I am 25, have been driving full time since 18. A family Sedan, did not have big accident. once or twice on a rear end. (snow and sickness are why)
so I am consider the 8, as a daily drive.

I consider me a above average driver, good reflex, notice of surroundings car, understand other driver's intention. high EQ.

I don't speed a lot, due to the limites of the family sedan/tires. Moreover, I don't like to drive fast in straight freeway, but to push limit on a corner. (that's why rx8 is my choice)

anyway, I am planning to test drive / buy a Rx8 when the snow's over.
but I wish to know if advance driving skills are needed to drive this rx8.

Sports car are not always easy to drive. and I consider rx8 as a sports car. so what do you guys think?

 

I just got my baby and while I have not had a chance to push her, I can tell you that the great thing about the RX8 is that it's SO easy to take it to her limits. The best sports cars make their drivers better...instead of a liablity...LOL

 

No. You learn the car and the characteristics over time. Go for your test run, I'm sure it will be what you are looking for. As wannahave said, the 8 is easy to push hard and also responds very well. It's hard to make a mistake in this car. However, as with any car, don't push it past it's limits or yours!!

- Irish

 

That says it all lol. Id say any 1 can drive this car but not every1 can drive this car like its supposed to be driven.

 

The RX-8 drives very nicely - smooth ride, great handling, etc. But none of that makes it more difficult to drive than any other car.

If you're talking about the stick shift, it's a little easier to stall out if you're not used to revs that can climb and fall easily, but thats about it.

PS: The black plastic in the car scuffs easily. That's about all you need to worry about :P

 

To drive it to and from work, any one that knows how to drive can do that.

To push its limits, another story. As others have said this car will not let you mess up... too bad. If you try to take a horseshoe at 90 mph, you are going to get kicked out of the turn... or worse. The hardest part about driving the car is NOT getting carried away with the fact that you CAN do something. Just remain within your realm of driving and familiarity with the car and you will surely enjoy every second you are in the fabulous 8.

 

Just by asking such a question, you've shown yourself to be very mature driver mentally, which is the first step to being an accomplished driver physically.

First let me say that the RX-8 is a dream of a vehicle and I wouldn't drive anything else for the money. This car handles as well as sports cars costing 3x as much. My father is 58 and has owned a 2000 Porshe 911, 2001 Corvette Z06 and 2002 BMW Z8 (he trades in a car just almost annually). I've driven them all many times and I'd still take the RX-8 over the Porshe any day. The Corvette is big and brutal but harsh and clumsy and even brand new it would backfire?! The BMW Z8 I consider to be the only car I have driven that is as amazing as the RX-8.

Now, on to my opinion of your question:
I think it definitely requires more discipline to drive this car than the typical family sedan. Although the car is very forgiving and the control you have over it is amazingly accurate, you may find that you will allow yourself to drive the 8 harder than you would a normal sedan. I consider myself a very safe and aware driver and rarely speed eccessively (i.e., speed limit of 45, I'll do maybe 55 tops but typically 45-50), however, I do find myself driving the RX-8 much more aggressively than my wife's Maxima, which is quite responsive for a sedan too. If the road is open, I will definitely take it hard and sometimes have to remind myself to back-off.

The best advice I can say is to go for it but keep yourself in check and have some discipline about your driving. Have fun but not at the expense of putting other drivers at risk. It's very easy in this car to get sucked into overdoing it.

One other point, although in my opinion the manual tranny is the perfect match for the 8, you may want to consider the AT in order to get used to this kind of sport vehicle. Fortunately I don't have to drive much traffic so a manual was my choice hands-down but if you DO brave traffic or alot of other driving, you may get burned out on the manual after a while.

Good luck, be safe but above all have fun!

 

how about the clutch? was it deep or shallow?
I learned and have had driven a MT car before. just a bit rusty on start up / reverse.
and was the clutch heavy ? like BMW ?
or light like Honda and subaru ?
about the rpm dropping fast...what's the disadvantage of that? you have a shorter time to shift?
sound like Rx8 is better then I though, my city cover with snow half a year, but heard that it is also perform great in snow with snow tires.

thanks again for your experiences, that's all I want to hear.

 

how about the clutch? was it deep or shallow?

The cluth is deep and very tight (get your minds out of the gutters gents). It's about the toughest clutch I've driven but part of the character of the RX-8 and I love it!

I learned and have had driven a MT car before. just a bit rusty on start up / reverse.

You'll get used to it. It requires a good bit of gas and the "break even point" as I put it can be a bit challenging to find quickly at first.

and was the clutch heavy ? like BMW ?
or light like Honda and subaru ?

Very heavy to me but not as heavy as some aftermarket tuned cars can be. My buddy builds and races BMW M3s and those clutches make my left thigh burn after a few minutes!

about the rpm dropping fast...what's the disadvantage of that? you have a shorter time to shift?

I've never really noticed that the RPMs drop fast but it sounds like it would be easier to shift it they were slowed a bit.

my city cover with snow half a year, but heard that it is also perform great in snow with snow tires.

So I hear. I live in Atlanta and haven't had the chance yet to drive in snow. I'll probably keep it indoors as the rare occassions we get snow, it'll only last for a day or so.

