Ike

Wow, where did you find that? :p

cas2themoe

You got me there, it was wet on the track, but I can say it didnt look that wet in the corners, only on the straight-a-ways and I can also say that I saw wet spots in the RX8 video on one of the corners.

cas2themoe

Got lucky, I've tried searching for it again on the internet but can't find it. Good thing I saved it in my favorites!

Ike

Well notice the Exige isn't labeled as wet, if you see the NSX Type R it's nasty, there's standing water on every inch of the track. They also almost wrecked the NSX. You need to keep in mind a few other things, a second or two for one lap of a track is an eternity, even if you only see water in the straights the rest of the track is still damp and cold and it will slow you down quite a bit besides the fact that water on a straight will slow you down in the upcoming turn. Lastly, it seems there's water in that one turn in many videos, I don't know if they wet it down or it's just a low point in the track, check out the Zonda video and many others to see what I mean.

gansan

Cas, your faith is misplaced in comparing the array of cars in your list. You can get a very general, rough idea of the performance of the cars if you compare the dry times at the Top Gear track, or only the wet times. SOMETIMES, Top Gear shows them in different lists on their show.

But these times are much less trustworthy than even Best Motoring lap times. At least BM owns up to different conditions and mistakes, and they always do a "time attack," where they just try to get some clean laps and pick the best one. One red flag on your list is the NSX-R, which was only a few tenths quicker than the RX-8. (I have the video of it's very WET Top Gear run sitting right on my hard drive.) If you research this car, it is fairly fast, able to do about 1:05 at Tsukuba, where the RX-8 does about 1:11. Slower than an Integra Type R! By comparison, a BMW M3 does about 1:09. With the Mazdaspeed suspension, flywheel, sticky tires, and other goodies, the RX-8 was only able to do about 1:09 (or was it 1:08?).

I don't have an RX-8 yet, and sure, it's not the fastest thing in the world, but I find my self choosing it for it's intangible qualities rather than raw performance. Otherwise, we would all have Lancer Evos and Corvettes. :D

GiN

I'd fathom if you put a 4,000bhp nitro/meth drag car on that same track, its lap times on a good day would probably be worse than that of a BMW Isetta. That does not mean the Isetta is "fast", nor does it mean the top fuel drag car is "slow". All it means is that a particular car is better suited for that particular track.

cas2themoe

Last time I saw that video, the guy driving the red 8 wasnt even racing. I never heard a redline beep, not one damn time. I could have driven that car better, I mean come on now. Even I know to switch gears when I hear the beep at 9,000!

rlfletch

All you guys need to put down the magazines, turn off the video players and GO TO THE TRACK YOURSELVES! You want a foolproof way to make your RX-8 faster? Go to a good driving school. The RX-8 is a brilliant track car for how practical it is in every day driving.

Spin9k

So very true rlfletch Reality is very helpful in this case. Experiencing the 8 in it's natural habitat is an amazing opener and a rewarding thrill :D !

DarkM

They use the same driver for each season but the cars are raced under different conditions. The track is twisty so it favours the rx8 and performance is down to tires and balance rather than acceleration. Here are the details.

top gear times

Different tracks give different results but the balance and grip of the rx8 , along with gearing and the flat torque curve compensate against faster accelerating cars.

track times

I can tell you that on a narrow twisty country road that a ferrari had trouble keeping up with me, but by the same token a 10 year old souped up mini went blasting past both of us. The mini's short and narrowness gave it far more ability to twist and turn than even an rx8. So we should not judge cars solely on acceleration and power.