Just got home from the Mazda Rev It Up event in Houston. You can read my tale of woe from the competition side of the event in the lounge (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4137); this thread will address the RX-8 aspect of the event. They had two 8's there - a Velocity Red and a Winning Blue. I didn't pay much attention to the red - there's already been a bunch of photos of that color, and I've ordered Blue anyway, so it was obviously my primary interest.

Here, in no particular order, are some random thoughts and answers to questions that have previously been raised:

I love Winning Blue! I had been a little unsure, thinking it may be a little too bright or wishy-washy, but having seen it in person, I have absolutely no regrets.
The VIN is indeed JM1FE...
The vehicle features removable towing eyes front and rear. These are stowed in the trunk after delivery, but can be reattached if the vehicle ever needs to be towed. The rear bumper has a small removable panel that reveals the threaded mount point underneath; the front mount points are in the top corners of the "mouth".
The horn is not a "meeper." It's actually quite "european" in tone. Nice.
Rear seat room is more commodious than it looks from the outside, I'm 6'0", and with the driver's seat in my normal driving position, I could comfortably sit in rear seat behind it. With the passenger's seat pushed all the way back, rear legroom was lacking, but you'd have to have legs like a giraffe to need it back that far.
The trunk release is electric, and activated by a pushbutton under the steering column near the hood release. The only lever on the floor is for the fuel lid.
This thing hauls ass and sounds sweet! Late in the day on Friday (VIP/press day), they took the blue car out onto the "Ride and Drive" course, with one of their pro drivers giving rides to anyone that wanted. Well duh, try and keep me out of there!

I've put a bunch of photos and a couple of movies up on my website. (http://www.snikte.net/images/RX-8/Rev-It-Up/) The first movie is a passenger's eye view of a hot lap, while the second one will let you hear what the horn sounds like. Enjoy!

Don't be so sure that those removable eyelets are for towing. The Miata has the same thing and they are only for tying down the car on a transporter. Several Miatae have been damaged when someone used these as tow hooks. Bob Hall, the annointed father of the Miata, says Mazda makes these eyelets removeable, instead of welded in place, so people can remove them to reduce weight.

Thanks a million Eccle, I am SO-O-O-O-O-O JEALOUS. I am still debating between the Winning Blue and Titanium Gray. These pictures are great. I started to drool a la Homer... I still wish it was a little darker tho'.

That engine sounded real sweet, the horn sound pretty good too! BTW, how many people were in your hot lap movie (please tell me it wasn't you who let out the little girlie scream "Shit" near the end ;) (just joking :D . It appeared to have a fair amount of body roll in the slalom portion but more likely it was you who was doing the body rolling ROLF.

Thankfully I'll be away for most of May and early June so I won't go bonkers obessing over this thing. On second thought, I'll will be obessing but in a different hemisphere earning those $$ needed to buy this puppy.

Originally posted by mac
I still wish it was a little darker tho'.

BTW, how many people were in your hot lap movie (please tell me it wasn't you who let out the little girlie scream "Shit" near the end ;) (just joking :D . It appeared to have a fair amount of body roll in the slalom portion but more likely it was you who was doing the body rolling ROLF. The photo's are a tad deceptive - it's actually a little darker than it appears in those shots. The photo in the shade is actually closer to how it looks in the sunlight. Go figure.

The "shit" was actually a "heh" from my wife in the back seat - we were the only passengers for that particular run. And yeah, body roll was present but not as bad as the video would suggest - I was having a hard time holding the camera level. I tried to get some footage from outside the car, but the twisty sections were just too far away from the staging area. :(

Originally posted by babylou
Don't be so sure that those removable eyelets are for towing. The Miata has the same thing and they are only for tying down the car on a transporter. Several Miatae have been damaged when someone used these as tow hooks. Bob Hall, the annointed father of the Miata, says Mazda makes these eyelets removeable, instead of welded in place, so people can remove them to reduce weight.

That's exactly what I was going to say..... UNTIL I saw the picture. He is refering to the eyelets that stow with the jack kit. He is correct they are for towing. Not like the Miata's "tie down hooks".

I'm near tears listening to that rotary roar *sniff*

such beautiful music must be heard by all!!!

Did they mention why the Grey one was not there. That iswhat i ordered and I will be attending the Miami event. Man I hope they take it

Originally posted by IGOZMZM
That's exactly what I was going to say..... UNTIL I saw the picture. He is refering to the eyelets that stow with the jack kit. He is correct they are for towing. Not like the Miata's "tie down hooks". Indeed, they're very similar in design to those that come with many upmarket European vehicles. You can see the front ones in place on East Moon's RX-8 in this thread. (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4116)

Originally posted by RotorGeek
Did they mention why the Grey one was not there.No, I didn't ask, I was too busy admiring my blue. ;)

I forgot to mention the layout under the hood. Folks have previously postulated that some of the black covers under the hood contain the HID gadgetry. Well, I think I can lay that claim to rest. I examined each of them carefully, and I can tell you that the four covers, from top to bottom in this photo (http://www.snikte.net/images/RX-8/Rev-It-Up/slides/DSC01357.html) conceal: the main fuse panel (shown with the cover removed in this photo (http://www.snikte.net/images/RX-8/Rev-It-Up/slides/DSC01358.html)), air cleaner, battery, and what appears to be the main ECU.

