http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/system/topicRoot/Good_Car_Bad_Car__coup_s/

We are included in Jeremy's list of the best and worst cars - and not a bad ranking, considering the company we are in.


S

that's some pretty damn good company to be in.

Wow..see we do have a sports car!! Aston Martin 1st...nice...RX8 3rd!

damn, that is sweet!!

We beat an effin C6...props to mazda, and us for being smart and buying them.

:icon_tup:

on that note, I think the 8 deserves to beat out the BMW. seems all too common like a cavalier now days. I see probably about 50 BMWs for every 8.

What? Where's the 350Z? It's faster and has more torque!!!! :lol:

That's a pretty good pat on the back for Mazda. I really enjoy reading Clarkson's reviews and he's brutally honest. It's a shame most Americans don't know what Top Gear is.

ZOOM ZOOM! :Peace:

They're calling the Corvette C6 the aspiration of the blue collar American. Riiiiiight...

Since when can anyone who works blue-collar afford a 60-80k car..

Blue collar workers buy a house that costs 80k, and pay it off over 30 years...

///glad to see the 8 in the list..

Glad to see the 8 continuing to hold strong against newer rivals. :icon_tup:

:icon_tup:

on that note, I think the 8 deserves to beat out the BMW. seems all too common like a cavalier now days. I see probably about 50 BMWs for every 8.

Try living in California. It's more like 5000 BMW's for every 8. Not knocking BMW's, because they are good cars, but they are also so common here.

But the M6 is not. Although I pulled into a parking lot in Manteca and found two. This is a fairly small town, so I was like wow!

Check out the winner in the "sports cars" category!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/system/topicRoot/Good_Car_Bad_Car__sports_cars/

hurray for the 8!! and i love watching top gear. thumbs up to "the stig" (originally, i thought it was "the stick") lmao

Like I've mentioned in other posts, apart from North America, the RX-8 is very well regarded by the rest of the world.

Like I've mentioned in other posts, apart from North America, the RX-8 is very well regarded by the rest of the world. No surprise there—I've come to think of the 8 as a kind of "intelligence test" on wheels: the smarter you are, the more you "get" the 8. The fact that it doesn't sell in the land of dittoheads, American Idol, "global warming finally put to rest" and the "Monster Thickburger" is hardly surprising.

Kudos to the fabulous RX-8!

They're calling the Corvette C6 the aspiration of the blue collar American. Riiiiiight...

Since when can anyone who works blue-collar afford a 60-80k car..

Blue collar workers buy a house that costs 80k, and pay it off over 30 years...

///glad to see the 8 in the list..

While your view on blue collar workers is quite warped, you might want to look up what the word aspiration means...

This is a significant level of endorsement, and one would hope that it has a positive influence on the true value of our car.

Can anyone see or find out when Clarkson posted this article?

They're calling the Corvette C6 the aspiration of the blue collar American. Riiiiiight...

Since when can anyone who works blue-collar afford a 60-80k car..

Blue collar workers buy a house that costs 80k, and pay it off over 30 years...

Taken from Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry: as·pi·ra·tion
a: a strong desire to achieve something high or great b: an object of such desire


Translation: it's what blue-collar Americans WANT. Not what they have. ;)

Not a big surprise he would have it on his list. Clarkson's love for the 8 is well documented. When i saw a top gear video of him driving the 8 (same ones 90% of everyone on this forum have seen), i thought he was gonna drop his pants and start pullin it during the test drive, lol.

Huge compliment to the 8.

EDIT: He picked MX-5 for best sports car......think this fella is on the payroll!

Now if it was James May's choice then I might start to have doubts. He does own a Fiat Panda.

I think you 'll find a European bias toward lighter nimble cars due to the type of roadways that are common in the more congested uban areas. That said I agree with Mr Clarkson that the Rx8 is "sensational" Here in the states muscle seems to be the most coveted trait. I myself confess to " Torque addiction" unfortunately the 8 leaves me a bit cold in that area, however I wouldn't trade it's virtues for vices.

