Few Points I would want to make:

- from what I read from your review, you bought the wrong car, the better choice would have been the Altima V6. More power and a Japanese Engine.

- you went in with the impression that the RX-8 auto was going to have more power than your current ride, (when it is NOT), well, for sure you are going to be disppointed...duuh.

- seriously wondered how can you NOT feel the smoothness of the engine or the excellent handling of the car.... if anything, you should at least notice the RWD power delivery ?

Bottomline, take your ride, toss it around a parking lot, then go drive the RX-8 6 speed and then do the same. Come back and tell us what you think.

 

Yup! 6 speed manual gearbox with clutch and shifters actuated by hydraulic servos, controlled by computer and operator shift paddles. Same as the Ferrari F1 system, BMW's SMG II, etc.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Dur, all us Murkin's just want straight line performance. Jus' wait till I tub the rear end of my 8, add a Ford 9" rear end and add a pro-stock hood scoop. Or do yew canadians spell that 'scoope'?

Is that what you Canadians think? Straight line, big truck, bigger SUV... I didn't know you guys had enough time to think about that stuff with the snow, hockey, and maple syrup that endlessly consumes your frozen days... burrr...

 

Nice flames. Well, I can't say I expected anything less from RX-8 enthusiasts. I can't respond to each individual contention cause there are so many of them (LOL), so I'll say this..

You guys took my post way too personally (I thought), and it seems like most of you think I was flat out comparing a Mazda 6 to an RX-8. Not the case at all.

The only reason why I even mentioned the 6 speed RX-8 was because of its price, and I'm just not willing to spend that much on a trade-in right now. The 4 speed automatic, on the other hand, is well within my price range (as far as how much more cash I have to lay down put up after trade in).

On the other hand, you guys have made many very good points that I failed to mention (including the bits about Accords and Altimas vs the 6, and of course, the cornering). But again, the basis of my post was to highlight lack of sporty pickup that I was expecting out of an 8 in automatic.

No, I really didn't have many other qualms about it other than the straight line speed and pick-up; however, I think Mazda should consider knocking the price of an auto 8 down a few more hundred bucks to compensate for the significant loss in these areas.

There were a lot of positives in the auto RX-8 (pick up aside), but the aspect I was concentrating on the most in this vehicle is precisely the one that let me down. I guess that's why I didn't even bother mentioning anything else in my post. My final opinion of the car was that the auto RX-8 came across to me as a sports car with all looks and no muscle. That's the point I was trying to make in my post. That probably made me sound like even more of a biased *******. (Sorry again.)

I'd like to go test drive a 8 in 6 speed manual, but I'm not sure yet if I'm willing to spend that much money on one. It's obviously the only version (right now) of the RX-8 that in my eyes will do it any justice. Maybe I'll wait a few more months..

In other news, the 6 forums are back up, and I guess that after reading the responses I got in this thread, I best be heading back there now.

 

nah, most canadians are very at home in sedans (notice how much cheaper nearly everything is: much lower demand), and only American wannabes are into SUV's. driving in the city, you don't see as many SUV's. in the burbs, you see lots of minivans and econo cars. nearing rural areas, you see TONS of trucks (as would be expected). our buying habits are in fact different from American's, although yes, not all that much.

 

Yeah. 'N' jus wait till they spend all that time they got, thankin up some kinda way to get out all that crud oil outta tham thar frozed-up tar pits they got. More crud oil than you can shake a stick at, over in thar, I here! Ther'll be no stoppin 'em than!

 

just got back from Fort Jackson, SC--I'll take Canada's frozed-up tar pits any old time

 

Only good for straight line? Substandard handling? That the first time I have ever heard or read anything negative about the Evo's handling. Every single mag or user review has reported that it is one of the best handling cars on the raod , let alone in it's price range. I call BS that you actually testdrove an Evo.

 

Well, I will be driving a MT RX-8 sometime this week so you guys might have someone else to flame :p I don't think my expectatiosn are as high as the original poster so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I'll get a post up the night after I drive it. If they try to put me in an AT I won't even bother.

Ike

 

Not a flame, just a note to point out a quick bit o' info from various tests: the automatic is around 3 seconds slower on the 0-60 than the manual. ~6 seconds vs ~9 seconds.

 

Yeah, I'm raising the same flag too. The EVO is much more than a straightline monster (though its not designed to be a drag racer). As for the interior, the things that count the most it excels in : driving position, pedal placement, gear shift placement and shifting action, small nice steering wheel, excellent seats and good visibility. I understand some people want luxury, and this is not it, but its interior is quite good in the areas that are important to many enthusiasts. The interior insults on the EVO are almost getting as bad as the "T" word!

 

I was referring to Canadians perception of Americans with the truck and SUV comment. I figured most Canadians rode moose to/from work...

 

blaHAHAHAHAAHAHA

and one more thing...

"CANADIAN BEER SUCKS!" - boomer, canadian bacon.

actually, i have no idea why people are so negative to canadians, though i think it is more of freindly joking than actually "hating on" lol

i think that we can attribute is incredibly negative review, to the fact that he did not know that the AT is actually less powerful than his 6.

anyway, i take no offence to his post, and im glad he didnt attempt to sugar coat his impression

 

Yes it's all in good fun with the Canadians... not like those 6 owners...

