JSG
05-18-2003, 08:51 PM
Oh yes the wait is over! Hit 1000km over the weekend and made full use of the engine last night! The power feels pretty constant throughout the range from 5k up. Above 7k the engine noise goes from a zing to a kind of growl - really sounds like it means business. If you're going fast you're better off with the windows shut to be able to hear the noise otherwise it gets masked by wind noise. The red-line warning chime is quite muted so not irritating. I only red-lined it in 2nd. By the time your doing 8k in 3rd gear you're really travelling way too fast in Japan!
You're probably all bored of my comparisons vs the S2000 but it's what I know so I'll carry on. Don't flame me but as the power delivery on the 8 is so smooth it's not as much fun as hitting VTEC in the S. It also doesn't feel as fast although it probably is. I'll need to have a run with my S2K friends to get a feeling for relative speed. I'm pretty sure the 8 will beat the S off the line but the S will come back through VTEC.
The power band on the 8 is broad, as we all saw from the graphs. So I don't find the need to go to the red-line and row the gearbox as much as in the S. Above 5k (around 10am position on the tach) the car pulls well, say for overtaking in 2nd. Due to this band you can stay in gear for quite a long time - keep the power delivery on rather than desperately snatching for the next gear.
For better or for worse a lot of my run in was on the highway. Not much I could do about it as I had a tight schedule meaning the back roads were out. In 6th your cruising around 4k rpm for 120km/h. