zerobanger

My FD has nearly 200,000 Miles. And even though I replaced most of the car it needs painted and a new transmission. I decided I wanted to buy another car to use as a daily driver. My rules were:

1) it must be a sportcar
2) it must be fun to drive

My hopes were:

1) good gas mileage
2) Must be quick or fast.

When the Z came out I didn't like it. I thought it looked boring. The front end reminded me of a toyota celica boinking a mercedes SLK and the 350Z was the bastard child. The rear was bulky and the car just looked odd. After seeing them ***** every street corner and noticing the 3 in my parking lot at work every day I started to appreciate certain parts of the look of the car. I was torn between an RX-8, 350Z and S2000. Of the 3 I thought the Rx-8 was the best looking. But I read a few things about bad experience, mostly gas mileage...and one engine replacement. So I decided not to get the rx8 based on that. Keep in mind I have been wanting a new car since the rx8 came out, but I was hesitant.

about a month ago I test drove a 350Z at the nissan dealer in oakland Ca. First thing when I hit the gas I felt an adrenelan rush. My head was pushed back into the seat and I was impressed. AT 4000 RPM the car just ran out of power. It felt like a butterfly...(the big yellow and black one).

But it had interesting low end torque. I went to make a turn and I was immediately reminded of my old 1979 VW Rabbit I had when I was a kid. It felt like I was driving a bus.

I wasn't too fond of the way it drove but there is more to a car than that. I had an instant distaste of the interior. While the dash looked like it was designed by a 10 year old with his first lego set, I did very much like the 350Z's seats. they had a cargo netting or something in the middle that was way cool.

about 3 weeks go by and I kept reading all the great reviews of the Rx-8. Every single magazine, every single consumer report rated the rx8 higher than the 350Z. every head to head comparison with the G35 or the 350Z, the rx8 easily won. When I read edmunds review, again I was intrigued. So I went to the dealer with the idea that I would drive it. I was going to tell the dealer I hated the rx8 so he didn't pressure me into buying it. but during the test drive I was all smile from ear to ear.

what actually shocked me was how the car had instant throttle response, even from a stop. From reading all the haters talk about the rx8, i thought the car was a dog. I was pleasantly suprised. The level in which the car handled, the engineering in the cockpit, the trim and fit and finish is just top notch. I loved the seats, although I felt the 350Z's seats headrests are better. the rx8's just dont fit me right, but i'm getting used to it. The ride quality of the rx8 is also exceptional.

I was blown away by the handling. Keeping in mind I have a 350 hp 94 rx7, so im not easily impressed by handling. Acceleration is also very brisk in the upper rpm and more than adequate down low.

I definately made the right choice. i was going to force myself to buy a Z because I thought it would make a better daily driver than the S2000. (I thought the s2k would be more like my FD cause its so light).

I recommend this car to anyone.

Sea Ray

Great story. The RX 8 is the car your mother warned you about.

Its the car some people want to hate, but once they actually test drive one.......well like you said

zthang

Yea, I give big props to the 8. It's a great all around car. I was torn b/w the same decisions you are, but i ended up w/the Z. This was about a year and a half ago, so if the RX8 was out back then my decision would have been much harder. I still love my choice though. Have fun, isn't the feeling of owning a new car great? I wish i still had that, my baby's over a year old now.

rx-7~rx-8

nyce story...man you have one hell of a car... i test drove the auto... and i am 16... drive a fast car... driven many many fast cars... and i thought the rx-8 would be slow but is was off the chain... low end toruqe isnt that bad just rev that shyt ... man i have 8 more months though.. cant wait...

RX8-TX

Don't you miss the 'new car' smell ?? dude, I had mine since August and I miss that scent already.

zthang

I sure do....I'm not 100% sure, but i was watching this thing on PBS once about chemistry, and i THINK they mentioned that the new car smell is slightly toxic or a carcinogen or something. Anyways it was really cool b/c apparently they "pressure cook" that smell into every piece of apholstery.

BRx8

i think that new car scent differs if you have leather or not...mine has leather and all i could smell for a good month straight was the leather...which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but i like the "other" new car scent

SikRedRX-8

I felt the same way you did. I was torn between the G35 and 350z and the RX-8. I have wanted the 8 since it first apeared, but the 350 and G35 were also catching my eye. When I drove the 350 I was pretty disapointed, not that it is a bad car, but not the car I thought it would be. and the G35 also was a nice car but not a RX-8. So after a few days deciding I knew I wanted the 8.

scorp76

Nice, fair review.

When I read the title, I thought the reason you didn't buy would be short and sweet, like because it's ugly or because the interior is cheaper than a hooker on Greenville.

cueball

Very in depth write up zerobanger.

sferrett

I really dig the rx8 in 2nd gear around 6000 RPMs or so, you can really get it to take off especially coming out of a corner. I find myself gravitating to the upper RPMs even more so than in the 7.

I think to truly appreciate the rotary you have to learn not to be gunshy of the redline or the rev limiter - a little bit of a different story than most piston engines and certainly not the way most people learn to drive. If the redline beeper isn't going off then you're just not doing it right. (unless, of course, you're trying to take it easy)

SImon.

trash259

Glad you didnt get the 350z after such an unbiased review

Genom

Dont be ridiculous. Everybody has a personal bias. He never said it was unbiased. He just gave his reasons for it.

zerobanger

what do you want me to say? I drove an S2000 and LOVED it. I bought the rx-8 because I liked the rx-8 more. There are some good things about the Z and its straight line performance may be better than the 8's, but I didn't find anything else appealing about it.

trash259

Here are some reviews that are unbias from rx-8 owners (In which I complimented them):

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...5&pagenumber=2

No insults slung at the car...just objective opinions.

zerobanger

I gave my objective opinion. If you dont like my wording, well thats too bad.

trash259

Yes it is...oh well.:p

Elara

Quit trying to pick a fight. He didn't attack you personally, he just stated why he didn't like the Z. You're on an RX-8 board for god's sake. What do you expect???

zerobanger

I like the 350Z, they handle amazing, have a very nice interior, the fit and finish of the interior is the best. They are very lightweight and agile and easily tossible.

Straight line speed is amazing. The only reason I did not get one is because the Rx-8 has more torque.

ok?

trash259

who's fighting??? He stated his opinion and I stated mine....nothing wrong w/ that is there?

zerobanger

I stated my opinion on the quality of a car. You stated your opinion on ME calling me bias for speaking frank.

I gave the Z credit for its SEATS and for its LOW end torque.

Thats all it has (and the RX8's seats are amazing too).

Elara

ok, here's a hint. Drop it. You stated your opinion, and then kept repeating it, adding in crap about being biased, obviously trying to get a reaction out of someone. Well, now you've gotten one out of me. And you probably don't want that.

trash259

"It felt like I was driving a bus" and "dash looked like it was designed by a 10 year old with his first lego set"

I think your are contradicting yourself.

zerobanger

LOL, I was being sarcastic. I figured when I said the Rx8 has more torque you would have got a clue.

why dont you IM me and we can take this private? should be fun. RegnaBorez

trash259

moderator edit: Being rude to the mods will get you nowhere. Do this again and get a three day ban.