First a little background. I bought an 04 RX-8 GT, fully loaded, in May of '04. Really liked the car and had a few minor problems, then an accident and the problems got unbearable!!! After 2.5 years and about 40K I decided that it was time to get rid of the car. I have had an '06 Tl for three years and am wanting to get back to a sportier car.
So I decided to look at the 8 again, specifically the R3. I test drove one yesterday, WOW! First things first, the car is just as I remember, the sound is like nothing else on the road. Love the shifter, love the engine, flaws and all. (oil consumption, bad gas mileage and lack of low end grunt) That being said, the R8 is amazing... the car feels so much tighter in the steering and the response, the seats are so friggin comfprtable (im a thin guy but for someone with a little more weight on them would be squished). the ride is a bid bouncy compared to the GT, credit the bilstein shocks and the low profile tires, but the handling is amazing...worth the tradeoff to me! The only negatives are few... I could hear alot of tire boom... even on the smooth roads. The lack of sunroof and navigation as options are things that make the decision hard for me... I use the sunroof and Nav regularly..
Overall, the car felt a little more lethargic than i remember, could be that the TL has torque pretty much everywhere in the rev band, and the car wasnt broken in yet... I now only have the problem of deciding whether to get the R3 or a 370....now the chouce is a little more difficult than in '04.
Nissan has finally put a nice interior in the z and they have gotten rid of the ricey exhaust. Decisions decisions...

 

id say get the 370z. but it depends on what your needs are man. how often do you go through cars? that also plays a role. I personally love my 8 but there are also other nice things out there.

 

I have almost the same situation. Drove an 04 GT for 4 years and get a R3 early this year. Lost the sunroof which I use daily. However, now I use the air condition daily. The 09 R3 has better air cond unit than 04 and the cabin does not has that oily smell as in 04. So at least it compensate the missing sunroof a bit with a fresh air condition. Hope it helps.

 

I love my 8 but between the two I would lean a little more towards the Z at this point - unless I could get a killer deal on the 8.


My 2 cents.

 

id get the 8 it has 4 seats unless you dont need the extra 2 then id consider the z but i dont like z's so for me 8 all the way

 

BTW, air cond on 09 does not draw as much power as in 04, which can kill a lot of driving fun.

 

370Z......try something different

 

If you wait till close to the end of the year you should be able to get a hell of a deal on an '09 R3. I'm considering it too and I have an '04 GT right now. Im gonna wait and hope concrete info about the new (16X) car is revealed at the upcoming auto shows. I am really torn if I should spend more money on another 8.