And by the way, my dealer, Mazda Knoxville, is great. No complaints on service.

 

Hah, I forgot all about those lower control arm problems in the 03 and 02 Z's. Imagine having to replace your tires every 6 - 12 thousand miles. People would have to go to the delearships only to have to get their wheels realigned weeks later, and then having the delearship dick you around saying you were racing, although it was a documented mechanical defect.. Sucked for Z owners

 

Okay. I will try to keep an open mind about it when I go to drive it.

 

Yep. This was a problem for 03 and early 04 owners. Problem has since been fixed. They implemented a whole new front suspension for 06. I like how Nissan has been very effective in fixing their flaws. And they have also been listening to their owners and paying attention to reviews, which is evident by the changes they made for 06 regarding the interior.

 

I think road and track did a really lame hunky-dory comparison video between the Z and the 8, it's in the media forum somewhere and I don't care to look for it. they declare the 8 winner by a small margin.

I just can't get past the Z's styling (ugly fat thing), the G35 looks loads better and it's the only contender I'd consider opposite the 8. but you can't beat a rotary's uniqueness.

 

being the owner of a 2005 G35 coupe 6mt, i have to say that overall the rx8 handles better and is more fun to drive.

on a real track, rx8 get murdered bad on corner exit accleration and the straights by a lot of cars, but how many people actually take their cars to the track?

 

Nice car playdoh.

I disagree with your "murdered bad" on a real track...it depends on the track. Here in Ontario for example, I've done 5 of our 6 tracks on a big bore bike, and only 1 (Mosport long track - home of the original Canadian Grand Prix) has the distance (i.e. the Mario Andretti straight) to extract real power. Otherwise, even the pros can barely post faster times on a big bore vs. a 600 cc.

I only saw one comparison test of our cars, in Car and Driver, and I think lap times were within a tenth of a sec., to the G's favour.

 

I'm a bit confused as your paragraphs above seem to contradict each other. Are you saying it's the "numbers" you've read that claim a difference from your experience? Others have disagreed with your handling comparison here, but I get the sense you like the handling of the 8 over the 35 and you were just mentioning numbers from tests elsewhere.

 

I dont have a motortrend handy with an rx8 article but according to modernracer.com the G35 coupe pulls .92Gs on the skidpad while the rx8 pulls .88Gs

For some reason I took this to mean the infiniti handled better when all the editors were talking about was grip.

Hopefully this clears up the confusion.

 

Tsukuba is a very short track with a lot of corners, yet accleration still plays a big part in corner exits. thats how rx8 keep loosing to other cars that explodes out of corners much faster on BMI. power and torque isnt just for straights... cars like evo and sti dominates tracks... AWD traction and low end torque gives them superior corner exit accleration.

real tracks are designed to test all the performance characteristics including accleration and handling. Each turn are designed with a stretch that test the car's corner exit acceleration in between turns, its never just turn after turn after turn (that would be an autox course, not a race track). accleration and handling are equally important on a track. acceleration plays a huge part during cornering, not just straights.

 

ive taken the rx8 through the twisties couple of times, skyline drive and blue ridge mountain road in VA have some of the best twisties in the states. and friend and I took her rx8 all the way down to north carolina through blue ridge mountain road. One thing i feel rx8 really needs is a stiffer suspension.

Its so fun to dance through the turns in a nimble car like the rx8, but the body roll can get really nervous at higher speeds. On BMI's touge challenge, rx8 with suspension upgrade suddenly becomes one of the elite cars to ever run on the show. I wish Mazda gives its buyers a factory option for a much stiffer stock suspension for those that dont mind the bumpy ride. IMO with a stiffer suspension, the rx8 should be right up there with the s2000 in terms of handling.

of course even with the current suspension rx8 is still one of the best handling cars out there.

 

I own both a G35 6MT and an RX-8 and the two cars are totallly different.

Dont dissmiss my sedan's performance potential. It is lighter than the coupe. The sedan is also more aerodynamically slicker (try .26 cd.) with the aero pkg. and contributes to zero-lift. Plus my 6MT came with sport tuned suspension standard. To me the G35 coupe is more of a styling choice. The coupes extra power is offset by the heaver weight. Debate the numbers if you want; the performance between the coupe and 6MT sedan is about equal. And boy, does it love the twisties.

The G35 (sedan or coupe) is an award-winning fun car with excellent performance for a reason : It is a version of the Nissan Skyline. I love it.

Now the RX-8: three words to describe...pure sport feel.

RX-8 feels lighter and more precise in feel than the G35. That's why the RX-8 is so fun to drive. Not enough roll control at the rear of the car but its not bad and there are parts available to fix that.

Power...again totaly different. G35: lots of torque but still revs smooth.

RX-8: Low torque yet leaves the line smoothly...super-smooth- revs with no stress...strong power from 5k to 9k. Fun getting to 9k plus you might be over the speed limit in 2nd gear.

That does not mean the G35 is less of a performer. It handles extremely well, very quick. The sport suspension is not floaty- firm but still comfy. I wish I had these ripple-control shocks on the rear of the RX-8.

Again they are both great, fast and very capable sport machines but drive totally different.

I love it.

 

omg....that place is crap, i bought my car there, and they could never help me out?? i tried calling the manager 5 days in a roll, at least 2 voice per day, and he never gave me a call back, he finally picked up my call on the 6th day, but i still couldnt get my problem solved!

 

skidpad numbers don't really say a lot about handling, it is a factor. But it's more a test whose got better tires.

 

I was going to trade in my 8 for the new G35...till i test drove the manual G35.... performance and power wise, i liked the G35. Handling, interior, fun factor i kept with the 8.

in the end, i didnt trade and drove home smiling that i did the correct decision.

 

I'd like to voice my opinion that the 350Z looks like a giant rolling phallus.

 

the new ones? yes.