Curiosity got the best of me, so I went to Oakville Mazda today to see if they had an R3. They had a Silver R3 in the showroom. Had to ask to have it opened ... WTF, is this a Ferrari dealership or something <lol>

Anyways, I LOVE the Recaro seats, they are so much nicer that stock IMHO. But as has been reported by others, the stearing wheel is kinda lame. Still not warming up to the next exterior, somehow it's lost a measure of its sexiness, flow and maturity. In particular, I just don't like the front end. Sort of a case of lost identity I think.

I figured the one in the showroom was the only they had but not true. There was a black one available for test drive... awesome! The R3 was nice on the road, not a whole lot different from stock GT. It is better with respect to suspension - tighter and less roll. It also offers better acceleration with to 4.77 differential.

Bottom line, I like the R3 as it represents a performance improvement to the base 8 , although not a large one. Key thing for me is, if I had an R3, I would still have to mod the heck out of it to get it into fighting form -- prefer my modded car to it.

As such, I'm glad I went the route of buying used and putting some of the money saved into mods. BTW, my car is noticeably faster than the R3, so non-FI bolt ons do have an impact on HP obviously :). Took the salesman out in my car after the test drive and he agreed with my assessment.

Time to look for some after market seats ;)

Awesome stuff Scott. I've been looking to see if I could find some time to test an R3. Did you notice any big differences in the gear ratios? Supposedly Mazda changed them very slightly. I absolutely love third gear in this car, and that's probably where I redline the most. Any differences there? I love how you said it has less roll than stock. Since I've been driving the car for a few months, I've noticed the roll too. It's just too bad Mazda couldn't get a little more torque out of the car. Oh, did they make the redline beep any louder? :D

^ The new 4.77 does make the car feel as though it has a bit more torque. I didn't spend enough time in the car to give you thoughts on specific gears but overall it felt very good, better than the 4.44 diff.

In terms of handling, I find stock to be too soft and have too much roll but then I gravitate more to sports cars than GT cars. So the R3 is definitely better than stock but I would put S Tech's on it right away to lower the car and even tighten things up further.

I recently put Progressive Sway Bars on my car and absolutely love them. I put the front on the stiffest setting available and it tightened everything up. No roll at all, which is the way I like it :) They have these sway bars in stock at JRP, in Mississauga -- was just there yesterday.

I knew you wouldn't be able to hold out on test driving this version of the RX-8. ;)

I wonder if we know anyone who might have purchased one?

Hopefully the weather will get better and not rain so much. I haven't driven the FD in awhile. :(

Scott, comparing your car to stock.... Do you think the car has lost some of its feel as a good daily driver? I take Markham road a lot, and there are potholes everywhere. The ride is hard enough right now that I wonder if the car will feel too sporty and firm if I go with a setup like yours.

^ Yeah... thankfully, I'm not in lust for it, just want it's seats :)

Bad weather or not, you must be loving that MX5, such an awesome adult go-cart!

We need a get together soon!

Yes, we definitely need to get together soon. The weather is starting to get better as we speak.

I wonder if Pros has a date in mind to do the whole bbq thing???