jmanolov

10 mins ago I just got back from the LA Autoshow. There are two RX-8 cars over there - the first one is probably the X-men car - with a huge Supra style wing on the back. The other RX-8 is normal looking. Both cars are in the West hall in the Mazda section.
The RX-8 cars will stay covered for public until the official RX-8 introduction at the Detroit show. Then the car covers will be removed for the general public to see the cars. So if you want to admire the RX-8 cars postpone your LA autoshow visit until the Detroit introduction (check which day is it) otherwise you will see only the covered cars.

Downstairs in the Kentia Hall there is another Mazda section - the Mazdaspeed booth - there you can see one tricked out Miata, a 1000hp Mazda6 which has street driven outlook, one Mazda Protégé race car from the SpeedTV GT series (one of the Tri-Point cars), and a couple of other Mazda vehicles (a Protégé 5 and that green prototype truck we've seen many times).

Other cool sightings at the show - there is a silver Lotus Exige in Kentia Hall, there are bunch of of cars from the James Bond movies old and new (including the new tricked out Vanquish from Die Another Day). This is infront of the Concourse Hall.

A couple of Mosler super cars in front of the Concourse hall too.

I liked the bunch of 350Z in the South hall too.

That's about it from the first walk around.

jmanolov

The LA auto-show will start on Jan 3rd (for the press) and from January 4 to 12 for the public.

The Detroit auto show will start on Jan 5th for the press and from Jan 11 to Jan 20th for the public.

I don't know when is the Mazda unveiling at Detroit. Looking from this it probably is Jan 7th in the morining (but I am not sure if that's the day):
http://www.naias.com/main.asp?sectionID=20

If so, then the RX-8 cars should be unveiled the same day few hours later at LA too. Not sure about the day though - just guessing from the Detroit schedule.

After you hear the car has been introduced at Detroit - visit the LA show the next day and the cars should be without covers there too

roachman

My understanding is that they are RX-8s in Detroit are unveiled on Tuesday morning (7:30-8:30), Jan 7th.

This is what Buger says and he sure seems to know his stuff.

See the Lounge section for discussion on seeing it live over the internet.

Roachman

jmanolov

Alright, then the covers of the two cars of the LA show shoud fall probably later the same day.

ShortBusRiot

Wow 1000hp Mazda6 i would love to go see that!

Edit=typo

MattFast

Here you go......its not a Mazda6...it is a 1000hp 'car' that looks like the Mazda6 hehehe

max_stirling

Hey, wait a minute, I thought that the RX-8 was already introduced at the Frankford show. Everybody now knows what the production RX-8 will look like, its specs, and its production schedule. Where's the news in that?

I thought that the big news for NAIAS is the intro of the RX-7 prototype or something really special like that.

Am I totally wrong? Seriously.

MattFast

You mean Frankfurt But no, the real RX-8 isn't shown in Europe. We just had the yellow one with those other mirrors

The real (red) RX-8 was first shown in Sydney, Australia (correct me if I'm wrong)

jmanolov

No, the real RX-8 hasn't been at any autoshow yet.

It will be shown on Jan 7th in Detroit for first time - that's the unveiling for the world, and then on Jan 8th at the LA autoshow.

What people have seen so far at autoshows are prototypes which are little bit different than the final car

RotorMotor

POS San Diego car show ends on Saturday! Guess no RX-8 drooling for me.... San Diego never gets any of the cool cars (certainly very, VERY few concepts). Anybody know why that is?

zoom44

too close to lala land and its too early to have anything that is debuting there(la) or naias. drive up to l.a. to see it

RotorMotor

That's a good idea. I can probably take Wed. off work and head up there. I'll have to find somebody to drag along (don't wanna sit in LA traffic talking to myself for hours on end....)

jmanolov, is there any way to confirm the RX-8's presence on the 8th in LA???

EverRX8

I live in Long Beach, 20 minutes away from LA. I can't wait to see the 8 in person at the show. Which day should I go, the 7th or the 8th? cuz i'm taking my mom to see my future car.

max_stirling

I don't know if the SD show falls into category, but most auto shows are sponsored by dealers, not manufacturers. As a result, those sponsored by dealers have smaller budgets and resources and ,therefore, few ,if any, concept cars from manufacturers.

