Racer X-8

Here ya go Sky. I'm really quite amazed you haven't used this one on us yet. This oughta really get us feeling bad...

TJRX8

Wow! And you own a cool car too!

graphicguy

Yep...I check out Edmunds pretty regularly, too. Same graphicguy. I figured you were the same zoomster.

Ike

Haha I just had to reply since my brother had an X19, it was poop brown with camel interior. Wow was that a neat little car for the time, but wow was it a piece of crap :p He ended up after several years trading it in for the Motor Trend new car of the year, the CRX, who knew at the time what a giant Honda would become and what that car would become. Kind of funny now when I look back on it.

Ike

graphicguy

At the time, there weren't a lot of sports cars that were great handling. I had mine in the '80s....the "dark ages" for sports cars.

Emissions and fuel economy hardware had killed the American muscle car and the Japanese had yet offered anything that would be considered a sports car (except for Mazda with the RX7). The Datsun 2xxZ series had turned into boulevard cruisers and the Supra was just a "gussied-up" Celica.

MGs, Triumphs, Fiats, Alpha Romeos, were the only affordable sports cars available and their quality was dismal, at best.

The Fiat X1/9, the Fiat Spider were fun cars. Not fast, but fun.

Having had American muscle cars, a Fiat and an MG, I got first hand knowledge of how to work on my own cars.

Mockngbrd

Great photos...

i typed out a really long reply but my com. screwed up when i hit the submit reply button... dammit....

RX-8 Zoomster

Then edit ...dammit ..., I'm eager to hear what you have to say.

Welcome to the club!

JTek_55

Please don't bring the Audi TT into this. No Audi TT owners have said anything about your Z or the RX-8 for that matter.

Frankly, I like the RX-8 and the 350Z. I had them both on order before I got my TT. I drove them both and liked them both for different reasons...


BTW: My "girly" TT will smoke your 350 any day of the week. And I have the convertable.

Mockngbrd

mmm... its not that i can edit, i typed it out and juz when i hit the submit button... my com screws up and everything is gone... damn...

will try to type out again tonite when i get home.... :]

Luv the pic of the RX-8 in ur avatar though... is it yours? nice kit.. wish i can afford an RX-8... (or any car for that matter...) :P

Racer X-8

Pretty car, but no *****. Would still like to see some pinups of her if you can...

RX-8 Zoomster

Mockngbrd ,

Yup! That's mine. :D Thanks for the compliment. There are more pics of my car via the link below my sig line, if you are interested.

Pete

Both the Rx8 and the 350Z are great automobiles. I was debating on a 350Z, the s2000, and the Rx8. The Rx8 won me over. But only through serious consideration.

All three cars are great to drive, and all have my respect.

RodsterinFL

I have another comment. One that I posted in another thread:


I just have to say this - the RX 8 is fabulous. It is my hope that it pulls off several awards for the 2004 model year. Best Car, etc. I truly cannot imagine why it wouldn't.

I have been re-shopping and looking at cars again (toying with the idea of buy-back) today 9/7 the Nissan dealer was open !!??, I test drove a 350Z Touring about 8 miles. I can only say TRULY TRULY that I greatly prefer the RX 8. The z was heavy feeling and nowhere nearly as limber - light on its feet. It held the road but it was heavy. I also felt like I was down inside of something versus the RX position- hard to explain. The SAME road I drive on daily - road noise was louder and I felt every bump throughout the cabin. The engine sounded great but the handling was nowhere near the same sensation of fun. As soon as I got back to the dealer a guy was looking at my 8. He asked me several things about it and then said don't you miss having any torque? I said not really and I quoted the 0 - 60 z and RX specs- not too different - 5.8 Nissan vs. 5.9 acc to Road and Track.

I know this is long but I have visited 2 other dealerships again on cars of choice and have come back with the same "keep it" conclusion. Tonight on Dateline they had crash test info and one of the cars I looked at was featured = the G35. It was rated as POOR and major damage resulted in the test. Ironically the worst was the Mercedes 500 class - the bumper sprang off the car practically and caused MAJOR damage. MB commented in a letter that the bumper styling outweighed the functional aspect - WHOA!!! The Mazda 6 did very well. So much for the Infiniti. I bet insurance will climb on those babies.

My greatest concern over the buy-back issue is the resale and future marketability. I e-mailed several car reviewer/writers and have received one reply - "... Keep it. It is a very desired car...the situation with the Miata did not cause any loss of value."

My second shopping is from a different perspective and set of expectations that are confirming my original decision in favor of the 8.

graphicguy

As far as resale, there's not a lot of history. But, I e-mailed someone who is "VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE" (as, he's in the business of buying and selling used cars and attends many auctions every year....mostly hi-lines) and here was his reply:

".... I'm certainly can't say what they might be worth in 15/30 months .. they do seem to be enjoying a nice run right now .. most with 200/400 miles are doing in and around that $32/$33 figure ... "

That's what he's seeing with the few that are going through the auction houses. Understand, that's not many cars to base any sort of empirical data on, but the RX8s at the auctions as used cars are selling at or very near MSRP new. That's a good sign.