Nice images and movies, thanks. These are probably the best Winning Blue photos I've seen yet and are convincing that it will be a good colour. Would I be right in thinking that the colour as seen in the 'horn' movie is about the right shade?

The driver who took you around the cones is quite effective. I kept expecting the sight of flying plastic but he kept it contained. It goes doesn't it!

Very Good Work! Thankyou.

When you have that tape measure in hand,
please check width from inside back door to
'backbone'.

I estimate just shy of 20 inches.
Road & Track gave seat width as 15 inches
but useable hip width is better than that!

Originally posted by Lensman
The driver who took you around the cones is quite effective. I kept expecting the sight of flying plastic but he kept it contained. It goes doesn't it! Sure does! From a distance, there was no indication that he was pushing it that hard - it took me quite by surprise when I found he was attacking that hard. Fun, fun, fun.

Great videos eccles!

Is it me or did he actually chirp the tires going into what I think was third half way through the movie?

Originally posted by DTECH-RX
Great videos eccles!

Is it me or did he actually chirp the tires going into what I think was third half way through the movie? Thanks. Yep, that's a tire chirp, but I think he'd gone back down to 1st for that tight left-hander, so that would be a 1-2 shift. That course was very tight - it was the "ride and drive" course that was not intended to be taken at speed. They only let him loose on it towards the end of the day, and there's no way they were going to do that at all on Saturday or Sunday with the general public in attendance.

i wanna see! i wanna see! :P

eccles, your site seems to be down :(...i guess we're hammering on it too hard!

please post when it's back up. i'd love to see what you have!

UMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! My pants just got tight, I can't wait until mine gets here in July. I seriously hope my dealer takes care of me with my trade and puts this car in my reach.

i think the best part of the vids is right there at the end of the course where your wife(i think that's what you said) says "ok yeah we'll buy one!" :D thanks!

Great pics, and even better videos, thanks eccles! I would have waited all day if they offered a ride like that here last month. Any ideas about how fast the car was going through the straights and turns?

...just from guesstimation (having watched the video a dozen times by now), probably +40mph through the slalom at the end, eh??

They only let him loose on it towards the end of the day, and there's no way they were going to do that at all on Saturday or Sunday with the general public in attendance. I did the product ride/drive and had the 6-speed Miata all to myself so they let me have at it for 8 runs thru the cones. That was until I spun it) and said that was enough and go play elsewhere. I had my line wired and was getting too cocky I suppose. :D

I was there on Saturday, and after seeing the movie, I'm pretty jealous. My dealer's been pretty sub-par and I didn't get an invite to the friday deal - even with harassing him about it since the end of March. And for the Saturday folks, the mazda guys wouldn't even start the car, or profess to know where the keys were. I guess blowing 33K on a car doesn't get you anything BUT the car. :mad:

Anyways, you're right, the blue looks outstanding - I almost wish I could change my order. Almost.;)

Originally posted by ELX13
eccles, your site seems to be down :(...i guess we're hammering on it too hard!Yeah, sorry 'bout that, folks. You guys know how to put the hurt on some bandwidth!

Anyway, I've moved the movies off to my ISP's server, and brought mine back up again. The index page is still on my box (http://www.snikte.net/images/RX-8/Rev-It-Up/), but the links to the mpg's now point to their bigger, better machine. Should give you better throughput, keep my server up, and stop the wife complaining that her web surfing had slowed to a crawl! :)

eccles -- thanks bunches for everything you've provided for us! Like you, I picked the Winning Blue, and hope it is one of the RX-8's at the Rev-It-Up being held in Atlanta in 2 weeks.

So now, you've seen the RX-8, sat in it, even rode in it. On this board it has been my tradition to ask those lucky enough to have been this close, the following:

What surprised / impressed you? And what did not meet your expectations?

Originally posted by rxeightr
What surprised / impressed you? And what did not meet your expectations? Surprised? That they left the gear shift knobs on both cars, and that they were both still there when I left on Saturday afternoon! :) Impressed? The rear seat room, which is more commodious than it looks. Disappointed? The read seat passthrough cover was kinda plasticky and not properly attached, though I put that down to it being a preproduction vehicle.

:D :D :D :D :D

>>me after looking at the pics and watching the videos<<

thanks eccles! i can't wait to check it out at the STL rev it up!