Just to say, my Dealer called to advise that they "at last" have a colour swatch for Mica Red Metallic!

Will pop in and see them today to look at it but they say it's really a fabulous colour. (it has gold flecks in it)

Will see if I can borrow, scan and post this evening.

Cheers
Oilman

I hope your dealer is as helpful when you finally give in and switch to Titanium....;)

Ok.

Have Red, Green, Blue and Titanium swatches!

Will try to scan or photograph tonight and post.

Initial comments:

Red - fantastic. Very blood red until you put in sunlight when the gold flecks shine and give it a brighter hue. This does explain the orange tint in some photos.

Green - Very, very dark but in sunlight is stunning as bluey/purple mica flecks shine through.

Titanium - Lighter than I envisaged, pretty colour but much closer to silver, glad I chose red now!!

Blue - Pretty colour but once again lighter than envisaged due to the mica silver flecks.

Anyone any idea of the best way to reproduce for posting, may save me some time. Have a digicam and scanner.

Cheers
Oilman:confused:

1. Blue is metallic not mica so can't have silver flecks (correct me if I'm wrong)?

2. You MUST photograph the swatches in daylight with your camera and make sure the white balance is correct (if it has that facility). Then compare the images to the swatches until they match. Keep trying. It'll never be 100% because the reflectivity makes them dynamic and you can't emulate that.

3. Thanks!!! :)

Don't suppose you've seen any samples of interior cloth by any chance?

i suggest we all take a drive over to oilman's and have a look for ourselves, instead of trusting to his photography/ computer skills!:D :p

Well, here goes!

These were very difficult to photograph due to the Mica.

Lensman, Blue is Winning Blue (Mica) it says it on the swatch.

Didn't have much time to experiment today, wifes birthday!

I cant stress the complexity and beauty of these mica colours, they simply look different in every type of light.

Go see your Dealers and demand the swatches or else.......

Cheers
Oilman

Green

Titanium

Red

For those of you who have ordered red, Mark W etc, this is the closest picure of the red on a car, compared to my swatch

Cheers
Oilman

I stand corrected and I almost wish I'd stuck with the blue. It does look nice but I still think the car will look better in Titanium and that's honestly not sour grapes.

Seeing that picture at that angle is the only angle that I think puts a question mark over its styling, just my opinion but the front wing looks like one of those old cars and I mean OLD with front fenders:D

Is it possible that you could find images of the Titanium and Blue that closest match your colour samples as you did for the Red? That would be very useful. I realise it's impossible to get it right because of the reflections but a general idea would be marvellous.

and I mean OLD

Old doesn't necessarily mean bad you know. Some of the most beautiful cars ever designed were from the 20's and 30's. If you think that every style you see and like is totally original then think again. Except for extreme hi-tech it's probably ALL been done before (see the 'Freestyle doors' as a perfect example). Design is either good or bad but never completely out of time.

it's the difference between "style" and "fashion". style is timeless, fashion is not.

it's the difference between "style" and "fashion". style is timeless, fashion is not.

So do you agree with me or 18ME, I can't tell... ;)

Lensman,

This is the best I can do, the Green is dark and I mean much darker than ever imagined. Very different with bluey-purple fleck and almost black in poor light!

Titanium

Blue, not many around but this would be closest, you have to believe that the silver fleck really stands out!

A lot has been made of colour choice but I'm now very glad I chose red, it's stunning and very different to any other red I've seen.

Deep blood red in normal light, not boy-racer at all just classy but it comes alive with the gold fleck when the sun catches it.

Cheers
Oilman

Originally posted by Lensman


So do you agree with me or 18ME, I can't tell... ;)

you;) :)

Cheers Oilman :)

After that Im still more than happy with my choice of Red.

The winning blue mica does sound/look good as well from what you say.

Well my original, original choice was Nordic Green (partly because a long lost girlfriend loved the BMW green that appeared very similar) and I'm almost wishing I'd had the guts to go for that. However, if, as you suggest, the Titanium looks like it does in the image above then perfectamundo and we're all happy. I still don't think the blue works with this body shape though but that's just me... Thanks Oilman you slippery dude!

