I have officially gone over to the dark side...traded in my RX-8 for a BMW 335i 6MT.

The sport suspension, short shifter, and extra 60 WHP are going in next week. I get to keep the 30mpg I'm getting on the freeway at 75 mph (not joking)!

The 8 is a great car and great community, and someday I hope to get another RX-8 as a 'fun car'...some day when I have the cash to keep up with it (three engines is too much).

Best wishes to all and happy Major Horsepower Upgrades!

congrats nice lookin ride!

Congrats dude.

eh.. to each his own... BMW is an everyone and his brother ride now days. 1/2 my work parking lot has them, if not more. how many 8s in the lot? 1, just this guys.

So because there are less 8's in the parking lot its better? Nice ride man, that is definately my next ride.

didnt say the 8 was better... that would be like saying there are 3 ferarris in the lot.. 8 must be better.. my point is that the rarety of the 8 compared to a comparable priced bmw (which about everyone and their brother owns, no longer a status ride), I'll stick with my 8.. you read into the post more than there was to read into... :uhh:

335i = dope
http://freenet-homepage.de/carsandmore/335i033_1.jpg

Yeah I also like the rarety of the 8!

^^ those big wheels and exhaust look nice ^^

I actually do prefer the looks of the 8, but like the 335i's superior HP, torque, and fuel mileage...did I mention '30 mpg on the hwy @ 75mph' yet? :lol2:

There's reasons why the 335i is so freaking popular and the RX-8, well, isn't.

I've said all along that Mazda would be selling RX-8s faster than they can build 'em if they had the power and fuel economy to go along with the killer looks and handling.

...just look once again at the 335i. It takes a little hit on looks but BMW is selling zillions of them and making money hand over fist.

For the price of a fully loaded RX-8 one could buy a 135i, which has the same bi-turbo 'sweet 6'.

It's just a shame Mazda never gave the RX-8 the 'go' to match it's 'show'!!!

my point is that the rarety of the 8 compared to a comparable priced bmw

a 335 is not comparable in price to an 8

a 335 is not comparable in price to an 8

No, but the 135i is darn close. If I hadn't picked up a sweet deal on 2007 335i then I would have gone for the 135i.

& also the 8 is not comparable in performance and fuel economy to either the 335i or 135i.

That's a problem Mazda has no interest in solving...they'd rather have an underpowered, gas-sucking car sit on their lots & be sold for deep discounts than a turbocharged RX that people would be on waiting lists to buy.

Don't get me wrong...I want to get another RX-8 some day, but in the meantime I am well pissed-off at Mazda for not doing a real Mazdaspeed RX-8.

Andre, what are you and I doing about that other stuff?

PM me & we'll work it out...

hows that extra 600lbs feel?

that negates 60whp right there... and when having fun at high speeds...

that said the 335i is a nice car and given the chance (with no loss of money on my part) i'd trade my car in for one.

camparable by performance, not by price.

camparable by performance, not by price.

being able to be in 4th gear at 40 mph and slam down on the gas and be pushed back into your seat is quite a difference. Handling isn't that far behind either and with the ability to come out of the corners with 300lbs of torque on demand is a plus. There really is no performance comparison, take it to any track and the bimmer will leave every 8 behind in its dust (maybe not you turbo guys...but thats not really the same thing is it ).

being able to be in 4th gear at 40 mph and slam down on the gas and be pushed back into your seat is quite a difference. Handling isn't that far behind either and with the ability to come out of the corners with 300lbs of torque on demand is a plus. There really is no performance comparison, take it to any track and the bimmer will leave every 8 behind in its dust (maybe not you turbo guys...but thats not really the same thing is it ).

so you are trying to say the 335i keeps up with the M3, since the M3 came in with the EXACT same track time as the 8...

so you are trying to say the 335i keeps up with the M3, since the M3 came in with the EXACT same track time as the 8...

