I am more of a bike guy myself, but needed and wanting a car for rainy days and lazy days... I decided to start looking around. It didn't take me long to come up with a short list of cars to pick from.
Today I went out and road in the RX-8 and the Evo. Both brand new and both under 25miles.
I took them on the same roads and tried to keep the same speed in some of te turns to get a good idea of how they handled as well as how they came out of the turns.
RX-8 just felt smoother. It felt like it was holding the road better even though the Evo has the AWD. Not only that but with the RX-8 I felt every bit of the road. but I didn't feel each and every pebble or any shaking in the frame. The Evo had a little shaking, a lot more body roll, and every pebble was like a knife up my back in comparison.
Now power is a different story. In the vo I couldn't find an RPM range that didn't have power. It was as if the gas pedal was a go button and that was all there was to it. There was no lag when I pressed the gas nor was there any lack of power coming out of a turn or shifting through gears. The RX-8 on the other hand made me watch my RPMs and gears more. I could easily find the power range RPMs, I just had to stay within and everything was sweet.
For me the RX-8 wins the choice in overall car by the slightest of margins, however I am looking for comfort in a car as well as power. Afterall, all these cars can be modified to get more power then we ever need. I am a corner junkie it's why I ride a bike. Not to mention neither of the cars could keep up with my bike. So speed didn't truly impress me in either of them.