I let my brother and friend drive it. Both have driven it on the track as well. My friend more than my brother because he drives a tC regularly. My dad has driven it as well. Trying to teach my girlfriend how to drive stick on my 8. Other than that noone can drive it.

 

im a teenager, and on behalf of most teenagers i am offended by that statement.

 

my rules are simple:

1. No eating in it.
2. No drinking anything except water.
3. No babies in it, (no car seats basically)
4. Only 3 people drive my car, Me, Big Brother, Small Brother.

 

maybe so, but at any rate, it doesn't look like you'll be driving his anytime soon

 

Depends.. I've let my cousin and friend which I've known since 1st grade drive my 8.. Both know how to drive cars..

 

Weird part is.... I've let more people play around with my Stealth than with the RX-8... and messing around with the Stealth is a hell of a lot more dangerous.

 

I don't even let my wife drive it!

 

I only let ma brother drives my 8. There is no reason for my friends drive my wonderful "8" They all know 8 is awesome car without driving it. ^^

 

Test drive? Hell, I've let five people I know autocross my '04. Two of those five have since bought one of their own.

It's a Mazda, not some vintage Ferrari. Do you people wipe it down with a diaper after every drive as well?

 

Yes... Action speaks louder than words, meaning, u can tell ur friends all about it but it just doesnt sink through as easily as letting them drive it and experience the excitement and exhilaration that i do when im behind the wheel.
I dont see what the big deal is anyway unless u give the keys to someone who doesnt know how to drive/doesnt have a license/not an experienced driver/has a history of getting into accients/etc..... But most of my friends dont fit in this category so in short, i dont have a problem letting a friend test drive my rx8

 

No I dont let anyone drive it. Plenty of my acquaintences have asked (including my boss... LOL) and the answer is always no. If someone I trusted asked me, I would let them..

My man has driven it a few times, and complained about how he was too tall for it and 'couldnt see a damn thing with his head in the sunroof'

 

I let my girlfriend drive my RX-8. She is an excellent driver, her own car is a manual shift. And, driving the RX-8 makes her horny.

 

So far Ive only let my best friend drive it but my girlfriend begs me every day. She's letting me drive her mk3 supra when it gets out of the shop though so I dunno.

 

I don't even let my wife drive my car and she helps pay for it. I think my friends know to not ask...

 

I like to share the fun, generally, so yeah, I will let certain people drive it if a) they're into cars, b) they know how to drive a stick and c) they're not the "type" to abuse it (and by abuse, I mean dropping the clutch, grinding the gears or stuff like that. Redlining it, after it's broken in, I don't consider "abuse".)

Alas, my judgment of friends turns out to be not very good. Three years ago I let my friend Bill—who I've known since high school—drive my new Mazdaspeed Miata. It didn't take him 2 miles to loudly grind the gears downshifting from 4th to 3rd. Ouch! Wait, it gets worse. Last year I let Bill test drive my new 8, after patiently telling him to really take it easy. So what does he do? Yup, grinds the gears. So yeah, I'm a nice guy and a good friend, but kinda stupid. And no, Bill—who's still a good friend—won't be driving any of my cars ever again.

Thing is, I'm **** about my car, and all my friends know that, so I ASSUME they'll drive my car with kid gloves. And most of them do. But now I realize some of them won't—or in Bill's case, can't. I can still hear the sound of the gears grinding, even though it happened on just that one shift. To this day, I wonder exactly how much damage—if any—was done. I still get bummed just thinking about it.

 

i let some of my close friends drive it down a straight line and even that i have the 3 rule- stall 3 times you're out

 

My g/f wanted to drive my car when I first got it, but I told her no for now. She had just learnd to drive stick and my car was brand new. Now she can drive a stick very well, but she always passes on the offer.
Everyone else I know that wants to drive it, all want to beat the crap out of it.

 

I love to let other people drive my car (if I'm in the passenger seat). It's the best way for them to experiance what I do everyday. No one I know would abuse it and most refuse to drive it when I offer. I think they are afraid the may do something wrong and hurt it. I love to see their reaction when they take a curve or when they accelerate and I say don't shift yet and they are at 4500 RPM thinking it's time. They really don't want to push it.

Reminds me of the time Rob Whitener (Roar Racing) let me drive his Modena. I was scared to death I was going to break it. I just couldn't get used to those paddle shifters. Don't think I made one good shift and certainly didn't impress him with my driving skills.

 

I let my friend drive my 8 who owns 350Z. After he drive. He falling love with the handling performace and response.

 

If they can't close the door without leaving greasy palmprints, they don't deserve to drive it.