I have to agree with everyone for a few of the reasons mentioned above. However several people did mention an inexperienced driver crashing an RX-8, while not only the waste of a good car, lets think...what if you get overconfident and lose control....however your loss of control also causes you to hit another vehicle that could injure or kill them. Let us not even mention that the other car could have kids in it as well.

I, for one am not a fan of having snot-nosed (nothing personal against you, just a generalization) kids running around in high performance machines...especially one that has driver aids that can even make your overconfidence worse. Buy a beater.

I am 25 years old and my 8 is my first new car ever. Here is what I have driven....

1986 Ford Bronco II
1995 Mustang (Borrowed from cousin for weekend, hit guardrail...I was invincible..4 weeks on license)
1994 Chevy Corsica (T-Boned someone running a light at 45 MPH, not my fault, I have a cronic back injury from it)
1989 S-10
1992 Lumina
1995 S-10 Lowrider
1994 Civic
2005 RX-8

While my list is filled with beaters, I learned alot of things from each of the cars, I feel that the RX-8 is still very easy to get away from me with my 10 years experience and lots of racing experience. As a driver you must not only know your car, but know its limits and the feel of it. You have to know how the car feels in certain situations...a 15-16 even some 25 year old drivers, do not know this and are dangerous.

My girlfriend is 25 years old, and cannot feel her car's habits through the wheel for nothing, it ticks me off every time. She can have a car half lost (handlingwise) and not know it. Learn the feel of the road, then graduate to the RX-8...you won't regret it.

 

Man,

I have got to chime in, not the the son wanting an 8 but to the Mom. To her, "Are you f#$#king crazy!" I don't care if you are the Sultan of Dubai, a 15 year old has no business behind the wheel of an 8.

Sorry to sound so frank, but when you're peeling his brains off a tree trunk, you'll wish you'd gotten him a beater Volvo!!! Jeez, I apologize, but this thread has really incensed me............

What kind of parent would put their unexperienced child behind the wheel of a 200+hp sportscar????

And when you crash into me, I'm gonna sue you and your Mom's asses off................

again, sorry to vent.............................

 

If he's lucky, he'll get a big ol' speeding ticket first. Maybe that will open mom's eyes a little bit.

 

I think the question you should be asking yourself is...

"Is it responsible of me to be out on the roads driving, when I CAN'T EVEN FRICKIN' READ AND WRITE PROPERLY????"

Seriously, there is a written part to the driving test you know, and there are things such as road signs that you're required to understand.

So, go away, learn to read and writ properly, then come back when you're old enough and you might get taken seriously. Oh, and tell your parents to lay off the crack pipe.

 

I'm 16. it was my first car. I got it on my 16th birthday.

 

Sue me for what? An accident? Sorry, we live in America. Accidents happen all the time. And, I guess ya'll think there is some magical age you hit and then you can't get in any wrecks and you become some flawless driver. I think not.

 

I think I'm beating a dead horse here, but take everyone's advice and learn to hone your skills as a driver before obtaining a great car. There are many reasons to do so. The hard part is saying no to something you want.

I can speak from personal experience. I just got my RX-8 this past weekend. It's the first new car I've ever bought. I'm happy. But I've paid my dues. I've been driving since I was 16 (24 now) and only on low performance economy type cars, both standard and automatic. It's not that I couldn't have afforded a nice sports car, but I knew that if I couldn't push a stupid 120 HP car to its limits and understand the dynamics behind my driving, how could I even think I could handle a 238-HP car?

Every day I get in my car, whether it's my RX-8 or my POS '00 Corolla VE (which, incidently, I love too ), I aim to become a better driver. I don't race around speeding but I do things like go into a corner as best I can, hit the apex, accelerate out of the turn, blah blah blah. All I'm saying is that I pay attention to myself and my driving. Finally, after years of driving I know my own style of driving and as a result I can focus more on the differences in the types of cars that I drive.

Kudos to you if you can be mature now and just keep that smoldering desire burning in your heart until you know you are ready to unleash yourself with an RX-8.

 

There goes the insurance rates on our car.

 

My first car was a 1973 Impala... paid $200 cash.

 

There's a reason your insurance rates are sky high if you are a male under 25 ...

*DING* there's the magical age!!! And statistically proven too ...

 

Yeah, you're doing a lot for the reputation of the car, and this community. You sound like an insecure idiot.

And, what is an 'operating engineer'?
EDIT: Google seems to suggest that an operating engineer is a construction worker.

Your ridiculous rant makes more sense now. You clearly have some social status issues.

 

Sounds like your looking for fight today. I won't indulge you this time dickwad.

 

Not looking for a fight. Just wanted to let you know how stupid you sound.

 

I'm gonna say this as calmly as I possibly can.....

When I was 16 and hell-bent on destruction, I fortunately had only friends in beat up Buicks and and the occasional MG midget. One guys' daddy gave him his 240Z and he promptly wrapped around a telephone pole within a week of getting his license. Me? I started in my mamas Ventura (anybody remember those?) and eventually bought myself a Celica (which was pretty cool at the the time).

Personally, I don't care if you were born with a silver spoon in you mouth. My one and only point is to the mother. NO KID THAT AGE can handle anything above perhaps a '91 Volvo. Want to make him look cooler and have cash to toss about. Get him a Mazda 3 series.

But if you care about his life!!! don't put him in this car!!! This is the part that slays me. I understand the part about making sure Junior has all the toys money can buy, but is it worth it to get that phone call in the middle of the nite........????.............??????

 

there are plenty of reasons 'kids' shouldnt be driving expensive and/or sports-performance cars but if the parents can afford to drop some serious money on their son's 16th birthday theres nothing any of us can do to stop them. we all had rich kids in our highs schools. they'll always be around and we'll always be around to resent them.
i've paid for ALL of my cars myself, ALL of my gas, ALL of my insurance.

my 1st was an 83 VW scirrocco that had been abandoned on the mexican border i got it for $450!!! and i sold it for $800 which i used to buy a 78 camaro.
i'm just glad i finally got to the point where i could afford a sweet car like the rx-8.

im sure no one needs to hear my opinion, but i suppose i agree that 'kids' dont need RX-8's.

 

im now undecided and still dont know what im going to do about my car i will update when i figure out what im getting, thanks for the input