Oh, that and nobody knows what the hell it is. I've had people ask me if it's Italian- no joke!

 

 

saturn, that is one of the greatest commercials ever. only because of the crabs accent.

 

Welcome!!!

As you can see from this thread, we're very refined and mature. So be careful because it may rub off on you.

 

rotor_head, I hope you will please ignore the riff-raff non-related crap that seems to have taken over your great post! It is a pleasure to have you join us and I hope you will ignore the BS. If you find you don't want to put up with crap like this then post in the SE forum and the Georgia gang will not treat you like this.

When researching sports cars, I had my mind set on a silver 350z. I told the salesman "this is the one I want" and asked him to go get the key and let's take her for a drive before I sign the papers. He told me I could not drive a 350 unless I purchased it first! I walked into the dealership and asked the manager for the key to test drive and he told me the same thing. So I told them where to put his key and walked. That extended my search for a car and I stopped into a Mazda dealer and fell in love with the 8. I have been forever grateful to the losers at the Nissan dealer for their nudge out the door.

Welcome to the RX8 Club and to the world of ZoomZoom.

 

grats on your purchase OP.

 

I love the Z but you're absolutely right. I was coming back from VA the other day and while sitting in the passenger seat, I started to count sports cars I saw on both sides of the highway. It's about an 45 min ride and I swear to God, I saw at least 9 or 10 Z's. Its the same thing for G35's. My buddy says the same thing as you, he's tired of seeing them.

 

Congrats on the purchase. I know how loosing that much power feels like.

 

Welcome and congrats!

 

A few notes:

First off, congrats on the new car, I think most car buyers looking for what RX-8 buyers are looking for also look at the 350Z... I did too, but two things kept me away:

One was price, I only paid about 22k for my RX8 brand new. No 350z would have been close new.

Two was the fact that the 350Z is everywhere! I see them at every turn, and doubly so once the infiniti G35 coupe is included. There are just way too many Z's on the road.

Enjoy the new car!!!!

 

I've had several people ask me if it's Italian, two people that told me basically that I had a nice Ferrari, and some approximately 12-year-old boy tell me it was the "sweetest Laborghini" that he had ever seen! Most people have no clue what we're driving.

Also, the last two times I have gotten gas (different stations) I've been asked by an employee if my license plate said "bony girl." LOL It says BNY GRL and there is a big stuffed bunny in the back seat.

 

you know the added weight from the bunny throws off the blance of the 8,

heh - just playing with you, i do however try to keep my 8 devoid of anything in the seats, trunk.... 1) for weight and 2) because i hate it when **** flys around all over the car during spirited driving.

 

I don't have a lot in my car extra. I've got the bunny and my sun shade in the car. In my trunk I have a blanket, a first aid kit, oil, and a duster.

 

Welcome aboard, sorry your 1st post took to the long and twisted road which some post fall into here. On the other hand these posts are usually pretty entertaining if nothing else. Enjoy the car.

 

I used it before for Ike, it's e-****.

 

Are you serious??? How could any dealer be so friggin short sighted?!? What maroons...

 

I totally disagree with the Z being a sportcar; I wouldn't classify the 8 as one either, but it's more of one than the Nissan.

Did you know that the 350 chassis is shared with Infiniti sedans and also Nissan's Murano? It's completely compromised by that, its performanced totally curtailed by the fact that underneath, it's nothing but an average-everyday-truck.

Driving one, on two occasions, was nothing but shear disappointment for me. All it did was remind me of a Mustang GT, and felt like the Japanese version of the same. I wanted to like the car as much as the '90-'96 300ZX TT, but driving dynamic-wise it offered absolutely nothing versus the 8. The only areas where the Z edges the 8 would be in torque and a very slight advantage in gas mileage. Any other category, whether you're judging interior quality, handling, and the big one, ride quality, the Z doesn't hold a candle to the 8.

 

You might be surprised at the design pedigree of many Japanese sports cars. One of my favorites is one that was a throwback to MG - designed by Dave Jolly who left his Greensboro NC home where he was a chassis designer for White Trucks....Moved to Gardena CA as chief engineer for a certain Japanese car company on a new product about 20 years ago. Today Dave's back in Greensboro designing trucks (now Volvo-White). Any guesses which car that was?

 

The chassis of a Z and just about every other car on the road today is made from many stampings spot welded together. There are probably some common stampings and thats not a bad thing. The 350 does share most of the same running gear as the G35. The Murano has totally different suspension and centerpiece stampings.

I think everyone has a slightly different definition of a psorts car. To a purist a sports car never has a front engine, it's behind the driver.

The Z is not a bad car at all. I don't think the 350 has anywhere near the appeal that the previous 300 generation 300Z had for that matter.

However comparing the chassis of the Z and the 8 - simply no contest. The 8 has a superb chassis, suspension and brakes. The Z looks like what Porsche would have built if they deigned a front engined 911, but thats where any comparison between a Porsche and Nissan stops.

 

What kind of a maroon would think that???

I really don't care what other cars share the components. What makes a sports car is the way the components are put together as a whole. I agree that the current Z is a good car, but not a great car like previous Z's. I prefer the 8 by a wide margin.

 

Congrats on the purchase and good luck!

 

A deep dark red one. Also one who's been spoiled by a mid engined car. It's not just the balance of weight front-back, in fact a slightly heavier rear tends to have an advantage coming off the turn. Polar moment. But few people have driven a fine car like an NSX or a Ferrari or even a Boxter, much less an RX8 at speed.

No matter. For all intent and purpose, an RX8 is a damn nice street car and fun to drive at any speed. In the end it doesn't matter what others like to drive, every other RX8 owner I've asked said they love the way their RX8 drives and thats what counts.

 

!

"To a purist a sports car never has a front engine, it's behind the driver."

^?

 

good move, i had a pearl white 2003 Touring 350z, let's just say i don't miss it.

 

Just because the Z somewhat resembles a 911 from the side view doesn't make it anything more than a wannabe. What's the 911 anyway, the holy grail? Seriously.