The Washington DC auto show has sucked for many years. There used to Ferraris and Lambos and other exotics represented there, but not for many years. Nowadays, the show is essentially an indoor car lot with little corporate representation or support.

PossibleRX8ownr

Can somebody going to the L.A. show take pictures and then post 'em on this board? They would be most appreciated!

EverRX8

Sure, cuz i'm going there on wednesday. I'll get them posted as soon as i have them

RotorMotor

Yeah, now that the RX-8's presence is confirmed on Wednesday, I'll be heading up for sure. I'll have digital and film with me.....

jmanolov

I think 8th is the day - from a Mazda source

I've heard that today at the show they unveiled the X-men car though:
http://prn.newscom.com/cgi-bin/pub/s...ail&tr=1&row=1

rx-8@mazda

No production version has been shown.

The vehicles shown in Sidney and Frankfurt are prototype concept cars.

The production model will be revealed in Detroit in 3 days time. It will be revealed afterwards at the LA show.

At the end of next week, press will drive the cars in California

zoom44

probably at laguna seca. man i wish i lived closer, i'd see if there was a way to sneak in:D

pmacwill

besides the front grille, it doesn't even look like they did anything different to the X car from the production model.

zoom44

here

jmanolov

What about the big spoiler on the trunk?

RX7 Guy

I went to the L.A. Show on Saturday & saw the X-Men RX-8. I don’t feel I need to see the production version to formulate an opinion on the RX-8 as there are few differences & they are easily ignored. Basically, loose the “X” pattern in the grill, the huge wing, the accent vains in the engine vents & the vinyl suicide door trim & you’ve got the production version.

Exterior…In my completely subjective opinion, the RX-8 looks much better in person than it does in photographs but unfortunately, that only elevates the score I’d give it from poor to acceptable. Again, in my completely subjective opinion, the car is…too skinny, the center of visual mass is located too far aft, the radius between the side & roof is too acute, the front wheel blisters serve no purpose other than to create clutter, the wheel arches are borrowed directly from the Focus which reminds us of Ford’s influence & the face has a playful rather than aggressive expression unfitting of such a fast car. I would have preferred the RX-8 to look more like a 3 Series BMW or a Infinity G35 but that’s just me.

Interior…hands down the most innovative of any vehicle at the show. Unique without being gimmicky, cool without being trendy, functional without being utilitarian. The digital Speed-O was a mistake & the panel wasn’t illuminated so I can’t speak to the color but overall…Truly, truly fantastic!!!

Mechanical…The oil cooler is absolutely huge, like twice the size of the one on my FC RX-7 which tells me that Mazda has obviously taken care to keep the RX-8 cool. The differential is aluminum which speaks volumes about Mazda’s commitment to building a real performance car. Few customers will bother to look under the car & half of the ones who do won’t even know what they’re looking at. This car was clearly designed by gearhead / racer types not poser / accountant types.

Value…The RX-8’s pricing is a fair amount below that of industry bench marks such as the 3 Series BMW & it's a fair amount above that of middle of the pack offerings such as the Accord V6 so it does seem to take a logical place in the market. When nicely equipped but not totally loaded you get something like this…Accord V6 = $25,000, Mazda RX-8 = $28,000, BMW 3 Series = $32,000. I don't know about you but that makes sense to me.

Public reaction…I spent quite a lot of time observing the reaction of show attendees & informally recording the demographics of those who were drawn to the RX-8. Overall, the RX-8 was very well received. Typical comments were that the car was unique, modern, high tech, fast looking, etc. Knowledge of rotary engines was almost completely absent. The comments “Does that have a rotary???” & “What’s a rotary???” were continuously uttered. Ultimately though, people seemed to be neither intrigued nor concerned about the engine. It was like they were saying “who cares why it’s fast so long as it’s fast”. I did notice a disproportionately high percentage of the Fast-N-Furious crowd were hanging around the car which is a concern as most of those types will find the car to be prohibitively expensive.

Personally, I like the RX-8 more now than I did prior to the car show. I’ll either save a bundle & get a MINI when they’re available at their MSRP of $17,000, get a RX-8 <Homor Simson...Ummm, new rotors, Ummm> or throw in a few extra $$$ and get a 3 Series BMW. It all depends on how the RX-8 feels on the road & if my 1987 RX-7 with 257,000 miles can hold out long enough for the RX-8 to be both available & for it's price gouging period of hype to pass.