350z or rx-8

[PlayStation3]

ok i am leaning back into what car i want to get next and they are the 350z or the rx-8. i know nissan has one of the best realibty around but i like the looks of the rx-8 better but if i get an rx-8 it would be after they fix they engine problem recall. which do you think is faster also.

[TatII]

350z will smoke a RX-8 in a straight line. a RX-8 is slow in the straightline for its class of cars. the new Civic Si can keep up with it pretty good from a roll to give you an idea of how slow the 8 is.

the RX-8 is more balanced then the Z thats why it will lap as fast as the Z even with such a big hp disadvantage.

also the rx-8 is a gas guzzler, it makes half hte hp of a Vette and is more thirsty.

overally i'm not impressed with the RX-8. it has a nice interior, but the overal car is overly styled. too many triangles and those fenders are hidious. the Z will always be a more timeless design and i bet will still look great 10 years from now like hte original 300ZX TT, or hte RX-7 TT. any car that is very simple in design tends to age better. but more crazy styled cars like the 3000GT vr4, RX-8 etc tends to age pretty bad.

[del]

Originally Posted by TatII

350z will smoke a RX-8 in a straight line. a RX-8 is slow in the straightline for its class of cars. the new Civic Si can keep up with it pretty good from a roll to give you an idea of how slow the 8 is.

the RX-8 is more balanced then the Z thats why it will lap as fast as the Z even with such a big hp disadvantage.

also the rx-8 is a gas guzzler, it makes half hte hp of a Vette and is more thirsty.

overally i'm not impressed with the RX-8. it has a nice interior, but the overal car is overly styled. too many triangles and those fenders are hidious. the Z will always be a more timeless design and i bet will still look great 10 years from now like hte original 300ZX TT, or hte RX-7 TT. any car that is very simple in design tends to age better. but more crazy styled cars like the 3000GT vr4, RX-8 etc tends to age pretty bad.

very well put and i agree for the most part. although the Z's styling isn't much better IMO - a loveit/hate it sort of thing i suppose. it's just as "crazy" styled as the rx-8 if not more as far as i'm concerned. i don't think one looks better or worse than the other but i would choose the Z easily for the same reasons Tat put it, other than the styling. hate to bring in a 3rd party but the rx-8's engine needs to be wound up before it gets goin even more so than the S2000 in my experience and there's just not much there relatively speaking. at least once it gets goin, the honda is reasonably quick on its feet. i don't find that with the rx-8.

[VAD0R]

Well if you keep on shifting at the RX-8's 9k redline of course your gas mileage will reflect horribly, even though thats the only way you can get every bit of performance out of it. Yes it is worse than the 350Z but if you mostly do highway the wallet impact won't be too much of a difference, ecspecially since the RX-8 can take 87 octane fuel while the 350Z can only use 91.

The RX-8 is also like its predicessor one of the best handling cars in its class, due mostly to even weight distrution like Tat stated. It also has a whole lot more trunk room, not to mention those rear seats which might not seem like much but are better than nothing. I also think the interior quality rivals that more of the G35. Combine that with the fact that you can get one for close to $20k semi-used which is usually better since breaking in vastly improves the rotary's performance as well as fuel economy by bit and I'de call it a steal.

When it comes to how much tuning can be while staying streetable both seem to be about the same, even though that may change once the new GTR comes out. Also if you dislike the fenders you can always get an RX-8 with the factory sports kit. Don't get me wrong the 350Z is a nice car and can be tuned to easily rival Mustang and with tuning creep into Corvette territory as well as having a slightly better re-sale value, but try to not judge a car only by its 1/4 mile times and public concent.

[Gotian]

actually Since you guys know I just bought an RX-8 I took it with my friends Z and we couldnt pull on each other, they are the same when it comes to track and traight line performance, with an average driver they both run 14.5. Reason being is the 350 is heavier and the newer model RX-8 (2006+) are faster than the older ones because mazda corrected the loss of power issue, it was with the ECU. Also don't let the reliability issue fool you, the RX-8 is just as reliable if not more reliable that the 350 with a better warrenty if you get an 06.

And another thing, don't think the 350 wont eat gas aswell, My friend spends 50 bucks filling his tank every 3/4ths of a week. I fill up once a week. I havent had a Civic SI keep up with me from a roll so I don't know where you got that from, The Civic Si can't keep up with my jetta and from a roll the RX-8 pulls harder than my jetta.

I love both cars, dont get me wrong, when it comes down to it all it is is your preference, don't be shooed away by people tell things like it isnt fast or they arent reliable. The only advise I will give is, do your research on both cars, especially on rotaries (you'll find out that the fd's are the ones that gave the rotary both a good and bad name). Then after the research go test both of them and see which one speaks to you more and feels better to you. Also if you do buy an RX-8 don't buy it used, there is a certain way that you must take care of them and if they werent properly broken in and taken care of they will break down later.

[blakscorpion21]

if your running a 14.5 in a z your not a good or even decent driver. i also dont agree that a si can keep up with a rx8 considering it has 30ish less hp and is heavier.

and a z dont need to be tuned to rival a mustang, it does that stock. itll lose straight line but win on a track.

when considering total performance they are both equal, as stated rearlier they lap about the same time. looks ill give to the z as well as reliability. their interior quality is equally nice(slight edge to the 8). aftermarket id have to give to the z.

my pick, the z.