Originally posted by Lensman


Old doesn't necessarily mean bad you know. Some of the most beautiful cars ever designed were from the 20's and 30's. If you think that every style you see and like is totally original then think again. Except for extreme hi-tech it's probably ALL been done before (see the 'Freestyle doors' as a perfect example). Design is either good or bad but never completely out of time.

I didn't say that OLD was a bad thing, I merely stated that the styling at that angle was not to my taste. Just because 1 part of a car looks like styling from an older car doesn't mean that I think that the older car is BAD.:mad:

But I must admit that cars from the Al Cappone days do not appeal to me. :D

And I do like some classic styling and I do have a Le Corbusier Chaise Longue and no I don't think it's a new design.:p

Thats probably the nicest shot of the blue that I've seen, but I am not changing my order now.

Shit, I'm still not convinced about the colours. Recent blues posted look great except the rear (don't know why) and the red continues to look and now sound great (by Oilman), especially if the colour is really the rich dark blood red.

Also, the tit grey posted above looks terrible.

IMHO.

rael.

Also, the tit grey posted above looks terrible.

How subjective this all is. I'll be entirely pleased if it's like that! Think Aston-Martin and how the silver detailing on the RX-8 will complement the grey.

Also... (http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3899&highlight=titanium)

Rael,

The red is as deep as the pic I posted on this thread.

Considering I originally wanted Titanium, I'm a convert. Must confess some of the red pics posted worried me but you have to see it to appreciate it. Your Dealer should have a swatch.

It's all subjective but IMHO red is the best colour and we know it looks good on the car.

Cheers
Oilman

Oilman,

Normally I would go for the red but my hesitation (maybe wrongly)is linked to the car being parked in public (including local train station) for long time during the day and I am not keen on attracting more attention than I have to.

I would be interested in any contra points.

rael

No contra points other than it looks stunning!

Cheers
Oilman

The photos of the colour swatches don't actually look that good (bu thanks for trying oilman :p ).

The photos of the cars, especially red, look stunning though.

I'll have to give my dealer a call and see if he has got the swatches in yet.

I think that this (http://miata.cardomain.com/id/keithcburt) is a fairly representative image of Titanium Grey, here as seen on the MX-5 SE. I have no regrets... ;)

Lensman,

The swatch looks a shade lighter than your pic especially in sunlight its nowhere near as dark as the old BMW Dolphin Grey.

Cheers
Oilman

OK, much appreciated Oilman. One small question please: here's a comparison between the image that you said most closely matched the Titanium swatch and the image that I posted of the MX-5. The MX-5 is clearly 'a shade lighter' so does that mean that your original image was way off?

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/phil.white1/RX8/combi.jpg

Interesting that the winning blue is now mica, as it shows on the swatch. The brochure and all other places have shown it to be metallic.

Blue is my favourite colour for cars, and I do like the winning blue but somehow it just doesnt look right on the pictures.

Lensman,

Apologies for the confusion. My original pic was not the best.
It would look more like this image in good light.

Cheers
Oilman

Mark W,

I too love blue cars and have had many but would have to say IMHO that the winning blue is too light, especially in good light.

It's really a shame because Mazda have some cracking darker blues on the 6 and MX5.

Cheers
Oilman

Apologies for the confusion. My original pic was not the best.

Yes, this image makes more sense, cheers. It's slightly lighter than I'd prefer (that MX-5 colour, which allegedly is identical, is perfect for me but it's probably just the light and the extra curves on that car) but all the people who've seen an actual painted car seem to rave over it so I'll keep my hopes up. I agree that the blue seems too light which is why I changed. It seems to me that Red, Green and Titanium are the only way to fly. If I had my choices again I might opt for Green actually, it seems really nice but I'm not sure about the purple flecks - that sounds strange. Owww heck, we'll all love our cars when they arrive whatever the colour. It's driving the wretched things that counts and they'll all look marvellous, we know that!

oilman, thank's for posting those- just reinforcing my decision on the green. And I can't wait to see these purple flecks you're talking about- fine with me, as purple's my favorite color :)

Now that the tit grey I like. Going to look stunning with those little dealer extra.

