New RX-8

[Luke01GT]

I had to go to the airport today to drop someone off, and they have a new RX-8 there in lightning yellow, this car is fuckin sweet lookin. It has a 1.3L rotary engine, what I want to know is can someone enlighten me on the performance of this motor, and has anyone heard reviews about the car. Based only on looks, I think it's badass

[camarossguy2]

Theres like 5 of em over at the mecedes/VW/BMW dealer on mason between bill france and jimmy ann. Me and jon met one of the guys there and he said we "need" to test drive it.

Haven't had time tho.

[Ponyperformance6]

They are rated at 250 horsepower at something like 9000 r.p.m.


The only problem is that... um yeah... they don't hve 250 h.p. not even close, from what i have been hearing owners have been dyno-ing the cars at less than 200 h.p. to the wheels. Last I heard Mazda is offering to buy the cars back at the full price that the consumer paid, or offereing to upgrade the performance back to what is advertised. Its the same kind of thing that happened with the Cobra in 1999.... except Mazda is buying the cars back at retail. RX-8 owners are allready talking class-action lawsuit.

Will

[Deebo]

They are rated at 250 horsepower at something like 9000 r.p.m.


The only problem is that... um yeah... they don't hve 250 h.p. not even close, from what i have been hearing owners have been dyno-ing the cars at less than 200 h.p. to the wheels. Last I heard Mazda is offering to buy the cars back at the full price that the consumer paid, or offereing to upgrade the performance back to what is advertised. Its the same kind of thing that happened with the Cobra in 1999.... except Mazda is buying the cars back at retail. RX-8 owners are allready talking class-action lawsuit.

Will

History repeats itself... Mazda is a Ford owned Company :D... i still love the look of the RX8... one of the more practical sports cars out there. and you gotsta love suicide doors... :D

http://www.omniauto.it/home/rx81.jpg

Deebo

[LethalBird]

Rotary engines are junk after 70k..........just ask the SCIC guys they'll tell u :D

[HORSEpower]

Rotary engines don't have great longevity, but they are very easy to rebuild. The advantage is weight. I don't think the new RX-8 is that hot, and it is a discrace to the old 3rd gen RX-7, which was way faster, and better looking. It's the same thing as the 350Z; a discrace to the old 300ZX.

Kurt

[Deebo]

Rotary engines are junk after 70k..........just ask the SCIC guys they'll tell u :D

So are LS-1's after 80k apparently... :D ;)

Deebo

[Ponyperformance6]

I don't know about that one there, Kurt, in a lot of ways the new 350 Z is a far superior Z to any of the cars that came before it. The only thing it does not have is turbos and that can allready be fixed :D. If you don't believe me just ask Jon or Josh... They know more about it than i do.

Deebo, Mazda is Ford owned but it has different management... I'd say it is just a bad coincidence.
Will

[camarossguy2]

Rotary engines are junk after 70k..........just ask the SCIC guys they'll tell u :D

Theys why they discontinued them back in ~1998 (?)
Aparently the new ones are supose to be very reliable.....but then again no one has had a new one over 5k miles prolly yet

[LSWon00]

The rotary was never canceled by Mazda, it was just not imported after 97 due to the original design passes too much unburnt fuel into the exhaust, raising emissions and making them illegal for sale here in the US. Mazda redesigned it and titled it Renis Rotary. the new car was in no way susposed to be an improvement on the RX-7 but rather a new car in itself. It can hold 4 (yeah right) and has a stiffer body, and was susposed to be a family-friendly sports coupe. Mazda does plan on making a "new" RX-7 the will be more of a high power sports car like the old RX-7. The RX-8 is a test-bed for all future Mazda sports cars. Both the new RX-7 and Miata will be based off its frame and body design.

[mrwhistle]

the other nice thing about rotaries is their relatively small number of moving parts. a while ago I read an article about a rotary that wenkel was doing research on that spun 28,000. that's darn fast.

[JTS97Z28]

3 moving parts to be exact! pretty impressive

[HORSEpower]

I don't know about that one there, Kurt, in a lot of ways the new 350 Z is a far superior Z to any of the cars that came before it. The only thing it does not have is turbos and that can allready be fixed :Will

What? Name one way it's better. First of all, it's disgustingly ugly. The total opposite of the 300Z which is one of the nicest looking cars ever.

