Yellow R1

Ahh, a consultant for Mazda? Interesting...sounds kinda fun & rewarding to me.

Rick, you should perhaps advise the Gents at Mazda North America doen there in Irvineland if the company is successful in getting the RX-7 a green light, they should create the car to compete in the same market as the ZO6 (ie stop playing in the low/mid range car market with their pure sports car). There is more margin participating in the $70k+ market, it would build on the RX-7 marque, & there are no current Japanese pure sports cars yet a loyal customer base left over from the 80's & 90's (the Skyline performs well, but it's a limited selection choosing a portly GT that is not an attractive design). IMO, people should not be forced to buy something only from Europe (Porsche, Ferarri, Lamborghini, Alfa, etc) or a Corvette or Viper (build quality is improving but still lags Europe).

Ya know, I'd join a club if I had more time (but not Mazda - I've outgrown their offering but still enjoy tinkering/driving the R1). I go on some of Motzkoman's SLK drives in our Kleemann (you may see some of his posts on MB.Org (I recognize you from that board I visit on occasion as a fellow car nut ). Cheers Buddy.


BTW - the RX-7 dominated in GTU but also competed (and won) the GTO class a few times (since they dominated GTU for so long). To bad IMSA kept punishing their success with weight penalties to try & even the field (they pulled the same type of bologne at Le Mans when outlawing the rotary powerplant after in won outright in '91). It was a treat to see the 787B Renown car blast around Seca a few years ago during lunch. It was, by far, the loudest car I have ever heard on that track - including Schumacher's 2001 F1 car (and the R&T editor driving the car was instructed to keep RPMs below 7k). Go to about 7:30 into the video for the in car cam - pretty bad azz....it's almost as fast as my RX-7 ) http://www.rotaryengineillustrated.c...-mans-car.html

-Matt

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

Yeah, too bad its with a 20B though. That win would mean so much more to me with a Renesis in the engine bay.

matty

i am with you that mazda should go after the z06 or the 911 or the skyline just like they did in 93 however i know this isnt realistic as i seriously doubt somone would spend 75-80k on a f'ing mazda. i wish it would but it aint happening. thus i dont think an rx7 should ever be brought back. a rx7 is suppose to be on par with the worlds best and in this day and age i dont think the economics will make sense.

drezjdmrx7

iTrader: (1)

people don't knock the RX8 even though i'm an RX7 owner and i love it to death i have no love loss for the 8 it's a quiet potent rev happy little toy people need to learn how to take things for what they are like look at the long life of the Miata and from it's success was the plain fact that it's a blast to drive all three of these cars are fun to drive people learn not to debate but more so to enjoy your car. Everyone talks about stock trim and blah blah blah but that's the beauty of the after market you can make your car as fast as you want it to be with the right time and dedication make love not war with the RX8 we're all in the same family and as far as reliability it's all up to the owner i don't know too much but i say 50-70k in between rebuilds is alright by me since i only put about 10k per year on my FD or even less and on RX8's i've seen some with 170k already and still going strong..just my two cents cars are just supposed to be fun to the owner in the market that we're in if it's all about "pure sports cars" many of us especially in our age group could in no way afford it. i'd rather have a house and my FD than a Porsche 911 turbo

Yellow R1

Holy run-on-sentence Batman!

I got a headache trying to read that gibberish. This is not an Enlish class, but Dude, please punctuate for the rest of us.

SayNoToPistons

I have no idea why you're using the GT Speedsource RX8 to compare because that RX8 chassis shares nothing with the RX8s you see on the roads. Same with the engine. It only looks like a RX8 but everything underneath is DIFFERENT.

If you want to see RX-x winning, maybe do a little more research.

I'm not trying to pick sides, just letting you know. I love both cars equally.

carcrazy

Ahem, it was an RX-8 - at least badged that way. The time you start modifying your car - it ain't stock anymore TK. I totally understand you are talking about a full tube frame race car, different motor, and just the body that 'looks' like an RX-8.

This is my point...

You are trying to compare a normally aspirated sports sedan from another world with different federal requirements to a car that was 'un-plugged' with twin turbos and much more lenient in terms of federal requirements. How is this different than a GT-class race car with a RX-8 body compared to another *real* RX-8 race car? I think my example of the parity of what we are discussing - much different animal.

Guys, we ain't comparing apples to apples.

Can we compare your beloved Commodore 64 or Apple IIe to an IBM T60 or Dell D620 Laptop? Sure, but it is a different machine with different rules at the time.

come on people...

Rick

foxman

I loved my 8, its just about 50hp and 100lb/tq underpowered. Even with that kind of power it would still be only equal to or just under the competition in everyday performance (Z, G35/37, etc).

Easy car to drive fast at the limits everyday, or on the track or autocross. I did all three. The RX-8 is a great autocross car.

Probably easier to drive at the limits than the FD. I have never driven one but I have ridden in several.

I too could never get under 15 sec in the quarter.

Brismo7

iTrader: (2)

how does the Rx8 compare with an S2000?

My buddy says its very comparable. But i have my doubts.

Any input?

Naegleria_Fowleri

From what I gather from people who drive S2K's around here, the handling in the 8 is better, but the S2K is faster.

If you look at spread sheets with numbers, they are very even. The problem I've found is that no one can drag their Rx8 to get quick times the way you can in the other cars in the class. Everyone I see has a fastest quarter mile time in the 15 second range, but I've seen a fastest time of 14.3 with an excellent driver. All cars have been stock, as well.

The S2K is slightly faster than a 14.3 in the quarter, iirc. Either car would be outstanding to drive around a track, I'd say, but I have very very limited experience with the S2K. Just what I hear from people around here.

I know the Rx8 is always impressive in the twisties for me.

Archie

iTrader: (-1)

^I concur with that.

If you like cheap/shitty interior, no room, fast straightline and fanbois; drive an S2K.
If you like interior rivaling Lexus/Infinity, great handling, and rotary; drive an RX-8.

osgoodc

AMEN!
I've been trying to talk my buddy out of an s2k for about 2 months but he is dead set on getting one, sure they look pretty good (from a guy who absolutely abhors hondas) although vert ftl.

But IMHO the 8 is better in every sense of the word, Sexier curves and sleek, comfortable, interior(Navigation system!). The only one i've driven was an '04 Touring, got a chance to straight line and through some twisties, had a little too much body roll in my estimation (scared the **** out of my buddy, hard 120deg right hand turn spd limit=25 my speed=60-brakes? lol, what are those?- car in other lane, understeer like a sonofabitch).

But i've never had the chance to compare it to my fc stock suspension, bought it with tein springs, kyb struts.

Also the gearing on the 8's is simply superb, had it up to 100 mph before I knew what was going on.

Cannot compare one to an FD as i've never driven one (yes i'm a poor *** college student who is paying out of pocket) But I will say that I can see myself in the semi-not-so-near future struggling to decide which car I wanna take to work that day, 7 or 8?

dozer

just as quick ( depending on the driver )....raced 2 one took me by a bumper, and the other one i took by half a car....ive also drivin an s2k, throttle response wasss a LITTLE off compared to my 8, the shifting was not as comfortable as my 8 either, it also felt kinda cheap with that electronic rpm gauge and that small *** front windshield pissed me off....around the twisties didnt feel as good iether. the only thing that impressed me was how much the vtack helped the engine pick up.....but i wouldnt own one.