well, i finally saw it, and it looks good. here's what i wrote at rotarynews.com:


"crap, my previous message just got erased. and it was so beautifully written. okay, a breif synopsis:

1. Mazda had the best show floor, complete with the rx-8, drag ready rx-7 (heritage), mazdaspeed protege, lots of 6's, and turbocharged 281 hp miata!

2. Out of the whole show, the rx-8 took the cake. lots of interest with people saying stuff like "is that a rotary" and "will it be turbocharged." lots of interest from 40+ old middle income men and their son's. a real, everyday joe's sports car that's practicle. It literally took my breath away. man, did it look good, so much better than in person.

3. The rx-8 interior, much better than soooo many other car interiors, especially those from nissan. other than the titan (big cool truck, except for the front end), their cars and the interiors were too extreme and ugly. the 8 had a perfect blend of style, performance, and everyday practicality. awesome.

i must say, i want one. i love the TII, but i just dont trust it. kind of like a hot girlfriend: a blast on the weekend but not trustworthy for a real relationship. i want some thing more practicle that is still fun, high performing, and looks great. enter the Mazda RX-8! "

Any pictures to post?

Was it Red and if so what was the mica finish like?

Thanks

Oilman

Originally posted by rx7aggie
well, i finally saw it, and it looks good. here's what i wrote at rotarynews.com:


"crap, my previous message just got erased. and it was so beautifully written. okay, a breif synopsis:

Dude, did you really write that at rotarynews.com?
Seroiusly, though, I'm glad to hear your thoughts on the interior. That can be such a subjective thing, and I think we've heard more people gripe than praise it, so another notch for "likes it":D

I thought the silver at the Houston show looked great.
The titanium Miata(is this the same color as the RX-8?) was a bit dark. The silver picked up the chrome tones inside the lights and
looked good with the wheels. The silver seemed brighter than you see on a lot of cars. Sorry, no pics. The microphone guy
was about 6'2"(I asked) and seemed to have nice driver
headroom.There are no samples of the other colors. Props to
regional Mazda for getting the car to the show.

i should have some pics, my buddy took some.

what did you think about that 281 hp miata?!?, sweet. Definately an s2000 killer...and mustangs. how would you like that, to have a new cobra svt and get waxed by a barbie car...lol

seriously, the car looked great. i would prefer a darker silver, but it looked great. the "speaker" didn't seem to know much about rotary engines, but what do you expect, i felt i could have gotten up there and instilled sooo much better feel, enthusiams, and zoom zoom in the crowd. oh well.

still, as it was rotating, i touched the exhaust and got grease on my hand...which i'm never washing again, lol.

that's why I am there working the show.. hehehe to fill in all those answers that the microphone guys don't know :)

Originally posted by rx7aggie
...what did you think about that 281 hp miata?!?, sweet. Definately an s2000 killer...and mustangs. how would you like that, to have a new cobra svt and get waxed by a barbie car...lol... Most C4 owners and their associated egos are the most fun to embarass with a turbo Miata. You don't have to beat them, just stay with them, and watch the frustration. :)

To be honest, C5s and new Cobras are a harder nut to crack with just the basic FMII.

---jps

Careful there. My 383 C4 will hang with my old mans C5 to 80. And if I catch him sleeping I can pull him from the line too. The C5 really moves at about 4K in 3rd gear. I can't even keep up with him if we stand on it on the freeway though.

here are the pics, took a while, but i got the CD with them on it. i'll also include that 287 hp "flyin' miata"

rx8

finally, got it to fit

dang, why is this not working?

finally, and the wheel...

last, the turbocharged 287 hp miata

damn that miata is hot!:D

I talked to the announcer who was the guy pictured.

They got the car the Friday before show. They had planned to put the 6 on the rotating platform and so that was the car the announcer had studied for. He had to do a crash course on the car to learn about it.

He answered all of my questions (although I didn't ask him anything too difficult). He knew the car didn't have fold down rear seats, but that it did have a pass through hole; I was thankful because I couldn't get that info off the normal Mazda web-site.

He also took the time to get the keys for me and open the trunk while it was rotating on stage. This was nice since there were no good trunk pictures on the normal Mazda site.

Overall, I thought he did a good job.

-Mr. Wigggles