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'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
They continue, however, to muse about the possbility of a "two door coupe" version. Would this be called an RX-7? no confirmation, but seems likely. The coupe, it is speculated, would come in around the 300 HP range.
This new 330 HP rumour for the RX-8 may simply be early intel on a future MazdaSpeed version. I find myself being highly skeptical about the prospects of 330 HP being standard across the RX-8 line-up.
Mazda, if you build this, and it costs under $40K, well-equipped, I will buy it.
what tires are you looking for? potenza what? Cause I see the RE040 on there and it says those are OE.
'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
The paint color wasn't really cream, it was more of a snow white mica. Not pure white, just slightly gray white, all sparkly. I believe the 350Z comes in a similar mica but it's more of an eggshell grayish white, slightly darker than the RX-8 white.
I'm looking to get a 6-spd white with GT package when it's available; the one in the showroom was automatic, otherwise I'd have a new car tonight.
No RX7, because it would fragment the RX model volume too finely. He did mention a convertible, however....a 4 door one, at that.
The 330 HP version may well be a MazdaSpeed iteration. Even if that's the case, and the standard model has 300HP, I'd be very interested.
Of course, this is all speculation for a model that's still a year away. I can only address what my dealer's GM told me.
'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
The interstate is being repaved here, and I am impressed with how the car drives on the grooved pavement left behind by the pavement eater (don't know what the real name for those machines is). There is more tire noise, but not much more harshness than my other car (Volvo wagon).
So far, no problems at all....car runs great, very responsive, and everything works fine. I love it. It does incite young guys in Trans Ams and Mustangs to try to drag race though :-) When I had picked up the car at the dealer, one of the other sales guys said as I was driving out "You look good in it. Drive carefully now. Oh, and, go dust a Mustang for me, will ya' " Well, I'm too old for that kind of foolishness. I just enjoy driving it and not having to slow down on exit ramps or curves (unless there is another car ahead of me) This car has amazing handling. It feels like it's glued to the road but it does it with so little fuss. Very, very smooth and predictable to drive.
demand them that the reflash be done before delivery, and tell them to show you documentation that it has been done.
I guess the only thing to do is to wait and see.
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/01-022-04.html
sorry for the delay in the response - I am prepareing for the storm (Boca Raton).....but it's been sunny all day today..hmmm......my big worry is possible flooding with Shima sitting out in a parking stall.....I will hope for a 'dry' storm!!
Thanks!
cjs...I would bet your dealer would be able to put in after market leather for you. I know mine offered to put aftermarket "2-tone" blue and black leather in mine to match the "winning blue" exterior color. If I'm not mistaken, the cost was somewhere around $1,000. I'm in the southwest corner of the state, totally opposite of you in Cincinnati. If you wanted to drive I could also put you in touch with an upholstery house that would do the work for you, too.
As I sit here in my stall, the first big feeder bands of the hurricane have hit. I am covered with fallen leaves and I am sure my wax is all gone. The lot has yet to flood, not much rain, mostly wind, attacking me at the moment. Good thing the designers at Mazda made my body very aerodynamic, however, the leaves still stick. Very unbecoming. I am fortunate that the neighbors parked on either side of me to shield me from side attacks.
Oops, there went a tree. A 30 foot oak just fell over about 50 yards away.....and fell on a truck. Looks like a older Nissan. Poor thing.
Ok...I see my owner wants to go surf the weather channel. Slacker.
:-)
(thanks for you concern gguy - I will update after it blows by!!!!)
Car and Driver stated that Mazda is currently working on a more powerful RX8 that will utilize a newly developed electrically assisted turbo. They chose this turbo over an exhaust driven turbo because it allows them to meet increasingly high emissions regulations. It was said that Mazda will unveil the turbo RX8 at the Tokyo auto show in 2005.
This sounds to me like the most plausible way Mazda can pull more power from the renesis.
I'm sure it'll be the same "nits" most pick....MPG isn't what they expected, the remote trunk release is hidden, etc.
I think they ended up doing a 1 year final report on the Mazda6 after writing the initial introductory report...