 

did anyone mention DSC/TSC?

really unless you know how to drive a RWD car...you need this otherwise you'll spin the car out at a turn and it could get ugly. The base model does not have it, but you can turn it off in the sport, and GT packages

otherwise...like everyone else said...wonderful to drive...the car is your body the body is your car...amazing connectivity

 

deep magellan...deep :D

- Irish

 

I love the deep penetration...into the soul of course :p

 

The car develops the driver
if you test drive one, your hooked up for life
so test drive at your own risk

 

Pretty much agree with what everybody has said so far. The RX-8 as a whole makes me feel much more confident and safe because of its handling capabilities, but at the same time, there's many times where I feel like really pushing a curve when I really shouldn't. It's that overconfidence you need to watch out for.

Other than that, I haven't found this car any harder to drive really. I have the AT...at first I just drove in full auto mode just to get used to the car's handling and to break it in gently, but after the break in, I totally switched over to the tiptronic mode, and it's been a blast to drive day in and day out. In a way, I would say driving in tiptronic mode has helped me understand a lot of the shifting nuances of a manual transmission much more. I think I'd feel much better now driving a manual than I did when I first just dove right into driving one without actually getting used to the shifting nuances...which consequently scared me away from driving manuals ever again.

Now, regarding the clutch...I'm surprised people are saying it's tight. I had a manual Mazda3 for a while which had a pretty soft clutch (felt like stepping on an 8-10 lbs spring), and when I test drove the RX-8, it didn't feel all that different from the 3's clutch. Now BMWs on the other hand...that's some tough clutch. My friend taught me manual in one, and it was like stepping on a 20-30 lbs spring. My left leg ended up hurting well into the next day.

 

Don't wait to buy your 8. See the thead below about the fire at Mazda's assembly plant.
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-media-news-11/mazda-ujima-1-plant-fire-update-49228/

 

He is right about that, I took the question more like "Is it hard to drive the RX8", which it is not but since she handles so well and rev's so lovely...you might want to play more with the 8 so you do have to be careful. Like others have said...learn the car, push her little by little (on a track it would be best), and you will be fine. Just don't drive it around like you are in a race all the time and you will be fine.

 

I drive it like I stole it...ALL the time :D

 

LOL, hey...don't make him into you...could get him killed...LOL

What I ment is, if you drive like that "all" the time then you have that much more of a chance of ending up as a new branch on a tree. There are too many bad drives out there to be too aggressive too much of the time. That's what I mean...

 

If/when you get one you'll only have one regret.... That you didn't act sooner

 

This car makes you a better driver.

 

Man-Z-Duck:

Man, what a refreshing start to a "I want to buy an RX-8 thread. Usually it's some dope who says "yo dawgs, I'm plannin' to be a street-race killa and want to know just how fast this baby iz, yo yo." or some such drivel.

The whole concept of "it's not the car, it's the driver" is SO important. I'm so glad you're thinking about it.

OK, perspective to help you with your answers:

1) I'm proabably NOT a good barometer for you on if it would be an easy car to drive as I've driven mostly manuals my entire life - it's easy to drive, good enough for me, but I can drive/have sucessfully driven anything from a sequential-boxed Lola race car with an unsycrhonized Hewland racing gearbox all the way to an 18-wheel rig pulled by a Kenworth T-2000 over the road tractor with an 18-speed gearbox. And everything in between.

So, my wife's opinion:

2) It is easy to drive - the engine has enough power and is tractible (flexible) enough that she can just put in second or third gear and drive all over the neighborhood without ever shifting if she'd like. The clutch, while a bit heavy, has a smooth, linear takeup to it and it's easy to "find" the slip point, add gas, and motor off. She said "it's confidence-inspiring".

Stew

 

Another factor might be the type of vehicle you have been regularly driving before stepping into the 8. I owned an '85 RX-7 many years ago, but 14 years of driving a Nissan pickup and two SUV's really dulled my driving skills. When I first got my new 8 I had a little problem initially adjusting to the sensitivity and responsiveness of the controls and also the close-ratio 6-speed manual transmission. After a couple of months I found that everything started falling into place and I wasn't over controlling the (poweful) brakes, etc., and I also learned how to match engine speeds to gear selection. My 8 and I are becoming very good friends and I don't really like driving my old pickup or SUV much anymore.

1.3L

 

well, I have only driven 2 car so far
Chrysler 3.5 V6 sedan, 215HP, Volvo S80 TT-6
both are automatic, both have sports package (not that matters) with semi-auto on both car.
I know it is gonna be different. I drive go cart everymonth and I still can't get over with the fear of spinning. any tiny bit of lost grip I will slow down. (fact is I am 280lbs, shouldn't be spinnig at all).
test drived a lot of car but I guess Rx8 is the sportiest car I ever / will drive. / buy.

thank you for all the good respond, I really need it.

 

Only way to know is to go for a test drive. If you've driven a manual before, you'll be able to test drive it just fine, and after a few weeks of ownership, it will be totally second nature for you. You WILL love it. Guaranteed.

 

I tend to scare myself before I get close to scaring the car, so it definitely has pretty high limits. Respect it, it'll respect you. Definitely will not let you down. I got into some ice a few weeks ago, TN - north of Nashville, (still have summer tires, we haven't seen a hint of bad weather out here), anyhow, lifted the throttle slightly going down hill, back end stepped out, I calmly turned into the slide brought it back around went a little the other way, kept calmly inputing steering adjustments and it straightened right out. I was amazed, my wife was in tears, but I've never had a car respond that well to a slide, it was remarkably intuitive.