Gotian and Musashi Revisit the RX-8

[Musashi3000GT]

Ok folks so recently Gotian tested and RX-8 and loved it but the sceptics still condem it to be a failure on behalf of Mazda given the legacy that the RX-7 left behind. Lets face it the RX-8 cant really keep up can it?
Well like most of you I too was dissapointed when the new RX-8 came out, specially after the whole HP overating fiasco.
I mean its got so little torque and its not even turbo so why would Gotian like it so much? I though maybe he was a bit biased given the fact that I know he liked the car before he even tested it. Well not me! I dont like the car. I rather keep my 12 year old 3KGT. so it was time for a test drive.

Initial impression:
The car does look good. I like the fact that there is nothing out there that even looks close to it. I mean the FDs look like Miatas from afar so this is a plus for our rotoray newbie.
The suicide door I like, err, well they dont call them suicide anymore. Mazda now reffers to them as "freestyle" cause of the ugly term "suicide" is. The suspension has been re-tuned for 06 so its more "stable" during hard cornering. The sales rep knew his car, he was a fan after all, he was only 22 years old. The lights are projectors but you can opt for HIDs if you like. The transmission uses a "tripple mesh synchro" what ever that means for quicker shifting. The sales rep assured me the car is an "expirience" rather then a drive.

The drive.....um...expirience:
I get in the driver seat after the sales rep had his fun with it. and man, its not leather but its a suede type material..feels so good to the touch, like leather underware on your girlfriend. awsome seats! The wheel is a bit high for me but it adjusts forward and back, up and down. Stereo controls on the wheel. the tach is just pimp. HUGE tach to let you know when your reving up there in the 9000's range and the speedo is digital which I just love. The CD player is very unique and looks so well where it sits. its because the designed the system first and then wrapped the council around it. VERY SMART! not like dodge where you get the same fucking radio in a neon as you do in a Viper. I like details like this, the car is just full of detail. The 350Z has a plain boring inside unless you are the driver. But the RX-8 was built to fasinate. The shifter was short and I love the way they accented everything with the rotor design. its on the wheel, on the shifter on the seats, everywhere. The car is a fan of itself.
The acceleration isnt that bad, I mean sure its not a muscle car but it was NEVER meant to be a staight line car. Its still got enough to break traction going into 3rd without even being near the redline. Who the fuck can complain about torque when this shit plants your head into the seat every time!
With sports cars you get this insane initial launch and your body compresses into the seat. but then it levels out. Why? well despite the fact that its still making power its not as brutal as that initial jult. well not here. The RX-8 just keeps getting better and better as it climbs thought the rev-range. every 100 revs the motor dishes out more and more. Until you have to shift, then you start all over again. It really is a rollercoaster, or as I like to call it: A live action video game.
The handling. OH MY GOD! this is on a whole new level. even at 70 mph a 90 degree turn and I felt no body roll. I took a sweeper on the highway at 80 and the car just sank like it was on rails or something. for a car with no center pillars that is beyond incredible.
It made me feel sorry for myself. Sorry for the people who have critizised it for its lack of power. I felt like an idiot, like a pimply faced high-schooler who thinks cars are meant to only go straight. I was awakened by this experience. I was educated by it. it may not have the blazing 1/4 mile of a Mustang GT or a GTO but in the real world, the word full of twists and turns they would never catch this car. it carries so much speed through the corners, brakes so well, accelerates like a rocket ship breaking though the escape velocity of the earths gravatational pull. It actually gave me a headache when I was done because I had cornerd so agressively that my head just jerked back and forth uncontrolably. THIS IS AN AMAZING MACHINE.
seriously its not for the highschoolers though. the go straight bolt on nerds who shit bricks at the sight of a mountain pass. this is a grownups car, a car for the graduated, for the few who understand performance. It is the Elise of Japan, the Porsche 911 of the avarge joe who makes 20-25K a year. I wanted one, I was ready to put down the money too but my wife and Gotain slapped me back to reality. Seriously it is that good.

Time to reflect:
You remember the mid 90's and all those movies of the future where cars looked all funky and cool. well its the future now and I am sad to see where our market is. I mean the Mustang and Challenger and Camaro retro models??? this is sad that we actually went back in time rather then forewards. The RX-8 IS a future car though and it drive and looks the part of a future car. It might even be too far ahead of its time for most of us to appreciate.
If you are the type of guy who really stresses straight line speed and HP numbers then your missing out. we cant be that competitive becasue every couple of months new more powerfull cars come out. Now Im not in the possition to be getting a new car every year and Im sure most of you arent either. remember when 300hp was sick? not anymore is it? well thats the problem with us. we enphesize too much on HP and it shouldnt be that way. I rmember my SRT-4 did low 14s and I never even felt it. A car should be about how you feel, how it makes you feel and the RX-8 make me feel really fucking good! good enough to get one RIGHT NOW!

fianl verdict:
If the 350Z is a tomahawk missile capable of dealing great damage to the enemy then the RX-8 is a sniper. a master sniper!
its sleak, presize and deadly. It delivers amazing ressults in its own way.

[clawhammer]

You gotta drive the S2000. I really loved how the car drove when I got a chance to drive it at Zoom-zoom live. When you get the money together, do you think you'll get one?

[VR43000GT]

Very detailed review. I'm guessing that could be your auto x car with a minor weight reduction....or no weight reduction? I agree with you on the sense there is too much emphasis on straight speed. I usually have more fun taking turns and sticking to the road than just punching it in the wide open. This is why I would be far more likely to compete in an auto x competiton rather than a drag.

