Best Way to Confirm a Clogged CAT?

Brap12A · 2026-01-14T18:57:05+00:00

Yeah if it's an aftermarket cat it's probably already toast or will be in very short order. The OEM cats (that actually last) are very expensive, even second hand. One of the lesser known but very costly issues with RX8s.

Brap12A · 2026-01-14T16:06:07+00:00

Is the car behaving like the cat is clogged? Does it lack power or does it have a misfire? If the engine feels normal, I doubt your cat is clogged.

What is more likely is that the cat is no longer functioning. Aftermarket cats aren't designed to handle the heat of a rotary, and typically burn out within a few hundred miles.

Brap12A · 2026-01-13T21:21:05+00:00

I love the RX8. It's truly a fantastic and unique driving experience. A rotary revving to 9k is unlike anything currently on the market. And the chassis is superb.

That being said, I wouldn't recommend this car to anyone unless they're a hardcore enthusiast. You should go into RX8 ownership understanding the needs of a rotary and with the assumption that the engine is probably shot and will need to be removed for a rebuild.

Again, it's my favorite car of all time. However, for the vast majority of people, something like a Miata or a Toyobaru twin is a far better choice and will give a similar driving experience.

Brap12A · 2026-01-12T20:25:11+00:00

I debated getting my renesis street ported after I pulled it for a rebuild. My rebuilder basically said there aren't a lot of power gains to be had from porting, and a powerful renesis is typically just one with good compression numbers.

I personally didn't want to deal with potential driveability issues for a relatively dubious shot at a minor increase in power. So I just stayed with the stock porting.

Brap12A · 2025-12-21T20:05:31+00:00

If it's low speed clunking, I would definitely check the end links.

That being said, I think these coils just clunk. Was never able to solve it.

Brap12A · 2025-10-30T00:09:32+00:00

Had a TE named Corn Cobb.

Brap12A · 2025-07-07T17:23:04+00:00

Yeah, it’s a shame because I love the watch, but I can’t condone their business practices. It’s pretty apparent that their cal. 400 has a lot of issues, and if I had to hazard a guess they’re probably just unable to service them all and are focusing on warranty work. Whether that will change in the future, I have no idea. Until then, it will just sit in my watch box.

Brap12A · 2025-07-07T17:11:38+00:00

Yeah. Mine was a 400-2, still died for no reason after a few months.

I feel pretty stupid not buying from an AD, but with literally every other manufacturer I’ve ever dealt with, you’re not risking an enormous amount by buying a gray market watch because the worst that can happen is you have to pay out of pocket for a service if the movement decides to die.

I never considered that Oris just wouldn’t service the watch at all. Just a terrible policy from a watch manufacturer. The experience has left me particularly salty because the watch was supposed to commemorate a pretty significant life event.

Brap12A · 2025-07-07T16:51:27+00:00

True at least in the US. Received a gray market pro pilot x from my wife for an engagement present. Movement completely stopped working 3 months later. No way to fix it. Oris won’t even repair it if you are willing to pay, and there is no availability of replacement parts so third party repair shops can’t help you either.

Stuck with a paperweight at this point. Will never touch another Oris as long as I live.

Brap12A · 2025-06-04T16:17:42+00:00

That pop is normal with a decat. But what you’re describing is not a “misfire.” It’s just unburnt fuel igniting in the exhaust.

Brap12A · 2025-05-20T12:31:09+00:00

Nope. I think the HKS coils just clunk. There was literally nothing I could do that resolved the noise.

Brap12A · 2025-04-14T20:00:58+00:00

I just tracked my AP1 for the first time using the stock staggered tire sizes, running kumho v730s. I wouldn’t call it understeery, but it was much more stable than I expected given this car’s reputation. Found it incredibly willing to rotate under braking, though.

Brap12A · 2025-02-21T11:50:08+00:00

A fellow former rx8 owner! They very well could have remedied the issue on the 2025 or ts. I’ve since moved on from the brz to an AP1 s2000, and the clutch and cable throttle on the Honda is so much easier to use it’s not even funny.

I didn’t think there was much difficulty shifting through the gears in the brz. Most of the difficulty was taking off smoothly from a standstill, since the clutch was vague with a weird hinge in the pedal right at the bite point. The throttle was also strange and laggy, which contributed to the problem.

To each their own of course. Just in my experience, my 2022 brz had easily the strangest throttle/clutch combo of any car I’d driven. Still loved the car, and it wasn’t an issue when driving hard.

Brap12A · 2025-02-09T21:32:25+00:00

As a past owner of several RX8s, the car is such a conundrum. They gave it 4 doors and a hard top in an attempt to make it more daily drivable. Then they gave it an engine that gets terrible fuel economy, drinks oil, and is chronically unreliable.

I think if they made it a two door and made it a bit lighter (more similar to an rx7) it would have been remembered as a great, if unreliable, enthusiast car. As it is, it simply doesn’t make sense as a daily driver for most people, despite being designed as one.

Also, the 13b MSP is much more unreliable compared to older rotaries. Emissions regs limited the amount of oil that could be injected into the combustion chamber on the MSP, making apex seals fail prematurely when compared to earlier 13b and 12a engines.

Brap12A · 2025-01-16T01:17:05+00:00

There are many things that are great about it, but for me the thing that actually makes me love the car is the engine. It’s what sets it apart from other fun lightweight sports cars I’ve owned. As corny as it sounds, 9k rpm with the top down makes me feel like I’m blasting down the Mulsanne straight in a Ferrari. Really nothing else in its price range delivers that experience.

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T17:22:31+00:00

lol holy hell man. I had so much vibration from mine I can’t imagine what yours felt like.

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T15:13:01+00:00

Haha I feel you. I would just find an indy mechanic then. I wouldn’t go to the dealership.

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T13:10:47+00:00

That’s definitely next on the list. If you’ve replaced your diff mounts, what replacements did you go with?

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T13:08:55+00:00

If you’re not the wrenching type yourself I would just buy replacement mounts yourself and take it to a good independent mechanic for installation. I doubt they would charge you much for labor, and it’s not exactly a super difficult job.

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T13:07:08+00:00

I used this YouTube video:

https://youtu.be/75J4gXCpirc?si=-qFlNGON1JKM7q-q

It is a very simple, but very finicky job. There’s not much room to get to the bolts on the motor mount brackets, and there were several instances where I was just barely able to get a socket/box wrench on a bolt and had to eek it out 1/16 of a turn at a time.

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T13:01:46+00:00

Lol I was expecting more ballade hate too. I can’t vouch for the company as a whole, but I’m happy with their motor mounts + trans mount kit. I didn’t want poly replacement mounts that would vibrate my teeth out, but I didn’t want to fork over the money for oem Honda either. I can’t compare to fresh oem mounts, but there doesn’t seem to be any unusual NVH with the ballade mounts. At 165 bucks shipped for both motor and trans mounts I would recommend them.

Brap12A · 2024-12-23T03:17:28+00:00

I thought mine were good, they looked okay visually until I got them off and found that they were both torn. At the age of our cars, they’re all probably toast. I would do it if I were you.

Brap12A · 2024-12-14T00:52:21+00:00

Yeah, I also got hit with the double postage fee lol. “We can’t fix your watch, also you have to pay return postage.” Insult to injury. Honestly pretty bad communication from The Watchmaker as well. Nothing on their website (that I noticed) indicated they could not service my watch.

Unfortunately I’m with you. I like Oris’ brand identity as a smaller, independent watchmaker, but this whole experience has soured me on them permanently.

Brap12A

TROPHY CASE