My sister works for Ford. I bought my RX8 through her "X" plan and she buys a new Mustang every year via the X plan. She got one of the first '05 GTs in the city. So, I've driven both the GT and 8, back-to-back. NO doubt about the GT having a better stoplight-to-stoplight potential over the 8. Plus, Ford did a nice job with the GT update. I like it.

But, these are two very different cars. If you're into American muscle and cafe racing, then the Mustang will fit the bill. If you want an all around great sports car, then the RX8 is one of the best out there.

Other differences.....
-handling....the RX8 wins hands down. The RX8 is an extension of the driver.
-build quality and quality of materials goes to the RX8, is much better than the Mustang, too.

Again, two very different cars. Mustang is good for what it does and so is the RX8. If muscle cars are your think, then you can't do much better than the Mustang GT (with the exception of the 'vette). IF you want an all around, daily driver sports car, you can't do much better than the RX8. Both are fast in their own rights.

BTW...if you want to do 360s while smoking the tires in the RX8, you can do that, but why would you want to?

 

i dont normally jump in on theses mustang threads but ifigured i would just to let people know where i stand. ill post some old comments i made as well as this story- yeah i know its sappy but its true and i wrote it for a competition here to win some 8 stuff:

The year is 1964. A young man sees a story about a new car coming out. He falls instantly in love with it. He’s just recently out of the navy and working as the third generation in his family’s plumbing business. He doesn’t have much money but he goes to his local dealer, puts down as much and probably more than he could afford.
4 months later he drives out of the ford dealer in his 64-½ mustang. Only the 2nd one the dealer had received.
Years later he is married and has a son, everywhere they go in the mustang, the son sits in the seat behind his dad. Windows open, wind in his face, rock n roll on the radio the son learns the sheer joy of driving. When the boy is 9 the dad has to sell the car so he can afford a truck for work.
Over 20 years later the son of the plumbers son is all grown up. Married and hoping to have children of his own. He sees a car called the rx8 that reminds him of the passion his dad shared with him for driving. It might be more than he should spend but he gets one anyway even though he has to wait months to get it. Now he can’t wait too put his child in the seat behind him. He’ll roll down the windows, turn up the radio and pass on that passion for driving to the next generation.

p.s- i now have a son who sits behind me when i drive mustangs aren't all about rednecks just like japanese cars arent all owned by "ricers"

 

my wife and i were having this discussion a while ago. and she put it like this " this car is the new mustang". now before everybody starts flaming my wife let me explain. what she meant was that this car is a revolution in the making. much like the mustang did in 1964 my wife ( and i agree) believes this car will change car making. the mustang was so popular it created a whole class of "pony" car imitators(take note that only the mustang is left) and changed the auto industry. i think that once this car is out there will be a slew of four or five seat, great performance to the dollar,amazing styling, great fit and finish cars for us to choose from. and 30 yrs from the rx8 just might be the only one left after all the imitators are gone. just think how much someone is going to be willing to pay for an all original 2004 rx8! now who wants to flame my wife!

 

very good points pelucidor. it shouldn't be about the badge but where it is actually produced. i originally asked the question because in my mind the only thing that comes close is the ford mustang and while i have been a fan of that car since i was a very small child, i have to say that the rx-8 beats it hands down. at the recent car show i asked a salesman who must have only been about 5'6" tall if people actually fit in the back seat of the 'stang and he tried to quickly show me how easy it was and how much room there was. well, he had a hell of a time getting the seat belt off a hook type device on the front seat (it was a convertible model) and then when he sat down and pulled the front seat back it slammed him in the knees! he tried to blow it off like it was no big thing but i left with a big smile on my face

 

i was asking months ago what people thought of a comparison between a mustang and the rx-8. most people thought i was insane for asking but agreed that the entry mustang with the v6 would at least warrent a comparison. never did i think that soemone would compare the rx8 with a cobra. lets remember that the cobra is a worked over 5.0 liter (or more?) v8. the rotary in the rx8 is 1.3 liter! is there a torque and straight line power difference? OF COURSE THERE IS!! while most people here don't like the mustang i have been a fan of this car since i was born. spent the first 9 years of my life in the back of my dad's '64 1/2 stang(which he had to wait 4 months for after ordering-sorta like my wait for the rx-8). i spent 5 years in my 20's redoing a '65 'stang. but the fact that THIS magazine chose a 1.3 liter rotary and a v-6, both from japan mind you, over the SVT Cobra version shows just how much Ford needs to update the mustang! remember folks this car , the RX-8, is the same size as a 911 and weighs, according to C&D, 200lbs less and yet as everyone who has seen both it and the mustang will tell you there is way more room in the back than in the 'stang.
with everything this car offers at this price it is most definetly the car for me. but of course i had already decided that issue- this comparo is just icing on the cake

 

Still trying to catch Omi, eh? :D

The Cobra has a 4.6 L supercharged V8, btw. And I am able to sit farther back in a more comfortable driving position with my daughter behind me (without her yelling and kicking me) than I was in the 8. I know there is more "back seat room" in the 8 by measurement, but there seems to be more EFFECTIVE back seat room in the Cobra. Maybe it's the shape of the seats.

The getting to the back seat part does suck, as you mentioned. :p

They are both fun cars to drive, but very different.

 

i have no idea what you are talking about ^

 

Yep, the Mustangs, Evo's, WRX's all have ***** envy when they see our 8. That's why they're compelled to show off. They feel inadequate at the sight of our sexy RX- 8's. They feel challanged even in a parking lot.

 

Wow, Ford hasn't used a 5.0 V8 in the Mustang since 1995. Where have you been? That was 10, yes count them, 10 years ago...
Please, the only thing the RX-8 and the Mustang have in common is that they both get s***ty gas milage.

I have owned a 2 door car all my life and mostly so I I don't have to cart people all over the place. I couldn't care less how big my back seat is as long as there is a passenger seat for my g/f. The backseat of my Mustang is for insurance purposes only.

 

read the first post of those 5 or so from me- i said i was grabbing some old posts-
a. i wrote that like 3 years ago
b. i hadnt paid attention to what ford was doing with the mustang for at least 10 years before that (i was just a guy who thought mustangs were cool) because
c. i was fairly poor and a new car was not on my priority list and
d. i had spent a number years in my 20's restoring a 65 mustang and did not pay attention to what ford was doing with the current ones.

i did see the error when i was copying that post but since i said earlier i was going to grab some older posts i didnt want to edit them. it was the thought of the posts i was trying to convey not the accuracy. read my posts from about 2 years ago and before and you will find alot of factual errors- because i didnt have nearly the knowledge i have now.