I've driven some recent sports car, but I never driven a old sports car.. Its light, its 50/50 weight distribution... some other good things.
so how well does it handles? does it understeer much? does it has a tendency to oversteer and do some 180º ? (my friend loose control of his car a few times.. his first RWD car..)
Ive driven an Rx-8 and it handled really well! how does it compares to the 8 ?

 

shave 1000lbs off the 8 and lower it an inch, and you got a 7

 

well if you don't know how to control an rx7 it would seem logical that contolling it could be an issue. Not that I ever had any difficulty... er, um... ya...
A friend of mine has a Porsche 944. I can outdrive him most of the time.
Throw some KYB AGX's and some Eibach coilovers on a rx7 and you have a hell of a car.

 

:|
really?
then the 7 handles REALLY good !! the 8 feels so great to drive!! It gives U that safety to push it a little bit more.. I was drinving 210 Kph in a unkown road (open road, but with lots of tight turns) and it felt really safe and reasuring!! (but the mazda guy was a dick.. he made it understeer like hell in a XXX ( don't know the name of it in english.. that O thing that U must circle).. I was driving the car for the first 10 minutes and I had allready got the hang of it! really great car. now U tell me that the 7 is better than the 8 :| OMG

 

nice that way I can kill my brother's 944 cause he keeps telling me that I should get a 944 instead of the Rx-7.... dummy (I think he's a bit scared of rotary engine)

"Throw some KYB AGX's and some Eibach coilovers on a rx7 and you have a hell of a car."
coilovers are a part of the suspentions right?
what about the KYB AGX's ?

 

The RX-8 has a stiffer chassis than the RX-7, but its suspension is alot softer. A FC handles very well stock, but do some choice suspension modifications, and a bit of chassis stiffening, and it is more than able to compete with cars triple its price. The car will understeer or oversteer, it depends on what you make it do. It has a bit of understeer characteristics dialed in stock (wider front track, etc...), but with its even F/R weight distribution, it is a very neutral car and wil pretty muchl do whatever you want it to.

 

those are the first suspension mods you will want to do. AGX's are shocks (inside the springs) and coilovers are just what they sound like... (the springs are called "coil springs")
if you really want to improve your handling thow some hellacious tires are a must... and a real good alignment will be a plus.

 

uhm, stock for stock an 8 will out handle an FC any day.

 

For me, when I test drove the 8, I thought that it was a bit of a pig, weight wise. The car itself felt nice and responsive, just like a NEW sports car should. Throw some poly suspension bushings and new shocks on your 7 and see what you think. The steering was the only wrench in the car IMHO. I think they have the power steering set WAY too high, making it very difficult to feel the road. Also, the little buttons on the wheel, don't get me started. Every time I pushed it hard in a corner, the radio would turn on or change stations

 

The stock RX-8 in my garage easily outhandles the stock RX-7 in my driveway. However, with a few mods, the RX-7 will easily stay with cars both 20 years newer and $20k more expensive.

 

Strengths of the FC chassis:

Low center of gravity
50/50 weight dist.
very stiff for its vintage
independent and adjustable rear suspension
Pretty light compared to most other sports cars

Weakness:

McPhearson strut front suspension



Also worth noting is that the rear suspensionis semi-trailing arm, which is kind of in between normal trailing arm and full double wishbone suspensions for camber control . . it's middle of the road, but excellent for the price of the FC.

All in all, the FC handles very well, and is excellent for the price. Its main weakness in stock form is the small width street tires and lack of front / rear camber adjustability, but those two things can easily be fixed for less than $1k.

*edit*

The FC has mild understeer stock. I installed a slightly thicker stock rear anti-sway bar and modified my front camber setting a touch to eliminate this. As with any car with 50/50 weight distribution, the FC has "turn in understeer" which requires mild trail braking to counter. Mild trail braking, coupled with the elliptical racing line, results in slightly faster times anyhow, which partly explains why 50/50 or even 45/55 weight distrubution is ideal for race cars.

 

A TII anyday? Cause I drove an 8 and let me tell you... not good...

 

U guys are making me love this car even more!!!
I loved it and knew it handled good.. but that good !!
can't wait to get FC... gonna explode!!

 

i thought i heard the RX8s were outhandling 3rd gens. i know the RX7 sounds great, but its only a tad lighter than (what i remember) RX8s weighing and the suspension design isn't exactly up to date. i'm no genius when it comes to suspension, in fact i'm downright dumb. i still thought the RX8 was getting well-praised for its performance. some may not like the way it _feels_, but how does it truly perform? i would think the bigger cabin and overall bigger car would give an illusion effect that the car is a pig, even though it may well outperform some smaller, nimble cars.

any test numbers?

 

I got here a few numbers from top gear..

.
.
.
.
.
.
911 turbo (wet track) - 1.31.00 (minutes:seconds:whatever's next to seconds)
Opel Speedster Turbo - 1.31.3
Mazda Rx-8 - 1.31.8
BMW M3 - 1.31.8
Focus RS - 1.32.2
Espirit V8 - 1.32.5

pretty good

 

Hah! That's funny... you're funny....

And wrong. Stock vs. stock the rx8 outhandles the 7 easy, modded that's another story. The rx8 also has a lower center of gravity due to the lower and further back placement of the engine due to a small stealthy oil pan.

 

and indented firewall. i _hate_ that. reminds me of how v8s are shoved into the firewall. yea, that makes things "real" easy. sorry, i'm one of those people that likes an engine thats easy to work on/with/and around. the RX8 engine bay is rather cluttered.
i wanna see this so-called 'stealth' oil pan. our oil pans are pretty small as is.

 

Watch the Renesis/RX-8 info video that's out there, it was put out by Mazda I'm pretty sure. But the oil pan is smaller (read not as tall) in order for a lower center of gravity and engine placement.

Just looked it up, it's 40mm tall "About half the size of a conventional oil pan."

The RX-8 also has perfect 50/50 distribution, stronger chasis, and this lower center of gravity.

 

I've driven an RX-8 and a unmoded FC TII. My verdict FC>RX-8
Just my $.02

 

Well the 8 does have 225r18's with im sure better quality tires then what most people have on there fc's
Newer technology better handling... stick the same shocks and tires on a FC and I think it would impress..

 

Oh wait...I don't think I've ever driven a 7 w/ stock tires. maybe thats it? =/

 

i wish the fc was a perfect 50/50 weight distribution. but putting a dead lama or two in the hatch would change that

 

^^ yes i think the reason we are having so much disagreement is because it really matters what kind of tires you have on teh car. teh rx8 comees with good tires. but i thin kmost of us FC owners dont have the best tires. its amazing how much some rubbers will do. **wink-wink**

 

I read up that a full tank of gas, a driver, and a passenger gives the FC NEARLY perfect 50/50.

 

But that's not a stock fc anymore is it? If we're talking stock vs. stock that's a whole nother ball game than what one COULD do.