oilman

HAVE BEEN BROWSING FORUM FOR 1 MONTH NOW AND SO IMPRESSED I SIGNED UP TODAY.

I'VE HARRASSED MY UK DEALER ALL WEEK FOR MORE INFO AND AT LAST, HE CALLED TODAY WITH FIRM UK PRICING INFO SO HE SAYS!
WILL CALL BY AND SEE HIM TOMORROW TO CONFIRM.

192BHP 5 SPEED BOX £ 19995
247BHP 6 SPEED BOX £ 21995

OPTIONS:
SUNROOF £500
METALLIC PAINT £300
LEATHER & SAT NAV (PACKAGE ONLY!) £2500

HE ALSO CONFIRMED ONLY UK COLOURS AS
RED METALLIC
SILVER METALLIC
GUN METAL GREY METALLIC
BLACK
DEFINATELY NO BLUE,YELLOW OR WHITE AT LEAST FOR 2003

ALTHOUGH I CAN'T REMEMBER ALL THE DETAILS, THE 6 SPEED 247BHP HIGH POWER MODEL IS FULLY LOADED AND INCLUDES:

9 SPKR BOSE STEREO WITH 6 STACK CD, ABS, ESR, AIRBAGS, 18 INCH ALLOYS, AIR CON ETC... ETC...

HE ALSO CONFIRMED THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO ORDER "ONLINE" FROM FEB (NO DATE) FOR DELIVERY JULY/AUGUST 2003 DELIVERY.

HE ALSO TOLD ME THAT THE TOTAL UK ALLOCATION FOR 2003 WOULD ONLY BE 3,000-3,500 CARS. THEY'LL SELL THEM ALL!!!!

I HAVE TO SAY THAT HAVING BEEN TOLD ON TUESDAY THE PRICE FOR THE HIGH POWER WOULD BE £25000, I'M DELIGHTED AND FEEL IT'S A TRUE BARGAIN OF A CLASSIC SPORTS CAR.

HOPE TO LEARN MORE TOMORROW, BUT ONE THINGS FOR CERTAIN, MAZDA HAS MY ORDER FOR FEBRUARY!!!!

zoom44

thats great. now if you would just turn off the caps. it may be a measure of your excitement, which i truly understand, but many people hold the belief that all caps is rude, sort of like shouting all the time during a conversation. welcome aboard! when will you be ordering your car?

psukhu

All car companies seem to always rip people off in the UK.

As of today 25,000 British pounds is $40,187.50.

http://finance.yahoo.com/m3

97rsr

oilman,

Just wondering if that dealer price includes VAT. I'm guessing not - which would make it just under £26k for the Hi-Power. If its already inclusive of VAT, thats a stunning price. :D - we paid £21k for a new 10AE MX-5 3.5 years ago!!!

So what should we do, sell the Rx-7 or Mx-5??? Nice dillemma to have I suppose. :D

Thanks for posting the info - looking forward to getting a deposit down in Feb...

Phil

rx-8@mazda

prices are including VAT and delivery.

97rsr

:D :D

This car is going to go very fast in more ways than one!

Does anyone know the deal with pre-ordering. Obviously we'll need to put down a deposit, but are there circumstances under which it is refundable (i.e. if we find problems only after we've had a chance to test drive/see the car in person)?

clive

Hi oilman,
Congratulations, Mazda told me Thursday they will take £1000 deposits direct to them via their site , you will be pleased to know they are also considering some sort of recignition for the first lucky few buyers that get their cars to mark the occation but bear in mind l did say considering, BTW Europe will not receive the lower horsepower Auto model as this is for the US market only .
hope this helps

All the Best Clive

www.mazdarotaryclub.com

oilman

Visited my local dealer today and have some firm info.

PRICES.

RX8 240PS (High Power)
£21995 OTR including delivery, road tax and reg fee

RX8 240PS (High Power) Leather pack
£23195 OTR etc.. etc..

RX8 240PS (High Power) Leather pack and sat nav
£24695 OTR etc.. etc..

This makes leather £1200 and Sat Nav £1500 Options.
Apparantly you can't have Sat Nav without Leather.

Basic Spec: 240PS (High Power)
6 speed manual
Xenon headlights
225/55r18 Alloys
4 wheel disc brakes
ABS & EBD
Airbags
Immobiliser and alarm
Premium Bose CD/Stereo 9 speakers! (6 Stack)
Heated rear window
Body coloured door handles
Power windows
Tilt steering
Remote keyless entry
Front fogs
Fully auto AC/ climate control
Alloy pedals

Options:
Metallic/Mica paint £300
Electric sunroof £500
Leather pack (heated and electric adjustment) £1200
DVD Sat Nav £1500

Note: Mazda release unclear, Sunroof may be standard.

192PS (Low Power) £19995
Standard equipment excludes
Xenon Headlights
Alloy pedal set
6 speed transmission.

Also of note:

No Automatic available in forseeable future

Only colours available for 1st 3 months production are:
Titanium Grey metallic
Sunlight Silver metallic
Velocity Red mica
Brilliant Black solid

Unclear on upholstry at this stage.

Ordering online from Feb, date tba. Deposit to dealer £1000.

February order secures car, late July / early August.

Dealer will have colour patches and upholstry configurations prior to the online ordering start date.

My dealer has been over helpful and is a true rotary enthusiast so I'm happy to pay my deposit when he calls.

Undecided on colour but Silver with Grey or Tan leather would look good. Don't care much for the red/black interior, looks good on a show car but I'm not sure I could live with it.

Bargain price, great car, limited numbers and quick what more could one ask. I can't wait!!!!

Anyone got pics of the Silver one?

