This smiley face thing on Mazdas always reminds me of the Joker... especially on the Mazda 3.

 

S2 is just better, better tranny, better chassis rigidity, no more weak joint along side marker (if you play with aftermarket bumpers), bunch of other little refinements BUT NO AccessPort compatability.

 

S1 for sure. Better looking styling than the newer ones, my opinion.

 

was a big season 1 styling fan for around 3 years. when i finally laid my hands on the S2, i never went back. the difference between s1 and s2 are the gear ratios. s1 has a better 0-60

 

The smiley face is a little weird, I just figure my car is always happy to see me.

 

^ lmao

 

What a horrible day of car shopping at dealers. I looked at 4 RX-8's ranging from 2004-2008. A. The cars were in bad shape with engine lights on, scratches, and dents. One ran real bad, the other had poor interior. One you could tell was wreaked. My wife and I got so fed up we went to our Mazda local dealer and they were none on the lot. The salesperson kept trying to sell me a Mazda 3 by saying how awful the Eight was. This a Mazda dealer I'm talking about.

Anyway, I'm keeping the Z and saving my money till I have enough to buy a used R3 or new GT.

 

What an *******.

 

A stupid *******.

 

double check this info. fender strakes came on mine. I have an 04 GT.

 

^^ it was either a dealer-installed extra or if you bought it used, the previous owner added them. It was always an optional accessory.

 

I thought the GT came with them already??

 

nope.

 

The cool thing is I have no doubt the Eight is my next car. I drove both the Auto and a 6-speed. Both where cool but I will be getting the 6-speed. I just have to find a nice one with low miles at a good price.

 

Wise! Patience is usually a virtue when buying used cars and particularly so with RX-8s. Quite a few out there are 3rd car toys that are low-mile cream puffs, especially in northern states where many sports cars are stored winters. Some of these pass through the RX8club "for sale" section. While I prefer GTs, the R3 probably will have higher resale/collector value in the future. Your dealer experience is far from atypical - my local Mazda/Volvo/Buick/GMC dealer could care less about the 8 and carries none in stock.

 

I went and looked at a 2004 GT with 60K earlier this week. The dealer would not deal. The Eight flashed a CEL on the test drive too and was a Auto. Not sure if they knew something I didn't. My 350Z radiator blew this week, which was bad luck. Probably that is why they were not given me fair value on my trade in. I'm going to have to pay for it to get fixed so that takes away from the down payment. Look like I'm going to go back to saving. I should have not stopped to look at 2004 RX-8 anyway. I made a decision to get a 2005 or above. However, I want a R3 real bad but will settle for a GT in the ’05-08 range. I’ll keep on, keeping on.

Would you guys settle for the GT or just keeping saving till you have the R3? Only plus for the GT is the Nav and two tone interior. I might even try to find a Shinka. They have some really cool wheels and paint job. I think they will be more collectable in the future.

 

Probably the biggest factor is whether you want to do heavy modding; many more possibilities with the Series I than Series II. IMO, shinkas look cool but probably aren't gonna have a much higher value as a collector car than the others (especially since so many people label standard models with "shinka" - even Carfax does). The R3 is a better bet in that regard. The series II "should" have better durability - Mazda made a lot of improvements to that end.

 

Where the Shinka's numbered?

 

If you are looking at collectability and lower cost/miles, look around for a 2008 40th anniversary edition. Almost the same suspension set up as an R3.