Hi!

I've owned 115 cars in 14 years of being old enough to drive - I'm a bit of a car nut - and for the past six years I've been running a new car on contract hire as well as my bangers. The bangers have all gone bar one Sera, and my 2004 Beetle goes back in February.

The replacement I ordered costs just £10/month more than a New Yaris and less than a BMW 116 (I wanted RWD and even considered running an XR4i as my main car), and is an RX8. I never thought I'd be able to afford one, tbh. The lease firm is very reputable, I have dealt with them before, and I don't doubt the legitimacy of the cars, but they are heavily discounted.

Anyway - this being bargain contract hire, I am mildly limited in what I get, in that they had a choice of colours and they were all 192s with cloth. I'm happy with that, 'even' a 192 is going to be vastly better than a basic 116 or my 1.6 Beetle in terms of performance.

What I am curious about is the colour. They had the red, winning blue, strato blue and silver, and Galaxy Grey. Galaxy grey isn't on the Mazda UK brochure/website yet, but I am told it is a new colour for 2006.

So - I'm thinking it is either a batch of misbuilds, imported cars from the Australian market (makes little to no sense to me), or am I getting a 2006 RX8 - or have they just been told Galaxy Grey, but the cars are titanium 2005s?!

In which case, I'm wondering about the specification.

Are UK market RX8s getting the keycard? (I don't mind either way)

Do UK market RX8s play MP3 CDs in the in-dash 6CD changer (and if not, how tolerant of CD-Rs are they? I am considering buying that iPod interface anyway).

I've seen mention of tyre pressure monitors when browsing - is that a standard feature? If so I overlooked it when reading the spec.

I'm really looking forward to what I hope will be a very enjoyable 2 years/20,000 miles with an RX8 - I think they are amongst the most interestingly styled cars produced in Japan, with some genuinely beautiful angles, and yet look quite practical. Also, I'm hoping that unlike my Beetle, they don't leak

I'm planning on running on Optimax and primarily using the RX for >20 mile trips - any short hops will be done using my Sera (Japanese import thingy, also has weird doors).

Anyway - I'll probably be fairly quiet, as I'm not going to be modding the car or anything, but I'll be reading! I will let vanity get the better of me if I see cheap side strakes (anything i put on the car goes back with it, so it either has to be easily removed or cheap enough that I don't mind losing it).

Richard

 

Richard if you want to learn more about UK spec then pop into this site....

www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk

Briefly uk cars don't have tyre pressure sensors, keyless entry and galaxy grey is not 'official' yet.

Cd player will play cd-r's no problem and there are a few owners wired up i-pods and mp3 players.

Strakes and crest info is available on the site and lots cheaper than the Mazda stuff. See you on the other side!

 

this site offer alot of tech info you wont find anywhere else, and is full of VERY clever people (some i believe live in hollowed out volcanos but thats another story)

the 6 disc player wont play MP3 unless you ditch the unit and instal a single cd MP3 player!

Stakes you can get cheap on ebay BUT, look out for the older versions these corrode to hell!

colour...has to be strato its the rarest, nicest colour going and not avalible in the US so you get some very nice comments of the US owners here!

as for Key cards not sure when thay will be on our shores, i was the first on the UK owners to have a flick key...oh and a strato but thats before i got banned LOL!

 

Well... I chose Galaxy Grey - I'll have one of the first on the roads in the UK I think. I was torn on the blue, but I think it's a little too on the blue side of the spectrum and not quite purple enough.

I'll get an ICElink type device for my iPod, or more likely, burn compilations I want to listen to. I only wondered because my Sera has a cheap JVC MP3 player, originally bought for the AUX IN for iPod connectivity, but I've found myself using MP3 CDs - just chucking 120+ songs onto a playlist in iTunes and burning it. Much easier!

I'm happy seeing the rubbery ribbed part of the new seats appears to have been deleted, as it was the one feature of the Leather interior I wanted - without it, I really think I will much prefer the cloth I'm getting.

Now I just have to try to keep myself from boring everyone to death about my new car until I get it in February!

 

The keycard keyless entry and start are package level specific here in the states. If Mazda UK offers it at all it will probably be on the highest tier package. Has the dealership mentioned it to you?

i notice the new colours and such are not ont he Mazda UK site yet so cant check from there. Perhaps ringing the dealer can get you (and us) the answer. Id be interested in hearign how the packages are laid out there for this new model year.

check the audio forum here for info on PIE adapters and icelink etc

 

oh and god choice on the colour- had a chance to se it in person some time ago- very nice indeed

 

I'm told no keycards, but it is definitely a UK car and Galaxy grey. They were ordered in a batch and are simply amongst the first 2006 cars in the UK, the discounts are due to the bulk order being placed some time ago.

UK spec cars don't get packages - you either have 190 or 230, with or without Leather & Satnav, and optional sunroof. 230s get Xenon lights. All cars have Bose 6CD systems. At the moment, no auto is offered.

I'll list the detailed spec of my car next month :D

 

theres loads of odd differences between spec around the world but i think European spec is quite high (but we do pay alot more than our American friends)

good luck waiting! its a killer!!!!!! i waited almost a month for mine ended up having to pay for leather i didnt want just to get it within 6 months!!!!!