Lots of good news, like getting many, many thumbs up (literally) from Miata folks and others, lots of stares and people just stopping in their tracks on the street and looking drop jawed! Lots of FUN!!

1. Looks sooo great! in the flesh, I mean metal. The red with Chaparral interior I think is very handsome. The red interior is stunning, but long term, I'll take the Chaparral. Anyway, I'll never now now.The overall quality of the interior is top class, for the most part. Compared to most non-luxury class (Honda, Toyota, etc.) Japanese cars I've seen, this looks very nice. But it is not Lexus quality.

2. The handling is perfect, at least at any speed or road I'm likely to ever encounter, it feels like it is on rails, there seems to be no sensation of resistance to any demand you put in the steering wheel, it simply goes where you point it, no fuss, no drama, haven't heard the tires making noise yet. Very reassuring and confidence inspiring. I hope to explore the limits more as I get familiar with the car, and find more suitable roads (read twisty mountains) to push it more.

3. The rate of speed building is astoundingly quick, but for some reason you don't feel it or hear it in the car! Very strange and interesting, sometimes I simply can't believe the digital speedo! But I guess it's correct.

4. Power is flexible and useable over all gears but not "oh wow!" like the afterburner on-off feeling of the Evo's turbo. Have gone to 7K so far, but not often, only 180 miles so far.

5. Very solid feeling for such a small light car. I take that to mean that it has a nice stiff chassis and is well balanced.

6. People have been complaining about the Bridgestone tires, but they seem just fine to me. They may not be perfect, but changing them right off looks like a foolish thing at this point.

7. It just wants to zoom, zoom! Always feeling, even at 80mph, like it is just getting started. Throttle response is right there. Let's see... 80mph is 4000rpm, so 8000rpm is 160mph, and 9300rpm is...

8. Almost forgot, the headlights are WONDERFUL, bright, sharp cutoff, white/blue so nice!

Then the dark side:

1 Seats are not comfortable over 1 hr. Just got back from a 3 hr trip, and my *** is sore. Didn't expect this, hasn't happened since I had a '95 Civic and had to put cushions in it. Maybe it's my particular construction (155lbs, 5'8"), but I don't feel like taking a long trip in this car. It's not that the seats are not feeling good or don't fit right, they just don't have padding where I need it, where my bones are. Maybe if I play more with the adjustments.. I hope!

2. Speaking of adjustments, I'd swear one of my legs is shorter than the other... all of a sudden since yesterday when I got the car. When the accelerator is just right, I can't push the clutch in easily all the way, sort of have to push it with my extended toe, if you know what I mean. If I move the seat forward so the clutch is OK, I feel cramped up against the wheel and accelerator. Maybe a little block on the clutch, or my left shoe! It's the strangest thing.

4. The rate of speed building is astoundingly quick, but for some reason you don't feel it or hear it in the car! This could be worth a ticket if I'm not careful. I like the digital speedo, but to me it looks like they could have easily put the oil pressure guage in the bottom of the left pod and had a nice analog speedo in the right, making it much quicker to 'know' mph than having to 'read' the number. I would like both!

5. The area around the shifter gets hot (strange), the stupid flimsy bin cover is right under your elbow and moves around and feels like it is going to fall off or break at any minute, and just feels cheap cheap every time you touch it! Worst thing in the cockpit.

6. First seems like a stump puller, and not necessary in most situations, wish there was no 1st, but a 1st 1/2 instead.

Do any of these things ring a bell with anyone else?
) :D

 

I suggest you move your seat up a bit. I noticed most people who drive a manual trannie sit back too far. I had a link that described driver positioning but I must have deleted it .

 

Here it is:

Jonny O'Connell Driving Tips

 

Just took a spin at the dealer with my wife and daughter...seemed appropriate to take her along, since her inability to squeeze in behind the seat was a primary reason I had to sell my Miata!

Anyway, we're currently trying to decide between the RX-8 and the G35 coupe. Please hold any comments about the G being ugly; we happen to like the looks of both cars very much. Seeing as how the car magazines are always comparing the two, I thought they'd at least be similar, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

First off, the obvious difference is the torquey V6 of the G vs the 8's rotary. Coming from a Miata, I should be able to manage just fine without the torque, but found that I really liked it in the G. Power, as much as you could want and whenever you want it, at any road or engine speed. The 8 on the other hand is deceptively fast. I think there are two main reasons for all the comments about the RX-8 not "feeling" very fast. One is that it depends on RPMs for it's power; the other is that the engine is just so dang smooth and quiet (more on that later).