[TatII]

Originally Posted by blakscorpion21

if your running a 14.5 in a z your not a good or even decent driver. i also dont agree that a si can keep up with a rx8 considering it has 30ish less hp and is heavier.

and a z dont need to be tuned to rival a mustang, it does that stock. itll lose straight line but win on a track.

when considering total performance they are both equal, as stated rearlier they lap about the same time. looks ill give to the z as well as reliability. their interior quality is equally nice(slight edge to the 8). aftermarket id have to give to the z.

my pick, the z.

Si is heavier? nope, the Si is 2800 lbs and the RX-8 is 3000 lbs. 30 less hp? nope the Si puts down around 170whp while the RX-8 puts down around 180-190whp. can't keep up from a roll? hmmm RX-8 traps at 96-98mph the Si traps in at 95 mph average.

these two are more closely matched then you think. then again those were the old slow rx-8's. gotians probrably is faster in a straightline since they fixed that horribly overrated engine. maybe his rx-8 might actually put down a "full" 200whp stock as promised from years ago.

[Gotian]

Originally Posted by TatII

Si is heavier? nope, the Si is 2800 lbs and the RX-8 is 3000 lbs. 30 less hp? nope the Si puts down around 170whp while the RX-8 puts down around 180-190whp. can't keep up from a roll? hmmm RX-8 traps at 96-98mph the Si traps in at 95 mph average.

these two are more closely matched then you think. then again those were the old slow rx-8's. gotians probrably is faster in a straightline since they fixed that horribly overrated engine. maybe his rx-8 might actually put down a "full" 200whp stock as promised from years ago.

The 06 was lowered at the crank to 232 and the power it puts down is195-200. Which when you think about it, the 350 is a good 400 pounds heavier than the rx-8 and puts down 220-230whp so the weight makes them run the same times as the 8, the balancing is very good on the 350 just a bit more weight towards the front since it has that big 3.5 in there.

[TatII]

Originally Posted by Gotian

The 06 was lowered at the crank to 232 and the power it puts down is195-200. Which when you think about it, the 350 is a good 400 pounds heavier than the rx-8 and puts down 220-230whp so the weight makes them run the same times as the 8, the balancing is very good on the 350 just a bit more weight towards the front since it has that big 3.5 in there.

the Z's weight varies alot depending on what trim you get it in. they can be as light as 3200 to 3400 lbs like you said. the only problem i have with them is that they have very inconsistent dyno numbers. as you said sometimes as low as 220 to as high as 240iswhp. so thats why you see some of them trapping 98mph while some are as high as 101mph.

[Gotian]

I completely agree with you, the only thing that bothers me when people speak about the RX-8 is that they automatically think unreliability and no power. I wish people would actually do research and see that the only ones that were unreliable were the fd 1993-2001(if you got it in japan for the 96-01 models) because of the twin turbos, which is why many people switched to single turbos, so they could save the car. For a car with a "lack of power and torque" it can sure hold it's own and is a very fun car to drive, which is why I said test them both and decide which one speaks to you better.

[PlayStation3]

just a quick question what about the new 07 acrua TL type s it is only 13 hp less the manuel 350 plus it looks nicer.

[TatII]

the TL makes around 260ish hp based on the new SAE rating system. its no longer 270hp. the Z is still 300hp so it makes quit a bit more then TL plus its lighter. but the TL has a waay better build quality and a nicer interior. they can move fairly quick for a big 4 door. definitly quicker than that POS RL thats "300hp" and is only a 15 second car.

if your planning to hook the car up, thats when the TL's short comings will come in. with the stock power the car already tq steers quit a bit ( in the manuel tranny with the LSD ) and when you put in a blower from comptech it would still not be that quick. the FWD nature really hurts the car. but its also its strenght in the winter. my friends TL blows thru the snow with his stock TURANZA's better then my buddys EVO and STi with their all season tires.

[Gotian]

for the price of a tl I'd rather get the new IS250 from lexus

[BP2K2Max]

Originally Posted by Gotian

The 06 was lowered at the crank to 232 and the power it puts down is195-200. Which when you think about it, the 350 is a good 400 pounds heavier than the rx-8 and puts down 220-230whp so the weight makes them run the same times as the 8, the balancing is very good on the 350 just a bit more weight towards the front since it has that big 3.5 in there.

are you sure about those numbers or are they just speculative. i don't see how the RX-8 only loses 30 hp through drive train loss and the 350z loses 60. doesn't sound right to me. i've seen 3.5 maxima's dyno at 220-230 whp, and the z makes as much as 45 more hp depending on model.

also my buddy has an 05 shinka RX-8 and though we never raced, having been given a ride in it, i can't say it feels that much faster than my car, the handling on the other hand is ridiculous.

[Gotian]

Originally Posted by BP2K2Max

are you sure about those numbers or are they just speculative. i don't see how the RX-8 only loses 30 hp through drive train loss and the 350z loses 60. doesn't sound right to me. i've seen 3.5 maxima's dyno at 220-230 whp, and the z makes as much as 45 more hp depending on model.

also my buddy has an 05 shinka RX-8 and though we never raced, having been given a ride in it, i can't say it feels that much faster than my car, the handling on the other hand is ridiculous.

the shinkas are heavy as crap for the 8 on top of that they fixed the ecu for the 06 model and also upgraded the suspension on it, the car puts down 200whp now, it's been proven by actual owners. also ask anyone whose dynoed their 350z they never get more than 245 and that is if they are lucky. Most 350's end up with 220-230