Mazda's on top the way it should be. lol

There are no less then 3 BMW m5's at my office, and if you count the m3's and z4's that number goes up to around 10

I have the only 8, and when parked next to an M5, the 8 looks better. Way better.

In Silicon valley, The BMW is THE car to buy if you want to show you make 6 figures. I swear, between m3's m5's and z4's, BMW's are more common then Honda accords
I've only ever seen 1 m6 though so I'm ok with the 8 being below it.

I take serious umbrage to the Dittohead remark, I am a Dittohead, that gave me the intelegence to buy an 8.

I friggin love to gear, the episode where he drive the bugatti veyron is great, when he hits 250 he looks ready to drop a log in his diggers. It's hiarious.

totally off topic but it had to be said

They're calling the Corvette C6 the aspiration of the blue collar American. Riiiiiight...

Since when can anyone who works blue-collar afford a 60-80k car..

Blue collar workers buy a house that costs 80k, and pay it off over 30 years...

///glad to see the 8 in the list..

thanks jedi54 and ike for helping clear this up!

in addition, the corvette (c6) is not 60k. the Z06 might be (maybe even more), but not the base model. and it IS well known to be a aspiration of the blue-collar worker. you've never hear people call vette's "poor man's porsche"?

I take serious umbrage to the Dittohead remark, I am a Dittohead, that gave me the intelegence to buy an 8. Fair enough. (And for the record, it's "intelligence".)

They're calling the Corvette C6 the aspiration of the blue collar American. Riiiiiight...

Since when can anyone who works blue-collar afford a 60-80k car..

Blue collar workers buy a house that costs 80k, and pay it off over 30 years...




Actually a base 08 C6 Coupe can be had for 40k. An year old for ~35k. A C6 is an almost super-car at a bargain price which a blue-collar worker CAN afford. For 60k, you're looking at Z06.

I was very close to getting an 08 C6, however had to put some money into a new home. So, I got an RX8.

errr...I have missed something here. :uhh:

What or where in the hell is dittohead land?????

errr...I have missed something here. :uhh:

What or where in the hell is dittohead land?????It is the part of the U.S., mainly between the two coastal areas, that more or less, vote for a conservative government.
Diddoheads are a name taken by the people who listen to radio commentator Rush Limbaugh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_Limbaugh). His radio broadcast can be hear, on some radio station, at any point in the country.

Corvette Coupe- 46,110
Corvette Convertible- 54,450
Corvette Z06- 71,000

Taken from Chevrolet.com

Corvette Coupe- 46,110
Corvette Convertible- 54,450
Corvette Z06- 71,000

Taken from Chevrolet.com

That's the MSRP. No body pays MSRP for a C6, just as no body pays MSRP for an RX8. Of course, a dealership is looking for a gullible person to pay the slicker price. Be my guest.

I'm a member of the Corvette formum. The Chervolet dealers/vendors at the forum have been offering their base C6s for 40k for a while now.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1881900

It seems Chevy dealers are now offering their 430hp base models for under 40k.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1881900

It seems Chevy dealers are now offering their 430hp base models for under 40k.
If you look at those deals relative to what Mazda is doing on RX-8s (someone wrote in Cali. they're giving $8000 off MSRP), I wouldn't exactly use the terms "blowout" like what you see when you click the link. 8 grand off stickers of 27K to $33K is much more impressive than a 78,500 Z06 at the same discount. I know, the Vettes are '08s; but, one can't get anywhere near a proportionally similar deal on the '07 Vettes like you can on same model year RX-8s.

If you look at those deals relative to what Mazda is doing on RX-8s (someone wrote in Cali. they're giving $8000 off MSRP), I wouldn't exactly use the terms "blowout" like what you see when you click the link. 8 grand off stickers of 27K to $33K is much more impressive than a 78,500 Z06 at the same discount. I know, the Vettes are '08s; but, one can't get anywhere near a proportionally similar deal on the '07 Vettes like you can on same model year RX-8s.