Does anyone know if 240PS is 240BHP if it is why aren't we getting 247BHP in UK?

97rsr

clive,

Thats fantastic news! Thanks for posting all the details too. This car looks like a great deal.

Was there any word on warranty? I read something about the US getting 4-years - perhaps to help dispell any public fears of rotary reliability issues.

I'm thinking of getting the Hi-Power in Silver or Titanium and also not sure about the leather. The MX-5 10AE has quite bright blue suede and black leather which we were really unsure about at first but didn't take long to get used to. I'm concerned that without the 2-tone interior it might look a bit dull and BMW/Audi-ish, which isn't right on a car like this.

I believe 240PS = approx. 237bhp and the EU engine develops this peak power at lower revs too. rx-8@mazda has also posted that there are changes to the suspension and tuning in Europe.

Maybe its a combination of EU environmental constraints (noise, fuel consumption, emmissions?) that warrants the (de)tuning. Its consistent with a slight difference between the latest 1.8L in the Miata versus the UK MX-5. Its also consistent with the UK 3rd gen RX-7 (92-95) - which had only 237bhp in the UK market, but upto 265 in others. Whatever the reason, I agree its disappointing.

Perhaps rx-8@mazda would like to comment?!

clive

Hi Phil,

l mailed the person last night at Mazda Europe who has been assigned to deal with our club requesting another meeting with them to gain more info about the RX-8 they already know l desperatly want to know fuel consumption figures etc ,
l especially liked your comments on Euro Spec as mazda know one of the things we have had concerns about is that people may bring cars in from Japan thinking they have a bargin and find they actualy have a car that is of lower Spec and no warranty Mazda have already said they will have nothing to do with gray import RX-8s.
lf the Gen 3 RX-7 was anything to go by the suspension was actualy a fair bit softer all round on the UK car .
BTW would you be the Phil that sprints his RX-7 in the CCC Championships , you may be interested that we have asked Mazda to bring an RX-8 to Brooklands for our first meeting of the year on the 13th April ,be good to see you there.

All the Best Clive / President Mazdarotaryclub.com

rx-8@mazda

Some comments:

1)
warranty is regular 3yr Mazda warranty. Optional extended warranty can be purchased from dealer.

2)
Suspension has been fine-tuned in Europe during testing in Germany and the Alps. There is a great team of chassis engineers in an R&D center close to Frankfurt. First of all there is no difference in suspension between the different engines.

In the UK, 18" wheels and Large brakes are standard. (Left Hand Drive EU markets have entry level 16" alloys which comes with a slightly different suspension).

European road conditions are different to those in Japan and US and thus require a difference in fine-tuning of suspension. Most manufacturers do this as road conditions and operating speeds are different from accross the globe.

In Japan, all cars are limited to a max speed of 180 km/h (113mph). In Europe, any Joe Bloggs can legally drive >200kmh (125mph) on the German Autobahn. In Europe, there are still many city roads which are paved with cobble stones. This requires different tuning

oilman

Phil,

Have been thinking about your dilemma vis what to sell, RX7 or MX5 and think I've solved it!!

Sell Both!

Then buy 2 RX8's in different colours, it cuts the colour decision in half for starters.

For my part I will be selling a 12month old VW Beetle 1.8T in metallic blue and fully loaded! Fun but no comparison. I've been waiting for the RX8 for years and really bought the Beetle as a stop gap as depreciation values seemed low.

By the way, I like the look of the Red Mica in some pictures but in others not. The darker it looks the more I like it but would like to see a decent colour patch before deciding.

Cheers, OILMAN

97rsr

Clive - unfortunately I've never taken my RX-7 on a track, but I did make it to Brooklands (very late in the day) last summer to see the various UK clubs and many members' cars. I live in Weybridge, so I'd love to come along on 13 April especially if the 8 is going to be there - will it be an open event or would I need to join the club? I am talking to my wife about trying to get into this FormulaWomen event though!

The 8 must definitely be an improvement on the RX-7's suspension. My (import :o) has extra-firm settings (Bilstein) and is not the best car for Weybridge's speed-bumps!

rx-8@mazda - thats a little disappointing about the standard warranty and surprising too given the "unreliable rotary" comments likely to appear in the less well-informed press, especially as its an all-new model and engine. (We had the gearbox go on the 10AE MX-5 within 6 months and are on are 3rd set of shiny 15" alloys so are more sensitive to this than we had been with previous Mazdas).

Oilman - selling both has definitely crossed my mind!... but the idea of a convertable rotary or an MPS version in the next few years would probably make us keep the 5 and perhaps trade it in later! The issue is made harder as we have an option to get a company car (lease - very good deal + no tax) from my wife's work but I'm worried the UK consignment of 8's will run out before any lease companies can get their hands on them.

I think the car looks great in all the colours I've seen and I've always liked red RX-7's (second best to black of course) so I'm sure it will be a striking colour.

clive

Hi Phil thanks for the reply,

As with all Mazdarotaryclub.com meetings to come to Brooklands you only need one thing to be made wellcome a Mazda Rotary
last year we had 75 cars attend .

l have asked Mazda already for an RX-8 and said to them that with the formulawoman thing going on they will have a good PR
opportunity to take pictures on the old banking where lots of woman thundered round in the 1920s and 30s indeed in the old contol building there is a room dedicated to the Lady racers of the time called the Barbara Cartland room ( princess Diana's Gran) as she was a racer herself.

Mazda have sent me two press releases about the Formulawoman series , it will be on national TV in the popstars format with a full blown race series in 2004 ,

l will try and get the press releases up tonight on mazdarotaryclubs forum and will post it in here if people want me to.

All the best Clive.