a. yes the current 335i has been compared in performance to the e46 M3
b. the same track time you are talking about is from a tv show on different days with different conditions, and again not the current M3. If you think you can get the 8 to hang with an e46 M3 stock for stock i for one would be impressed if you think the 8 can hang with an E92 M3 i'll laugh at you. The true acid test is to look for instances of the 8 and the M3 running the same track at the same time twice with exchanging drivers. Who knows if the same stig drove ;)

I loved my 8 don't get me wrong, but since ive gotten to drive a 335 on a regular basis, i've found that you can have power and the twisties, the two are not mutually exclusive...yes the 8 corners better but again the 335 isn't far behind and it plows away in most cases. The 8 is outclassed unfortunately...nevertheless there's nothing to feel sour about, the 8 is what it is, and i personally loved it for that...it just isn't the god sent performance machine that a lot of you make it out to be.

if you me "i" as in myself, no. but im no track racer that really can push either car to its track limitations :p:

additionally i personally have always felt stock the 8 had some very strange floaty suspension characteristics in a few cases...you all know what im talking about where in hard cornering it feels like the inside wheel lifts a bit and you fall back on it. That always made me apprehensive about its cornering up until i got a proper suspension set up in my 8 and had that predictable oversteer that makes RWD oh so fun...(ring an endorsement for KW coilovers...you won't be disappointed)

additionally i personally have always felt stock the 8 had some very strange floaty suspension characteristics in a few cases...you all know what im talking about where in hard cornering it feels like the inside wheel lifts a bit and you fall back on it. That always made me apprehensive about its cornering up until i got a proper suspension set up in my 8 and had that predictable oversteer that makes RWD oh so fun...(ring an endorsement for KW coilovers...you won't be disappointed)

Man, I loved that. We had a traffic circle coming into my neighborhood and if I kicked it around hard enough, it would lift the drivers side up mid-corner then I could get it to drop me and kick the tail out just a bit on the exit. It was tons of fun, you just have to learn to trust it.

Man, I loved that. We had a traffic circle coming into my neighborhood and if I kicked it around hard enough, it would lift the drivers side up mid-corner then I could get it to drop me and kick the tail out just a bit on the exit. It was tons of fun, you just have to learn to trust it.

my solution was to take out the variable problem and give my car the small amount of predictable stay flat snap oversteer that it deserved lol.

Nice acquisition. I keep getting drawn to the 335i as well.

But I do enjoy my '8. ;)

It definitely feels like a 'lead sled' in comparison with the 8. For me, that's a downside.

With a PROcede it will rock well over 300WHP/WTQ and makes all that torque way down low...broader powerband than the turbo 8, which is really saying something. With this one mod there are lots of time slips showing the car comfortably into the 12s in the 1/4 with scary trap speeds.

Another crap thing about the 335i/135i & any other non-'M' BMW is that they ship with a peg leg diff, so a lot of that torque goes to waste if you're not careful. Why does the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' have an open diff? To sell more M cars, of course! When I have the cash I will definitely put in a Quaife LSD!

Ah, well, someday I'll have the $$$ to put into another RX-8 w/turbo.

hows that extra 600lbs feel?

that negates 60whp right there... and when having fun at high speeds...

that said the 335i is a nice car and given the chance (with no loss of money on my part) i'd trade my car in for one.

what cant you get Charles? :p:

Similar to Porsche detuning the 911 to get to the Cayman. Just a way to sell more cars to a wider spectrum of folks, and more 911's to upper echelon enthusiasts.

.... Why does the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' have an open diff? To sell more M cars, of course! When I have the cash I will definitely put in a Quaife LSD!

Ah, well, someday I'll have the $$$ to put into another RX-8 w/turbo.

So you're going with PROcede. What about the Vishnu? Is the PROcede the one to go with at this time?

So you're going with PROcede. What about the Vishnu? Is the PROcede the one to go with at this time?

PROcede is Vishnu. Shiv rocks. He just couldn't figure out how to safely make power (or money) with the RX-8. Jeff & Ray might have...I hope so!

http://www.vishnutuning.com/bmw_335i.htm