Yesterday in Detroit me and Bill tried "bouncing" the front end by pushing down on the frame/strut bar. The car wouldn't budge, it was very hard to compress the suspension. Is the coil/shock setup in these cars representative of what is on the sports suspension? If so that is one stiff setup.. I like. :D

Did it have 18 inch wheels? If so then it is probably spot suspension.

The Mazda reps in Detroit told me that the car on display may look very close to final production units but they are not actual production cars -- the interior materials and mechanicals were not were not production quality. Several of the cars I saw at other manufacturer displays had the suspension tied down with wires -- I didn't notice this on the RX-8 however.

It was the 18" model with the sport suspension I guess.. but I'm wondering if the shocks/springs are the actual thing.. Personally I doubt it.. the car was waaay to stiff..