Thanks for comforting a worried tit, Oilman

rael

That tit actually looks quite nice. I think the silver wheels complement the colour well.

It must be the light but it looks like the front section of the car is a darker colour than the rest...

I saw what appeared to be an MX-5 SE in Titanium Grey today (Cambridge Science Park) and it looked nice. It's hard to be sure having never seen the colour before so it may have been a shade of silver I suppose. Hopefully one of the cars at MotorDriveLive or the MotorExpo will be this colour to settle the issue.

Went to my local dealer today (warrington) they had the colour swatches in. Nice sunny day, spent ages with them..

and... Velocity red it is :)

Rob,

Good to hear that you have made a decision to go Velocity Red based upon seeing the actual colours :)

What was it that made your mind up?

I will have to call in to my dealer and go and have a look for myself.

Good news Rob, I'll have to go in and have a look.

Who's your sales man? Mine's Richard, gave him quite a lot of stick around order time as they didn't start processing them until the third day.

Do you know where you are on their list of orders?

Cheers, Carl.

I havnt actualy ordered yet, as I need to sort out something first, will do in the next month or so.

Why I chose red?

Blue - too light.

Black - doesnt show the car off well enough (need a contrasting colour for the grtill etc).

Yellow - eeeugh.

Silver - again too light.

Was down to a choice of 3 that we looked at (My wife and I, we liked all 3 remaining).

Titanium - They had a 323f in that exact colour in the car park. even in bright sunlight with a bit of dust on it looked too dull and flat. (normaly my cars arnt spotless).

Nordic green - Looked stunning in bright sunlight, if I lived somewhere that had sun everyday it'd be a no brainer. out of the sun looked almost black, to dark for me 80% of the time.

Red - looked almost as good as the Nordic green in sunlight, much better out of the sun. Overall we thought it was the best colour, wierd as red is normaly the last colour (after yellow0 I'm looking at.

As I havnt ordered yet we can still change my mind though :)

Well done Rob!

Totally agree, the Green look Black in bad light.

The red looks a rich deep blood colour in normal light but when the Sun catches the gold mica flecks - WOW! STUNNING!!

Looking forward to it although I've never owned a RED car.

Cheers
Oilman

Titanium - They had a 323f in that exact colour in the car park.

That's the 323f that hasn't been made since 1998 yes? If so then I think that's a different colour (anyone know please?). Mazda seem to have produced several paints described as 'titanium grey' but which have different codes. The one for the RX-8 is the same as the one on the special edition MX-5 I believe so it should look like this:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/phil.white1/RX8/titanium.jpg

which doesn't look 'flat' to me but then I'm biased of course. ;-)

Guys, Guys!

I saw the Titanium in the flesh on a special MX5 owned by the Service Manager of my local Dealer.

It's really a bit of everything depending on the light. I can only say that it shows off the lines of the car well.

The best pics I have seen so far are the ones Boowana and Sputnick took in Detroit, see main forum which reflect the changing nature of the colour.

The ones at Laguna Seca made the 8 look very aggressive but seemed a lot darker than I saw at my Dealers.

Cheers
Oilman

Aha! Oilman has been here before it would seem. A thread (http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2412&highlight=titanium) from eons passed reveals much.

This (http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2407&highlight=titanium) is useful too.

Originally posted by Lensman
...The one for the RX-8 is the same as the one on the special edition MX-5 I believe so it should look like this:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/phil.white1/RX8/titanium.jpg

which doesn't look 'flat' to me but then I'm biased of course. ;-) Wow, that picture is way off what the color looks like in real life. The lighting in the picture makes it look more like a silver than the titanium gray.

---jps

Here's (http://www.sounddomain.com/id/autentia) the same car in daylight and it still looks fairly similar. Have you seen the RX-8 Titanium in reality Sputnik? I actually prefer it darker so if you're right then that's a good thing but the evidence is mounting up.

