I might be overestimating a little. We'll see in the spring I am sure.

My basis was that Road and Track hit a 14.5 at 96mph with the pre-prod. I am assuming this car had 247hp, or somewhat equivalent to CanZoomer's mod.

Comparing Road and Track's times to the best times I have seen from other stock cars, I figured someone would be able to do about a half second better as the car breaks in and what not.

 

i think i did pretty good for two runs ever. i had to yell at the rednecks running the track to get a second run too

 

if i ignored you didn't mean to ? send me a pm or something

i don't check these forums much because i don't have an rx8 and listening to what the car can or cannot do is boring. i like driving alot more than bitching on the internet

 

Agreed, professional drivers can take a bone stock 1.8T gti into the 14's. Most first time drivers hit low 16's or high 15's at the 1/4 mile track.

Same idea in a new car, and a new driver at the track. I could have run my car at the track a few times, but I'm not into straight line performance much.

 

straightline performance is part of the whole package. i could make a yugo handle amazing but its still a yugo with 40hp :D

the RX8 has enough power to make it a fun car. i liken it to the miata where the power is just right, honestly the first time i drove a 93 RX7. i said HOLY CRAP........ this is fast......i need one of these now. when you drive the 8 its alot more calm and tame and less noisy and refined.

 

A have a Miata, and the power isn't just right. They are woefully underpowered. With nothing but sticky tires you get a car that can never rotate the rear end out under power except on wet roads. Sad..... very sad..... It is going to recieve heavy modification in the future.

And contrary to what ole Shel (Carrol Shebly) and some internet dude say, average power is what is seriously important. When you shift gears you operate over a certain rpm range. The average power over that range matters more than peak torque or peak horsepower. That said, torque and horsepower are two ways of stating the same thing. You actually don't measure horsepower, but you calculate it from torque. Hp is a direct measure of how fast you are making torque. HP = torque*RPM/5252 all day every day. That is for torque in ft-lbs, by the way. If you change units, the constant changes, and power is in HP of course.

I love Mazda's cars. They offer excellent styling, amazing handling, superior reliability, great engineering, easy to work on..... but there seems to be a common theme for me: and that is woefully underpowered. For a world class sports car (which it is supposed to be) with 4-doors, 238 hp won't do it. The TT RX-7 was underpowered too, but was very light and super easy to modify.

Let's just be honest and say that if your sports car can't get to the end of the 1/4 mile in 13.5 or less in this day and age, then it is inadequately powered. Sure that's just MO, but that's how I see it. Crap family sedans can run low 14s like the NIssan Altima with V6. There are econo cars gone rally racer doing mid 13s with ease. There are pick up trucks running 14.0 or high 13s, and then there are American cars running 12s without breaking a sweat (Cobra and Corvette). A plain ole garden variety Mustang GT can run a 14.0, so why would I want to buy a world class sports car that can't do it too?

Now some of you will instantly say, but those cars can't corner, blah, blah, blah. Any of you all actually track your cars? A car that can't flat out run the 1/4 mile, can't power itself out of corners worth a damn either. Maybe you carry more speed through the corner, but the junky non handling car is still passing you mid straight.

Anyone actually watch the RX-8 in the on track video by that Japanese auto mag? I downloaded the link here. The RX-8 got passed on the straights by everything except a Miata (another Mazda product) including an Integra Type-R. Passed by a 190 hp FWD econo car turned sporty car..... that isn't good.

Mazda speed has introduced the weakest powered turbocharged car sold in the US right now too. Mazda plans to release a 170 hp turbocharged Miata on the world too. Any aftermarket Miata turbo is easily capable of 200 hp or way more...

IMO, Mada's powertrain engineers need to figure out what power is and how to deliver it fast, or they should just forget about sports cars all together. Think I'm wrong? Go look at sales numbers. Power sells, and in a sports car it is up high on the list of the needs and wants of most consumers. Did you actually buy a sports car to go quickly or did you buy one to go fast?

I like all cars, so long as they are fast. The Miata is possibly the most neutered sports car on the planet, but it does everything else so well. And yes, I regularly see well over 0.5gs on a daily basis.

 

see here: 14.3 @ 95

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=17031

 

You can add more power yourself. If Mazda does it, it costs a lot more, is not as much, insurance also goes up and less people get to enjoy the car.

I've never had a problem getting any of my Miatas to rotate on the track or the street. It teaches you to carry your speed and momentum through the turns instead of relying on power to get around and mask bad driving.

 

AnthonyS, thank you. Someone actually seems to know what they are talking about. Fortunately, there is a wonderful aftermarket for the Miatae that will deal with that problem.

Unfortunately, there is hardly any aftermarket at all for my MX-6. I want a back seat and a trunk, and I want Mazda handling, but I also want speed. I thought the RX-8 was that car, but it is much slower than I had hoped. I think the aftermarket will change that as it did for the FDs, but I am not willing to suffer through 130 ft lbs to the wheels and 16mpg until my warranty runs out.

I think I am going to have to give up that back seat idea and go with a Z06.

 

Didn't Chris from rx7.com also run a 14.3, then he put NOS on it and ran a 13.3?

 

I agree that you can add more power to most cars. The Miata is easy to add more power to. I plan to add an insane amount of power myself.

The RX-8 is just a tad disappointing to hardcore gearheads in the power department, that is really all. Some can't get over it. Like all Mazda's sports cars, they do everything else so darned well it is that much more frustrating. Find cars the same price as the RX-8 and Miata, and old FD that handle as well for the same price and offer the same type of appointments.... they don't exist at those prices. The RX-8 was supposed to be a 250+ hp 4 door sports car. It would've been incredible. Instead they brought everything to the US, but the power.

I too can make my Miata rotate too, it just takes a heck of a lot of effort. My last rotation came at 6500 rpm in 1st gear going around a 90 degree turn on a wet road. I can typically get rotation going around one of my favorite highway on ramps too from 40-50 mph in 2nd depending on road conditions. With the springs, shocks and big fat sticky tires I have it is hard to get the rear end loose under power. It rarely happens. In all my old domestic V8 cars, rotating the rear end was a simple push of the throttle in the turns. I'll be able to do that in the Miata soon someday too.

Mazda needs to add more power to their cars, plain and simple if they are going to draw in the typical US automotive enthusiast. It is probably the biggest reason you can still find Miatas and RX-8s on lots. If they both had 50-100 more hp, they'd be selling at over retail. Being able to be pressed back in your seat by brute force has always been a huge selling point in the US. While power may not be the end all of automotive performance on a race track, it sure doesn't hurt track times.

Heck even Mazda knows this. Back when Mazda was racing at LeMans with the 787s, they asked the powertrain engineers for 100 more hp from the 4 rotor. They got some of it, but not all. They main reason Mazda won is because their chassis engineers are so darned good. They actually added weight to the car, making it stiffer and lower lap times.

I for one am still disappointed with the 8s power. I've driven one, and it is still on the same lot here in my town. It's a beautiful car, and it has tons to offer in comfort, smoothness, fun, and looks. It'd be more fun with 50 more hp though. I don't think anyone can deny that.

I can't wait to see what the next RX-7 looks like. Until then, I'll stick to my insane Miata plans. Anyone need a custom turbo kit built around a 60 trim T3 for a Miata? I've decided it won't make enough power reliably to keep me happy.

 

OMG...I have to deal with V8 crap over at rx7club.com and deal with the "the rx8 is a ***** car with no power" crap here.

I have a 350 rwhp rx7 that traps over 113 and my Rx8 is just as fun to drive and still feels quick to me.

 

I'm so sick of people talking crap saying the rx8 isn't fast in the straight line. No ****. It was me t to be a track car. Hench the almost 51-49 ratio. It does just fine on the track yea I could have went and bought a stock turbo evo for double the price. But I would rather pay the 3k I did for a nice 8 with a new factory engine with only 15k on it. Hell I love the car, even before I made the turbo for it. Show me any other car that you can push less then 6psi and make 80-100 hp no problem. Now I'm running about 11.5 psi on 91 with premix and ill keep up if not pass most anything on the track. You can teach a monkey to just dump the gas and drag race but you can't just get on a track and go fast around a corner and win. The fastest I have run this car in "stock mode" ie- wide open exhaust no cat just straight pipe, BHR coil upgrade, and an intake it ran a 14.3 at 68 degrees with 12% hum track temp 74 on 245 nittos. Now that's its boosted thats a whole different story.

 

 

Nice slip!