Yes, I understand. Obviously, Chevrolet Corvette still has and always will have a huge followings in the US as an "all American" sports car. Chevy is not desperate to give away the C6s as Mazda seems to be doing with the RX8s. Even comparably wise, spec, price, depreciation, etc, a C6 is a bargain compare to an RX8. Again, I was offer 40k for a C6 coupe. Mazda offered RX8 GT for 26k. I spent the difference of 14k elsewhere; about 1/3 of an 8. Is C6 1/3 more of a sports car than an RX8. I think so.

My replies were directed at the ideas that "blue-collars" can't afford to own a C6. The 08 C6 base coupe with improved steering, 430 hp, 28 stinking MPG in the freeways, out of this world handling, and weighing only 3100lbs for 40k IS a bargain of a lifetime. The best of all, next year, a slightly used 08 C6s will be ~35k.

:icon_tup:

on that note, I think the 8 deserves to beat out the BMW. seems all too common like a cavalier now days. I see probably about 50 BMWs for every 8.

I doubt you see 50 M6's every day. I see 3290329032 Mazda 3's and 6's every day, but they aren't RX-8's.

Clarkson seemed to love the car when they reviewed it, it ran a slow lap time though. The C6 is a much better overall performer than the RX-8 and for the price you can't beat an 08. I was very tempted to check one out but my heart was already set on the Elise as the RX-8 replacement. I don't think I see 1 other Elise, Elan, Espirit a month :)

BTW are you a girl? I don't know why I keep thinking you are from reading your other posts. Random question.

Clarkson has a bit of a bias toward british cars even if its american owned, he's fairly neutral on japanese cars, despises american cars (except the GT40). People put so much stock in his reviews because he's on a very popular car show. So, while im happy that the 8 placed third. Im not so sure about the Aston being the Best. BTW...has anyone got a clue why they havent reviewed the Saleen S7 yet?

Bingo Ike. I grew up in a blue collar construction industry family. I remember one mason we worked with offering his son a 'vette ($10k new at the time) or to help pay for college. The dumb kid chose the 'vette and totaled it a short time later. So it was certainly then, and remains, the ASPIRATION of blue collar workers.

While your view on blue collar workers is quite warped, you might want to look up what the word aspiration means...

^ What kind of father would give his kid a choice for a car and an education? One's a depreciating assent and the other is a lifetime of appreciating assent. Then again with such a stupid son, it wouldn't matter. Likely end up being a drop-out.

^ What kind of father would give his kid a choice for a car and an education? One's a depreciating assent and the other is a lifetime of appreciating assent. Then again with such a stupid son, it wouldn't matter. Likely end up being a drop-out.

education is an appreciating asset?! 60k of student loan debt, I would argue differently (j/k). :lol2:

After seeing his review of the 8 I knew it was the car I wanted to get without a doubt.

Also, is there any way to get top gear in the US, other than youtube?

I always had a problem with that myself delhi ('what kind of father...'). In his relatively simple way I'm sure he thought he was doing something nice for his son.

Thankfully my father better knew the value of a college education.


^ What kind of father would give his kid a choice for a car and an education? One's a depreciating assent and the other is a lifetime of appreciating assent. Then again with such a stupid son, it wouldn't matter. Likely end up being a drop-out.

This thread is getting a bit heavy. We should lighten up and have some fun.

Forward the link to a Corvette-owning friend. That's what I did.

Great reaction. She's been taking down Clarkson and all of GB explaining why the article makes no sense. Calling her "No. 4" and saying "Don't get so hot under your blue collar" add to the ambiance.

Ken

Also, is there any way to get top gear in the US, other than youtube?

If you can get BBC America from your cable company, you can watch Top Gear regularly on your TV.

:beerchug: SANBAN!!!!:smiley309

I take serious umbrage to the Dittohead remark, I am a Dittohead, that gave me the intelegence to buy an 8.

i agree and love your choice of avatar