AndyPearce
11-04-2003, 03:21 AM
As some of you may know I have been waiting to see if the two people who lift share with me on my 138 mile daily commute would fit into the RX-8 before I could commit to buying it. Finally got to test drive an RX8 without a moonroof last night and while it was very tight on space they both agreed that there was enough room to be able to spend up to 4 hours a day in it.
I'm so relieved as my solo test drives had done enough to convince me that I wanted the car but the passenger issue was the dealer maker or breaker - just got to sort out my finances and sell my T5 now.
A couple of thought in addition to my other test drives;
Handling - last nights test drive was with 3 large blokes and one medium size salesman and in pretty wet conditions (in the dark) and the car handled superbly. I took it through one of these industrial estates that is a series of roundabouts joined by a serious of small straights and I gradually increased the speed around each roundabout I hit. The car seemed to get more grip the faster I went even with a large amount of weight in it. I'm scared to think how fast this car can go round the bends if pushed hard!
Performance - I've never been disappointed with the level of torque in the RX8 but having 4 people in the car meant it started to show last night. It wasn't enough of an issue to put me off but it really highlighted that it's a good job the RX8 is relatively light with the amount of torque the engine produces.
Colour - I saw (and drove) the Velocity Red last night and have to say I was somewhat underwhelmed by it in the flesh. I have to admit I'm not a big fan of red cars anyway (I'd probably get a Ferrari in yellow! :p ) but even so the red was a bit of a disappointment. I'm sure it looks a lot better in sunlight but I'm glad of my colour choice. The car I drove also had the red/ black interior and that was a lot more appealing than I expected but my passengers thought it too much. I suspect I've got used to the look of the black / red combo whereas it was fairly new to them and so stood out more.
Headlamp washers - gave the windows a quick splash and my passengers watched the headlight washers in action and said it was so cool - it's the little touches that often give the best impression.
Can't wait for mine to arrive now :) but it seems that none in Wales have arrived early yet! :(
I'm so relieved as my solo test drives had done enough to convince me that I wanted the car but the passenger issue was the dealer maker or breaker - just got to sort out my finances and sell my T5 now.
A couple of thought in addition to my other test drives;
Handling - last nights test drive was with 3 large blokes and one medium size salesman and in pretty wet conditions (in the dark) and the car handled superbly. I took it through one of these industrial estates that is a series of roundabouts joined by a serious of small straights and I gradually increased the speed around each roundabout I hit. The car seemed to get more grip the faster I went even with a large amount of weight in it. I'm scared to think how fast this car can go round the bends if pushed hard!
Performance - I've never been disappointed with the level of torque in the RX8 but having 4 people in the car meant it started to show last night. It wasn't enough of an issue to put me off but it really highlighted that it's a good job the RX8 is relatively light with the amount of torque the engine produces.
Colour - I saw (and drove) the Velocity Red last night and have to say I was somewhat underwhelmed by it in the flesh. I have to admit I'm not a big fan of red cars anyway (I'd probably get a Ferrari in yellow! :p ) but even so the red was a bit of a disappointment. I'm sure it looks a lot better in sunlight but I'm glad of my colour choice. The car I drove also had the red/ black interior and that was a lot more appealing than I expected but my passengers thought it too much. I suspect I've got used to the look of the black / red combo whereas it was fairly new to them and so stood out more.
Headlamp washers - gave the windows a quick splash and my passengers watched the headlight washers in action and said it was so cool - it's the little touches that often give the best impression.
Can't wait for mine to arrive now :) but it seems that none in Wales have arrived early yet! :(