phinsup

Screw you, LOL I dunno who he is.

Travisty

so my friend works at a local mazda dealer and i got to go down and check the car out the other night.

its a thousand times better in person than any pictures i have seen.

everything about the car is perfect.

interior exterior.......... it all works.

i might be getting that new car itch.

tbonerx7

I wasn't impressed by the mags, but when I saw it in motion on tv, I started to like it. Then when I saw it in person, I really liked it... though I also got to drive a Miata for the first time as well , and like that. I'm 6 foot tall and I don't fit in the rear seat if the front seat is setup for me. This would be an example of me driving other people around... stuff the chicks in the back!



MazdaSpeed hasn't had anything with engine/power info on their RX-8 yet. Probably won't until next year at least. It better not be just a damn body kit with a beefy suspensions.



I do have to say the Mazdaspeed version looks a heck a lot better than the base RX-8. I think there's room for a turbo or a supercharger under the hood. Might have to replumb some lines to get it to fit. Paul Yaul is in the process of supercharging a Renesis engine for Mazda for the SpeedGT series racecar. That will rule!

totpkg

Was talking to my friend who is parts manager at the local .... he showed me a pic of the Mazdaspeed version of the RX8 ... pics looked very RICE at the least IMO ... turbo power, suspension mods, etc ... but was so turned off by the looks, I don't even remember #'s .... but to say it's in the works , YES !!!

He stated projected to be out spring '04 ??? but that could be ????



KK

kahren

pictures dont do this car justice, i used to be eh about it after ive seen i it i was definatelly excited and if i had teh cash i woudl get it.

i donno what u gays are talkign about teh paint, i dont think there is anythign wrong with it

houdini

I test drove one last weekend. I was in the neighborhood, waiting for my buddy's car to get smog'd, so we walked over to Walnut Creek Mazda to see if I could test drive the new 8. I heard dealers were being pains in the neck about actually giving a test drive, but I figured I had a good chance see my dad just bought a Protege5 from there 2 months ago. Anyhoots, it turned out to be easier than I thought. They had a red touring package "test drive" car right out front. We browsed over the inside and outsides for about 5 minutes before the salesman walked up. I told him that we had bought a car from them 2 months ago, I had an RX-7, and I was looking for another car to replace my FD(yeah right, replace the FD with the RX-8). I also explained to him that I race my current car and I was planning on doing so with the RX-8(just wanted to prepare him for the test drive).



OK, now for the reviews. On the exterior, the car looks OK. It's a lot taller than the FD, 4.5inches to be exact. The big wheels does make the height looks less but numbers speak for themselves.



I didn't like the interior at all. Lots of cheap pieces including the cheap plastic dash, rubber seats(with leather inserts only in the center), the cheap rail system that lets the selt belts slide back, and center console. The gear shift **** sits so low that your hand rubs on the trim piece that surrounds the shift boot when shifting. Power seats were a nice touch but that's just added weight. That also goes for the tilt and stereo controls on the steering wheel. The stereo looks nice but the sound of the Bose systems was really weak in comparison to the FD's. The dash was nothing spectacular but that might change in the night time. Leg room was poor in the rear seats but head room was not as bad. The trunk was decent size which was to my surprise up until the point where the salesman said a spare is not standard. Good luck with that fix-a-flat they give you. Engine compartment has tons of space and another cheap snap-on, plastic piece to cover the motor itself.



The first thing we did on the drive is get some gas. It was nice for once to have someone else pay for my gas, especially now that 91 runs $2.35/gallon. On the way there, the salesman made the remark that he can see that I race cars. I took that as my carte blanch invite to do whatever I want on the drive(although I did leave the traction control on). Took a 20 minute drive in the car(must have been a slow day at the dealership). Right from the get go, I noticed the lack in power. Although, there was a sweet spot somewhere in the mid-range where the car moved real well. A lot different than the FD where everything over 2k RPMs is the sweet spot. Lack of torque makes it difficult to leave the line without reving the engine a lot. Felt like driving something between a miata and S2000. Didn't like the transmission much either. It's hard to get through the gears smoothly when shifting quick. I noticed this was a problem when I bumped the gate 2 times going from 2-3 and once from 5-6(yes, I like the 6th gear). The handling was OK, a much more refined feel compared to the FD. Car did feel very well balanced but it also felt heavy, as it should considering it's 200lbs heavier than the FD and we had 3 people in the car. Exhaust note was mostly quiet but did have a nice sound somewhere bear 5k rpms.



OK, my final take on the car. Falls way short compared to the FD. But I don't think the FD is a fair comparison. After all, it's not supposed to go after the same market. It has a base price of only $26k, it sits 4 people, and it's normally aspirated. It's not bad for the price point that it hits.



I asked about price and mark-up on the car an dthe salesperson said they were asking $2k over but he could get me one for sticker. That means you could get one a lot less than that. Probably another $2k less. The had 2 silver tourings there ready to go, stickered at $31k if I remember right. I'll never trade up my FD for that car. It'd be more of a trade down. Hopefully the new RX-7 will be coming soon as reported.