I suppose it's different from where I live. But for the most part, I was talking about off-track..which is why I said "especially off-track".

 

i had a modded WRX till it was ruined by some drunk kids thinking throwing road signs at moving vehicles was fun...

i went shopping for cars had my eyes set on an STi but insurance company pricing made me stay away... more WRX's were in the sights but were abused (really now who puts a tow hook on a WRX?) and not to mention tuner kids owning the WRX so i know it would be abused even harder then the tow hook folk?

i went to test drive a bunch of cars i had my eyes set on a G35 coupe 6MT with brembo package i loved it! too bad the sales manager at the dealership was a complete jerk and didn't want to even drop the price $100, next i went to test drive an RX-8 manual transmission and a Ford SVT Lightning

well for some reason i kept stalling the RX-8 and was getting really upset, even the sales guy got upset i stalled the G35 twice and never had problems like that, now lets get to the juicy stuff i drove the Lightning and had sooo much fun even though the interior was boring and simple it was just a dream to spin tires on command.... i left the dealership thinking of financials of the truck, i drove by the mazda dealership walked over and asked about the new miata or whatever else was in the price range...
boom they had a fully loaded RX8 in auto with navi, i took a test drive and fell in love... i felt like james bond! the handling was just superb the dealer let me take the car on some nearby twisty roads i was highly familiar with, and wow it impressed me, the road feel, the agility etc.

i went home did some calculations either the Truck or my RX-8

Tires and Gas on the truck would make me poor, then came the factor of hmm which would be more attractive to the girls? Voila the RX-8 won by a long shot!


although the problem in my city are pretty much all the RX-8 owners are double my age and even if there was a club i don't think i'd blend in with them as they are a complete different generation and the lacking of the RX-8 club in the area really drops down local support, there is a mazda club here but its a total joke consisting of mazda 3's and Protege's talking about the latest in aftermarket tail light trends

 

So did you get the manual or automatic? Also, which year (if automatic)? If it's a 2006, can you please post impressions? I'm not sure if there's anybody on here that has a 6-port automatic, so I'm curious to see how they're like.

 

Awhile back I posted a vid of amature drivers in an rx8 vs a c6 vette on the race track. The rx8 was all over the vette in the curves and could have passed if the vette had moved over. It appeared the vette driver was having trouble controlling the tq and hp after pulling on the 8 in the straights. In real world driving the C6 will not embarass the 8 if there's twisties in the road.

 

Why I bought my 8...
I love to drive, doesnt matter what. I'd be happy in a Yugo (ok thats a bit of a stretch).
My husband always laughed at how I insisted my car was an extension of my soul. It had to match me.

Its different. Its not the most powerful, its not the most luxury, but its there. It handles what I give it just fine. It stands out in a crowd, and makes a bold statement without a word. In my hunt for a new car, I said I wanted to fly. My example to him was "remember when you were little, you had a towel pinned to the back of your shirt and you ran around the yard with your arms spread out like a plane? Thats what I want to feel, each and every day."

We went to a Mazda dealer one day when it was closed, and we peeked in the showroom window. He elbowed me, and pointed up to one of the banners they had hanging in there from the ceiling.

A little boy, with a towel pinned to his shirt, arms spread wide and laughing... free as a bird.

Where do I sign... I found what I am looking for.

 

Are you an inspirational writer?

Either that or you must be on some goooood stuff!

Reguardless, i love the expression!

 

thats how I have being feeling for 13 years since I have owned rx vehicles

 

From the mind of Winfree:
"This car was built so you could savor the freedom of the road and the control of fire and metal, not as a noisy rattling explosion, but as a seamless force of nature."

Nicely put.
Me, I like the way it sparkles in the sunlight.

 

When someone mouths off and gives me crap about my 8's HP, speed, torque, etc etc, here's what I tell them:

"Oh really? Well, I've got a higher Liter to Horsepower Ration then a Ferrari Enzo!" At this point their jaw normally drops, they're speechless, and I simply walk away.

