Hello everyone. I'm new to this and my name is Sarah. I'm looking at buying an rx8. Test drove one today and fell in love. The owner explained to me that the cat might need looking at. It's sluggish 0-15 then kicks in. Does this sound right? If it is the cat howuch are they to fix/replace? Otherwise the car is mint inside and out. Took my Mazda loving friend with me. Thanks in advance, so excited!

 

Mmmm, swing it by a mechanic first. Rotary motors can be tempermental. Not really familiar with the newer ones myself. Sluggish as in barely anything happens or sluggish as in just not spunky? Not a lot of low end power in RX8's Look at the tach in the 0-15 speed then go to 4th at those RPM's and punch it. At the same RPM's at slow speeds when it starts to pick up it should do the same at high speed. IE: nothing at 1500rpm in 1st gear and the same at 1500rpm in 4th. I ramble, sorry. Also, odd noises from the engine are bad. Could be zombies

 

Yeah. Rotary's usually don't pull from the line very well, especially if its an automatic car, but once they get going they are strong to the limit.

As TZ so carefully said, an RX-anything is not for the faint or uninitiated. They are tempremental and require REGULAR service to maintain them properly. You can't scrimp, or put it off with a rotary engine. They need what they need when they need it.

'Sure you're up for that?

BTW: To answer your other questions...

A clogged cat will usually idle and run very well at low speeds. It's when you try to get up to highway speeds that you find the car struggles. the temperature gauge is also a good way to judge because coolant temperatures will be higher than normal.
Sometimes, a clogged cat can be cleared using the correct chemicals and in the correct mix, so they don't necessarily have to be replaced every time.
Lastly, it's an RX-8. Anything is liable to be more expensive to fix/repair. If you're in California, even more so.