[CassiesMan]

I still say it needs more power. The world isn't one giant twisty or AutoX course. There are straight bits too. And high 14s on a good day in the straight bits isn't all that impressive. Thats what made the FD so impressive. It handled like it was on fucking rails. Hell, it handled better than that. And it had plenty of power in the straights. And I get to drive one tommorow!

[Drifty]

It just stinks that we live in the US and theres not really alot of nice curves and what not but. i side more with the 350z and s2k

[TatII]

well since we have two people with the same reviews, and one unbiased opinion. i must say, maybe i'll give it a 2nd try whenever i get the chance too.

[Drifty]

Originally Posted by CassiesMan

I still say it needs more power. The world isn't one giant twisty or AutoX course. There are straight bits too. And high 14s on a good day in the straight bits isn't all that impressive. Thats what made the FD so impressive. It handled like it was on fucking rails. Hell, it handled better than that. And it had plenty of power in the straights. And I get to drive one tommorow!

NOW YOU Listen to Me you TOOL!! I demand a review on ur RX-7 experience LOL

NO seriously ive never driven one so plz give us a review

[CassiesMan]

Originally Posted by Drifty

NOW YOU Listen to Me you TOOL!! I demand a review on ur RX-7 experience LOL

NO seriously ive never driven one so plz give us a review

I plan on it. I found out yesterday that the guy who cuts my hair
1)Is not gay
2)Has a wife and three kids, and...
3)Has four (4) FDs. One is a parts car, one is his daily, one he his tinkering with for drag only, and one is set up for track day racing.

We talked while he was cutting my hair, bout modding and tuning and street racing and stuff like that, talked about some local tuners, and then he said he had tommorow (thursday) off, and that if I wanted to I could come out and check out his FDs and maybe drive one around. I'm fucking stoked up for it.

[TatII]

theres a few things you must be aware of first cassiesman

1) expect the FD's interior to be falling apart, and rattle like crazy such as having cracked door handle where the door latch is, custer that is loose, and arm rest where the entire shifter is connected to be to loose. those are the typical parts that breaks first in a FD

2) there is no headroom, it will make you feel dizzy if you look at the roof becasue the top of the car is like a very very small dome.

3) get use to that metalic clunk they make to let you know you have closed the door completely tight.

if your expecting all these flaws from the FD before you get into it, you won't be disappointed. shifter fits just right, driving position is decent, and it pulls pretty decent stock. ( doesn't feel fast though, but it does rev fast and hits 60-80mph before you even realize it )

[Mad_Maxima]

Originally Posted by Drifty

It just stinks that we live in the US and theres not really alot of nice curves and what not.

I KNOW!!! It sucks, I have like 1 road, maybe 2 on certain occasions where there is a nice curve where I can push the miata and feel the turns, other than that it kinda sucks driving it because its nothing but straights and im slow as hell (I really need to do a swap).
I remember the super car episode of Top Gear with the Pagani Zonda, Ferrari F430, and the Ford GT where the driver of the Ferrari lead the cars up the twisty French mountain roads. Jeremy Clarkson was saying how the American engineers don't even know roads like that existed beacuse the Ford was so hard to drive with all the turns.
But with a country grown on the "America Muscle" platform, its really hard to get away from straight line performance numbers.

[clawhammer]

Originally Posted by SL3000gt

Very detailed review. I'm guessing that could be your auto x car with a minor weight reduction....or no weight reduction? I agree with you on the sense there is too much emphasis on straight speed. I usually have more fun taking turns and sticking to the road than just punching it in the wide open. This is why I would be far more likely to compete in an auto x competiton rather than a drag.

RX-8 is dominating in B-Stock right now.

IMO mid 14s is fast enough to stay ahead of traffic. To me that's all that matters. Be faster than most cars on the road, because there WILL always be someone faster.

[youngvr4]

Originally Posted by CassiesMan

Thats what made the FD so impressive. It handled like it was on fucking rails. Hell, it handled better than that. And it had plenty of power in the straights.

Amen

[Drifty]

Originally Posted by CassiesMan

I plan on it. I found out yesterday that the guy who cuts my hair
1)Is not gay
2)Has a wife and three kids, and...
3)Has four (4) FDs. One is a parts car, one is his daily, one he his tinkering with for drag only, and one is set up for track day racing.

We talked while he was cutting my hair, bout modding and tuning and street racing and stuff like that, talked about some local tuners, and then he said he had tommorow (thursday) off, and that if I wanted to I could come out and check out his FDs and maybe drive one around. I'm fucking stoked up for it.

SAWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Musashi3000GT]

Originally Posted by clawhammer

You gotta drive the S2000. I really loved how the car drove when I got a chance to drive it at Zoom-zoom live. When you get the money together, do you think you'll get one?

Dude I got 15K in my bank thats just sitting there not doing nothing. I was holding off cause I got a trip to Colombia in a few months and I was gonna blow most of it on just travel but now Im seriously thinking about it.

[Dreamspawn]

Great review as usual musashi. The top gear episode is GREAT and if you all like twisties move here there are like um 3 roads that are completely straight in my town the rest twisties . Its like having a big road course and with all the mountains rally hill climbs or Initial d downhills LoL. In all seriousness people around here bitch bout the lack of straight stretches and you all are complaing bout like of twisties oh what a weird world we live in.


BTW Musashi GTO!!!!!!!!!!