Razor-sharp handling with head-turning looks. I really like the aesthetics of the R3 and I was qouted invoice ($30,433), which I am confident I could talk down to 28k. The problem? Why spend that money when I could get a used Porsche Cayman for the same price or a S2K? It's a great car but there are so many drawbacks.

 

but you get the uniqueness of a rotary engine!

 

the R3 would really be a nice car to drive. You get the pleasure of 4 seats, a awesome sports car, and a redline of 9k. The s2k and cayman are also very nice cars too, nothing wrong with them.

 

troll...do not feed it...

 

Nice 5 sentence review...

 

because its new. Why buy a new 328i when you can buy a used 750i

Gotta love the 2 line driving impression

 

lol. i was like ooh a review!!! then it was just one sentence. or a phrase even lol.

 

Yeah, he was cleaver at least! He had the words "So" and "The" included!!

 

OP should get a Cobalt SS. It's faster than the Porsche and S2000 and RX-8. Then again for less, OP can get a 96 Civic DX and put an Integra or Prelude engine in there?

 

Im thinking about an r3 but I figure I might as well wait till the end of the year for the huge rebates. These cars aren't going to be leaving the dealer lots anytime soon. Theres still a couple of dealers around here that have '08s they cant get rid of. Plus there may be info about the 16x car by then so then Id just hold off altogether. Did get a couple of quotes around 28.9k which normally would be great but I still dont feel like paying that much for another 8.

 

I couldn't stand driving around in a car with a happy face.

 

AHAHA!!! thanks delhi. snarfed my coffee on that one...

 

Everything I ever wanted to know about the R3 is included in your comprehensive review!

Such as:

what is the handling like? Razor sharp

what does it look like? It has head turning looks


Well thank you for taking the time to offer such a detailed, informative review of the R3 and it's driving impressions.

Personally I think the Caymen has the lowest looks/performance ratio you can possibly get. Absolutely pathetic styling.

The s2000 is great but with the lowered redline of the AP2 series, it just doesn't seem to have the thrill factor of the originals. (yes i know it has more torque...162 torques ladi frickin dah....)


just get the R3 dude.

 

I often think (know) I would prefer a Porsche Cayman as well. But then I consider 1. our roads here suck and are getting worse, 2. high end sportscar thefts are on the rise here, and 3. maintenance/repair of any Porsche is much higher than the '8.

edit: 4. Our 8's are really pretty reasonable to insure as they're classified as "1.3L 4-door." A Porsche - not so reasonable. Always have to consider the total cost of ownership.

I wouldn't want to see my '8 damaged or stolen, but I'm much more likely to drive, and stop, more places without the same concern I would have for a Porsche.

Even 'all the money and cars one could want' Jay Leno says that he takes his Porsche out, drives it in a loop, and puts it back in the garage, without stopping anywhere. I would most likely do the same, so overall what good is it?

Well, that's what I keep telling myself.

 

i think im going to start going on random forums and just saying...

"i love this car i really do, but why get it when XX and XXX can do xXX and XXX, i mean.. XXX?"

grow the **** up really.

do you think the maintenance on the porsche cayman is the same as the rx8? or the insurance?

do me a favor, ask how much the porsche dealer charges for an oil change.

 

there are too many porsche's on the road already... dime a dozen... driven around by a bunch of rich, snobby ppl- unless u like that particular stigma...

get the R3 and don't be a "porcupine."

do u know the difference between a porcupine & a porsche?

 

OP doesn't see the best part of an RX-8.

While a Cayman/S2k can carry around one lovely girl, the R3 can carry around 3 lovely girls.

 

Porsche's are the original sports car, in a way. Hitler commissioned the VW Bug, and then Ferdinand basically took that design and made everything sportier to make the 356. The 911 is basically a sportier yet version of the 356.

It's like a mass produced "peoples' car" modified from the ground up to be a sports car.


thank you for viewing this pointless post about Porsche info that everyone already knows. unfortunately, you will never get those 20 seconds back.

sorry.

-sam

 

I'm driving a Honda Accord Coupe 5MT - I4, it's pretty cool.
The motor is a little wheezy.
I installed a Fujita CAI so it's a little more growly than stock but still sounds kind of like a sick farm animal at WOT.
I also installed a thicker rear sway bar from an Acura TL.
It did help with some of the leaning in corners, but the car still doesn't like responding to steering inputs. Geez I miss the rx-8.

 

steering inputs on most cars receive a response from the car which feels something like this: "ok ok, I'll do it this afternoon!!"

in the rx8 it's like this : "mmyess there we go and what else now?"

