I wanted an electric car, to get away from having to buy gas. The rotary engine is the most interesting thing about the RX-8, but without it it's still an overall pretty good car, and there's a surplus of used RX-8s out there with about 100,000 miles that need an apex seal replacement at the least, which the owners are willing to unload very cheaply.
I could have looked for an RX-7, but those seem to be a lot more expensive and harder to find, and besides I like the look of the RX-8. I also wanted modern safety features and a vehicle that's relatively new. The RX-7 is about 200 pounds lighter, but it's also a 2-seater so less room to haul stuff. (Mazda also made a rotary pickup which would also be an awesome conversion, but those are much rarer.)
Really, the main decision point for me was whether to get an RX-8, or go with a Miata, which is about a thousand pounds lighter. In some ways, the Miata might have been a better choice, but I live in a rainy climate and sometimes want to transport large objects. Also, used Miatas tend to be either thirty years old or expensive, so I went with the RX-8.
As for what I'll do with it? Mostly just use it to get around town, like any other car. I've never owned anything that one could plausibly describe as a "sports car", and I don't know if I'll do any stereotypical sports car things like drive it up and down windy roads or take it to a track. It should at least perform decently. The motor I'm putting in it is about 120 HP, which is a lot less than the 230 or so HP that the rotary could put out, but the torque is about the same and I get full torque from 0 rpm. I'm keeping the 6-speed and clutch, so that should go a long way towards not needing a super-powerful motor.
The hard part of the project so far has been building the battery enclosures for about 450 pounds of LiFePO4 cells, a little over half of which go in the engine compartment, and the rest go under the car where the gas tank was. It'll be a little heavier and probably have the weight a little forward of where it was originally, but it should be at least close.
Tl;dr: RX-8s are really cheap if you don't need a working engine, and if you're going to convert a sedan you might as well go with something with something more fun than a Toyota Corolla or whatever.
I could have looked for an RX-7, but those seem to be a lot more expensive and harder to find, and besides I like the look of the RX-8. I also wanted modern safety features and a vehicle that's relatively new. The RX-7 is about 200 pounds lighter, but it's also a 2-seater so less room to haul stuff. (Mazda also made a rotary pickup which would also be an awesome conversion, but those are much rarer.)
Really, the main decision point for me was whether to get an RX-8, or go with a Miata, which is about a thousand pounds lighter. In some ways, the Miata might have been a better choice, but I live in a rainy climate and sometimes want to transport large objects. Also, used Miatas tend to be either thirty years old or expensive, so I went with the RX-8.
As for what I'll do with it? Mostly just use it to get around town, like any other car. I've never owned anything that one could plausibly describe as a "sports car", and I don't know if I'll do any stereotypical sports car things like drive it up and down windy roads or take it to a track. It should at least perform decently. The motor I'm putting in it is about 120 HP, which is a lot less than the 230 or so HP that the rotary could put out, but the torque is about the same and I get full torque from 0 rpm. I'm keeping the 6-speed and clutch, so that should go a long way towards not needing a super-powerful motor.
The hard part of the project so far has been building the battery enclosures for about 450 pounds of LiFePO4 cells, a little over half of which go in the engine compartment, and the rest go under the car where the gas tank was. It'll be a little heavier and probably have the weight a little forward of where it was originally, but it should be at least close.
Tl;dr: RX-8s are really cheap if you don't need a working engine, and if you're going to convert a sedan you might as well go with something with something more fun than a Toyota Corolla or whatever.