I've renewed my love affair with the car after suffering thru the last 8 months with the totally POS Original Equipment Bridgestones. I read reviews and looked around a little and decided to get the Avon M550 All Season tires. The car is now so much quieter and softer riding, with no tramlining. Ahhhhhh!!!!

Around 10k miles the Bridgestones hardened up and got pretty loud. I cheeped out and waited as long as possible before replacing the tires. Now I'm enjoying my 8 as much as ever. About half of my miles are Interstate - all over the South East. The rest are around town and some fun runs up into the mountains.

When I bought my 8 the trim level I was willing to pay for was going to be determined by how much I could get for my '94 BMW 325is, one of my all time favorite cars I've owned. I thought about getting a new 330ci or a E36 M3 but I remembered my first car was an '84 RX-7 GSL-SE and how much I loved that car. So I decided on an 8. I figured I'd get a Touring or Grand Touring, but at those prices I also considered the Lexus IS300 - a very nice car in it's own right. I really like a straight six motor.

Well, a few months before I sold the 325is Jiffy Lube f*cked up an oil change and my 325 ran very low on oil before I could figure out what was happening. The engine survived but I didn't feel right about selling at the high end of the scale so I lost a few thousand when I found a buyer.

So I ran numbers and figured out payments and figured I wanted to put about $6500 down and get under $400 month payments... that translated to a Base 8 or something else, like an Impreza WRX... interesting car but an econo box with a big motor... With a pending marriage I wanted this purchase to be a modest one... so I was set on keeping to my budget.

Initially I thought the Base looked pretty spartan with out the fog lights and a sunroof. I'd never owned a car with any stability or traction control so I figured that an agile car and my own 25 years of driving experience would have to be sufficient. I was never scared of the 8 - I'd owned more powerful cars with much worse handling, and slower cars with similar handling.

After a year and one winter with the Base I will say that it's been a great car and I'm glad I don't have DSC. As long as some surprise doesn't await me that I'm not humanly able to deal with (that is the $64 question, isn't it?). Day in, day out, I have no desire for DSC. The car is so forgiving, never suprising, and does exactly what I want it to do - that's the point of a good-handling car, isn't it? The Torsen LSD is simply awesome - it is very predictable and also has the great effect of working on trailing throttle; along with the passive rear steer built in to the rear suspension, you get a lot of passive help from the car with out having a computer step in. Go into a corner too hot and get into the brakes - as you monitor adhesion and yaw - and you left yourself a margin of error, didn't you - you'll feel the Torsen and the rear steer like the car is dragging its back foot to keep stable - like putting a foot down on a bike when you skid the rear wheel. Very well done. Or, play around in a snow filled empty parking lot. Power up, initiate a turn, then off the throttle - no spin - the Torsen keeps you straight. Caught me by surprise the first time - you have to stay on the throttle to do pirouttes; you can't just toss it around and get it spinning. Oh yeah, that's with the DSC turned off......or absent, in my case.

Oh yeah, and I'm not a D*mb*ss, too. That part is important. I've never lost the rear end. In fact, the only 2 times I've spun a car I was in a '82 Civic CVCC and a '90 Civic Si... strange... In fact, beside the '90 Civic and a '94 Integra GS-R all of my cars have been RWD: '84 RX-7, '88 Mustang 5.0 LX, 944, '89 MR2 with modded suspension, '98 F-150 4.6 Flareside....

I love being able to get way in the throttle coming out of intersections and in low speed corners, just like I always have, and not have the power cut or some other intervention kick in. That's part of being a responsible and experienced driver. No "disrespect" to anybody, and maybe I'm just a traditionalist, but I don't want DSC - I'm my own DSC. I feel like some folks just have to have their cars loaded up with every available option (and list it on their posts down at the bottom) and then add a bunch of mods just to be happy with their cars (and egos). It's a sports car, people, some of the fun is getting the car up on the edge of adhesion and modulating things.... The car will not rear up and try to kill you if you know what you're doing and are being responsible and cautious.

Some might say, "Just turn off the DSC. Sure, but I don't like having to stop before any passionate activity and push a button (or apply birth control devices, etc). Spur of the moment fun is the name of the game when it comes to driving.

I've spent some really enjoyable days up in the mountains of North Carolina, no not on the Dragon, but there are plenty of other great roads up there with a lot less LEO's running around. The rear end will come way out and just stay there, better than any other car I've owned.

I'd like little better MPG a little more low-end torque, and less heat inside, especially during the summer. I'd also like a wider foot box because my right leg and foot are pushed to the left and after an hour or so, especially if I'm not on Cruise Control, my right leg/knee/foot get sore from being out of a natural position.

The Base has all the options I need - more than any other car I've owned (other than a sunroof), though a sunroof would be nice. I will say that, at $26k out the door, the 8 is a great value. The new Mustang is the only real competition if you need to seat 4 people. Of course, no one will ever mistake you for a redneck in an RX-8....

But, at $28 to $30+k there are a lot of other cars I would consider - IS300 and its replacement, G35 (nice car, crappy engine despite the power), even a GTO (well, maybe the second Gen that is coming), BMW, Audi, etc. I'm very happy with my purchase.

 

Nice review.

 

hurray for base 8s!!!!! :D

 

Excellent review, detailed and flavoured. Thanks for taking the time and adding so many compairisons. Seems your car is running well then.
Jeff

 

How did your tires harden within 10k miles?

 

you lost me at " i renewed my love affair..."

 

When I had my GSL-SE 7 with Bridgestones, it handled like crap on damp or wet roads. This was definitely noticeable after I wore them in. They stuck good when new, but lost more and more traction as they wore in. I would lose wheel traction around any corner on damp roads after putting 10k on them. Other people did tell me they harden over time, due to retaining heat, which cured and hardened the rubber.

Switched to Good Year Aqua treads and boy those things stuck. Quite a difference, even after putting 30k on them. Out performed the Bridgestones all around.

I also have a ZX6, and tires make ALL the difference when riding it, especially like it should be ridden. Nothing but Dunlop tires on it. Anything else felt like I was going to commit suicide.

 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............is it over yet?

 

nice read dude, glad to hear you like your car(base is the way to go for driving) but i got GT because its a cruiser and daily driver so i wanted all the extra bullshit like the leather, heated everything, sunroof, foglights, etc etc.

 

Could you give some more details on the maintenance/problems on your car? Any engine/tranny problems? Any interior rattle? Some weak things that were broken?

 

As for reliability, there's nothing to report - the car is operates perfectly and nothing has broken.