 

i'm a big porsche not-lover. for some reason, never liked them, ever since i was a kid. all the other kids thought porsches were awesome, i always hated them. and to this day, still feel the same way. i'll give in that they're objectively good cars, but so are so many others. things about porsche that i like to pick on:
1. they're all ugly; porsche is absolutely incompetent at *designing* cars. there has never been a porsche that is not ugly. the 911 looked like a frog when i first saw it (930), still looks like a frog. but sure, looks aren't all...
2. stupid stupid rear-engine layout. when it first came out, the rear-engine-ness was ok, for the time. and then they never changed it. wtf? i saw a porsche ad in road & track w/ a photo of a green 901, and it read something like "in 196_ we showed the world how a sports car should handle." as in a sports car should handle like sh** and dangerously? you can say that they've perfected the rear-engine layout and driving dynamics using their engineering prowess, but it took them 40 years to do that. what a big waste
3. continuing my rant about rear-engine. the mid-engined boxster was excellent immediately upon its introduction. some say you get a boxter only if you can't afford a 911, but the truth is the boxster is dynamically superior to the 911. period. the cayman is even slightly better than that. and then they had to intentionally handicap the performance of the boxster/cayman in order to not make it better than the 911 in terms of lap time, etc. so they a) proved that rear-engine is inferior w/ their own product and b) had to keep their rear-engined product on top by purposefully handicapping their mid-engined product. i will never buy anything from a dedicated sports car company w/ that kind of philosophy
4. in the boxster and cayman, the motor is effectively sealed in. they say the motor was designed to be replaced, not repaired. so somewhere down the line if you actually bought your cayman for keeps (instead of leasing it for 3 years), and you want to rebuild the motor, how the heck do you do it? i think the whole engine module is removed from below? how do you even inspect it before paying the dealer's extortion? what a stupid design. that might as well be equivalent to gluing the tires onto the wheels and welding the wheels onto the cv joints so you just buy a new chassis when the tire blows
5. why do they HAVE to charge you up the nosebleeds for everything? at the price you're paying, things like HID and floormats should come standard, not to mention limited slip diff. and hundreds and hundreds of dollars for colored seat belts? how much do they charge for black-painted wheels? what a joke. greedy bastards. and even if you're paying that much $, the build quality really is still not that great
6. and to rub all of this in, they are SO incredibly full of themselves. sometimes i wander to porsche's website and end up watching some videos or reading specs and stuff. they are SO full of themselves, implicitly and explicitly. the official porsche videos are the worst. makes me want to throw up listening to them talking. and truthfully, they may accumulate racing wins, but in terms of road cars they are very conservative in terms of innovations, almost never the first one to implement cutting-edge technology in road cars. and yet they're still so full of themselves. ugh
7. and then there's the cayenne, and now the panamera. talk about selling out. and they're both hideous and ungainly. i mean if you want to make a sports sedan, at least try to make it svelte, sporty, and sexy. the panamera looks like a truck. the cayenne? words fail at what a fail it is, altho it does make them lots of profits

i probably just offended a lot of porsche lovers. i APOLOGIZE for the rant, and please try not to flame me. i do love lotuses tho. and to be fair, there have been porsche products that catch my fancy: 914, 928, 924/944. but of course these are spurned by the *real porschephiles* 'cuz they're *not real porsches* 'cuz they don't have an air-cooled engine in the back and handle dangerously. i like 993 tho. and... sure a used cayman is cheap, but a used rx-8 is cheaper, as is a used s2k

 

oh and i love the r3. if i had spare 30k, i'd buy one in blue for keepsake 'cuz i bet they'll be rare and maybe even desirable in the future

 

My Father has a Boxster. It's a fantastic car.
I'm always egging him on to go cruising w/ me or come out to an autocross.
He wont 'cause he's too afraid of breaking something.

High maintance costs + almost nothing you can do to the car yourself.

I think the caymen is one of the most beautiful cars on the road.
I'd own one in a second ... as long as I still had my '8 as a DD.
(and it was gifted to me)

 

liked that rant, glad i read it, no sarcasm.

yeah. reason i picked the rx8, other than for the car, think about things revolving around the car, payments of this and that. i didn't mind the mpg on it.but for sure the insurance is a lot cheaper 750 every 6 months, 2k for wrx, 2.5k sti, 3k evo. imagine how much insurance would be for a porsche or s2k.

 

1. Ok here i disagree. The 911 is probably the most classic deign in existence. It relies on its basic shape with beautiful rear hips and classy front fenders over several decades, despite continuous changes to the surface detailing. I can't think of any other design which holds up so well. Porsche 911's look excellent from the rear, especially.

2. Yes, the rear engine is stupid from a purely performance oriented view, but if properly executed, this layout can offer a uniquely interesting and satisfying driving experience, as many competent 911 drivers would attest to. The drop throttle nose tuck ability is apparently pretty fun, and the rear traction under power is quite useful too. But, I personally would be terrified to be hard on the brakes coming into a slight bend- seems like the rear mass would want to keep going....scary stuff.

3. Ya I agree that the boxter fails. mid engine really is better, and to purposefully water everything down is pretty lame.

4. Ya i agree they should let you at least see the damn thing without having to remove some hardware.

5. Because Porsche owners are middle aged or older and can probly afford to pay a snobby company like Porsche for their ridiculous service/parts and accessory costs. Business is business. If they will pay it, charge it. sad but true.

6. Of course they are full of themselves. EVERY car maker in existence is full of themselves. Porsche, being German, takes it a level higher though, of course.

7. Yes, their SUV is a joke. probably the saddest thing to ever happen to the sports car world that I can think of.


Anyway. Porsches are awesome, and I would love to own a 911 someday if I can ever afford one.