VW Passat 1.8t (turbo) as a daily driver

The RX8 daily driver has:
Ride comfort harsher with sport suspension
low end performance similar to VW mid performance
High end performance so much better that its not even close
A/C that sucks...those Germans know how to do HVAC!
less convience with the kids, as the suicide doors are not independent.

Overall though, a big thumbs up for the RX8 (my son (8) can just get used not having his own door and not being able to see out the side windows!)

 

1987 MR2 N/A

Had 200K miles on it before the head went bad....I am going to fix it once I have enough fund to do a rebuild

 

84 RX7 with the 13B.
The 8 is harder to drive as the power comes on so hard above 4k and the light flywheel makes it more sensitive to clutch and throttle feed at start up. The 7 gave more steering feedback when driving hard or in the wet, but I love the electric steering of the 8. Both are fun to drive, but really the 8 is so much better it is hard to compare them.

 

2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe

 

g35c perhaps?

 

I drove a 2001 White Toyota Celica GTS with Action package. It was a great car but once I saw and drove the 8..... the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Acura CL

The 8 blows it away it every category. I'll never have a front wheel drive "sporty" car again.

Ben

 

I came from a '98 BMW M3 and a '93 twin turbo RX-7 before that. Two of the best Sport/GT cars ever made. Prior to the RX-8's release, I always thought my next car would be the current M3. But after test driving the RX-8, I felt I could be just as happy with it and save a ton of money compared to the M3. I have absolutely no regrets with my choice!

 

2000 Mustang GT convertible. Car was powerful, but that was it. Handled like a wet noodle and to be honest, the climate up here is not conducive to convertible driving. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

ready.........a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab Hemi..........need I state how the two compare??????

 

1997 Toyota 4Runner. I modified the truck to make it more capable offroad. I slapped on the suspension lift, got rid of the rear swaybar, and put big mud eatin tires on the thing.

Then when I started the daily 30 - 60 minute one way commute, I knew it was time for a change . . .

I still have my 4Runner. First loves should always stay in the harem.

 

My moms car or my brothers but never owned a car.

 

Every car I've ever owned or been the primary driver of:

* 1982 Volkswagon Vanagon (over 4000 lbs, with 67 horsepower. The car I learned to drive in)
* 1984 Honda Prelude (my Dad's car. He gave this to me when he got a 1987 Acura Legend Coupe).
* 1991 Nissan Sentra (my Mom's car)
* 19xx Mercury Tracer (bought from my sister. I have no idea what year it was)
* 1994 Honda Accord DX Coupe (the first car I bought new)
* 1987 Volkswagon Cabriolet (my wife's car at the time of our marriage)
* 2000 Honda Accord LX Sedan
* 2002 Pontiac Montana (wife's company car)
* 2001 Suzuki Grand Vitara (still own, my immediate predecessor car)
* 2004 Pontiac Montana (wife's company car)

 

88 Jeep wrangler Auto...which I'M KEEPING!!! But I'm in the same category as the truck dude. Need I say more

 

Yes keep the Heep! If it snows where you live, the 4wd comes in very handy.

That's why I still have the 4Runner.

 

Mazda MX-6 M-edition w/ 93k on it. It started coming apart at the seams:

Steering rack broke
Master brake cylinder failed
Radiator broke leaking coolant everywhere
Cracked a head gasket and leaked oil, eating up spark plug wires
Upper bushings wore out
CV boots failed and leaked all the grease, causing dmg to axle

and this doesn't include all the normal wear and tire items I fixed like all new brakes, rotors, clutch and flywheel, etc etc.

That car cost me a fortune in repairs. I think I figured something like 9-10k over 3 years.

I hope to GOD my new 8 will treat me better.

 

2001 VW Golf GLS 1.8t

 

I think it's really interesting how many RX-8 owners aren't from Miata or RX-7 backgrounds. I know some RX-8 owners are die-hard rotary nuts, but I'm really glad to see that we've got a whole new generation of rotorheads!

No '8 yet, but my car list -

'87 Toyota Camry - 4 doors, automatic, zero fun. Drove this for quite a few years. Traded it in on...

'87 RX-7 Turbo, Burgandy/Burgandy - car had some issues, but ran strong. I'll never forget my test drive of the car - I still barely knew how to drive a stick, and the power was just amazing. Instant love. But, the car hit a tree, and one week later, bought -

'88 RX-7 Turbo 10th Anniversary, White/Black - what a fantastic car. Bought from the original owner in great shape. Ended up doing a LOT to the car, it's VERY heavily modified now. I'm finishing putting some bits together to sell it - it's so high-strung and insane that I just don't enjoy driving it any more.

'86 RX-7 base grey/burgandy - bought for $500 with a bad motor, rebuilt the engine and drove it for quite a few years, mainly while the turbo was down and getting built up. It was a really good car, paint sucked, but oh well.

'90 RX-7 convertible, white/blue - bought it for my wife just before our wedding. Got some GREAT wedding pics of us with the top down. Solid car, has just a few issues. I love the convertible top, but it's eventually getting sold for something more practical.

'87 RX-7 GXL, silver/blue - was my wife's car before the 'vert. I got it for free with an overheated engine, swapped another motor in it, and the car drove for a year before it died again. Sold it as a parts car.

