Mazda RX-8

carliker

Yes, it's the preorder customers that were sent the diecast vehicles. Perhaps your dealer can get you one.

canuette

Does anyone know if anything is being done about the flooding problem? "fastass"

cheezeboy

mkoll - those are great die-casts, but the RX8 one doesn't have clear side markers?!?...LOL...I wonder if RotaryExtreme has the replacements for the die-casts as well. :-)

and, yes, I put my name on a list to get a red one when EHobbies gets a shipment in!....like I could resist?!?!.....it's like a drug, my RX8......no detox for me!!!!

mkoll

I ordered my 1:18 scale diecast in November and it took until January to get it. You're right, no clear side markers on it. It looks exactly light Shima otherwise. My Rx-8 looks just like yours except I added the fender strakes,air dam, spoiler, and side flares. If you do find clear markers for the miniature, let me know if someone can fit these with an appearance package also. They really did a nice job with the detailing inside and out on AutoArt's replica. You are supposed to be able to remove the engine cover, but I can't seem to get the hood to stay up. Crazy fun with these cars, huh?

carliker

So I bet you still play with your matchbox and hot wheels too, right? I wonder if they have made an RX-8 yet for either.

graphicguy

While the flooding issue has affected a few, for the most part, the vast majority of owners haven't had an issue. IF you've run into a problem, follow the instructions in your owners manual. If that doesn't work, you'v most likely fouled your plugs. Dealers are replacing fouled plugs with "hot" plugs.

But, the easiest thing to do is to drive your RX8 until it warms up and you'll have no issue.

cheeze....I can just see you running your "matchbox" RX8 across your desk while making the "ZOOM-ZOOM" sound (at least that's what I do).

carliker....I finally pulled the RX8 out of the garage yesterday for a drive since the snow on the roads have melted. Boy, did that feel good. Hope you've got a chance to pull out the S2000.

Of course, it's snowing again today, so back into the garage. Jumped back into my Civic this a.m. As small as the Civic is, it felt like I was driving a bus coming from a day of driving the RX8.

canuette

canyou imagine, my model RX8 does not have a sunroof.

cheezeboy

I think the appropriate thing to do is get a die cast of the RX8/G35/350Z/S2000/Z4/ and race them around my desk!...then I can write an article as to which die cast has better handling/power/ergonomics/full economy, etc..........a die cast says alot about the full scale item! don't get me started on my Dinky die cast of the Space 1999 ship!... :-)

now I got to start making a mini-bike rack and Fila bike for the back of my die cast!!......

cindyroderick

Somewhere you mentioned Mazda (with rotary) is the only carmaker to win LeMans.

However, there are other equally grueling races such as 24 hours daytona where Mazda hasnt recorded a win but Nissan has won twice and Toyota has won on one occasion.

Similarly, in 12 hours of sebring, Toyota has won twice, Nissan has won 4 times but Mazda did not record any victories.

In short, Nissan and Toyota are just as successful (or even more) than Mazda. However, LeMans did help Mazda's rotary in terms of reliability as you mentioned.

Of course credit for any victory in the "new century" should now go to the parent company and not any particular brand due to heavy engineering and technology involvements. For example VW in case of Bentley and Ford in case of Aston Martin or Jaguar.

the_big_h

it's the one with the most prestige and history.

Le Mans, Sebring, Daytona. Just saying it and you can realize which one carries more weight.

if you want to have a peak performance, you might as well do it at THE RACE.

carliker

Consumer Reports made a mention in this past year's annual car review that the Pontiac GTO is a competitor of the RX-8 (coupe/price). The Pontiac GTO is around $35K. I haven't really read up much on the Pontiac. Is it going to pull many potential buyers away from the RX-8? The commercials are stating that it gets up to 60 in 5.3 seconds since it has the Corvette engine in it. I don't know how true that is, but would like to hear thoughts on this competitor.

blacktalon

I think the RX-8 is a competitor to the G35C which could be a competitor to the GTO. Maybe. But directly? Not so much.

muffin_man

If the RX-8 starts at $26,000, there is a big price gap. There will probably be some people cross shopping.

graphicguy

Personally, I find the new GTO interesting...Corvette engine in a 2 door coupe with a back seat.

The styling is pretty derivative, IMHO...borrowing much from the Grand Prix. Some argue that the intended purpose of the original GTO was to stuff a HO V8 in a "regular" Pontiac body, but as the GTO evolved over time, there was never any doubt that a GTO had its own unique identity. This GTO doesn't have that same unique look.

