DMoneyRX-7

iTrader: (2)

Word!

DMoneyRX-7

iTrader: (2)

I think that the person who said the 8 can keep up with the 7 should watch the Hot Version Best Motoring Rotary Rocket video. I agree with what yall say about the difference between the 8 owners and the 7 owners. I saw an 8 yesterday that had a Hawaiian laei on the mirror. This really disturbed me because like you guys said, "Most 8 owners dont even know what kind of engine they have under the hood." Also, they will never hold the same legacy or esteem the 7 has.

sonix7

I love it!! Perfect excuse, get your wife one. Downplay it as a girl version of the 7, keep the insane power in the FD and our ego's, drive the 8 whenever we want. That is exactly what I want to do. The blue one is sick. I agree most of the people I see as owners are rich women. You hardly ever get a thumbs from an 8, why? because they have no idea that we are even driving a Mazda let alone the predecessor for there ride. Dude I love the pick of the 8 and the 7, rotor girl, sweet plate to get for your girl. I hope that was your idea, but that would make your girl super special if you didn't. Hold on to that one. I think it is all relative. I have met and spoke with a few 8 owners and they are nice guys. Not very knowledgable, usually that is left for the ex 7 owners that decided to switch. The 8 has the hydrogen option and it is the platform for the Rotary resurrection. I drove one before I bought my FD and I took it on some curvy *** downhill slopes on my test drive and that thing handles like a roller coaster car. It seemed peppy, but the 7 was hard to handle at first. Big difference, both awesome Rotary vehicles. Plus what rotary sports car can you get your two small young boys into and have some fun. the suicide doors is pretty cool you guys have to admit. I know a bunch of us wish there was cup holders, Cali DD's want to comment on that. Sometimes you have to have the best of both worlds, that is where the 8 stakes it's claim.

sonix7

BTW is it me or do the taillights on the 8 look like the ricer ebay ones for the FD. I hope to goodness there is a conversion.

jacobcartmill

iTrader: (6)

when i get married , my wife is gonna drive an rx8.

EUROX

iTrader: (15)

Nothing that a can of opaque red spray paint can't fix. Some guys on the RX8Club forum painted their tailights and it looks much less "ricey".

t-von

iTrader: (8)

I'll tell you one thing, for what the Rx8 was designed for, it does it's job extremely well. That's why it gets "10 best" all the time. Same goes for the Fd. Instead of us always comparing the two, we should be praising Mazda for building such nice well designed sporty cars.

Railgun

Suprisingly enough, the 8 folks do more I think as far as general involvement here than any 7 folks regardless of generation over in this neck of the woods. The reasoning I see is that a lot of younger people are picking up 7s and run into a situation where they can't afford the maintainance or repair or even gas. The youngest guy here with an 8 (that I know anyway) is 28. The youngest FD owner...18.

You also have a different mentality that may have already been mentioned. Some FD owners have an elitist attitude and don't care for being part of some club or what have you. The 8 owners are quite the opposite. Some here have been racing for years while a lot more are getting into it. Seems to be an even mix of auto-x and road course.

It's a shame that there can't be more cohesion between the two groups. That's what I'm working on but it's definitely going to take time.

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

I have owned both

RX8 - handles amazing for track and is very forgiving as stock. You can really rev that motor all day long - but - in 20k miles i went through 4 sets of spark plugs, 3 sets of coils, 3 transmissions, 3 sets of tires but the act clutch and light weight flywheel held up fine.


The RX8 makes economical sense to build as a race car - way cheaper to get into and replace parts, easy to upgrade, can swap an fd engine into it...

stock its the best rotary daily driver you can get.

I sold mine for a mazda5 - which handles shocking well

would i buy another one - no - i have an FD and an FC now

anyways heres how a stock rx8 does on a time attack - corny video sorry about that

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

I happened to get an RX-8 really cheap and it has become my back-up race car for when the FD is down (auto-x and Kart track, sadly this RX-8 is too slow for hillclimb).

It is a 4 speed auto that put out 108rwhp on the dyno and weighs a hefty (for RX-8s) 3,100lbs, but what surprised me is how much I ended up loving the car.

I think the chassis has more potential than the FD with its longer wheelbase but lower polar moment of inertia. It is a relaxed feeling car that still manages to snake through incredibly tight areas at high speed.

