RX8 Renesis a Lemon? Poll shows 17% Failure Rate

There's been an interesting poll running on RX8 club since july. The sample size is on the small size (620 cars), but its rather disturbing to see that out of all respondents, over 17% indicated that the renesis motor on their RX8 have been replaced at some point (mostly due to a Mazda recall). Granted, there are probably a few boost junkies in the crowd that decided to go twin turbo. The 2004 MT models appear to be the most problematic. The fact that there are a couple of 2007 models on the list indicate that problems still exist.


Keep in mind, this is a poll on an internet forum - not an exhaustive treatise in statistical inference - so take these results with a grain of salt. Engines get replaced for all sorts of reasons, aftermarket tinkering and consumer negligence included.

Perhaps rotaries are not quite ready for prime time? I've heard time and time again by devout disciples of the church of rotary power that when built right, their beloved wankels are as reliable as the next powerplant. Having seen my fair share of FD3S apex seal failures and RX8 oil consumption issues, I'm still the skeptic. Give me pistons any day.