Thanks for the great analogy but I was referring to giving out coloring books for free like the brochures or make them free with a test drive. Kids could learn about cars and how to read and they will remember when they get older that it was the cool Mazda coloring books they had for free. I sent this to Mazda USA but they just gave me their canned response that they would consider it and thanks. If anyone knows someone in Mazda, please forward the idea. AND if you buy a car, they should throw in a toy Mazda car for the kids. I'm telling you, it IS genius. Mark my words, if Mazda doesn't do it, then Honda or Toyota will.

 

Good idea, I'll give it a shot. It will also give me a chance to see if I have any oil in the intake.

 

you just did basically. mazda reads the forum all the time and have taken more than one idea from here and used it. or conincidentally have come up with the same idea

in september of 2002 https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...t=kid#post6663 i suggested on here that Mazda should take a couple of 8s and run them around a track for 24 hours with no breaks except driver changes fueling. this was to address reliability concerns. in october 2004 they did this

http://www.triplezoom.com/news/publi...icle_253.shtml

if i had the time i could find you another idea of mine plus one from wakeech and at least one other that this happened with. so keeep an eye out

 

That is true Zoom. So if Mazda is reading this, hire me :-). Seriously.

 

heheh i sent my resume out this morning

 

Lol. Im making some final layout changes. They should make a new position for me

When you get hired send me a referral doc

 

i agree with you on the porshce look a like. i think when thy did the 350z coverage on Top Gear, one of the guys said that the designers are from cali and they favored the porche because they wnted to compete with porches. but its been very long time since i see that epi. maybe someone can correct me. i just know it was some show about the 350z lol.

As for the rx8 market, the fd had the same problem when it first came out . when i was living in japan fc turbo was liek the fd turbos now and fd was like the rx 8. no one wanted one it seemed. but after the first 3-4 yrs you seen more and more fds over the fc because of the aftermarket support finally blow up. and during those first years of the fd, ppl tended to want Skylines GT-R, Supras, and 300z for quater mile and for drifting they wanted the Skylines GT-S , Toyota Soarer, AE 86 all version of s-14 (k's edition) and FC's.

So guess what im trying to say is, it thikn the rx8 will blow up in the future, just like FD did in mid 90's. any how this what i think and hoping. but for US i do not know, only lived here for 10yrs, and i do not know if US is ready to except Rotary like other coutries do like Europe and Asia.

 

Had to fly from Pittsburgh to Ft Myers today so I picked up a copy of the August Car and Driver and while reading it noticed an ad for the RX-8 first one ive seen. So i guess Mazda is marketing the RX-8 a little more than before maybe

 

There were several months in a row where there was a 2 page layout on the RX-8 in just about every auto mag...

 

Some of my own thoughts plus a rundown of the more logical and on-topic comments:

- Mazda is a small car company with a small budget compared to others

- The RX-8 is a sports car. Sports cars typically are not high volume enough to warrant spending large amounts of advertising bucks

- Mazda will get a better return on cheaper print ads in enthusiast magazines than spending big bucks on TV ads, since people who read car mags are more likely to buy sports cars

- Most people who want to buy a sports car already know what an RX-8 is. If they understand the car, they'll buy it. If they don't, they'll get something else.

- The Wankel, weighing all the pros and cons, will most appeal to those who value light weight and good handling performance over practicality, fuel efficiency, and straightline performance. This is not a large segment of the car buying population.

- Most people who buy cars do not dwell on enthusiast forums, bickering over slight MPG differences and HP ratings, instead they are people who view cars as tools to accomplish basic tasks like getting them to work or hauling people/tons of useless crap they bought at Walmart. After utility comes looks and image. Look at the number of SUVs sold in the last decade: low power/weight, poor handling, bad gas mileage, but great utility, trendiness, and perceived safety

- Getting the average car buyer who views a car as a simple tool to understand how poor gas mileage (which is now viewed as exponentially worse than poor gas mileage at the height of SUV-maddness and $1.50 gas), actually having to check the oil once in awhile (even though you should really do this for any car), reduced handling compared to FWD in bad weather, and why Mazda intentionally designed the rear seats not to fold down are all good things is impossible if they don't appreciate the act of driving a sharp handling car, which is why Mazda has the following answers for the average buyer ...

Cars with piston engines and endless TV commercials for the Mazda6 and the Mazda3.

 

Last month and this month they ran ads in both Motor Trend and Road and Track.

 

hmmm chefck this out http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/pro...626&ID=5824418

 

Mustang just did a nice TV add - a kind of noir setting, the car almost not seen - tires burn, a little drift maybe, a father warns his son and then says want to try it again - nothing on engine, performance, speed, cost, dependability, just a sort of older men and younger men will have fun in this muscle car - very effective... Bet you could do something like that on an 8 - but I would rather Mazda spent money on rust proofing brake plate than million dollar ads...

 

**** ads though. An unflatering pic, and useless verbiage.

Mazda has to get VW's agency...now!

 

Amen!!!

 

I would agree. They need some ad with a off centered front view(most aggressive view of the 8) blasting through a corner with maybe a slightly out of focus lens. Make it a little edgy, relay the cars performance. Through the 4 seating in the verbage as a plus. IMHO.

 

Purhaps a bunch of rotarheads need to get together and make their own Michael Moore propoganda film about Wankel, rotars, drifting, racing, and just plain old cruising - a sort of cult film - complete wih flames and the odd side comments - throw in some animation, transformers, super heros, play it as art and for laughs, like some dude in a filling station trying to find the engine (actually happened twice with mine), young punks trying to challenge and then discovering little old ladies at the wheel (there are about a dozen of us), or worse, punks getting beaten by a little old man with a dirty old man grin on his face! Get our own punks trying to find a place to drift and their horror stories. The exaltation of victory the deep despair of defeat ("I got beaten by a Saab")Get Stew driving with all of his kids and half the neighborhood waving out the sunroof and mooning the neighbors - Followed by some hidden camara shots of people reaching out, just trying to just touch it, like the apes reaching for the monolith in 2001. Maybe even some punks trying to destroy it.. (and getting caught of course), Maybe this is just too much car for a normal advertisment, it needs an epic!

 

Getting the average car buyer who views a car as a simple tool to understand how poor gas mileage (which is now viewed as exponentially worse than poor gas mileage at the height of SUV-maddness and $1.50 gas), actually having to check the oil once in awhile (even though you should really do this for any car), reduced handling compared to FWD in bad weather, and why Mazda intentionally designed the rear seats not to fold down are all good things is impossible if they don't appreciate the act of driving a sharp handling car, which is why Mazda has the following answers for the average buyer ...



So can anyone chime in on why Mazda did NOT designed the rear seats to fold down? I always thought it was kinda strange because versatility is one of the strongpoints of the car.

The RX 8 is a fairly low volume car for Mazda and let's not forget that Ford owns Mazda!

 

Folding rear seats would compromise rigidity. In a car all about handling that would be a bad thing.

 

Ok, that's sounds good to me. Too bad that "sports car" doesn't mean about 20 extra HP!!