I meant to post this earlier, but at Irvine's Mazda RevItUp I talked to Adam Andretti (from THAT Andretti family) because he had been able to toss the auto RX8 around the course that morning.

Now I realize that he was probably being paid by Mazda to be there but his comments seemed to be reasonably free from PR concerns. He was aware that it had 210hp and was still quite pleased with the performance on the turns and the acceleration out of the turns. He said it handled predictably and well on tight turns and on the larger turns he was able to accelerate all the way around.

He was a little confused by the paddle shifters for a while, expecting the upshift on one side and downshift with the other paddle, but on the RX8 there are dual controls, and you push with either thumb to upshift, and pull on either paddle to downshift (or the other way 'round), so he occasionally mis-shifted until he realized the setup. He said the gear engagement while paddle shifting was quicker than Ferrari's.

He also said this was his first time with a rotary, and he was aware that it was a low torque engine, but that it wasn't a problem because this engine "pulled all the way from 1000rpm to 9000rpm." Obviously there's a couple things wrong with that statement; I doubt that the engine pulls much at all at 1000rpm, based on my experience with the older rotaries, and the auto only goes to 7500 rpm. But he did say the torque was always there and the pull was consistent.

All in all he said it was a very fun car to drive.

Quote:
“He said the gear engagement while paddle shifting was quicker than Ferrari's.”

NO KIDDING!!
Is the auto transmission the same as the one in the 6? Cuz I tested the 6’S w/ AT a while ago, but the AT is pretty bad. It won’t shift until it is ready to, it even over-revved couple times before it shifts, and the shifts aren’t smooth at all. I thought about getting the RX-8 w/ AT (cuz the paddle shift looks fun to drive with), but after I drove the 6 and heard ppl saying that MT is more fun to drive (especially the RX models), I changed my mind and going to order the RX-8 w/ MT.
Btw, I’m new here, and but I dunno how to quote from other posts. So can anyone help me?

just click the quote button (pictured below) under the posters name that you want to quote from, that will open the reply window with the full post copied in your reply. then just delete the things that aren't pertinent to your reply.

Originally posted by zoom44
just click the quote button (pictured below) under the posters name that you want to quote from, that will open the reply window with the full post copied in your reply. then just delete the things that aren't pertinent to your reply.
Like everything above. :D