As some of you know i go through cars rather quickly. (a new one about every year) After having some discussion with a local rotary shop about doing a custom STS style turbo setup i decided that it was going to take alot of time i did not have and i simply decided to unload the 8 and once again look for that "perfect" car. Starting about a month ago i began test driving different vehicles. From STI's and EVO's to Vette's and Viper's. I found myself disliking something about each and every vehicle and i was not sure why, until the latest dealership visit i had. I was test driving a new EVO and was enjoying it but i still felt like something was missing and apon pulling back into the dealership i saw a small crowd surrounding my 8 and i realized that if i ever saw someone else driving my 8 i would be jealous. This car has been the first car that i have owned that i just cant part with. I have decided to take the money that would of been a downpayment and instead invest it in the worste possible way... into the 8

Just felt the need to share my rotary story with the community and it feels good to know that ill be sticking around longer and very shortly here, ill be asking alot of questions regarding a turbo kit install

 

Good to hear man, I'm the same way. A buddy of mine just got a new Camaro SS2 and driving it for 20 seconds reminded me how much I love the 8 inside and out. I just cannot find anything that excites me the way the 8 does aside from an M3 or something else that is entirely too expensive to mod.

 

It's the way the car feels when you drive it, there's just nothing else like it. Everything else feels like a step down, no matter how much more torque you get.

I can honestly say that there are no cars that list for up to twice what the 8 does that I would trade my 8 for. The Cayman S, maybe, but that's about it.

 

Sounds kind a BS, the Rx8 is nice and all but you didnt like vettes and vipers?? The new Viper is sick, it destroys the tracks.

 

Terrible decision!


But thats awesome dude Stoked for the turbo install!

 

The viper i drove was a 2005. Honestly the acceleration felt about the same as the 09 vette that i drove and the interior of the viper quite frankly was s^&t. I would not of minded spending the extra money on a car if i felt it was worth it and it most definitely did not impress me enough to even think about it after i got done test driving it. I did enjoy the vette but overall out of all the cars the closest one that almost pulled me away from my 8 would be the new EVO. I loved the power and the handling was awesome and for the money, was the best bang for the buck. However, when i took turns in the EVO it had this "automatic" feel and it was so refined that it really was not fun.

 

The new Viper and Vette will destroy you before it destroys the track.. lol.. Damn things are terrifyingly fast - but still terrifying.

 

Thank you for sharing.

I'm always being impressed by rx8 drivers looking for the "next thing", who have proceeded to drive "evo" and "sti" and those other vehicles.

Let this be a lesson to all those rx8 drivers looking for a change.

The direction of the "next thing" should be toward increased refinement, not going backwards a step from what the rx8 already has. To be satisfied with the "next thing" beyond rx8, requires somewhat obscene and unnecessary spending. Most are wise enough to be happy with rx8 as is.

All the advertisements and media are designed to make you feel unsatisfied with what you currently have. If you didn't feel unsatisfied, you wouldn't spend and they wouldn't make money. At some point, one must put a halt to this nonsense and say, "I've had enough. I will be satisfied with what I have, which is indeed more than most people have."

The baby boomer generation and their cursed keeping up with the joneses is dead. This is the dawn of a new generation. Long live generation rotary.

 

I never thought i would actually say this but they both are almost too powerful to enjoy. Honestly with the viper if you just accidentally gave it a little too much gas the rear end would be next to you. The vette was a little more stable but felt just as powerful.

 

My friend has a supercharged viper, I think its a 05 or 06 or something. I've drove it a few times, it's very fast. The only real problem I had with it was the exhaust under the doors. If you roll the windows down, the heat that comes up is insane.

 

you should test drive an M3

 

^^^ i've heard from many people who have drove both that an M3 is a lot like an RX8 with 333 hp (at least an E46 -- which i would assume given the price range of the other cars we're talking about here)

 

ive never been a huge fan of BMW. Im not really into the over the top luxury vehicles that brands like BMW and Mercedes put out.

 

the m3 is very hot my friend just got one the e46 and it does handle very similarly to the 8 but it still feels a little heavy and its hella expensive if sth breaks or even regular maintainence plus its expensive to mod too i think

 

I'd rather have a 335i. It's like a sleeper M3, I love that car. But I don't see why we're recommending cars for him to test drive when he just posted a thread CHOOSING the RX8?

 

nice story.. thanks for sharing!

 

This is one of the things I love about my 8. You can drop a couple gears/ give it gas whenever and nothing horrible is going to happen. These cars with huge HP aren't/can't be used to their full potential on a street because they are just too powerful. The HP/torque number are sort of useless after a certain point (unless you track your car a lot) and really just a selling point so some guy can feel special about the 450HP he can't use.

 

It truely is a drivers car.

You will really know what I mean if you drove a motorcycle.

You know as you get older....

you don't have to drive it all the time and you will be able to keep it as your second car.

Just remember to take it out on those special occassions with your wife / girl friend.

Make sure it is this car you use.

She will end up being sentimental about the car and you will have it forever.

 

If the Corvette had 190 WHP, trust me, that chasis would "feel" sensational.

 

RE the Vette and Viper..... You don't HAVE to push the gas pedal the whole way down you know.

It's called headroom.

 

Currently i DD my 8 and put about 3k miles on it a month. Once the engine goes (again) i plan on slapping in some esmeril seals and building the block some and running a decent amount of boost.

 

Now your making me feel sentimental

 

this is an awesome thread

 

LOL just read this... Whew... Nice thread... amazing story... Rotary>Pistons

 

Here's what Motor Trend said about the Viper in their '08 10 car comparo. It finished 7th out of 10. It's got numbers, but that's it.

Undoubtedly many of you are in shock: the mighty Dodge Viper ACR -- a race car drivable on the street -- in 7th place? Ah, but now the more enlightened among you realize there's much more to handling prowess than simply cranking out crushing g readings or scorching lap times. Driving the ACR is like riding in a centrifuge: It's awesome, intimidating, brutal. The numbers are there all right: highest lateral g, quickest lap time, quickest step-steer reaction time, second-best in the lane change. But now take a look at the Viper's figure-eight tracing. Rather than being a tight, smoothly arced group, it looks as if someone spilled a carton of ping-pong ***** in a circle. The Viper is all over the place. Pobst commented that, while he enjoyed the experience, he was constantly working the ACR through transitions. Ride quality is simply terrible, akin to riding a dump truck down a dirt road. And out in the real world, on the twisty roads sports cars are truly intended for, the Viper darts and hammers where other machines flow and glide. Shock and awe: 10. Finesse: 0.