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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!!!!
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.
now I got to start making a mini-bike rack and Fila bike for the back of my die cast!!......
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.....
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
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.
The RX-8 is a fantastic car, but now I'm sort of torn on my feelings for the GTO. 3725 pounds?
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.
its actually pretty funny to me that the GTO is closer in weight to my wife's SUV than to the RX8.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Mazda RX-8 once again finishes first, Its well worth the read.
I mean, how do you give credibility to a magazine that had the Ford Thunderbird and PT Cruiser as COTY???
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.
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.
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.
discuss.
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) :-)
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
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.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
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).
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.
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.
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.
I take it there are mainly European models in there???
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!