Kurt

[Cheesesteak]

beauty is in the eye of the beholder kurt, just look at all those people buying aztecs...

ugh, i can't believe i just compared the 350 z to the aztec.

as far as performance of this gen z to the previous, nissan has gone back to its roots with more of a nimble platform. the last 300z was not nimble compared to its predecesors. too heavy of a vehicle.

going back to looks, etc, the new car continues the tradition of excellent fit and finish. not only are the ergonomics of the 350 absolutely perfect, but the new z is complete with such trim items as the letter Z in the vent ducts through the door jambs.

i've been a huge fan of z's for years. my dad's owned many. i'm biased but my opinion stands: the 350z has gone back to its roots while at the same time updating the total package.

a beautiful piece of ass, that z, both inside and out

-josh
(super z fan)

[HORSEpower]

Horsepower is king, and 250 vs 300 is a big difference. The new Z is for yuppies, who think they are getting the real deal. Same with the RX-8. You wont' see either of these cars out racing anytime soon. You'll only see guys in there 40s driving them around 15 below the speed limit trying to escape their midlife crisis.

Kurt

[Cheesesteak]

with all due respect to you, kurt, the z's got 287 at the crank. i dont know exact numbers for the previous gen. also, i did see a black 350z race in the 12 hr race here last year, if i'm not mistaken.

and i'll stop because i dont know shit about the rx-8...

[orion95gst]

Test drove one at Corey Fairbanks. Nice looking, bigger interior than expected...

Crap performance, and for a 50/50 "sports car" the handling wasn't all that impressive.
Overall, too small to be utilitarian, too underpowered to be fast, and not nearly as agile as a 50/50 sports car should be, especially considering the fd3s rx7.

Waste of money IMHO. 350z on the other hand, I think that's a winner and may replace the Evo as the next in line for my future.
They have a nice supercharger kit for it, full warranty, that puts down over 300 to the wheels for over 4k rpms, with peak at around 365whp I believe.

[Ponyperformance6]

I'll tell you Kurt... you are a good guy, but in this one i believe you are drastically wrong.
1. The 350 Z is an extremely well designed and great performing car with the looks and suspension to match. I was very skeptical at first, but after sitting in one i will definately agree that it is an excellent automobile.

2. The 350 Z has 287 h.p. at the crank on a 3.5L V-6 Compared to the N/A 300 Z that had 222h.p. on 3.0L. You of all people should agree that more displacement is allways a good thing. The 300 ZX Twin Turbo had 300 h.p. but that was only due to the Turbo's of course. Turbo kits for the 350 Z are allready on the market and I am sure performance is amazing.

3. Finnaly there are many 350 Z's allready racing actually, Josh is right, there was one at the 24 hour race last year and at the recent SCCA event at Daytona I saw a car Hauler attatched to a semi with 3 350Z's with Numbers on the doors waiting several days before the event.

[HORSEpower]

I'll tell you Kurt... you are a good guy, but in this one i believe you are drastically wrong.
1. The 350 Z is an extremely well designed and great performing car with the looks and suspension to match. I was very skeptical at first, but after sitting in one i will definately agree that it is an excellent automobile.

2. The 350 Z has 287 h.p. at the crank on a 3.5L V-6 Compared to the N/A 300 Z that had 222h.p. on 3.0L. You of all people should agree that more displacement is allways a good thing. The 300 ZX Twin Turbo had 300 h.p. but that was only due to the Turbo's of course. Turbo kits for the 350 Z are allready on the market and I am sure performance is amazing.

3. Finnaly there are many 350 Z's allready racing actually, Josh is right, there was one at the 24 hour race last year and at the recent SCCA event at Daytona I saw a car Hauler attatched to a semi with 3 350Z's with Numbers on the doors waiting several days before the event.

LOL

The car is going no where. They even tried racing 2000 Cobra Rs. Just because they throw some money at it, doesn't mean it's a serious race car.

If it's such a great car, then why is it so much slower than the 300ZX? You're suposed to progress in design. Faster, lighter, better looking. The 350Z is none of these.

Kurt

[Cheesesteak]

ok ok,

this is a review that those crazy aussies down under did of the 350Z, and i believe they mention the rx-8 as well :D

http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/xrt_350z.htm

a quote i feel puts it all in perspective:
"It corners with very limited bodyroll, meaning the rear wheels both have a better go at equally getting their power to the ground, and the way it changes direction is just evil."

now, they found a few flaws with the interior, but they had more time to look at it than i did.

other useful info:
350z: 3188 to 3247 pounds, Peak horsepower is 287 @ 6,200 RPM. Peak torque is 274 @ 4,800 RPM
1995 300zx: 3219 (non-turbo) to 3518 (twin turbo) pounds, Peak HP is 300 @ 6400 rpm. Peak torqe is 283 @3600 rpm. (both twin turbo)

now, i told you all i was biased, but the new z is not only lighter, but has higher power and torque to weight ratios. i still believe that nissan has taken a step forward, as is expected of them, with this new model. I do, however, think that both the generations of 300zx's were stellar cars.

we can argue all day long about the looks, so i won't go that way.
-josh

[Cheesesteak]

and sorry luke for jacking this thread :ashamed:

[Luke01GT]

huh? thread? who?

[Cheesesteak]

oh, u started the thread to talk about the rx-8

das all