Jsuzuki

Hello from Japan!

I'm here in Japan on vacation and part of the trip involved a swing by the Efni (Mazda) dealer. They were nice enough to drive me around and give me the RX-8 brochure and accessories catalog. I found some interesting pictures and toys. I'll scan in the pictures next week when I get back to the States.

First the test drive. They took me on a Type S (the 250 hp, 6 speed) around the crowded city. The car is quiet and well insulated from outside noise like any other modern car. The AC worked quite well even in the high humidity. The suspension is firm for sedan, but (much!) softer then the '94 Miata R package. Trivial vibration isn't transmitted to the passengers. The cloth seats are nice and a little too grippy making entry and exit a little bit challenging. We zipped around in first gear for a while. For regular city commute, there is enough power even at low engine speeds. As the engine speed comes up, a very nice engine note can be heard. It's not as quiet as people say. It seems entirely possible to drive by ear. We never get above third gear because of the heavy traffic. It seems as long as you keep the engine speed up, there is enough power to get through traffic. (rant) It seems that people who complain that there isn't enough torque don't know how to drive.(/rant)

Now, for the interesting accessories. Starting with the spare tire kit. There's a picture of it with it in place. The tire sits at a 30 degree angle, in the center, with one end nearly touching the rear seat and the other end coming up to the trunk lid. Almost half the trunk space remains usable. Think one golf bag, instead of two. With the spare tire kit in place, the trunk pass through won't work. The spare isn't full size. It might be a challenge to store a full size flat tire in the trunk if you are carrying luggage.

There's a variety of trunk options. A cargo net (7900yen) and a luggage mat (12500yen) that will cover the accessory tray (13000yen). "Sports Gear Case" (13000yen) that looks like a long nylon bag for the pass through.

Bunch of people are clamoring over the Engine Start Button. At 21000yen, I don’t understand the appeal. Another poser item is the Special Key Set at 10000yen.

The catalog included some Mazdaspeed items. Assorted body kits to personalize your RX-8. For the functional items, they have front (47740yen) and rear (18500yen) brace. A "Sports Sound Muffler" for 93000yen. "Stabilizers" bars, which is probably anti-roll bars for 33600yen front and 33000yen rear. Another set of bars called "Performance Bar Set" which installs in the middle of the car for 69560yen. Lightened fly wheel for 60000yen. It's so crazy expensive! But it's probably thought out better then other developers.

If the seats aren't to your liking, they have a Mazdaspeed version which looks like it has bigger bolsters for 89900yen. For those of us flying through canyon roads, Knee Pad Set can be had for 28500yen.

This probably only comes in useful in Japan but they have a 4 corner sensor system for 65500yen and an "Easy Parking" system for 26000yen. The easy parking system is interesting. It helps the driver parallel park into tight spots or back into 90 degree spots with minimum space. Useless in the States where people have no respect for each other.

Japan buyers get a choice of 4 car navigation systems. Mitsubishi, Pioneer, Kenwood, and another Mitsubishi. The cheapest one from Mitsubishi is 190280yen which has 3d map renderings. The most expensive from Kenwood is 292280yen and has texture mapping. It looks like a scene from Flight Simulator 2003 flying at about 500 feet.

Now for the audio system. It looks like the system is split into two dins, one on top, one on the bottom, separated by the volume **** and buttons in the center. The top din can take a CD, 6 CD changer, and a MP3 CD. The bottom din can take either a MiniDisc or a tape cassette.

I also got to see the gray, white, and green in person. I've originally ordered the gray but the Nordic Green looks really settled down and surprising good looking. Since my dealer seemed to have messed up my pre-order anyways, I'm going try to get my car in green now.


That's it for now. Like I said I will scan in the interesting sections and make available.

Gyro

Very good post! Your comments answered alot of questions I had about everyday drivability (not the 5.9 or 6.6 0-60 arguement that is IMO getting very old). I'm glad the AC works well with high humidity because I live in NE where the mid summer can be brutal. I like the car better than ever now...thanks!!

rxeightr

Excellent post & comments!

The MazdaSpeed items are of particular interest -- good to know.

We look forward to your pics when you get back.

Elara

What a great post! Glad to hear the torque complaints are unfounded, and even better to hear the green looks so good in person. Hope you're enjoying your trip, and thanks for checking in with us!

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

Excellent analysis JSu!
Nice to get some real world driving impressions.
S

cueball

Wonderful write up. The 8 is looking better and better everytime someone sees and drives it in person.

chikai

that's what I love about this forum... Very mature and candid posts. (vs other forums where they argue about the size of their exhaust cans)

Great posts...makes me want to switch to the RX-8 even more.

RotorGeek

If you get a chance for another test drive. Try sitting in the back to see if it makes you feel inclosed. thanks. Great post.

P00Man

good
and
nice post
________
MAZDA XEDOS HISTORY

BillK

By the way, as of 6/18/03 the conversion rate is $1 US = 118.160 Japanese Yen, or Yen * .008463 = US $.

So for example this makes the Start Button approximately $178 US - not too bad as such things go.

The knee pad set is approximately $241 US.

The Mazdaspeed lightened flywheel is approximately $508 US.

The Mazdaspeed seat is approximately $761 US.

The "expensive" Kenwood Nav system is approximately $2474 US.

I'll leave any other conversions as an exercise for the reader. :D

Don't forget to add customs, shipping and installation costs...

Jsuzuki

At the LA autoshow, I spent a lot of time in the rear seat, with the front seat set fairly well back. I figured most people on the board have already done the same so I didn't mention it here. Anyways I had plenty of room but no view outside. Now for the production car, I am 5'10" and my wife 5'5" (and 6 months pregnant) sat behind me. On the passenger side, I had too much leg room, meaning if I had to work the peddles, I probably couldn't press the clutch all the way in. My wife had plenty of leg room to the point she could stretch her legs. Rear seat head room is plentiful except directly to outside side. She says it's a little cozy and you can't really see outside very well. She has a pretty good view through the windshield. That's probably where to claustraphobic feeling is, not being able to see outside.


One thing I forgot mention yesterday with the navigation system is the location of its controls. It's south of the shifter about 5 inches offset towards the passenger. It has d-pad and 4 buttons laid out in a square in each side. With my Japanese so poor, I could read the function.


Another thing I forgot to mention is how courteous and knowledgable the sales staff were. The salesman knew the car inside out, liked to gossip about the car, and even his cell phone ring tone was the Zoom Zoom melody. The staff brought out refreshments when we got back. The repair facility was clean and the mechanics weren't too dirty and greasy. They were servicing a number modified RX-7s. No pressure to buy the car and more then happy to answer my questions. I don't know, maybe it's because Efni is the top brand version of Mazda?

JSG

Send us a PM if you're ever near Tokyo. From your earlier posts I don't think your schedule covered it but if you're around then maybe you can meet Yuhki, East Moon and I!

Enjoy your time (sounds like you already are!)!

Yuhki

Yes, if you have a enough time on this Sunday(6/22nd). We may be able to bring you to the roter router meeting in Chiba.
I think you can see all the color at the same time because more than 30 RX-8s will gahter to the meeting.

Jsuzuki

I'm flying out Sunday evenning! Arg!

I'm trying to get in touch with JSG. He says he'll show me what 8k-9k rpm is like! Oh well....