From a performance standpoint, on paper, it looks strong. But, as we've all noted before, you can't drive the stats. While the GTO is quicker 0-60 and in the 1/4 than an RX8, the RX8, while very fast in its own right, is more a true sports car....sometimes described as more of an "exotic" by some of the trade rags. I doubt the new GTO will be described as such.

I can only go by what I've seen of the GTO at the car shows, but the interior is greatly improved over the more mundane Pontiacs, even if the exterior styling is mediocre.

I'd like some seat time in a GTO to with hold final judgement.

As it stands now, there's nothing remotely within the price range of the RX8 that I would consider a better car.

The way I look at it now, the GTO is a "poor man's" Corvette. Even that will change in pretty short order with the new C6 about to hit the market, however.

My guess would be that the GTO and the RX8 won't be cross shopped a lot. The RX8 shopper is looking for a fast, great handling, refined, well built, taste of finesse and the exotic, "looker" of a car. While the GTO looks to be a fast, "pavement pounder" that overcomes the road with brute force.

What I do know is that barring the mid-late '60s through the early 70s, today could be considered the new "golden age" of sports cars.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, LeMans is the Great Chocolate Bunny that everybody wants. It's the Olympics rather than the national championship, something like that.

You win LeMans, you have basically beaten the world.

I only bring it up when someone criticizes rotary engine potential or durability. But of course, there are other equally challenging races.

muffin_man

What makes the RX8 more of a "true sports car" than the GTO? In my mind, neither of them are true sports cars. Of course, now we're treading on dangerous ground.

cheezeboy

Sports Car - any vehical whose hood is where teenage girls want to lounge on. :-)

If you can get them to do that on the GTO, then welcome to the club!

now, gguy will give you a more intelligent, eloquent answer.....

qbrozen

pretty easy to see the difference, really, its the weight and size. The GTO is a porker compared the the RX8. Sort of like comparing a Mercury Marauder to a Lincoln LS. Both are RWD sedans with V8 power, but one is clearly more sporty than the other.

graphicguy

cheeze....you're cracking me up!!!!! LOL!

I guess sports cars mean different things to different people.

The trade rags, in general, consider the RX8 a sports car because it has all the essentials...speed, handling, and that hard to quantify, sports car "feel". Sports cars are "light on their feet" and can tackle turns as well as straight aways quickly while offering the maximum communication with the driver, without feeling "heavy handed".

I'm sure the GTO is a fine car in its own right, but I consider it more a stoplight to stoplight racer. I haven't been behind the wheel of one, yet. Until I do, I'll reserve judgement, but I don't get the impression it's a twisty carver.

muffin_man

Wow, 3725 pounds? So that's like 700 more than the RX-8 (From what I gather from another site, Edmunds didn't have the RX-8's weight listed)

The RX-8 is a fantastic car, but now I'm sort of torn on my feelings for the GTO. 3725 pounds?

the_big_h

it also has 112 more hp than the RX-8.

does that even out the power/weight ratio between the 2?

btw the RX-8 TOPS out at 3040lbs (loaded everything w/ a full tank), which means it weighs around ~2950 if you option the car prudently.

qbrozen

power/weight ratio isn't the concern. 3725 pounds does not go gently around corners.

its actually pretty funny to me that the GTO is closer in weight to my wife's SUV than to the RX8.

groovypippin

Has an interesting comparo between the Mazda RX-8, the 350Z and the Audi TT.

Mazda RX-8 once again finishes first, Its well worth the read.

the_big_h

into any MT articles, IMO, even if RX-8 is the winner in the comparo

I mean, how do you give credibility to a magazine that had the Ford Thunderbird and PT Cruiser as COTY???

muffin_man

If we figure the weights of the RX-8/GTO at 3000/3750, the power to weight ratios are 12.6/10.6 respectively.

The GTO is definitely the much faster car in a straight line, holding true to its muscle car roots. Not that there is anything wrong with it. It will probably be a great handler, for its size.

I guess if you take the RX-8, 350Z, and GTO in that order, you get increasing power and decreasing handling. All good cars, just different.

carliker

the_big_h - I agree totally with you concerning Motor Trend as I've said earlier. First, they compare the the RX-8/350Z with the Audi TT and then with the S2000. It won't surprise me if the GTO is the next car in their flaky comparo. As much as I respect the RX-8, it seems like the advertising dollars had a hand in this one. I would take what Consumer Reports, Edmunds.com and Car & Driver had to say about the RX-8 (all picked the RX-8 over the 350Z) and just consider Motor Trend as a magazine jumping on the bandwagon.