 

10-4 on that, good buddy, except, well, I got a problem with them stealing my fall 3rd grade arts & crafts project & making their flag out of it...

 

Think of it this way: 50 more horsepower alone will take off a lot of time 0-60. Add this to the fact that the manual is lighter than the 6 speed manual. Add that to the fact that manuals, in general, usually take off about a 1/2 second 0-60 from their automatic counterparts. Therefore, comparing the automatic rx-8 to its lighter, more powerful, 6-speed manual, is not even a fair test.

I suspect that Mazda came out with the Automatic just to please die hard automatic fans. Notice, that almost all of the Rx-8's are manual, comapred to most other "regular" cars where most are automatics...just like your mazda 6.

Reactions???

 

My father-in-law owns a 1969 Hemi Daytona Charger... and it's an automatic.

I currently drive a stick, and sometimes my clutch foot just gets tired, so on the weekends I drive my wife's auto.

 

After my 30-minute test drive in a 6MT GT, I can tell you that you have to drive this car differently than other cars you've known. It's a mindset, really. It's extremely difficult not to shift at 5-6,000 RPM. Once you get it in your head to approach redline, you've understood how this car is supposed to be driven.

I got to 45 MPH before shifting to second. You drive it like that and you will have no complaints about performance. I was doing around 60 on the freeway in third gear at about 6,000 RPM. That's awesome. You step on the peddle at that point and you go past everyone. It was a blast to drive once you got your head around how it wanted to be driven.

As for the AT, well, to each his own I guess.

 

You are right on, the old RX-7's, you could drive 40-45 mph in second gear. It was hard to get to a place that you could use 5th gear. You could easily drive down the interstate in 3rd. You really had to be going fast to use 5th, or else you just didn't have any "punch". That's just part of the Rotary. Keep those RPM's high!

I just wonder how often a guy will use 6th? That's gotta be a fun time. :D

 

How will that affect your gas mileage though? Won't that drop it through the floor?

I have a 6spd in my car. I can cruise at 40MPH in 4th @2000rpm all day long, or I can punch it and take it up to 143mph before having to shift to 5th...BUT, I still drive around in 6th on the freeway. The gear is like an overdrive to help get better gas milage, that's all.

I'd hate to have to hang the tach around 6k everywhere I went just to get any "punch". Is that the case with these rotary engines?

 

You're falling into that trap. Don't think pistons when you're talking rotors. You get best MPG where your engine runs most efficiently. I'm thinking that's around where max torque @ WOT is = 5,500rpm. It's not at all like your V8's where that would be @ 1,800 - 2,000rpm. A rotory is happiest @ 5,500. Your not flogginng it there like you would a V8.

 

Well, 40-45 mph is the high end of 2nd. Did I always shift there? No, it was more confortable to shift lower. I would use 3rd gear a lot of times to accelerate onto the highway into traffic. It would take you to 60 easy... or more.

I lived in Colorado with a lot of mountain two lane roads. That "punch" came in handy.

Let me explain it this way... in a lot of stick shifts, if you get the RPM too low, it doesn't have that punch, but if you get the RPM too high, you feel like the engine is going to blow out of the hood. That's what it feels like to me. Whereas with a Rotary, it's just smooth at a high RPM. Just think of the word smooth. And that is where your "punch" is. You will like keeping it there just so that you have that "punch".

MPG you ask? I have gotten a 1st generation RX-7 as high as 25, and as low as 8. It depended more on how hard you stepped on it from start then once you were going. Yes, we all get tired of filling the tank (in the wallet!). But again, having your RPM's too low is going to lug the Rotary and use more fuel. So, you'll find a nice happy spot for most of your driving. Just remember that it's going to be higher then any other car that you have driven.

 

Exactly Racer! Don't think of it as a V8. And your MPG will be better at a higher RPM! Zoom Zoom!

 

Drag cars use automatics to take advantage of torque multiplication. When the engine is turning at a different speed than the transmission, the torque put out to the wheels is multiplied. Yields a better launch if you've got the traction to take advantage of it.

Power loss when shifting has nothing to do with it -- the shift times are so low it's not even funny. The more time an automatic spends shifting, the more power that's wasted (you're wasting power heating two clutch packs during a shift). Things change a bit when you're dealing with boosted cars (cars stay under boost during a shift), but for hardcore drag machines this is not a factor.

One of the other primary reasons why automatics are popular is /related/ to shifting -- run consistancy. Using an automatic yields more consistent runs.

 

Really? Now THAT is a sweet setup! I never knew the rotory engine was different in that way. Now that you say that though, I do recall reading somewhere that the rotary burns up the gas bigtime when idling. Now that statement makes perfect sense . I appreciate you setting an old barbaric V8 owner straight, that's why I come here..to learn:p .

I don't have a problem revving an engine to redline, I've done it on a regular basis on all my cars. Being a weekend drag racer, I know the importance of proper RPM use, but I'd never known you could actually get BETTER gas consumption by wrapping it up higher! What a great excuse to keep it in the upper range.:D

Now that you guys point it out, I do recall thinking that the car I test drove didn't seem to be screaming when I took it up to 8500 like I had expected it to. Now it all makes sense. Thanks for the help guys.