welps, i got a decision

[Chiquae07]

I've been test driving numerous amounts of cars, and the 2 that stick out are the mazda 3 sedan 2.0, and the rx-8.

now, im trying to decide between the two.

age : same. both are 2004 models.

handling : both of them are a blast. the 3's suspention is perfect for the car, and it reminds me of the sentra thats still in the driveway. i had my father in the passenger seat, and my brother in the middle seat in the rear, and it still was amazing to handle. the rx-8's suspention is perfect in every way and form. had just the saleman with me. a tad different from the sentra and the 3 as they are a little more front heavy, but thats about it. the 3 has just the right amount of understeer, and the rx8 was perfect. kept the dsc on for the test drive.

brakes : the 3's seemed a little less than the sentra, but i did have 2 passengers, and just did a brake upgrade to dot 4 super blue fluid, brembo blanks, and metal master pads. the rx-8 was just perfect. would stop on a dime and the pressure felt great. a little on the soft side for my taste, but a brake fluid change can fix that.

trans : the 3 has a 5 speed and the 8 has a 6 speed. the 3's gears reminded me of my sentra's gears, but were faster to get through as they are smaller and the 3 can rev higher. the 8s gears are jsut perfect in every way. both cars transmissions were very smooth, and i liked both of them a lot. i ended up rev matching with the 3 and the 8 and the 8 was a bit smoother, but then again the rotary doesnt have overlap, so its oviously smoother. i did like the fact the 8 had 6 gears, as the rpms sat rather low at 65mph.

oviously i like both of the cars very much. i did do my research about rotaries and i understand the need to keep the car maintained.

they both are priced reasonably the same. the 8 is about 1500 more, but i should be able to get it for a steal as it has been on the lot for awhile, and its modded. the 8 also needs a taillamp, as its cracked as well.

here comes my problem:

3 pros:
better gas milage
fwd great for snow
cheaper than the 8 for insurance

8 pros:
faster
50/50 weight
rwd mean more fun in autox

3 cons:
reminds me of just a manual vers of the sentra
might need a brake upgrade for my tastes
they are almost everywhere

8 cons:
rwd in snow
less gas milage
said to eat a qt of oil every 1500 miles or so

so, what would you go with and why?

[93rollaracer]

I'd go with the RX8 for looks and performance, but for me, reliability is a huge deal, so that'd be rough. I'd go with the 3 for the reliability and gas milage. Depends on what's more important to you.

Oh and if it snows a lot where you are, the 3 for sure.

[GForce957]

What other cars have you test driven and why didn't you like them?

[Chiquae07]

Originally Posted by GForce957

What other cars have you test driven and why didn't you like them?

i'll put it into a diff thread. dont want to make this thread ot.

[MZR_47]

My vote is for the RX-8 for sake of performance and visual appeal. I like the 3 HBs better (MS3 FTW) but I would say RX-8. Yes, RWD will suck in the winter, but thats why you buy polygon's GTC

Sure the rotary is less reliable, but dayum they sound good.

EDIT: to avoid the repost.... You should have to change your Avatar like I did. That was my original one, but people kept thinking I was Cassies. His has freakin EYES so idk how they got confused, but just putting it out there. Color the background black or something. Just to prevent impotent creatures like myself from thinking Cassies bought a new car and had a Sentra.

[rice(er)]

not sure why you are comparing those two, chiqua.

In my mind, mazda created the rx-8 the be a pure sports car. The 3 on the other hand, 4-dr grocery getter, right? Unless ofcourse you're talking about the turbo 3. If that's the case, boost > n/a (in the long run) But also, rwd > fwd

something to think about

[silentscreams85]

get the rx8. keep the sentra as your daily driver, and for snow days.

[AMGalltheway]

You only live once, go for the 8.

[Chiquae07]

well, as it always happens, as soon as i save up enough money to buy something decently fast and fun to drive, apparently i cant afford them any more. the sentra took a crap, and have to fix it. great. new engine and suspension. pops hit me with the 'lemon law' as i sold it to him.

maybe im not ment to have what i want after all

[lax20]

dang man im sorry. that sucks. i would just buy what i needed and save the rest and still go for that car either the rx8 or the mazda3.