Muffin_Man - Nice point. The GTO has the brute acceleration that would make it go really fast in a straight line. I doubt that the handling would be extraordinary due to the 3750 pounds. You can look at an airplane as an example of something that has a ton of HP, weighs several tons, but you aren't going to be taking turns extremely fast in one. I'm interested in the car tests that the car magazines will do. I wonder if the 5.3 secs to 60 MPH (like GM has claimed) is actually true. That's as fast as the WRX Sti.

muffin_man

Yeah the airplane would probably be last in handling...

RX-8 -> 350Z -> GTO -> 747

The SVT Mustang weighs 3665, only 60 pounds less, but +40hp/+25tq. Just for reference. It says a limited slip isn't available.

Man do I love the compare feature on this board.

Ummm... to stay on topic. Uh, my sister has an automatic RX-8. It handles very well. It's blue.

carliker

We could talk about toaster ovens as long as we compared it to the RX-8.

muffin_man

And as long as we don't post any links to any other toaster related discussion forums.

the_big_h

one can make 2 slices of toast every minute, the other can spin up to 9000 rotations per minute.

discuss.

cheezeboy

needless to say, a cheap toaster could make toast quicker than my RX8 AT in Miami today....22 miles in 2 hours 45 minutes......let's see that's about 8mph average.....so, I barely reached 1200 rpms, in first gear, for almost 3 hours....nice......I should've just ridden my bicycle......sometimes it's just not about the speed.....

and I will buy that issue of Motor Trend with the RX8/350Z/GTO/S2000/747 comparison - just to see the spec chart!!.....(fuel consumption, passenger leg room, lift, etc) :-)

qbrozen

don't know if anyone realized this, but, ironically, that same issue of MT has a comparison chart of a Maybach 62, Gulfstream IV-SP (private jet), and a 1972 Bertram Yacht. lol

carliker

Isn't that coincidently, not ironic?

qbrozen

its coincidental that we are talking about comparing an airplane to a car and the recent issue of MT does just this.

But its ironic that we have recently criticized MT for strange comparisons and have used the comparison of a plane and car to be the ultimate in strangeness AND it turns out that MT has done just that. See, because reality dictates that such a comparison would be ludicrous, yet they did it anyway.

carliker

Actually, that would still be coincidental. Since we came up with an absurd comparison about the plane, we would just be doing the same silly comparisions as MT has been doing, which would be considered hypocritical. If flatpick (a poster here who thought we got off topic too much with Motor Trend discussions) would have started this debate about irony, then that would have been ironic. I learned all this from George Carlin. I think the RX-8 looks great in blue!

kroliph

Actually, I like the blue color they used in the second X-men movie better. I think the blue they are offering reminds me of the same blue you might find on a Honda Civic Si. At any rate the car is still awesome!

qbrozen

silly me, I learned from Webster's.

revdrluv

What? They compared these cars to a 747?

And these are the same people that will not compare a Mustang to anything but another piece of detroit steel. I swear all the US auto mags must be scared of the wraith of Detroit auto makers or american muscle fans. Like the mob would show up with torches if they put a Mustang in a comparison with a similarly priced RX-8, 350Z, RSX-S, WRX and it lost (which I am sure it would).

graphicguy

I know that MT had been accused of pandering to the Big 3 many years ago. A while ago, they did an editorial debunking any such shennanigans in recent years. The article certainly sounded sincere. But, you never know.

I suppose you could say that C&D is beholden to Honda and BMW given how they gush about their products.

I do think for the most part, they all try to be as objective as possible. C&D probably reflects the preferences of their long time staff (like Csaba, Yates, etc). Even AUTOMOBILE is over run with former C&D staff (Lindamood/Jennings & Davis). MT has turned over their staff quite a bit in the past few years. Even Davis is involved with MT on some basis. Because of the consistency of C&Ds staff, I probably lend more respect for them than any other car rag. Plus, they are more than a little irreverent and aren't afraid to take on the big manufacturers when they put out some dismal products.

R&T kind of stays above the frey and reports probably the best statistical comparisons of all of them.

I've always felt that CR is great a toaster comparos. Their car reviews reflect more of "cars as appliances" mindset.

