For starters, who buys a sports car for practicality? You want to be practical? Go buy an accord. I've had seat time in the 8, and it blew. The RX-8 does NOT corner as well as an RX-7. Yes, it does inspire confidence, but that's not the same as actually being able to handle the same curves. The 8 did a .88 on the skidpad while the 7 did a .99 instead. Not even close, as the .88 is right next to the montecarlo and GTO. Those cars are boats. So what, exactly, makes it a better car? The fact that it has back seats? That just makes it more practical, not overall better.

GT34, time to import those JDM FD's from japan~ only $13k landed

Skip pad ratings? Great tool there, always lets you know what the best cornering car is LOL. Only a idiot would say an 8 blew at handling, wow. Even people who hate 8 concede the handling, well except for people such as yourself.

Im done in this thread, obviously talking with some number racers here.

That's cool, you obviously don't know what you're talking about.

The Rx8 may have only pulled a .88g, but the McLaren F1 only managed a .86g. I doubt you would consider that car a "boat". So, then, would an FD be faster than a McLaren F1 around the track? Skidpad numbers aren't everything. However, I still am not convinced that an Rx8 is better than the 7 on a track. If it were lighter, maybe. If it had more power, perhaps. But the fact that the 7 has more power to get out of the corners faster and is lighter for better acceleration/braking...I don't know. It'd be interesting to watch a comparison of the two, though...don't think the Stig ever drove an FD around Millbrook
For reference, the Stig's lap time for the Rx8 was 1:31.8. That places it right at the same time as an E46 M3 (1:31.8), slightly slower than a Honda NSX-R (1:31.6), and over a second and a half faster than a Ford Focus RS (1:32.2). Now that's not science, but it's about as close to a real-world comparison as you can get...same driver, same track.

Agreed. I have both an 8 and a 7. The 8 is a much more practial car and will out handle a 7 in most situations. Skid pad numbers don't really equate with real world corners.....afterall real world corners are not constant radius, flat and smooth - dynamic handling is different.

The 8 is set up differently than a 7 and transistions (at least to me) much better. The engine is farther back and lower in the chassis and the fuel tank is under the passenger seat rather than at the back and high up as in a 7. Better center of gravity and polar moment of enertia.

But the 8 IS dog slow. A Mazsport or ptp turbo kit (hp up over 350 at the wheels - they sell various stages) will help a bunch. The Greddy turbo kit is crap. Read up on the RX-8 forum for those who are interested.

As for me.......the 7 is for fun - single turbo, fast. Evo for a DD and my wife drives the 8 now :D

About the McLaren, that was my point. The RX-7 has more power than the RX-8, so when comparing only the handling aspect of it, you can't go by track times, which is why I made reference to the skidpad numbers. That test doesn't rely on power, simply on handling.

I'm still thinkin the fd will rape an rx-8 in handling as well as everything else.

Ah ha! you're WRONG. Rx8 > Rx7 when it comes to # of people it can hold :) That's about it I think...maybe reliability.

At least you dont have an NA FC.

You failed remedial arithmetic, didn't you? 1:32.2 - 1:31.8 = 0:00.4

hmm..1.5 seconds or .4 seconds...wow.

Anyway, the FD pulled .99gs and ran a 13.9 with 1991 tire technology. stock FDs with new tires pull closer to 1.1gs and run 13.4s...soooo

An FD and an 8 each with 450whp, FD will be more reliable every time :)

i bet my car handles better than an rx8....

all i had to see there was rx-8, enough said:lol:

Yeah, I'm a little dyslexic...was counting from 1:31.2 to 1:32.8...messed up the numbers a bit lol.

Oh, but you obviously must be a numbers racer. :rlaugh:

Sweet thanks. I see you're from the coast, and I bet a lot of them are hitting the shores now. I was looking at some jdm's but I found a local lhd one with low milage for a good price that I'm going to go with. Thanks anyways.

You guys ever seen an Rx-8 perform at an autocross track? The Rx-8 here wins in his stock classwith falken azenis, and usually is 3rd or 4th place in times - thats up against the street mods, street prepared, all that good stuff and the tire classes. And this is out of 140+ drivers every single event.

Rx-8 is a nice car. You haters need to shut up. Sorry that the Rx-8 isnt as fast as a bridgeported single turbo rx-7.