'87 RX-7 base, silver/blue - bought for $300 with a melted starting/charging harness. Put about $400 into it, got it running great and cleaned up, sold it last week for $1200. Woot!

'92 Lexus SC300 5-speed, black/tan - got a HELL of a deal on it, super low mileage and clean, runs awesome. I bought this with the intention of it being an RX-7 replacement, but I have discovered that there is no such thing . Reliable and comfy, but lots of drivetrain slop, no support in the seats, weird shifter, peg leg differential...it'll likely get sold in the near future.

My ideal setup would be either a Mazda 3 5-door or a Protege 5 for the wife, and a 3rd gen RX-7 for myself. I'm DYING to get an RX-8, but I can't justify a car payment of that size just yet - I'm working on finding a better jobby-job first. Also, I've always wanted a 3rd gen, and I want to get one before all the good ones are gone - there really aren't that many of them out there any more. They're phenomenal, yet quirky cars. Mazda really took care of a lot of the problems they had with that car with the '8, fortunately.

Dale

 

2000 Mazda Protege LX

Paid $13k for it

Put on over 60,000 miles in 3 years without any problems except for consistenly squeaky springs

Averaged consistently over 32 mpg on hwy and around 28 mpg with city driving! God I miss that....

Considering it's an econobox, it's fun to drive - makes you think you're going faster than you are...hehe

Sister just got her license and uses it as her daily driver now...still no problems to date.

Satisfaction with mazda's work on the protege is one of the reasons I chose the Rx8 over the 350z. That, looks, ability to seat 4, and smoothness of course.

 

94 Ford Taurus

My parents gave it to me so that I could get to and from school/work when I was in high school. Since I had the biggest car amongst all of my friends, I was stuck driving most of the time. Therefore, the Taurus had a million and one stories. All of us were sad to see it go


02 Mazda Protege5

The first car that I purchased. I bought it because it was somewhat sporty, I could haul around most of my music equipment in it, and I could use the hatch has a workshop between races for my R/C cars. Although it served less than two years with me, it too had its share of stories, and I still get a smile one my face when I see one on the street.

 

In order from most recent to longest ago:

'94 BMW 325is
'98 Ford F-150 Flareside SuperCab
'94 Acura Integra GS-R
'88 Toyota MR-2 (lowered with 15"'s)
'85 Porsche 944
'88 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX (Engine mods to 260+HP)
'90 Honda Civic Si Hatchback
'84 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE (13B engine)

All great vehicles. All, except the truck, have been on Road and Track's 10 Best list....

 

im only 19, so I dont have HUGE list to go by,


first - mercedes-benz 430sl turbo diesel (very slow)
second - (own car) 2001 toyota celica gt automatic (modded)
third - 2004 mazda rx-8 6speed (slightly modded)
forth - 2003 mitsubishi lancer evolution 8 (modded)

 

dang, 19 and you've already driven an 8 and an EVO?! .....

Anyway, here is my list, I'm sure to get some laughs out of it....

1. scooby doo something or other (Subaru),parents bought it used, lasted one week as I found out right after buying it the head gasket was blown, yeeesh parents lol
2. 1989 Ford Festiva - sold the scooby and bought this one brand new with 21 miles on it and immediately tried to make it "cool", by the time I sold it to someone else I had shaved door handles,emblems, side moldings, hood squirters, several diffenret interiors ranging from a wall of 4 15" woofers to what I sold it with which was 4 12" woofers in a tweed/lexan enclosure complete with floating amps, cooling fans everywhere, custom made speaker grills, the whole deal took me and a buddy over a month to put together but it helped me collect quite a few trophies back in the day, car was slammed and one of the lowest stationary sport compacts in all the shows I entered, interiro also had CRX seats and tweed everywhere, still more to list.. Lmao.
3. 1997 Chevy S10 pickup
this was my first journey into financing a vehicle and it worked out well, I purchased this truck solely for customising and showing but it had nothing but bad luck in store, but despite all that I still managed to drop it 3/4, put budnik 18" on all corners with disc brakes all around (Stainless Steel Brake kit)shaved the tailgate handle, molded in rollpan with frenched license plate kicked to the side, GMC Envoy front end with HID and Goodmark Cowl inducted hood, had a lot of fun despite the bad luck and learned a lot from it.
4. Mazda RX8
Do I even need to explain this one? I bought this car because it has always been a dream of mine to own a sports car and the 8 fit the bill perfectly, there may be a lot of people who talk EVO this or WRX that or whatever, and while I looked at those and i have nothing against them, this was the car that I couldn't stop thinking about after I drove home in my truck after the test drive so this is what I got. So far all I've done is tint and corner lenses, but who knows, maybe after I've paid a bit more on it I can go for wheels,springs, and whatever else they come up with

 

I had a 2001 Toyota Celica GT-S...automatic. Thank God for 6-speed transmissions :D. I still miss her (the Celica), though .

 

BMW 325i

Bought new 1999, sold privately to by the 8.

Floodoed once-BMW replaced plugs, oil and filter on warranty.
One set of brake pads paid for by me.

Otherwise,,total perfection.