I feel the FD chassis s a great for ~500rwhp, but the RX-8 chassis would be better for ~1,000rwhp since it is just unflappable while still maintaining agility.

Because of handling and the cheap chassis prices that is where I plan to go with the RX-8: turbo V8 hillclimb car.


I also like that I can swap tires between the FD and RX-8 (which I couldn't with the FC) as they both fit 18x11 +45 with 295s front/back.

Wheels and tires is another place the RX-8 has the advantage over the FD.

Since it was designed for 26.5" tall tire instead of 25" tall like the FD you can fit larger than 315 up front without issues (other than wide fenders).

I hear Forgestar is going to make 18x13 wheels, time for a widebody kit on the 8 with 345/30-18 front/rear! But first maybe try to get more than 108rwhp out of it...

MX3

iTrader: (4)

With its timeless shape and design - Parked next to an RX-8 it still looks ahead of its time.

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

FD is one of the sexiest cars on the planet to me.

RX-8 is an ugly duckling to me.

cib24

In the UK the RX-8 is nice and cheap, i.e. most examples in really good condition with good compression are less than $5k equivalent. So, the RX-8 is purchased by two people in the UK:

1. People looking for their first sports car and don't have a lot of money (nor a lot to keep it going reliably which is why they continue to have problems); or

2. People who want a good track day car on a budget like the guys who buy MX-5s.

I was in #2 two years ago when I still had my RX-8 and for the purpose of a practical weekend vehicle that was relatively comfortable and had decent trunk space for luggage it was great. And it was also a fantastic car to learn how to drive quickly on a track as I had never done that before. The handling was very neutral if tuned for mild understeer, the traction control was progressive enough to let you really get on it before it would interfere, and it wasn't too powerful whereby I could get myself into trouble coming out of a corner or something.

All in all it was a great weekend car and a fantastic novice track car.

However, now I'm in a FD and the only thing I miss is the driver's leg room. Everything else is bliss but to own an FD you need to have the money to keep it running and play on the track. The RX-8 in stock form was reliable as hell on and off track for me. Can't say that about the FD but mine is 17 years old so some things are expected at that age.

gregs22

iTrader: (12)

I own FC, FD, and RX8 platforms. All 3 IMO are amazing platforms, In stock form every RX model needs some sort of attention in the performance and visual department to compete with "today's standard of a sports car" this is the beauty of the RX model is to accept they are lightweight low cost start up project cars, my RX8 has been turbocharged for several years which drastically changes the car. Trying to pick which model is best is like trying to compare Honda Civic generations. Each generation becomes much more comfortable Here are my RX's currently how they look (The FD will have a assortment of changes happening at the end of the summer this year)

Spirit-RE

iTrader: (25)

I daily a stock 6 speed RX-8 when its not arctic hell here. Makes a good, balanced, usable, all around fun daily driver, sans fuel economy. I think the biggest flaw of the car(besides the, um, polarizing over styling) is it being the successor to the FD, yet not being on the same playing field as the FD. But objectively looking at it, its a damn good car, very balanced chassis, usable as a four seater, and all flaws and lackluster performance aside, the Renisis in its own way is quite the gem of an engine, considering Mazda got it to meet emissions, 9k+ redline, and squeezed a good amount of power out of a stock, n/a rotary.

Comparing it to the FD does the RX-8 no justice. It'd be like comparing the last gen Supra to the FRS, which coincidentally, I feel is the closest thing to the RX-8 in terms of power and driving feel.




A bit off topic thought, has the RX-8 fallen into a sort of dark, used car purgatory, similar to that of first gen Porsche Boxters? The used market for them is priced low, many need engines or on their last leg, yet clean, nice ones don't seem to command much value either. Add to that when the engine needs replaced, the cost of a new one is nearly half the value of the car. The general public seems to avoid the cars all together now that they are old enough to have become projects, yet the rotor heads better spend the money on RX-7's, leaving really no interest in the RX-8's.

SA3R

That seems to be the case here in Australia as well. Genrally the RX8's are not being touched with a ten foot pole in the used car market because people are scared of them, and scared to be up for the cost of a rebuilt engine as the odometers climb.