Bottom line is that the G35 gives a much more muscular impression with vastly more visceral thrill. The 8's power delivery has a level of finesse I had hoped for but didn't expect to find.

Second, hats off to Mazda on the 50/50 balance of the car and the tuning of its suspension. I couldn't say it any better than it's already been said: the RX-8 reads my mind and intentions as well as my Miata did. Not once did I sense that I was asking it to do something it didn't want to do, even if it was something I probably *shouldn't* do. The G35, by comparison, made me feel like I was working to make the car do what I wanted.

Third, the interior. The Infiniti, while not up to Lexus standards, definitely has the edge here. Many of the switches in the 8 have a cheap feel, unlike the G which feels like...well, like an Infiniti. Add to that the fact that the G has dual-zone climate control (a huge factor for my perpetually cold wife!), one-touch up and down windows on both sides, and *two* power seats. Though mere convenience features, these differences help to mitigate the price premium of the G.

Fourth, the looks and stares. Perhaps the best thing I can say about the RX-8 is that I never noticed whether anyone was looking at us or not: I was having so much fun driving the car, I couldn't have cared less! I honestly don't remember the G35 being quite so absorbing.

Incidentally, I do not share a couple of the complaints cited above. At 6'1"/220, I had no issues with seat comfort or pedal placement. Granted, I only drove the car for perhaps 30 minutes.

I'll close with one anecdote and one hypothesis...

At one point early in our drive, my wife commented with amazement at how smooth and quiet the car was. "You can't ever tell if the engine's on! It seems like we're just coasting!" The truly amazing part is that her comment came at a time when I was silently marvelling at the same silky smoothness, cruising along at about 50mph in second gear: 6000 RPM! The rotary really does sneak up on you. Although trying to be mindful of the RPMs, I had a very hard time keeping them down, hearing a gentle 9000 RPM beep more than once.

Finally, my hypothesis: Isn't it likely that the one real "weakness" of the 8 (lack of torque) will actually make it a much more manageable car in the winter? With snow tires, of course. It seems to me that this may be one of the hidden advantages of the RX-8 for those of us in the northern climes, sort of a silver lining to the low-torque cloud. What do you all think?

Still undecided, but leaning toward the 8,
macdane

 

macdane,nice non biased review.i like your point on the lower tq with winter driving.this has too ran thru my mind,hey that will keep the car from braking loose.i have yet to drive one and wont be able till my car gets here (aug week 1 }here in ak there will be only 9 cars for first year and only 3 are sold,first 2 should be here mon/tues and mine is 3rd along with a couple others.im very excited to see one and sit in one but i sure would like to drive one before im sold.i have 2 worries about the car after reading some of the earlier reports,1st < fuel consumption seems low for this car but this is not to bigdeal to me and this may go up a little as cars reach 5000 to 6000 miles.2nd< i have logged a few miles in 225hp audi tt and have a lot of fun with how fast this car seems to accelerate and im hoping the rx8 will match if not exceed this level of quick,if it does than im sold .this tt belongs to a freind and ill never hear the end of it if she smokes me bad at the local 1/4 mile track (after break in of course)

 

It would have been a lot easier to not say the G is ugly as sin if you hadnt said not to. :o

A/W, I have to disagree with you on the G having a nicer interior. For the 8 to have a much lower starting price, it gets my vote for having the nicer interior materials. The G may look nice now (though I personally dont see it) but that cheap shiet will start scratching and wearing 5 minutes down the road. Not to mention, the rattles that will come in no time flat (known issue). My wife's coupe has 10k HIGHWAY miles but one quick ride in it would have you believing the car is MUCH older.

 

I just had to go back and quote this because it actually made me laugh out loud. I never read someone say something to the effect of "like an Infiniti" and mean it as a compliment. lol.

 

i compared the g and the 8 (As well as the z) in my review after an 8 test drive in one of these threads. basically it was the 8 all the way for me.

and if looks, fun, rotary, more back seat room etc. weren't enough for you, the 8 is cheaper...by about 4k.

and i do think the g looks very nice, so no bias here. but i do think the plastic center console in the g doesn't begin to compare with the quality of the 8's interior.

 

oh yeah spin9k i also found that there was some heat around the shifter. was wondering why?

 

Macdane - I too drove the Infiniti G35 against the RX-8. In my case it was the Sedan 6MT (have to have 4 doors, so all I can say is the G35 sedan looks ok, the G35 coupe looks very good and the RX-8 is stunning). I agree with your comparison 100% - the G throws you in the back of the seat and shows its power all the time. The RX-8 is very fast in a smooth manner without any drama (and sometimes I like drama). The interior quality of the Infiniti is a bit better than the RX-8, but the 8 is much better than I expected so the difference is not too bad. The G35 has a lot more toys, but I have recently decided I can live without most of them.