Also, Gamera posted this comment after seeing a Titanium RX-8:

No I didn't think so when I saw it. Alot of previous pictures show some purplish highlight which could be an result of the indoor lighting, else if it's there, its very subtle. I thought the gray was almost identical to the SE/Shinsen Miata Titanium, except it's very metallic, catches the light really well, not nearly as dark as I expected. For comparison, the Miata next to it is very close to Sunlight Silver according to the Mazda rep, the Mazda 6 behind the RX is white.

EDIT: & finally (after some searching) here's an MX-5 Phoenix in Titanium Grey (exactly the same as the RX-8) in daylight showing how the intensity of the colour varies from picture to picture.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/phil.white1/RX8/Phoenix_MX5.jpg

Originally posted by Lensman
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/phil.white1/RX8/Phoenix_MX5.jpg Yeah, good. That's alot better for those who haven't seen it yet. When you've seen it in sunlight, etc., you can correctly identify the color in that "studio" picture. But if you are trying to get an idea of what the color looks like, the extreme brights and darks in that "studio" picture make it hard to get an idea. The outdoor one gives a much better estimation to someone who hasn't seen it (it's still a little off, but it's reeal close). And don't forget, it will look a little different on a differently shaped car anyway, like the RX8.

---jps

Thanks Sputnik, much appreciated.

Here's a comment from MattZ who has just been to the NYAutoShow (http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3985) :

The Red looked worse than I thought it would be....and the Titanium looked better than I expected (my fiance fell in love with the Titanium)

"Excellent!" (said in the style of 'Mr Burns')

The pictures that I had seen of the velocity red made me think that it was darker than it actually is (which disappointed me, personally). I was hoping for something closer to the deep "garnet red" that is available in the current Miata (here in the colonies, anyway), but it's not. Of course, that might be just fine for most people, just because I don't like it doesn't mean that it's not good. Most others who have seen it in person reportedly liked it.

To my eyes (and on my LCD monitor), this is close to the shade (or brightness, if you will) of the velocity red. The color is a little off (which happens alot with digital cameras), but the shade is about right.

http://home.att.net/~superotter/200-0057_IMG.JPG

---jps

Hmmmmm... Just IMO...

I like the look of Titanium, I really do - but don't you guys think that there's enough Titanium/Silver/Grey cars out there at the moment on the roads? When I drive near where I live I think I lose count of the number of silver cars I see within a 1/4 of a mile. I have to say, if an RX-8 passed me on the other side of the road in silver, i might even not notice it!

Of course, I don't want anyone to be put off buying theirs in Titanium. T W Whites (my local Mazda dealer) have about 70% of their orders for RX-8s in Titanium. Will make mine stand out a lot more :p (tho I'm still not actually set on what colour I'll get - just definately NOT Titanium!)


-andy-

Originally posted by sixspeed
Hmmmmm... Just IMO...

I like the look of Titanium, I really do - but don't you guys think that there's enough Titanium/Silver/Grey cars out there at the moment on the roads? When I drive near where I live I think I lose count of the number of silver cars I see within a 1/4 of a mile. I have to say, if an RX-8 passed me on the other side of the road in silver, i might even not notice it!

Of course, I don't want anyone to be put off buying theirs in Titanium. T W Whites (my local Mazda dealer) have about 70% of their orders for RX-8s in Titanium. Will make mine stand out a lot more :p (tho I'm still not actually set on what colour I'll get - just definately NOT Titanium!)


-andy-


I generally dislike silver or grey cars too but (as some people have concluded about the blue in particular) certain colours just seem to suit certain cars better than others. If I was buying a Ford (yeah, I KNOW) or a BMW or whatever then I wouldn't touch Titanium with the proverbial barge-pole but on the RX-8 it JUST WORKS! As to there being too many silver/grey cars: well most of the cars I see have wheels but I wasn't thinking of removing those on my Mazda just to make it exclusive. There are vast numbers of red cars too if you start counting. Also: I was passed by a silver grey RX-7 last week and was astounded by how beautiful it looked because of the body shape and the colour enhancing it. Finally, if grey is so common then how come Aston-Martin use it for their flagship cars?