I've been lurking on these boards for some months now
and I think it is appropriate to finally open my mouth(?) and write a couple of lines about myself and my .. car :)

I moved over to the US from Norway in January this year and had my eyes set on the car I was going to buy. The 350z, that car is very expensive in Norway (roughly $100.000 USD) and it looked sharp!. I had been drooling over the 350z for months, and was so ready to buy one.

Then I get married. And my wife does not like the fact that I’m going to buy an impractical 2 seater, so while we are buying the Mazda Tribute I get an up close and personal look on a black loaded black Rx8.

I didn’t like how it looked, and reading the fact that it “only” put out 247 (at the time) hps discouraged me from considering it.

A couple of months passes and I keep on reading about rx8 / 350z, and I am 100% sure that I’m going to buy the 350z. Anyways in mid October my wife talks me into at least taking the rx8 for a test drive.

This time the looks of the car has grown on me, I start to like how it looks. I take the rx8 manual for a spin up some roads. The sales guy just tells me to drive it as I please. The sound of the engine is appealing. When I get on a stretch I gun it from second and it answers with a.. roar? The power was linear and almost increased the higher the rpms got. At 8k I shifted gears and smiled.

On the back roads it just stuck to the road, and felt very direct. And the sound! It was so silent when I was cruising, but it immediately answers with sound and power when you gun it. After I parked it I had a big smile on my face, and I tried to think about what the car sounded like.. A modena without the lowend noise. I think that is as close as I can describe it.

Anyways, I went over to the Nissan place to test drive and buy a 350z. I got into it, and the insides looked cheap. Ok, I had seen it before so it was not a chock, but it first dawned on me. As a driver I spend most of my time looking from inside the car and out, not the other way around, so it matters how it looks to me.

I took the 350z on a different route and the first thing I noticed was that I had to shift gears constantly. And the engine felt dead, it’s hard to describe, at 4k it was almost over and you had to change gears. The clutch was so far out (sticking out 1 inch higher than the break pedal) so it took a lot of motion to change gears.

There is no doubt that the 350z is faster than the rx8, but it wore me out to drive it. I’m not a hard core sports car driver, so it might be my fault. But I was the one going to drive the car, and when I parked it I felt disappointed. I had waited almost a year for this car, and the car didn’t “talk” to me when I drove it. I did not leave the car with a smile on my face.

I guess I fell in love with the rotary sound and feel. Why would you not want to drive a rotary engine?

Desperate I called my friend in Norway to get him to talk me into getting the 350z, but he said “they have sold like 15.000 350z. Everybody and their mother are driving one”. And he has a point; I see probably 5 350z’s a day. I see no rx8. I like to buy something which not everybody has.

So, now there is a loaded winning blue rx8 parked outside my house. Got roughly 1600 miles on it now. Every time I look at it I like the looks more and more, and when I rev it up I smile. Is it wrong to love your car? :)

The only problem I have with the car is that my wife asks me
every morning: Can I drive the zoom-zoom today? Guess
I'll have to trade in the Tribute for another rx8!

/twospoons

Great story Twospoons, your decision to go with the RX-8 over the 350Z was very similar to my own. Welcome to the forum. :)

welcome and congrats

I still havent let my girl drive mine

This must be the best story I've read on this forum! Great job twospoons and welcome to the forum as well.

I, myself adored the Nissan 350Z to death. I came very close to buying it because of the stunning looks (except from the front), and the heritage of this wonderful car. The only thing that stopped me from taking one home was the fact that there wasn't a dealer in my town, and getting it serviced meant driving 3 hours each way! :( I think your review of the 350Z is identical to the one on Top Gear, so kudos for you :) . Both cars are equally astonishing in there own right in my opinion. So once again, thanks for the unbias review.

Welcome to the forum. Loved your anecdote on deciding between the two cars. Although I haven't test driven the 350Z, your comments on having to shift gears constantly on that car seems to deviate from what I tend to find in many comparisons I see on this board. I would think that the 350Z would require less shifting because it has more torque. But anyways, congrats on the car. I'm almost on the verge of ordering one myself :)

What a great synopsis twospoons. The 350Z was going to sit at my house too, but the finances were not ready until this year.

Then the RX-8 arrives, available for pre-order last January. Not one iota of regret in choosing my Winning Blue baby.

Welcome to the club, and look forward to more posts.

thats good, my friend has a white 350z and rather have a rx8

Wonderful story. Your "conversion" to the '8 is like what I went through on my test drive, except I was not considering the Z. The day I first saw the '8 was the day I took it home, first allocation on July 17th. Of course, I was heavily lobbied/influenced by my 15-yr-old son who was no way letting me come home in the Civic we drove to the dealership.

I agree about the Z, it seems "cheap" inside and after driving a car that revs to 9 grand 5.5 or 6 grand just comes too fast, I bounced the rev limited a few times in my Z test drive. I felt uninspired.

Now I have an S2000 which to me has the best of both worlds and more. High reving, fast 2 seater, unique, styling, nice interior, and even better topless :)