IIIseries - the G35 sedan can be had for $500 over invoice from several places. I have ordered (backup plan) a 2004 G35 Sedan 6MT + Premium + NAV + Aero (+ Sport + Winter packages included standard in the '04 6MT) for $3k below MSRP and about $1k below the price of my loaded RX-8. The lease price on the G will be about $525 per month as opposed to a best quote of $675 for the RX-8 at this time (same deal - 39 months, 50k miles, $0 down, includes taxes). Which is cheaper again? This price issue is a major consideration for me - I cannot afford to lease the RX-8 at $150 per month more than the G35 so I will have to think about financing the RX-8 with a hefty deposit...

Of course in 8 months time the RX-8 will be cheaper but I need a car within 6 weeks.

 

The TT's are commonly known to be "doggish." Also, if you are worried about winning at the local track.......don't buy an 8. As a general rule of thumb, Mazda does not build cars that are fast on drag strips, they build cars that are fast on race tracks (circuits). If you want to hand your friend's *** to him/her.......... go buy a 3rd. gen. RX-7. Then you can gloat about how their overpriced, turbocharged brick just got raped by a 10 year old, "POS" Mazda. You could have bad turbos AND bad compression and still stand a chance of killing that TT.

Just my $.02

 

The most recent version of the Miata has a similar sounding problem with heat coming in from near the right leg of the driver's seat. Here are some links from www.miataforum.net:

http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ul...c;f=6;t=014450

http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ul...c;f=6;t=013715

http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ul...c;f=6;t=011935

http://www.miataforum.com/cgi-bin/ul...c;f=6;t=012451

Perhaps someone can take a look through those threads and see if the problem sounds similar. It's a real problem in my Miata. The only benefit is that I never use my heater in my Miata, even when I take it to go skiing.

 

xuroatryrocket,dont intend to rob this thread but wanted to state that im NOT getting the rx8 for a dragcar.i allready have a dragcar,best run at 9.54@154.8 mph(73 rs camaro, morrison tube chassis car,etc,etc)we just have a fun night at the track with other racers when we run are everyday or sometimes beaters(as long as they dont leak on the track)cars.i had alot of fun in the tt and was just hoping that the rx8 will stand up to it.anyway i have read car & drivers reviews and the 8 does have a better standing 1/4 mile time buy more than 1sec and like 8 mph :D

 

One comment: I feel the exact opposite about the G35C interior vs the RX8. I have yet to meet somebody that actually liked the G35 interior...wow.

What "toys" does the G35 have?

 

Okay guys, like I said about the looks of the G35, same goes for the interior, I guess: different strokes for different folks. I'm 35 now, not 20 anymore, and I'm definitely looking for different things aesthetically than I used to.

While I DO like the interior of the 8, I happened to notice a cheap feel to some of the switches that I didn't find in the G. I won't say that the G's interior beats the 8's in every way, point for point, just that my overall impression was that the G seemed more...classy, where the 8 was more flashy?

The circular-themed console (radio controls and such) and the big circular thing around the shifter, for instance, wasn't necessarily bad, it just seemed a bit overboard and I fear I'd grow tired of it quickly. I'd rather they stuck to one interior theme (rotor motif) instead of trying to mix two themes. It's sort of a plaid-and-polka-dots kind of problem. Personal opinion, that's all. I want a car that I still like after the "gee-whiz" wears off.

As for toys, I already mentioned most of the differences that matter to me: one-touch up & down on both windows, dual-zone climate controls, and TWO power seats. I'll add two more, now that I've thought about it a bit: one is a trip computer that goes beyond a simple clock/thermometer display, and another is the fold-down rear seats. I understand the design of the 8 prohibits the folding seats, but the other four "toys" were certainly feasible.

One more question/gripe and then I'll stop: it was pretty hot out yesterday and my wife noticed that the 8's A/C didn't seem to cool the car very quickly. I didn't notice at the time, but thinking back, I believe she was right. Granted, the A/C was on-and-off as I drove, depending on what I was doing, but I wonder if any of you have noticed this?

Sorry if my assessment of the Infiniti's interior quality (and general tastefulness) suprises some of you. I'm simply thinking out loud as I mull over the decision between these two cars. For what it's worth, I'm probably leaning toward the 8...I just haven't decided how I feel about all the trade-offs yet.

macdane

 

Others have mentioned the AC issue here on various threads.

