I've pretty much owned sport's cars since day one......1st and 2nd gen 7's, 99 TA, Eagle Talon and I can tell you the only one that came close was a 1987 Porsche 944s that I owned. She was mint with only 40,000 km on her, it was practically new. I never thought I'd get in another car that handled as well and had similar driving characteristics as that Porsche. Well I was wrong for over all performance my 8 blows that Porsche out of the water. LOVE my 8!!

 

if you could put the 944s steering into a 96 mr2, without the snap oversteer...

there you go...


beers

 

What sold me was it drove like my '71 240Z. Lite and handled.

 

I've owned alot of cars way faster, and with better paint. The RX8 has to be the most fun to drive out of them all. The others were pretty strait line, while my RX can take turns like a dream and stop on a dime.

 

She stands alone. All my other cars were used and big bulky family sedans... and automatics. This is my first new car, first financed by myself, first rotary, first Japanese car, first manual, first sports coupe. There's a lot of firsts there, so she stands alone.

But I like to think of it as a re-birth of understanding and loving cars. Looking forward to what I'll be driving and buying the future.

michael

 

I've never had a new car that required a new Cat after 400 miles, got towed to the dealer twice in the first 20k, and got an entire new engine at 23K! Guess I've owned way too many Hondas?

 

I don't no my 8 is my life. I have almost died with her. I have fucked in her. I have slept in her so basically..... I Love Her!

 

Someone on here stated that if you take away stability control of the 8 their old 944 was a better handling machine. I would lean toward that because the 8 does have a bit of a slosh feeling without it if your not an experienced driver. Of the other cars I owned, of which I'm too embarrased to mention, they would be in a ditch with the hazzard lights flashing.

 

I had a friend in college that had a 240z, that was a nice car for it's time. I wish Nissan would of went back to that of car, lightweight, tossable and with a straight six engine. The 350z is not that type of car.

 

Altho i only had 4 cars in my life including the 8. I think it stands alone for now, Something about the way it drove, got to me......There something in the 8, dare i say passion that words cannot describe but one would have to drive to understand. I've come out of a camry, VW Jetta and GTI. The 8 altho not torquey....somehow begs you to push the envelope whereas i wouldn't dare push on the other cars i've had. For a first time sports car......i think its great. I really think it takes more driving skill to drive an 8 than all the other high powered vehicles out there. The 8 reminds of.......control the car, and you control its power. ...meaning if you find out what its capable of doing, you'll able to push it at the right time, at the right corner. Whereas other cars i've driven....the power seems to overwhelm the driver and the car sort of controls the driver.

 

Honestly? THe car feel almost exactly like my 1997 s14.5 240sx, but with an engine that runs on milk instead of gasoline. With a *smidge* more power. the interior reminds me of a 3/5 series for some reason. Maybe its the materials and redlighting.

 

i've had an 89 mazda 626, a 91 Bonneville, and a modded 96 Maxima. Not to mention i worked Valet for 2 years at an expensive spot with fancy cars. The 8 does feel like a porsche, just with less power. The engine response of the 8 i think is better but only when u get it spinning above 5K. the 8 also gets top mark for roominess. i have taken my 3 friends with 3 pairs of skis on a 3 day ski trip to vermont and the car swallowed everything. Fishing trips with a trolling motor and camping gear..no problem. By the way i now have a degree in trunk packing ergonomics. Overall the 8 is a perect car and knock on wood, i have had no problems with her so far...15K on the Odo. its an 05' manual VR stock

 

I would say stand alone. I have owned a wide variety of cars from compact to full size, muscle car to luxury sport and most were just after thoughts in terms of engineering. They would do one thing well but nothing else. The RX8 stands out as a balanced package where everything works together. The kind of thought and engineering you find in more expensive sports cars.

 

stands completely alone.

 

yea I can compare...the 8 wins in almost all the comparisons though

 

from a 1966 sunbeam alpine(4cyl.)1966 dodge cornet(318)1969 road runner(440)1978 dodge diplomat(340 rat motor)1987 honda accord(first f&fbefore the movie)1991 accord wagon(winter beater)and all the other cars i've ever owned and driven(even the RR silver shadow to the dodge viper) no car not even the porsche can touch the control of driver and car hand in hand wheel to ground feeling of control with feeling damm near untouchable in the curves that puts it in a total class of TRUE SPORTS CAR!the fact you can take a couple of passengers is a plus to the ace of a great design and slightly underpowered car that well take a long time for the others to catch up to.(YAH !it's my thoughts and i'm keeping them!)on the real side if you have time check them out for yourself and see.i did and made my mind up three years ago and still feeling the rush everyday since!

 

I feel that the RX-8 is very similar to my old Porsche '87 944 Turbo. The handling feel and the overall performance was the same - similar 0-60 and pretty much the same horsepower.

 

VW Rabbit, Fiat X1/9, VW GTI 337 and three different Miatas. Yup, the 8 is the most different—mostly because of the engine.

 

1987 buick century, 1994 Honda Civic, 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS. Take a guess what I think about the 8........

 

I had an '86 '944 and agree - handling is very similar, although I think the Porsche was softer. I think if I could put 18" wheels on my old '944 with P245/40-18 tires manufactured in 2004, that I think they'd handle the same.

Straight-line, it doesn't perform like anything I've had - I had a 1985 RX-7 and it pulled beautifully but that was an old 12A with a carb - still had an 8000 RPM redline.

I also had a 1995 Acura Integra GSR that had had some tweaks including a chip that raised the redline to 9000 RPM, and it had a similar feel of power and pull, although the RX-8 clearly has more HP than that car did.

Noting really like it - it's faster than my old 944 and more comfortable and doesn't have that characteristic "heavy" german feel like the Porsches do. And it obviously handles WAY better than my Acura ever did as it's a rear-driver (although that GSR was the best handling front driver I've ever driven).

This is it for sports cars for me for awhile - it goes off lease about the same time as my son gets his driver's license - I'll be getting a Mercedes C300 Sport next - fun, but decidedly a sedan.

Stew

 

Stand Alone.

 

I had a 1983 Mitsubishi Starion that was a blast to drive. Id say that the Starion was actually the most fun to drive car i've ever driven. Don't get me wrong the 8 is a close second, but you always love your first car. Plus that car was so ahead of its time it was ridiculous. It had the largest production 4 cylinder ever built, at that time, it was a 2.6 liter and on top of that it was turbo charged and fairly light. I someday would like to restore one.

 

interesting to see that some of you also owned 944's but compared to the 8 she was definately underpowered though they both handled almost identical. The Porsche was stiffer on the turns with virtually no body roll where as the 8 has a little more roll but no under steer (as far as I can tell) with the same attributes. Not so much "Porsche there is no substitute" beleiver anymore!

 

I used to own a BWM Z4 3.0i ( I say used to own so no flames ). While it had a little more low-end torque for faster take-offs, my 8 compares extremely close. In fact I would say that the RX-8 seems to have more moving power once you have the engine up to a nice RPM. Both are pretty close on cornering but the RX-8 has a little more body roll. Overall, I'm extremely happy with my RX-8; it has the practicality of a small sedan but all of the fun of a coupe. The Z4, while nice, does cost about $20K more but IMHO doesn't deliver $20K more worth of fun.

Cheers

 

I've owned quite a few cars in my life and my 8 is definitely the standout car of the bunch. It's the best handling and most powerful car I've ever owned. Only the '85 RX-7 (base 12A) I owned in the mid to late '80's comes even remotely close.

1.3L