrol to help the rotor tips. And keep the ignition system healthy. Only thing that'll really kill it in short order is detonation.... Eventually, it'll wear out. I'm pretty sure mine is into a healthy middle-age now.

It's really only a problem from the last ten years as pollution control systems and engine management have gotten more and more complex to eke every last ounce of efficiency out of the engine. Which adds weight. Along with all the safety and luxury features even the most basic car demads. That, and it basically being an ongoing revenue stream for struggling dealers. It doesn't help that most Irish people tend to treat maintenance as the thing that comes 4-years after you buy a brand new car and it finally grinds to a halt in clouds of smoke.

That said, there's a reason Dacia's are getting popular in the last year or two. They're an honest, 4-wheels and an Engine form of transport that's big enough to put human beings in without feeling cramped inside and doesn't apologise for giving you the ability to get where you go. Thalt makes it mighty.
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#7
If I had the money, I'd gladly buy a 1967 Mustang. Fastback preferred, but coupes are almost as nice (and the trunkspace is better). 
[Image: stanger6.jpg]
But I'm also quite partial to one of these - 
[Image: 63stude57184-1.jpg]
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#8
If I could fit into one (I'm far too heavy, alas), and if I lived somewhere I could use it for more than three months in a year, this is what I'd choose:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/25 ... 60_review/
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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#9
Yeah.... while I would love one, on the other hand I have much the same problem. The 'normal size' they design these cars to isn't the size I am. I'm literally the largest person that'll fit in my car. I don't fit in an Rx-7 (Unless I have a hacksaw and some ether). Even in a passenger seat.

Studabaker Avanti is something that deserved better than it got. Even if a handful of former Studebaker dealers did keep it going in some fashion up until 2006. Good Mustangs OTOH, are rare as hen's teeth over here. That said, they can be oddly cheap to buy when they show up compared to the ones in the US because there isn't the culture here. I saw a Mach I (With a damaged boot, and missing front splitter) on sale for 3000, but it was a non-runner. I would've bought it too because I'm pretty sure the owner didn't know what it was - but I'd just gotten the other yoke. Of course, being cheap to buy doesn't mean they're cheap to own as I sort of discovered. Oops.
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#10
If I'm reading this right and understanding you what you're calling a wankel we call a rotary here stateside. Getting hard to find here as well but well worth the effort and investment.
 
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#11
This is a rotary engine:

Yes, that is the entire block spinning.

The Wankel engine is a type of rotary engine in that there's no reciprocating motion in it,


I love the 1960's eductional films. They're so much fun.
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#12
Here, Dartz. This is your song now. [Image: banana-dance.gif]
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#13
Heh. It does sound a bit unhealthy...

But ploughing through a rainstorm on the way home from gaming, I'm in this warm, safe place set solid on the road and it's just a perfectly cosy night-drive.
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#14
Honestly, I think that song would go better set to a slide show of old photos of proud car owners with the machines they love so much - the salaryman with his daily driver, an old farmer with an ancient and beaten to hell pickup truck, a James Dean-type all greasy and dirty as he puts the finishing touches on his roadster, etc...

I think part of what makes cars very special to us is that these vehicles are very much a part of our individual identity and, under our control, they even become an extension of our will. A person's preferred ride and how he/she drives speaks volumes about said person.

Me, for example... My beloved '98 Mazda B2500. It's no luxury liner. It's a small, compact truck with a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine and a 5-Speed manual transmission. No power windows, locks or mirrors. However, despite its size and lack of creature comforts, it works hard. Just like I do. You ask it to haul a load cross country and it says, "No problem, boss. Where to?" Much like myself, it's ready for pretty much whatever, whenever. And before I started having suspension problems, I swear this truck loved cruising on the highways.

Although one of the things I think speaks loudest about it is that pretty much everything that is likely to break is something that I am capable of fixing. It's just a matter of getting the parts and, in some cases, borrowing some specialty tools. Granted, now and then I gotta take something to the machine shop to be ground down... brake rotors and drums, flywheels, and the like. And doing tires is specialized enough that I leave that to other people. But for everything else... Let's just say that I honestly am looking forward to being able to do my own engine and transmission rebuilds. I fully intend to keep this truck - my first vehicle - for the rest of my life.
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#15
There is nothing wrong with being an enuthusist.
If the police are called because neighbours are reporting you vigorously dry-humping the bonnet, then it is probably time to re-evaluate.
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#16
Quote:Dartz wrote:
Heh. It does sound a bit unhealthy...

But ploughing through a rainstorm on the way home from gaming, I'm in this warm, safe place set solid on the road and it's just a perfectly cosy night-drive.
If you are an American, you are perfectly normal. But considering you're Irish and you love your car?....maybe you should move across the pond..
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And the devil will burn!
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#17
Quote:Me, for example... My beloved '98 Mazda B2500. It's no luxury liner. It's a small, compact truck with a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine and a 5-Speed manual transmission. No power windows, locks or mirrors. However, despite its size and lack of creature comforts, it works hard. Just like I do. You ask it to haul a load cross country and it says, "No problem, boss. Where to?" Much like myself, it's ready for pretty much whatever, whenever. And before I started having suspension problems, I swear this truck loved cruising on the highways.

Although one of the things I think speaks loudest about it is that pretty much everything that is likely to break is something that I am capable of fixing. It's just a matter of getting the parts and, in some cases, borrowing some specialty tools. Granted, now and then I gotta take something to the machine shop to be ground down... brake rotors and drums, flywheels, and the like. And doing tires is specialized enough that I leave that to other people. But for everything else... Let's just say that I honestly am looking forward to being able to do my own engine and transmission rebuilds. I fully intend to keep this truck - my first vehicle - for the rest of my life.
Sounds like an honest car. There're very few of those around these days. Look after it and it'll last an age.