I am going to take a 20 minute test drive, as others have also mentioned that heat issue you refer to. I believe it is easily solved and will invest a little money in a Miata like fix if it is too hot. As for the AC issue, I am having my 8 tinted right up to the legal maximum. Doing that will help *any* car's air conditioner because it cuts doen the heat energy through the windows up to 75% from what I have read.

 

Just a few (probably) irrelevant thoughts. First of all, I think the G35 coupe is gorgeous. Dare I say even better looking than the RX-8 except for the front headlight "treatment". I also shopped it (never drove it) but I am buying an 8 because...
Rear seat are more useable, the G35 has little headroom in back, I had to sit hunched over (6') and you're basically sitting on the floor. The G35 6spd requires leather, I don't like leather and certainly didn't want to pay for it. I prefer light finesse cars over heavy(ier) power cars, and you can't beat 9K redline (I have driven an 8 but not to 9K and an S2000 to 9K).
A general comment on "toys" which everyone loves. One, they make cars expensive, two when they break they are expensive to repair because they are usually electrical and in the dash or otherwise inaccessible. Three they make cars heavy (along with safety geegaws), electric motors for power seats, sunroofs etc. add up. Because people "expect" toys on their cars we all have to pay for them. I may be a caveman but I would take crank windows back anytime. BTW my dual climate control is to open or close the vents on either side as necessary.

 

LOL

 

Hmmmm......I wonder why.

And people wonder why (besides the obvious) Infinitis depreciate like Hyundais.

 

Word to that.

 

Actually the G35 depreciates much like a 3-series BMW, hence good residuals and cheap leases, getting it cheap is just a bonus. I would expect to pay around invoice for a 3/5/7-series nowadays if I was buying but they are still not worth invoice. I agree that other older model Infinitis depreciate like Hyundais.

 

Yeah, whatever. Ive never seen a year-old 3 series sell for almost 10k less than when it was new, unlike a G.

Cheaper isnt always a good thing. You get what you pay for in this world, and in this case, it's like Gucci vs. Levi's.

 

blahahahahahahhaha

yeah i gotta say, the g35 interior (at least when i was looking at it...) was like vinyl........

anyway, i freking hate the rubber in the 8, wish it was all leather
________
Marijuana

 

In May 2000 I put down a deposit for a new 330i fully loaded (MSRP about $42k) about two months before it first went on sale as a 2001 model. I went to Kelly Blue Book to see how much that car is now worth in Excellent condition. They say $28,735 which is a loss of about $14k.

Instead of the 330i I bought a 2001 Lexus IS300 (fully loaded of course inc. LSD etc) for about $34k which is now worth about $22,365 according to KBB, a loss of about $12k. Now you have to understand the IS300 did not do as well in the market as predicted, so residuals are much worse than they were expected to be 3 years ago. I expect the G35 to be a lot better than the IS300 and it will probably lose $8k-$10k after three years, still a lot better than the $14k loss for the BMW 330i from MSRP. I admit the G35 interior doesn't look great, but at least for $30k MSRP you get real (good quality) leather and not 'leatherette' in a 325i Sport at a similar $30k MSRP.

I am editing this post to say that I don't dislike BMW by any means - I used to have a 320i back in England many years ago and loved it, and a Saab 900i before that and an A4 after that so I am not a 'Japanese car fanboy' by any means. Even today I think BMW is the only large car company that instills driving enjoyment into every vehicle they make. However 5-10 years ago they had no real competition, and today they have a lot of it, and some of that competition is very good and relatively good value for money. Some people will say that money is not a concern and that the 'best' costs more, but to them I say go ahead and buy a 911 Turbo or 360 Modena instead, or at least an M3, they are obviously better. To me value for money is very important as I am far from wealthy, and the RX-8 and G35 (and M3s and Corvettes IMO) have good value and performance for the money, more so than my IS300 or most BMWs.

 

Mac,

I see what you mean about now the extra "toys" none of them are an issue for me so I didn't consider or even notice any of them when I was decding between the two (G35C and RX8). The only two switches or ***** I think are questionable in the 8 would be the A/C fan and temp *****. On the other hand I thought the plastic in the G35 had a wierd rubbery feeling texture to it, hard to describe. I totally agree with you that it is subjective and to each his own.

As for the A/C, I live in Forida and didn't put the a/c fan above 2 the whole weekend except when I had the sunroof open. :D

BTW I've got you by a few years..not that I'm bragging that's for sure.