carcrazy95,

Completly agree on the car. Been driving for 36 years. I just got a new 2006 before Thanksgiving. Sold my pick-me-up truck to get the RX-8. Still have to have a minivan to hall the full family in and all their stuff. As I've said in other posts - its a blast being able to haul three teens and their stuff (Lacrosse stick, baritone, etc.) to school - and still have the "sports" car thrill.

I have the same impression that the RX-8 is a sports touring car. I had a Fiat 124 Spider that I loved and babied (despite the Fix-It-Again-Tony" reputation). The RX-8 is hands down more sporting than the Spider. The moonroof just has to satisfy my top-down experience.

 

bunch of juvenile delinquents............

(just kidding) i'm the same way

 

Welcome carcrazy95. I enjoyed reading your posts on this thread.

 

Yes, welcome! Thanks for the suzuki rotary story.

As a motorcyclist first, I too think the rotary is very similar to some bikes. My Fireblade revs really quick like the renesis, with high revs (12000rpm), and also has a very linear power delivery. And it's smooth as silk.

I have a BMW flat twin too, quite the opposite, a torque monster that feels closer to it's car cousins.

 

Are you Jay Leno?

 

Hmmm..... let me see. Do I own Leno's collection of over 400 cars, most of which seem to be worth more than I make in a year (or in many years)? No.... Am I worth about a billion dollars? No, I'm a little short of that.... Am I as good looking as Jay Leno? Well, maybe there I might just have him, but then, so would almost anyone. I would gladly trade my (mediocre) looks for his, if I also got his money and his 400+ car collection (which includes an original Mazda Cosmo).

LMAO, ROFLMAO, and all those other little acronyms. Sadly, much to my mother's (and probably wife's...) great disappointment, I am, unfortunately, not Jay Leno. I think he probably would think he has better things to do than play around on a RX8 forum (though he might have one of his people do it, he reportedly employs about a dozen people full-time to maintain his car collection).

No, I'm just a new-born fan of the RX8, simple as that. There are many characteristics a car can have - straight line power, handling agility, comfort/luxury, reliability, fuel economy, styling (always totally personal and subjective), affordable price. Then there is that intangible feeling of tossability and flingability that goes beyond merely describing agility or even calculating a polar moment of inertia. What I am so impressed with the RX8 is that it offers that intangible feeling of oneness with the car - which to me is the purest essence of true sports car FUN, much more so than pure brute power or lateral acceleration (handling G-forces around a skidpad), for such a reasonable price.

Mazda itself uses the term "Jinba Ittai" in describing the new Miata. The direct translation of the Japanese idiom is “rider and horse as one.” I think it actually applies so much better to the RX8. The Miata is a lot of fun to drive as well (I've owned 2 of them over the years, and hope to get a retractable hardtop as soon as the market for them cools down a bit and it becomes easier to find one). But I think the RX8 is even so much more fun to drive than the Miata because of its rev-happy, turbine-like rotary engine and overall higher levels of performance - it truly seems to capture the Jibna Ittai spirit.

Jay Leno. Feh! That imposter! BTW, Jerry Seinfeld also is a passionate car collector (and so much better looking).....

 

I think I saw somewhere (on this forum?) that Jay Leno owns an 8, and that it is among his favorite cars to drive.