Quote:neighbours are reporting

Hasn't quite reached that point, though I did have a cyclist knock on my window to complain that the fumes made his eyes water.
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#18
Quote:Dartz wrote:
Quote:Me, for example... My beloved '98 Mazda B2500. It's no luxury liner. It's a small, compact truck with a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine and a 5-Speed manual transmission. No power windows, locks or mirrors. However, despite its size and lack of creature comforts, it works hard. Just like I do. You ask it to haul a load cross country and it says, "No problem, boss. Where to?" Much like myself, it's ready for pretty much whatever, whenever. And before I started having suspension problems, I swear this truck loved cruising on the highways.

Although one of the things I think speaks loudest about it is that pretty much everything that is likely to break is something that I am capable of fixing. It's just a matter of getting the parts and, in some cases, borrowing some specialty tools. Granted, now and then I gotta take something to the machine shop to be ground down... brake rotors and drums, flywheels, and the like. And doing tires is specialized enough that I leave that to other people. But for everything else... Let's just say that I honestly am looking forward to being able to do my own engine and transmission rebuilds. I fully intend to keep this truck - my first vehicle - for the rest of my life.
Sounds like an honest car. There're very few of those around these days. Look after it and it'll last an age.
That's what I've been hearing about these machines - so robust that Ford had to discontinue them back in 2012 due to dropping sales.  Wink  Heh, now that a REAL truck - not one of these giant-ass luxury liners that crowd the roads nowadays.  They'll probably only last about ten years anyhow until 'planned obsolescence' takes its toll.  I'm already starting to run into the that problem with mine - they no longer make a lot of the specially designed brake lines for my truck, so I'll have to buy special brake line kits and do it myself if any more of them fail.  Fortunately, though, that's a relatively simple thing.
My biggest dread is if something happens to the ignition control computer and it has to be replaced.  They definitely do not make those anymore and I have never heard of any third-party after-market manufacturer making them.  And B-series/Ranger pickups do not last very long in the you-pull-it scrap yards once they wind up there.  They get stripped faster than a carcass on the Serengeti.  Therefore, I'm already making plans to acquire difficult-to-find parts just in case.  That include having a spare engine- and transmission-core to rebuild.
Fun fact - all I really need to do to make my truck an effective 4WD is to install all the appropriate equipment - there is virtually no difference between a V-6 B3000 4WD and its 2WD B2500 cousin besides engine displacement.  The suspension is all the same and the front brake rotors on mine even have the splines to accept the CV-axles.  They even use the same transmission.  Hmmmmm....  >:{)
Anyhow, really... swing by here sometime in Winter and I'll take you out camping in the Hill Country and we'll have some awesome hard cider and other local brews.  You'll never regret it.
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#19
BA, your not thinking outside the square enough. You say a NOS/2nd ECU and other parts for your truck are verging on unobtainium. Ford according to wiki and others are still making the engine for the moment, but your concern is the 'puter. Which if it's not EFI is resolvable by fitting a distributor, yet most EFI requires a ECU, so your looking a after-market ECU that's plug and play for ya truck. That's so not going to exist, the closest your going to get is an ECU capable of running any 1-8 cylinder four-stroke, but the wiring harness is going to be a DIY job.
Which means looking for something like a Megasquirt, but you're in America and the EPA hates them and California probably hates the others (Haltech, Motec, etc).

If you were driving a recent Subaru (90s-2010) the issue's a minor one as their parts are pretty interchangeable across models and years.
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#20
Nope, it's an EFI alright. Pretty much all Ranger/B-Series engines have been after some point in time, and mine was definitely manufactured after that threshold.

Fortunately, I live in Texas so they should have no compunctions about what you suggested. I'll have to do a bit of research on the matter, but thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
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#21
V8 Swap?

Or maybe rotary? Mazda did something just that crazy back in the 70's when they were sticking their wankel in every segment. Rotary Engined PickUp (REPU) was a thing, as was a Rotary Engine Bus
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#22
Yeah, I've heard about those. Pretty crazy stuff. But that was back when Mazda was just Mazda. My truck dates to after Ford's buyout of Mazda. The engine in Scrappy traces its lineage back to the Ford Pinto. (No, really, it does! I did the research on it!) It's an excellent engine - rock-solid and dependable. However, to pull off swap-out of that magnitude will probably mean gutting the entire drive train. Not unless someone out there made a rotary that mates to the venerable MO5D transmission.
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#23
No just, no. First off there's no way of it working short of replacing engine and transmission, though honestly you're probably going to be looking at that sooner rather than later. And even worse is that there will come a day that you're going to have to hid your baby goodbye.
 
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#24
It was partly a joke, althought the sheer uniqueness of the swap would be worth plenty of internet point and a high gonzo score.

In related news, poor-quality diesel has caused the family megane to break down. It's swallowed up a gulp of something nasty into its fuel filter. Misfired, then gave the full Apollo13 treatment on the dash when the foot was put down. Now it doesn't even start.

And similar to that, there's a whole slew of people reporting petrol engines grenading themselves because of adulterated petrol. Some of it's done with Kerosene, but what's doing the rest of it's a mystery. It's stretched across the country in a belt following a main motorway. Some people thinks it's the Provisionals, but there's no money in it for it to be a crime. Some rumours are suggesting it's a process fault at the ony refinery in the State which supplies pretty much the entire country with fuel - which is why everyone's being oy about where it comes from because if it is, that's a massive scandel right there. It really only seems to be killing newer cars aswell, older ones swallow it happily....
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#25
Cars with fuel injection needs clean gasoline to run, diesel also needs to not be contaminated though they can usually take a bit worse so long as it isn't a lighter volatile asthe contaminant.

Older carburetor run cars can run dirty gas easier than fuel injection.
 
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