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Engine size in a Mazda RX-8 (Read 1700 times)
Mar 3rd, 2009 at 5:28pm

machineman9   Offline
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I was doing the bloke type thing of looking at cars and I came across the Mazda RX-8. I remembered it from the advert a few years back and investigated it further.

I read up a few things about it and one of my friends asked what the insurance on that thing would be like, so with nothing better to do... I set away on a few insurance sites just getting some quotes and seeing if we can beat the system at all (we couldn't, but it was interesting to try).


Anywho, I looked at some of the prices and they were gigantic. Fair enough for a brand new driver they would be, but this was stupidly high. I went back to check everything was right and I found this:

Insurance site: Mazda RX-8 2003 2.6L

Mazda/Wikipedia: Maza RX-8 2003 1.3L


For some reason the insurance site thought that it was a 2.6L car but the official website and most other sites I have looked at seem to say it is half that (2x 655cc, not 2x1300cc)


I am just wondering what the heck is going on. It is a 1.3L car, right? Why are some places listing it as double that when it blatently isn't when I checked the official manufacturer's website.


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Reply #1 - Mar 3rd, 2009 at 5:33pm

Craig.   Offline
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Correct it is a 1.3L engine.
Why the insurance are classing it as a 2.6L I have no idea. maybe someone saw the hp it produces and automatically assumed the engine size needed to produce it must be higher.
Which insurance company are you looking through?
 
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Reply #2 - Mar 3rd, 2009 at 5:37pm

machineman9   Offline
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I went to those funny 'middle men' ones, only because I'm not planning on getting insurance any time soon, but I figured I have a year to go until I can learn to drive so I may aswell see what the insurance market is like. It's not good, trust me.

Go Compare, Compare The Market and I think Direct Line all seem to say it is a 2.6. I only used one for an actual test quote and the others to check that I wasn't reading wrongly. But yeh, as far as I remember it is several sites listing it like that at the very least.


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Reply #3 - Mar 3rd, 2009 at 5:40pm

Craig.   Offline
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very strange but something that in the world of insurance you'd have to bring up over the phone I guess. Good spot.

As a side note I gave up on those middle men sites ages ago. The cheapest quote I got on those sites for my beemer at 24, 5 years experience, and 1 years no claims (was on my moms insurance for a while) was £2300, went to direct line and got a quote of just over £600. Safe to say all these we'll save you on your insurance sites got the boot quickly Smiley
 
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Reply #4 - Mar 3rd, 2009 at 5:49pm

machineman9   Offline
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Yeh, well when the time comes to learn to drive I will probably get a joint policy with someone in my family and then when I am able to, and it would be financially alright to, I would probably move onto my own policy but probably with the same insurer.

"We'll find you the best quote". Umm, no mate, no you won't  Grin


Hopefully I will be able to get something other than a chav-tastic car, so this is why I am looking around... And if I am lucky, financial depression on such objects might help me out. Too bad they will still treat me like some street racing punk  Cool
 
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Reply #5 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 9:47am

chornedsnorkack   Offline
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From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_Wankel_engine
Quote:
In auto racing, the displacement of a Wankel engine is usually doubled for classing purposes. For Japanese tax purposes, the displacement of Wankel engines is defined as the equivalent of 1.5 times the nominal displacement.


It would be fun to insure a car with a gas turbine engine. No enclosed volume to define displacement!
 
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Reply #6 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:28am

machineman9   Offline
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Darn them.  Angry
 
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Reply #7 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:33am

C   Offline
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machineman9 wrote on Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:28am:
Darn them.  Angry


As the post above points to, I wonder if it's part of their computer system to effectively double the displacement?

Either way, I'd expect an RX-8 quote to be fairly astronomical for any under-25!
 
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Reply #8 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:38am

machineman9   Offline
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I think insurance is going to be a lot for most things for me anyway. I imagine it is going to be fairly high for the RX-8 because it looks like it is quite a powerful car despite it's displacement.

Even so, I would still challenge the point just to see what they say.


Back to AutoTrader to check the markets again  Smiley
 
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Reply #9 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:21pm

C   Offline
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machineman9 wrote on Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:38am:
I think insurance is going to be a lot for most things for me anyway. I imagine it is going to be fairly high for the RX-8 because it looks like it is quite a powerful car despite it's displacement.

Even so, I would still challenge the point just to see what they say.



1.3l wankel is only small on paper. Take a look at the Mazda 787B that won Le Mans in 1991 - 700bhp in race trim with a 2.6L wankel. Over 900bhp on the bench.


As for insurance, as a new driver, don't expect much change, if any, from a grand. You could get insured as a named driver on a parent policy, but you won't necessarily get any NCB at the end of the year. I've had my own insurance since I was 18, purely because I've built my own NCB, even if initially it was cheaper to be a named driver on someone else's policy.
 
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Reply #10 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:25pm

machineman9   Offline
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Yeh it's a pretty fab engine. Which is a problem as it is small but powerful so insurance companies won't really like it.
 
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Reply #11 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:40pm

Craig.   Offline
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engine size doesnt matter as much anymore in the insurance business. its all to do with the cars desireability. The newer a car the more expensive it'll be to insure, I have found that out looking for a new car, wanted to go with something new like a new civic or lancer, and despite being both smaller engines than the bmw I own, they both come out more expensive to insure.
 
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Reply #12 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:42pm

machineman9   Offline
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I suppose rarity also affects it... Cheap highly-in-production cars will be cheaper to insure too. Easier to get replacement panels for, etc.
 
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Reply #13 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 1:36pm

VVM   Offline
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C wrote on Mar 4th, 2009 at 12:21pm:
machineman9 wrote on Mar 4th, 2009 at 11:38am:
I think insurance is going to be a lot for most things for me anyway. I imagine it is going to be fairly high for the RX-8 because it looks like it is quite a powerful car despite it's displacement.

Even so, I would still challenge the point just to see what they say.



1.3l wankel is only small on paper. Take a look at the Mazda 787B that won Le Mans in 1991 - 700bhp in race trim with a 2.6L wankel. Over 900bhp on the bench.


As for insurance, as a new driver, don't expect much change, if any, from a grand. You could get insured as a named driver on a parent policy, but you won't necessarily get any NCB at the end of the year. I've had my own insurance since I was 18, purely because I've built my own NCB, even if initially it was cheaper to be a named driver on someone else's policy.


Just something to note, if you do this and have an accident, the insurance company will be quite within their right to refuse to pay out.  You are making a false declaration by saying someone else is the main driver, but in fact you are.  It's also a bit of a false saving, because when you come to actually get your own policy, it will be higher than someone with say 3 or 4 years NCB.  You can get cheap insurance if you are young, you just need to do a lot of looking.  When I was 19, I paid £650 fully comp for my own policy for a 1.2 Clio.  Two years later, I'm paying £280.  I think you will agree, that's bloody cheap for someone my age.  I'm with Elephant btw.

If you are not in the UK, most of that will not apply to you lol  Smiley
 
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Reply #14 - Mar 4th, 2009 at 1:38pm

machineman9   Offline
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I've heard about people falsely declaring things like that and I will try not to make those mistakes myself.
 
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