The color will be Black Cherry with light parchment interior. (Miata color)
A couple chasis enhancements....
-suspension cross member injected with foaming urethane to improve ride quality..
-unique suspension tuning with thicker damper shaft.
There will be some cosmetic interior changes. like semi gloss bezels, chrome vent grill, chrome hvac dial, color stich on shift knob, leather console cover, etc...
speaking of this, do those GPS/speedtimer thingys really work?.....
As for 0-60, best to check out the magazine reports. I don't think they've played with an auto though.
MT with the sport package is under 6 seconds 0-60 and high 13s to mid 14s for the qtr.
Of course, all this depends on the driver, whether you want to do a hi-rev launch, road conditions, etc.
Personally, I've got a 6.2 sec 0-60 with MT and a ~4.5K RPM launch.
My gas mileage has gone up a bit, and on a recent trip back and forth to Boston, all on highways (plus some Boston city driving) I got about 21.5 mpg. This is without the M reflash yet. My car was built in Feb 04 and there is no sticker indicating it was done. Haven't been back to the dealer yet. I am getting 17-18 with about 50/50 highway and around town driving.
I've kept a close watch on the oil level. So far I'm up to about 5 tanks of gas and it hasn't used a drop yet that I can tell. Oil level is still about 2/3 between empty and full, same as the day I got the car.
The car gets attention on the road. I've had cars pull up next to me on the highway and match speed to take a good look, and people do double takes from the roadside. And the other day had a couple of sailors in an old Monte Carlo with slick tires and a jacked up rear end try to drag race me on a highway entrance ramp (2 lanes wide). Pretty funny. They raced - I didn't. They turned around and laughed and waved like they had won a major victory. Then we got to the curve in the ramp and I didn't even have to slow down. Needless to say, they ended up far behind :-)
First sports car I've owned in many years (about 20) and now I wonder what took me so long :-)
Last night, I went to the local Applebees to grab a beer and dinner. I came out and there were 3 people standing around my 8. They jumped back as I hit my "unlock" button. We talked for about 20 minutes about the car. Even after over a year of ownership, I still get the stares and "thumbs up" when driving, parking, gassing it up.
I have three questions.
One is, is my reaction to an RX-8 likely to be better than it has been to the Toyota?
Two, what are the ramifications of getting the
RX-8 with the base suspension and 16 inch tires, vs. the Sport Package with its sport suspension and 18 inchers (I need an automatic trans. Sorry!)?
And three, I live in lake effect snow country. The Prelude was fine with regular Blizzaks and with later LM-22 performance snow tires. What could I expect with similar tires on an RX-8?
This is a helpful and necessary forum, and thanks to all here........
=gregg=
You will get positive comments driving your RX8.
I have had three in the last 13 months and have enjoyed all the attention.
You absolutely need snow tires, I have purchased Blizzaks and am happy with the performance. The car is not driveable in snow with the summer tires. At least IMO. I have been driving for 30 plus years and have owned many cars, the RX8 was the most scary car I have ever driven on a combo of snow and Ice. The traction control basically shuts down the car. With the snows it works fine.
I live in snowy NH so I can speak from experience.
Why do you need an automatic? Manual transmissions give much better control while driving and it really doesn't take long to learn how to become proficient.
Good luck on your choice. By the way they have excellent 24 month leases going on right now.
In this particular case I disagree that 50% of the driving is on the driver. Having driven many sports cars over the years successfully without winter tires. This car is virtually not driveable up a hill on snow and ice. TCS enable or not. The car shuts down and you just don't go.
With the snow tires no problem.
Also got to agree with winter driving. Yes, snow tires "should" be used with the RX8. But, I've driven big honkin' V8 powered RWD cars from the '70s with skinny bias ply tires that were half bald during winter weather. Winter driving has as much to do with driver awareness and experience as it does with the tires.
That said, winter driving tires are indeed better on the RX8 than the sport tires that come standard.
Snow tires are a must!
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2022 Wrangler Sahara 4Xe, 2023 Toyota Tacoma SR 4WD