I was reading a long term test on the RX8 in my R&T mag and noted that they said the RX8 was nowhere near as fast as the RX7 it replaces which I dont argue with. The figures they gave for the RX8 was 0-60 5.9 & 1/4 in 14.8@97mph (Very Respectable). However, the numbers they gave for the RX7 was 0-60 5.2 & 1/4 mile in 14.2 @ 102mph (not exact, but very close). If you look at the times we are only talking 7/10ths to 60 & even less over a 1/4. I have seen other comparos such as the Honda S2000 & Dodge SRT4 where the numbers where similar. Can somone please explain the differences in times if you where to go head to head and we are only talking 10ths. I am NOT trying to make this a street race thread, I have always been curious and dumb when you read these road tests gauging one cars performance to another.

Please help me to understand.

THANKS

 

Everyone of course knows .4 of a second is the most important thing in the entire universe.

 

Okay for my first post i'd love to talk about rx-7's. Being a huge rx-7 fan myself...well the rx-7 and the rx-8 vary in many ways. and most imporantly the rx-8 is Naturally Aspirated compared to the RX-7 with its beautiful twin turbos since the rx-8 on average weighs about 3000 lbs and it being naturally aspirated leads to slower 1/4 mile times. The rx-7 usually weighs about 2600-2700 lbs depending on the options (correct me if i'm wrong about weight) but with the twin turbo's the less "efficient" rotary engine can still perform amazing quarter mile times. The Honda S2000 is a lightweight car with the VTEC engine working wonders for a 2.2L engine. So thats quarter mile is pretty good for a naturally aspirated car, but the true strength of a S2000 is the great cornering abilities, second only to the RX-7 (ROTARY ROCKS!!!) but like konig said .4 seconds means very little, even though the rx-7 has better cornering, acceleration, and such but the rx-8's driving feel is more lineal so we feel the cars movement directly from the gas pedal.
anywayz cheers and good luck with your research

 

How does one quantify faster? There's the raw numbers and then there is "feel" or the sensation of speed.

I owned a 3rd gen RX-7 when it was new and kept it stock. It was faster on paper (according to the raw numbers) and in "feel". The twin turbo is what gave it a much greater feeling of speed. When the turbos kicked in, it just knocked you back into the seat. The RX-8 has much more linear acceleration vs. the 7, so the feeling isn't the same.

The raw numbers don't lie, but it's "feel" for me that also adds to the real world fun of driving. For example, the 350Z is faster on paper. But every time I drive one, I just don't feel it for some reason, it just doesn't seem faster. But with the RX-7, it was faster on paper and I could certainly feel it as well. IMO, this is probably why the R&T editors made the comment too.

(BTW - KRNrx8driver, the 3rd gen RX-7 was 2789 lbs for the MT and 2857 for the AT.)

 

Like everybody has said, up to 60mph the speed difference isn't that huge, but above 90mph the rx-7 will pull away from the rx-8 like the rx-8 isn't even moving. Its about the same difference as a Z06 pulling away from a rx-7. I'm saying this as somebody who has tried it at VIR on the track up to ~140mph, just so nobody thinks I'm talking about street racing.

I totally disagree that it is an evil handling car, its just setup for racing and can/will bite you in the *** if you mess up. I've seen rx-8's do the same though.

 

Thanks,

That makes it clearer in my mind. So 1/2 a sec over 1/4 is quite a bit. 2-3 CL is alot for .4 secs, I would have never guessed it was that much.

 

In general .1 sec. in a 1/4 mile is about 1 car length. So .7 sec. would be about 7 car lengths in front.

 

Thanks for this info. I read so many car magazine shoot outs and reviews and it is hard for me to picture the difference in performance. Thank you for your help.

 

At 60mph, you're going 88 feet per second.

At 100mph, you're going 146.67 feet per second.

The RX-8 is 12.275 feet long.

You do the math, and you decide whether you care.

 

I've found my fd forgiving in all situations and have never spun it at the track or on road. Even with Hoosier rs04's at the limit it gives so much feedback that it isn't hard to control. It may be that your experience is based on the original Potenza S02's (or whatever) which I do agree tended toward snap oversteer.