Coupled with the fact they have less performance than an FD RX7 and no turbochargers, the second hand interest in RX8s is just not there. I can go buy one for my wife tomorrow between $6000 and $8000 dollars, whereas the FD RX7s are increasing to $25,000, $35,000 Australian dollars to get into a good running car.

Those that do consider a used RX8 are also then looking at used Subaru BRZ/FT86 cars and finding that they are simpler and easier and more durable and so nobody gives the RX8 a second look.

In 20 years time I think you will find that the RX8 turns out to be one of those "weird old cars with weird doors, yeah I remember them, my dad said he owned one but the engines give trouble"
Kind of like those rotary mid-eighties Mazda HB Luce cars. They're all but forgotten now as an oddity that didn't catch on very well.

You may find dead RX8s in junk yards and paddocks quite cheaply as they've just been left there. I already know of a silver RX8 in my area that's sat in a backyard for 4 years with both windows left open, as the engine is blown. Its been rained in, animals have nested in the poor thing and the interior is a mess. And it was a luxury spec car too... I'm not sure what the future will hold for the used RX8 values but this far in, it seems like they're depreciating quite fast compared to the FD

Sad really, as they handle quite well and I like the interior.

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

The RX8 R3 might be the only rx8 that will hold some of its value

Gilgamesh

To me the rx8 is the bastard, but it still has the Mazda "soul" to it. I would have no problem putting a v8 in an Rx8 and using that as a daily.

cib24

The fact still remains that the RX-8 has a better chassis than the FD as it corners better and wears better. With a proper motor it laps Tsukuba circuit quicker than most FDs despite lower power which shows off the better chassis performance as should be expected from a newer car:

Modified RX-7 vs Modified RX-8 Race


Entire Episode related to rotaries in Order (worth a watch)

Part 1/8

Part 2/8

Part 3/8

Part4/8 (first link above with race)

BLUE TII

iTrader: (9)

Blasphemy!

How could you possibly expect us to believe a newer Mazda chassis is an improvement over an older Mazda chassis?

setupfc3s

iTrader: (1)

I have a 93 FD and and 2010 R3 rx8 and I love them both! And yes they are totally different cars. To drive. Which is a good think I think.

Seems like a lot of owners just like the car, not really concerned about the engine, or groups around me. I was talking to a guy who followed me into summit racing one day, and he did not even know what a rotary was.... And his car was not stock. This is not the norm. But it's like 2 different groups in general. That's why we have rx8club.com lol

t-von

iTrader: (8)

That black NA 3 rotor Rx8 was showing some *****.

roondawg

iTrader: (1)

Bought RX8 new in 05. Good practical car. Back seats usable. Handles well, lacks power. I owned 04 model and drove it to 35k with no issues. 15 second quater mile so not fast. FD is way better for hard driving. Either way you have to be a rotary person to own either car. Overall they require more than most want to worry about with a car. Wouldn't DD either. So many better options. As a second car the FD is unbeatable for the money.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i switched my DD to the Rx8 a little over 3 years ago, and i've been pretty happy with it. it was disgustingly filthy and broken when i bought it, so it got a really thorough cleaning, 2 coils, a clutch and a minor service, but since then i literally have not had to do anything at all to it, except change fluids.

mileage isn't great, but my drive is mostly city, and nothing gets good mileage at a red light. i also feel like i use about 10% of the cars performance potential, so basically to makes the comparison with the FD, the Rx8 rides better, is more comfortable in general. reliability for me was about the same. the FD got better gas mileage.

as far as looks go the Rx8 had a really difficult birth, i've been meaning to post about it in the "new Rx7 is coming thread", but the cliff note is that Mazda started with the Rx-01, which was a 2400lbs/220hp/2+2. then January 1st 1996 Ford took over and killed it, and they took the rotary department down to 5 people, and killed anything else that was either fun or interesting. 3 years later, in 1999 the Ford guys decided that they needed a new car, and so they green lit the Rx8 based on the Rx-Evolve show car, and the engine from the Rx-01, and we get the Rx8 concept which the Ford guys liked but all the Mazda guys hated, and then they did a sketch on a napkin, and then we get the real Rx8.

by contrast the FD is one of the most focused designs ever.

rotaryextreme

iTrader: (2)

ok ok ok - i would buy another one