Do not buy a swapped RX8 at any cost. RX8 feels a real deal only with its original rotary engine. The best bet is to self-import one with genuine low miles on the dial, and maintain it by the book. Next year will be the last for importing it into Pakistan. Last RX8s went off the production live in 2012.
The main problem is that all RX8 imported by dealers were cheap thrashed cars with high-mileage which were tempered later to sell off as only 15,000 kms driven 5A grade whereas all of them were actually high mileage low grade imports into Pakistan. Secondly, the people who bought it had no idea how to keep a rotary and they drove it like Corollas with regular engines. Hence, ruining the already high-mileage trashed and tempered imports in a couple of months at most.
Honestly, I think Mazda should have never produced a consumer mass produced version of rotary as it's not really meant to be used for every day driving. One has to perform certain maintenance rituals religiously to keep the rotary in good shape.
One such ritual is to never drive it when it's cold. A rotary must reach its normal operating temperature before it can be put to any use. To ensure this, one must do this every time you start or start, especially from a cold stop. Start the rotary. While in neutral mode, raise the RPM to anything between 2000-3000 and keep the foot steady for 15-20 seconds. The same is to be repeated at the time of shutting the car down. Repeat it for 15-20 seconds just before you want to shut down the engine. But this time, turn off the ignition after holding the RPM at 2000-3000 for 15-20 seconds with your foot on the accelerator pedal. This ritual ensures that the rotary is not flooded on the next restart and all extra fuel is burned.
Another import thing is to check the engine oil regularly. Never let it go down below 2 dots on the dipstick. The nature and construct of the rotary engine is as such that it consumes more oil per km than regular engine with cylinder. Always use recommended mineral oil made specifically for rotary engines.
Always check the coolant and water levels. Rotary engine runs at much higher temperature than a regular engine. To ensure that it never crosses the safe operating temperature, the engine coolant level must be kept in check on a regular basis.
Always use high-octane, or at the very least go for a 50/50 combination of high-octane and super in Pakistan, where the quality of fuel is at its worst.
Sadly the type of people who have bought rotaries in Pakistan were to lousy to even perform these basic rituals that are a MUST to keep the rotary engine working to its minimum best. No one checked the oil or coolant levels. Hardly any of them would replace the engine oil on time and with recommended grade of mineral oil. Almost everyone treated these rotaries like Corollas or Civic that require least day-to-day maintenance. These coupled with the fact that all of them bought high-mileage thrashed and tempered cars from local profit hungry dealers resulted in the sad premature demise of most of the cars.
Rotaries are meant to be treated and looked after like your own kids. I personally think these rotaries should have only been kept as track cars and never should have been mass produced to be sold to average consumers.
These engines are too fragile and high maintenance to be trusted in the hands of an average consumer. They rightly belong in the hands of team mechanics of professional track racing teams across the world.