One thing is certain, whenever the RX8 goes up against the likely competition (like the Z/G twins and the Mustang) it has won the comparos, regardless of which mag is doing the review. Add Edmunds and TopGear into the mix and the RX8 clearly is the winner, no matter who is doing the review.

revdrluv

Yeah but when has the Mustang been compared to anything but a Camaro, Vette or Viper in recent years? And when they actually do include the Mustang in group tests, it is not competitive. It's always one of those lame, "There are no winners in this test, cause all the cars are kewl." I hate those. What a waste of time. If your are going to give us your opinion, give us your REAL opinion.

When the US mags like MT do critizise a car it's always just to say, "we wish it had more steering feel," or, "we feel it could use a little more power," or my favorite the generic, "The interior materials are not up to par." And then they always follow it up (sometimes in the same sentence) with a "but we do like this..."

I read the british mag CAR because when they don't like something, they don't candy-coat it. In fact, once they were accused of pandering to the auto companies so they responded by comparing the VW Golf to a giant lemon on their front cover. ha! that was a great piece of unashamed reporting.

the_big_h

against RX-8 and G35 Coupe in the C&D June '03 issue.

and it was the fastest car of the group in terms of raw numbers, hands down.

they did say it was the 'best Mustang ever', but how you interpret that is all up to the reader.

graphicguy

In another forum, the 350Z was called the best Mustang ever built.....

biggie2

How do you get the British magazine CAR in America???

I take it there are mainly European models in there???

revdrluv

You can get it, although it is way more expensive here than the american mags. Worth the extra cost for the brilliant writing alone imo, but it is also superior for design, layout, photography and the way they don't make you jump around ads (or worse, to the end of the mag) to finish an article. (I HATE that) It was actually voted best-designed-magazine in the UK last year I think. Seriously, our auto-publication houses could learn a lot from those boys. I think AUTOMOBILE mag tries to emulate them a lot.

revdrluv

Oh and there are mainly European models, but many of them do cross the pond. Sometimes they do come to the US and drive our cars as well. Their writing is so good that I even don't mind reading about cars that I could never buy.

Their industry news is top-notch as well. They report things a few months before our mags even catch wind of it.

Back to the topic now.

carliker

gbrozen - "silly me, I learned from Webster's"

Now, that's ironic! Just kidding!

revdrluv - Have you read any articles about the RX-8 in British magazines? I'd be interested on their take since the vehicle has been there longer. I don't believe the HP in the RX-8s they got were lowered at all either.

graphicguy

Actually, the RX8 has been in Japan the longest, then came over to the U.S. in July (should have been here in June but got hung up at the port) and only hit the UK a couple of months ago. Their units have less power than ours (which have less power than those in Japan).

I watch the UK RX8 site and, in general, they don't "whine" as much about things as we do here.

Regarding CAR....while I do like to glance at it on occasion, and they do have articles on models that we share with them here in the states, their priorities for what they want in any car are a bit different than ours and the articles reflect that.

carliker

Thanks for clearing that up about the RX-8 in Europe. I didn't know they got the vehicles so recently. It makes sense that their vehicles are less powerful since the emission standards are so strict over there. What have you learned specifically that is most important to a European driver who would be interested in an RX-8?

graphicguy

The biggest issue in the U.K has been the availability of the RX8. They also seem to understand the RENESIS a bit more than those of us in the U.S. They know that it's a different type of sports car....not better, nor worse, just different in the way it needs to be treated.

Most surprising is that there isn't more "flack" about MPG in the U.K. Their gas prices are much higher than ours (at least for now), but they seem to have expected less than compact car gas mileage.

zlondon

I live in London (the one in the UK, not the one in Canada!) and I've ordered an RX8, due for delivery in two weeks.

It's interesting to read some of the comments on this board. At the moment, the petrol (gas) prices over here work out to about US$5.70 per gallon and the cost of my car (high power with sat nav and leather) was, at around US$48000, much higher that the US price. As you can imagine, running an RX8 in the UK is not cheap!

Most people in London either don't drive at all, using the tube and the trains instead, or drive much more economical cars. Unsurprisingly, small zippy diesel hatchbacks are a very popular choice for many.

Amazingly though, the Mazda dealers can't keep up with demand for the RX8. The waiting list is immense (6 months) and still growing. I think it appeals because it's just so different and so much fun to drive. Forget that there are faster cars in a straight line. When you get the Mazda out onto a small, winding road and really stretch its legs, you're still smiling a week later!