He went on to say:

" Those Rotary engines have always been a little quirky, do have a tendency to puff around and the fuel economy has never really been their "blue light special" and if not driven properly did see some service depts .. but even so, IF you can find a clean 90/93/95 you will pay All the money, 100k 95's still see $10 grand at the auctions .. again, can't say how reflective that will be on the new model ..


This get's back to what I always say ..


Always buy and drive what YOU like ..!"

What he means about "pay all the money" for a clean used one is that even at the auctions, they go for high dollars. He's also saying that a 100K mile 9 year old rotary is still commanding over 50% of its original cost (assuming that a 9 year old RX7 would have originally sold for around $20K). That's real strong. I trust his judgement implicitly....and his opinion is as good as gold to me.

superocho

RodsterinFL,

Glad to hear you have a Winning Blue GT 6MT.

I have gone through similar thoughts (even though I am stilll waiting for my 8 -- same specs are yours! plus appearance package).

For those still thinking of what to do, I think at some point you have to "ignore the highly-talkative HP issue" and look at the bigger pictuire of what each car gives you.

For me the big difference between Z and 8 is the 2 or 4 seats. Decide that first. That will either take you to the Z (2 seats) or to 8 or G35c (4 seats). The G35 is a compromise between sporty and luxury. From those two, its up to you. I thought I wanted a G35C then I saw a Winning Blue like the one I have on order. I drove, it was fast enough for me. So I'm eagerly awaiting it.

In the end, I "want to have fun" with the car, I don't need to brag how many HPs I have. I got plenty

Test drive!

RX-Late

Thanks for the comparison pictures of the 8 and 350Z. I must say I rather like the look of both cars. I'm waiting on my 8 to arrive, but I would be happy to own either.

aussie77

Really nice pics, droidekaus. Good job there.

Just to chime in, I have to say in those pics the Z does look a little better. However, if you add the spoiler on the back of the 8, it adds a sense of balance, and then it is really hard to pick one or the other based on looks.

I was looking at getting either a Z or the 8, but in the end the 8 won out. They are both great cars, each with a sightly different focus. The Z is obvously a little faster, the 8 I think has better handling. However the 8's practicality combined with the smooth ride is what won me over.

The people who rabidly and obsessively hate the Z for being a 'competitor' to the 8 I don't understand, likewise the Z owners who are more obsessed with the missing hp than people who actually own the RX-8. Guess it takes all kinds to make a world, but some kinds are just messed up!

mr_digital_uk

I was originally in the market for the 350Z .....

Then I realised that I couldn't get one this side of Xmas in the UK ...

Then I re-visited the 8 which I had discounted earlier .....

When I realised that it had room in the back for my 11 year old daughter and was getting reviews that it was more fun to drive than most others on the market ... well no competition.

Then I test drove one ...

DONE DEAL

BTW: I'm an engineer by background, so the 9k RPM rotary and the backward doors might have had something to do with it

WilliamT

Does anyone have pics of an RX8 with the aero package mentioned in the first post? Is it a factory option?

thanks,
William

RX-8 Zoomster

WilliamT,

Check out MY RX-8 PICS under my sig. My car has the rotary accents, appearance package (aero pkg), spoiler, air outlet strakes, and exhaust finishers.

If one hasn't bought the car yet,the appearance package can be ordered as an option. They install the parts at the port.

If you already own the car, the appearance package parts can be ordered through the accessory brochure, and can be installed by your dealer or you.

Blue 350z

LOL.. you took the slowest ever testing of a Z and compared it to a pre-production rx-8 that people now are getting no where near. I can easily pull 5.2-5.4 0-60's in my Z without breaking a sweat, dropping the clutch at 2000-2500 and get high 13 second 1/4 times at 100-101 mph.. Also the torque difference is sooo diffrent, the 5-60 tells the story, 7.6 from 5-60 for the rx-8 and 5.9 for the Z.. Now imagine being in 5th gear and hitting the gas in a rx8, the car will go NOWHERE unless you downshift, this is a fact.

Also I just read a post from the my350z boards about an encounter with an rx8, here it is, also it was determined it was an MT trans, but not that it matters because the MT and the AT test only about .1 of a second difference

""..well let me get to the point...last night i was coming home from work.. and as soon as get on route 80 ..there is a rx8 in black.. about three cars ahead of me.. lol at first i thought it was an s 2000 for sum reason but it was the rx8.. as im TRYIN to get next to him he slows down.. and i get rite next to him... and bang he down shifts and piks up speed... i did the same.. and left him by 3 car lengths... nice looking car but its not quick at all... so by 105 mph i decide to slow down ... and this A**hole..cuts me off real bad.. and was out.. but it was kool it was my first race in my z...and murdered his brand new mazda ""

So if grabbing numbers from a mag makes ya feel better, thats fine, but its not the story at all, rx-8's that I have seen myself and read posts about are trapping very low 90mph's and getting low 15's in the 1/4 vs around 14.0-14.2 @ 100+ for the average Z's not to menction the everyday drivability of 2x the torque to the wheels of the rx-8 and not having to drop the clutch at 8000 to get a decent launch, the power is ALWAYS there in the Z.

