Does anyone know where the X-Men RX-8 is these days?

Just wondering if it's making any public appearances anywhere.

If I were to make a guess; probably at the official opening for the x-men2 movie. It would make sense.

It would also make sense to have offered a limited number of the X-Men "package" vehicles (not that I personally care for that "trim" level) and/or delivered a batch of pre-orders this week to help promote interest. But did they? Nooooooo!

Originally posted by 3Rotor
It would also make sense to have offered a limited number of the X-Men "package" vehicles (not that I personally care for that "trim" level) and/or delivered a batch of pre-orders this week to help promote interest. But did they? Nooooooo!

exactly. they really dont know wtf they doing.

It would also make sense to have offered a limited number of the X-Men "package" vehicles

I suppose there's people out there that would like that kind of trim level, but I imagine there are very few that would both like it AND can afford it. Personally, I don't know why Mazda is trying to push advertising with the X-men2 movie. Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool and I'm going to see the movie because I know I'll like it. I know Mazda wants a good introduction to the RX-8 and all, but I would think it being used in a movie like that would be appealing to a younger generation--early or pre-teen mostly. The RX-8 is supposed to be (but definitely not limited to) for an aging RX-7 crowd that's looking for a "sensible" sports car.

Originally posted by tribal azn2


exactly. they really dont know wtf they doing.

I have to disagree with you on this one, tribal. I think their marketing strategy has been pretty good so far. The Fear Factor thing was absolutely brilliant. No one saw that coming, and real, unscripted comments and reactions from real people on national television toward the car carry more public influence than a commercial.

As for the X2 commercial, it's pretty cool, though it is kind of cheesy. I don't think an X-Men trim package would really be worthwhile (for Mazda). I don't personally know very many people that would even want to be seen driving around in a discernable "superhero" car.

Edit: I think we can expect some more "surprise" marketing strategies (like the Fear Factor one) over the next couple of months .

The RX-8 is supposed to be (but definitely not limited to) for an aging RX-7 crowd that's looking for a "sensible" sports car.


The aging RX-7 crowd knows about rotary power and the RX-8 being a sensible sports car. Therefore no advertizing is needed to promote the car to that group. This also why we are seeing the RX-8 being given away on silly shows like Fear Factor to people who know nothing about the car. Mazda needs to promote the car to people who no nothing about it.

i would love to have teh 'mutant blue' as a color option when they bring out Mazdaspeed RX-8 :D

The aging RX-7 crowd knows about rotary power and the RX-8 being a sensible sports car. Therefore no advertizing is needed to promote the car to that group. This also why we are seeing the RX-8 being given away on silly shows like Fear Factor to people who know nothing about the car. Mazda needs to promote the car to people who no nothing about it.

True, but I'll clarify my comment on who the RX-8 appeals to: It is an appealing sports car for those looking for more than just a weekend two seater. Given the price, it's a car for a more mature audience (than let's say, a Neon SRT-4 or Civic Si), perhaps just starting a family and require a sports car with more flexibility. Mazda's advertising is obviously trying to broaden its market appeal of the RX-8 to as many different groups as they can. Good for them and given the nature of the car, it will probably work. However, the movie X-men2 is more targeted to a younger audience (probably mostly youngsters who can't afford it--yet) and focusing on the "supercar of choice for 9 out of 10 mutants is the RX-8" advertising strategy may not drive up excitement to the right group of people (read: The ones who actually have money to buy the car).

...and hey, there's going to be someone out there who will do up their RX-8 just like the x-men car, but it's not going to be done to my car!

Originally posted by rxtreme

Given the price, it's a car for a more mature audience (than let's say, a Neon SRT-4 or Civic Si), perhaps just starting a family and require a sports car with

oh, i'd contest that... i'm nearly 20 and i think this car is a cool set of wheels... i definitely think that with the amount of go and gizmos this car has, especially for its price, its a great great buy next to either of those two cars.

Originally posted by wakeech


oh, i'd contest that... i'm nearly 20 and i think this car is a cool set of wheels... i definitely think that with the amount of go and gizmos this car has, especially for its price, its a great great buy next to either of those two cars.

me too also. im 17, and i think this is the prefect car for me. but thats just me, most kids my age would prolly go with the evo or sti.

Originally posted by B-Nez


I have to disagree with you on this one, tribal. I think their marketing strategy has been pretty good so far. The Fear Factor thing was absolutely brilliant. No one saw that coming, and real, unscripted comments and reactions from real people on national television toward the car carry more public influence than a commercial.

As for the X2 commercial, it's pretty cool, though it is kind of cheesy. I don't think an X-Men trim package would really be worthwhile (for Mazda). I don't personally know very many people that would even want to be seen driving around in a discernable "superhero" car.

Edit: I think we can expect some more "surprise" marketing strategies (like the Fear Factor one) over the next couple of months .

i beg to differ. lets go all the way back before anything was definitive. initally rumours were that the rx8 would be out jan/feb of 2003, then march/april, then may/june. it kept moving back and back and back. and now they say july. the dealers r absolutly clueless about anything. mazda themselves r pretty much clueless. they hire morons to represent the rx8 at auto shows. they dont give any officiall press releases. they promised itwould weigh UNDER 3000lbs, and its now officially like 3042lbs. they chose not to make the 6 disc cd changer std(wtf?). now we got production delays, stuck ports and what not. where r the pre-order gifts we were promised? i dont mean to sound negative or anything but its just very frustrating.

now lets take a look at the STi. initially they said it would be out in july. guess what? its coming at the end of may. and hawaii already has theirs. and subaru kept their customers very well informed about whats going on.

it would have been prefect if mazda timed the release of the rx8 to match up with the release of the xmen movie, just absolutly prefect. but no, what do they do? they r going to release it 3 monthes later(july) when everyone has already forgotten about the movie. again, very frustrating.