 

I saw a Toyota Prius yesterday on the highway with a fart can I couldn't help but laugh it sounded like a car off the jetsons

 

I just bought my 8 about 5 days and 200 miles ago and so far I'm pretty excited about it. I've driven Toyota MR2s since I began driving around 6 years ago. Due to a few speeding tickets I had migrated to a Honda Civic (NO mods) and then to an Accord (little more my taste). I had no intention of buying an RX-8 until I found a smoking deal at a local dealership (yes, I did say deal and dealership in the same sentence).

I was amazed at how I actually think the 8 might take or even excel in corners vs. the mid-engine MR2. Both in terms of power and handling, it's close to the MR2 Turbo I used to have (that got me all the speeding tickets), but it has more room and looks a bit sexier. Granted, it does get worse gas mileage and cost me about three times more

Honestly, so far I love the car. If driving for fun and enjoying handling and style is what you're looking for, I truly believe the RX-8 is one of the best out there.

However, my practical side leaves a little room for desire. I just did my first tank refill and clocked in 13.97 MPG. I knew this car wasn't made for economy when I got it, but according to ratings I'd seen I thought it would at least be near 20, especially as small and underpowered as the car is. Also, insurance is killing me. (Those tickets!).

If I continue getting 14 mpg and I can't find reasonable insurance, I'm going to have a hard time convincing my practical side to let my fun side take over and keep this beauty, even though it's one of the most fun cars I've ever driven (even with the speed-shift automatic...I've always liked manuals).

One other note, the stereo is weak for a $26,000 vehicle--my 1996 Accord's stock system was twice as loud and powerful.

 

Jedi's Simple way to fix the Bose System

 

The 8's handling is farrrrrr superior to the MR2 :-P

Mid-engine or not, it's weight balance is just..off..and the one I've driven, it just felt so twitchy, the front-end just pushes thru the corners :-X

Although, it was a super fun car (the cockpit..feels just like that. A jet's cockpit!).

But yeah. You will have bad gas mileage for these first few months, because the car is so fun to get on the throttle all the time until you learn to tame your right foot.

But yeah, you should settle down to 17-20mpg eventually. Underpowered? Ugh..

 

hehe.. i get the same feelings sometimes..
on the first week i drove my car to campus.. someone wrote on my window "All Show, No Go!".. i found that pretty funny. honestly i didnt phase me one bit.. i love my 8 xD

.. and what you said about those teenagers and old men was so true =]

 

I use a MR2 for my daily driver

its not the good ole turbo though, its the newer model 2000 I think. N/A about 138 hp... but it weighs quite a bit less than the 8.

My 8 would spank it in the straights and the twisties.
but hey, it gets almost 40mpg....

 

That's not true, the ZZW30 and SW20 are both great handling cars. Saying the RX-8 is far superior in that department is absolutely wrong. If it's pushing through the corners you don't know how the drive an MR car. Though the 91-92 are better handlers and the 93+ is more prone to pushing like you mention.

You might be confusing easy to drive with better handling. The MR2 (especially the AW10/11 and 20) is not an easy car to drive, it requires a skilled driver that understands how to drive an MR car. They can be twitchy like you said, but when driven properly they're excellent handlers.

 

Good to know! The guy told me I can drive it whenever I want (so long as I don't wreck it), so, maybe I'll give it another go and try and get the whole MR thing down pat

 

I hate to use autox as an example because it only tells part of the story. But I've seen Jeff Cashmore tear up nationally competitive drivers in AS and BS cars many times in his ES (93 N/A) MR2. They can be very impressive little cars when setup and driven well.

 

A lot of people tell me, "You know the 350 is faster right?" and that kinda of ****. I say "whatever, let's get on a twisty road" or my other favorite "Yeah, a 350 is faster, but with what? Another 70-rwhp and nearly 100 ft-lbs of torque extra at the rear wheels? (then to confuse them...) it also has SIX MORE CYLINDERS than my car and is 2.2 liters larger and has FOUR extra camshafts and cost an extra $6000! Seems like over-engineering to me."
People look back at me and gawk, then say something like, "well it's faster anywayzzzz...." Whatever. Go contribute to a global dumbass society.