PS. One of our my350z members's wife has an MT rx8. He said he drives it regularly and it feels "whimpy" compared to the Z.

So please, STOP quoting mag times. Show me time slips or don't compare the 2 cars speed wise at all. Your trying to tell me a car with 175 rwhp and 120 rwtq is gonna feel as fast as a 240rwhp and 235rwtq car, not gonna happen.

graphicguy

Ya' know....I like how you post a report about a guy who thought he was running against an RX8, or maybe it was an S2000, maybe he was dropping it down a gear, maybe he wasn't, RX8 beats him, but the guy in the 350Z said he was cutoff.....maybe he wasn't even racing. What I suspect is that the person in the RX8 didn't even know the Z was there until The guy in the Z dropped it down a gear. Race was so close until the fillings in the Z drivers teeth rattled out and the noise from the rattles got to be so high he had to back off. At that time, the Z backed off while the RX8 was still winding it out and all of a sudden, noticing there wasn't going to be a "kill", the Z backed off. RX8 pulls ahead and all of a sudden the Z driver cries that he was cut off.

Time slips have been posted all over the place. It's funny, the "bad" time slips never really show what car was involved...just some nebulous "some guy who supposedly was running an RX8 told me his sucked and showed me these slips". The ones where it's clear what was actually running at the track show the RX8 0-60 in the low 6s (which I've personally duplicated and without a hi rev clutch dump) and 1/4s in the mid to low 14s.

Truth told, the Z, while a fine car in its own right, and the RX8 are so close performance wise that given two good drivers, there isn't going to be much difference in the stop light wars. On the track, sure....not cafe racing, though. Where they differ the most is the smoothness, precise, high quality feel of the RX8 over the Z. Steering is light and accurate...clutch/shifter is light and precise (not "ham fisted" like the 350Z where you feel like you have to "force it" in and out of each gear).

I've driven both the Z/G and through experience (both at the track and at the Mid-Ohio autoX), believe without a hi rev clutch dump in either car, you're looking at something like a 6 sec 0-60, low 14s on the 1/4. The RX8 is certainly within a tenth or two of the Z. In a street race, that translates to a draw, given drivers of equal tallent.

Quit your whining. If you want the RX8 so badly, why don't you go ahead and take the "money hit" and trade it in on the RX8. Your posts sound so jealous of the RX8 that you must want one real bad to spend so much time at the RX8 forum.

javahut

FWIW...

Just saw the new season opener of Motor Week this weekend. They reviewed the new 350Z roadster. Said it still has the 287 hp of the coupe. But the 0-60 and quarter mile times were no faster than their test of the pre-production RX-8. In fact, I think they were a little slower. Can't remeber exactly off the top of my head, but the Z roadster was something like mid to high 6+ seconds for 0-60 and mid to high 14s for the quarter.

Blue 350z

Graphicguy, you seem to be stalking me, everytime I post you counter-post with some LONG opinion based blah blah chalked full of non-sense with no basis of facts. That's why I usually don't bother responding to you since you absolutely know nothing about cars and have a total disregard for facts. Most people on this site have already admitted and accepted to the fact that the 350z is quite a bit faster then the RX8, that's ok, sometimes it takes longer to accept the facts and since you graphicguy seem a bit slow, I would expect it to take longer to register for you. Hey I even accepted the fact that the RX-8 has a nicer interior then the 350z, but I think the Z's interior is still very nicely designed but is of a lesser quality.

So Mr. GraphicGuy you can quote mag times all you want, I don't care.. The fact is the rx8 is putting down a measly 175Hp and 120Tq to the wheels on average, numbers don't lie and no car with those numbers weighing 3000lbs is gonna be running mid 14's and high 90mph traps unless you got some factory freak or are lying, PEROID. I saw an rx-8 at the track well broken in with my own eyes struggling to break 15.2@91 mph in 7-8 runs in 60 degree weather with an experienced dragger.. One time I raced I completely blew the launch spinning my tires like crazy, missed the 1st-2nd shift and had to reshift and still managed a 14.58@98 Mph... I have raced with my Z probably 20 times and with a normal run (not missing gears) I have NEVER done worse then a 14.35@99mph

Also the 350z roadster was tested recently in car and driver and I believe it ran a 14.4@99mph and a 5.8 0-60, but honestly I don't care 1 bit, the roadster is almost 250lbs heavier and I don't like convertibles.

santino

graphicguy always has some good posts. objective and to the point.