/rant off

Originally posted by tribal azn2
now lets take a look at the STi. initially they said it would be out in july. guess what? its coming at the end of may. and hawaii already has theirs. But hasn't the car already been out in Japan for a while. Making promises on when a car arrives in the states is a lot easier if the car is already out in the home market.

I'm not trying to say back off on Mazda. The sticky port delay and lack of dealer training and feedback are both completely unexcuseable.

Originally posted by tribal azn2


i beg to differ. lets go all the way back before anything was definitive. initally rumours were that the rx8 would be out jan/feb of 2003, then march/april, then may/june. it kept moving back and back and back. and now they say july. the dealers r absolutly clueless about anything. mazda themselves r pretty much clueless. they hire morons to represent the rx8 at auto shows. they dont give any officiall press releases. they promised itwould weigh UNDER 3000lbs, and its now officially like 3042lbs. they chose not to make the 6 disc cd changer std(wtf?). now we got production delays, stuck ports and what not. where r the pre-order gifts we were promised? i dont mean to sound negative or anything but its just very frustrating.


I hear you, man, all that has frustrated the crap out of me too, but when I refer to their marketing strategy, I mean marketing the car to the masses. We on this forum are by far the minority. Not everyone is as svelte and enlightened as we. Exclude for a moment those of us who have been waiting 4 years for this car. What you have left are the hordes of consumers who buy what sharp advertising executives tell them they need. The average Joe never heard of an RX-8 until NAIS, and the ensuing press. I'm sure plenty still had no idea by that point. As far as I'm concerned the RX-8 marketing campaign kicked into full speed just a few weeks ago with the RX-8 Live gig. Next you had the R&T insert, then the TV commercial, the back cover advert in SCC, and now the Fear Factor giveaway. Granted, there was a noticeable gap between RX-8 Live and the R&T insert, but you could also consider the RevItUp events in their campaign. Essentially, the frustrations (even agony) we've put up with don't count against the marketing in my objective opinion, because the general populace has no idea what we've been through.

Then again, I may be really uneducated in the concept of marketing, which would explain why I've never been able to sell jack. My wife once sold almost every appliance, gadget, and houseware in our house to a guy who was just looking to buy a satellite dish. Blew my mind. She obviously understands marketing! Although, she did throw away a perfectly good lawnmower a few weeks back...:(

oh, i'd contest that... i'm nearly 20 and i think this car is a cool set of wheels... i definitely think that with the amount of go and gizmos this car has, especially for its price, its a great great buy next to either of those two cars.

me too also. im 17, and i think this is the prefect car for me. but thats just me, most kids my age would prolly go with the evo or sti.

I'm not saying that younger kids WON'T like the RX-8, but how many can afford it? There is no doubt that the RX-8 is better than anything in the sub-20 grand category, but I just see alot more of the younger peeps driving those types of cars than compared to an RX-8.

Originally posted by Puppy1
But hasn't the car already been out in Japan for a while...It is just now getting into the hands of some pre-order customers in the past week.

As far as the location of the X-men car, another thread mentioned that it was on display somewhere in L.A.

---jps

Originally posted by Sputnik
It is just now getting into the hands of some pre-order customers in the past week.

As far as the location of the X-men car, another thread mentioned that it was on display somewhere in L.A.

---jps

no its at the specturm in irvine

Originally posted by tribal azn2


no its at the specturm in irvine Tribal: To the rest of the world, Irvine is L.A.:p

Originally posted by tribal azn2
no its at the specturm in irvine Fair enough, I was just talking about the general L.A. area. Just like I would say "Chicago" if it was in River Forest, or "Dallas" if it was in Plano, etc. etc.

---jps

In Tribal's defense Irvine is TWO area codes away from L.A.

irvines about an hour away from LA. and we have 2 area codes.

and the xmen car isnt their anymore. it was only there on thursday for promotion which is pretty stupid since opening day is friday

lets go all the way back before anything was definitive. initally rumours were that the rx8 would be out jan/feb of 2003
And if you want to go back a bit further, I had my deposit down since January of 2002 (not this past January, but 16 months ago Januray). My dealer said 16 months ago HE thought that the car would be out in May of 2002. I did not believe him the very second that he said it and I've not believed any reports of sales people or show reps stating a delivery earlier than June of this year.

A whole lot of this is perception, hopes, and relativity. A lot of hope was generated that the RX-8 may make it here in May. Mazda has said since January that the first pre-orders would be out June - August. Most of the false hope was likely put into the heads of folks by unwitting sales people. Some have chosen to believe that. I personally believe little of what any salesperson tells me, especially on an automobile showroom.[pizza here,have to keep it short]. Everyone is free to believe what they want. Fact is, my 1st preorder batch order was stated as starting production the 1st week of April back when the order was placed. Mazda now says 5/12. Big deal. They are still in the June - August time frame for delivery and have an ETA now of mid-July - right in the *middle* of the June-August window they set back in January. And... the biggest bonus I think, is that they had the chance to correct any problems discovered when making the Japan cars before the start making the USA-bound cars. Kudos to them! I am totally satisfied with how everything has progressed. As far the pre-order gifts, the most logical statement I've heard to date is that they'll come WITH the car - nobody that I know of has ever said pre-delivery pre-order gifts... just IMHO, and YMMV.