[MZR_47]

what the hell are the odds of that? what happened to the engine AND suspension at the same time?

[98BlackTransAm]

what about an rx-7? cheaper, faster, and no more unreliable than the rx-8. and i don't kno if age is in your criteria, but a TT 300zx or mid 90's vr-4 also come to mind.

[Chiquae07]

Originally Posted by MZR_47

what the hell are the odds of that? what happened to the engine AND suspension at the same time?

pops was driving the car on a crappy road. apparently he was trying to get away from someone, and hit a pretty big pothole(construction around here. they are taking out blocks of concrete in the road and kids are moving the wood covering the holes at night ) at around 70+. front struts are gone, and the motor moved a little. dont know if it knocked anything else on its small move but ill find out soon enough. hopefully the engine is still good, only got it towed to the house, but it needs new front stuts and control arms to say the least. the mount that went i actually have in the back seat of the car, but i diddnt think it would go just yet. im surprised the wheels diddnt crack.

i guess the car is messed up from 'autox' as he claims....cant argue over it as its his roof over my head and food i eat, and he paid for it in the first place...

[-The Stig-]

Omg Chiquae07... It's Suspension! No T... No T!!

phew... sorry... but somebody had to say it.

Continue on.

[Gotian]

Woah, Woah, Woah.

This is my thread, lol!

1st things 1st.
DO NOT GET AN 04 RX-8 Those had the worst reliability out of all the years to date. Get an 05 as the problems with the 04's were taken care of. If you do get an 04-05 rx-8 make sure all the recalls were taken care of and you have the latest reflash from Mazda. Make sure you check under the car for no oil leaks, make sure you open the oil cap and look inside if you see the slightest hint of sludge RUN, DONT WALK, AWAY. If you turn on the car and see black smoke get away from it.

2nd things (things that are okay)
If you turn on the car and it has a little trouble starting (meaning that it took a little delay cranking) its okay, that is a recall to replace the starter. The 1 quart every 1500 is exaggerated, usually you check every 2nd gas fill up just incase (especially after driving hard) but in reality you add half a quart every 2000 miles and change the oil at 3000. Slight vibration in the car is fine, the car does that brand new, thats just how it is especially since the tranny is right under your cup holders. Heat coming from the cup holder is normal (again from the tranny) You know youre a RX-8 owner if you can make cup ramen from putting it in your front cup holders.

3rd things to expect when you have the car.
You will have to use premium. (91-93 octane) Midgrade will be okay if its a cool day or winter time. You will be paying around $60-70 to fill up your tank from empty (with our current gas prices at premium) The oil you use is up to you, I use royal purple, though you can use regular non synthetic oil as well since thats what mazda recommends anyways. The weight of the oil depends on where you live as well, the car manual says 5w-20 but what is really recommended (according to mazda japan) is 10w-30 (ford placed the 5w-20 on the car...stupid) But since the engine gets extremely hot extremely fast and I live in miami i opt for a thicker oil 10w-40 while people in cooler climates opt for a thinner oil 5w-30.


Things I recommend when looking for the RX-8
1st get it manual (auto is waaaaay to underpowered for a car already considered underpowered)
2nd get the sports package. (If there is a little button that says DSC next to the coin tray to the left of the steering wheel then that is the sports package) if you are going to be auto crossing you need to be able to turn off the DSC and traction (hold it for 7 seconds).
3rd dont get the leather seats (the cloth ones are more comfortable and hold you better in turns.) this package adds alot of weight to the car turning a 2890Lb car into a 3300 which is about an average .4 difference down the 1/4 which is why you see times ranging from 14.5-15.1.

Dont let people tell you its unreliable, the car is very reliable and there are plenty of rx-8's over 100k now running around with no problems what-so-ever. there are even some on the RX-8 boards with over 150,000 daily driven and driven hard.

One more thing about the RX-8 When buying new tires dont get the stock potenzas all over again, they are too expensive and you can get better ones for cheaper.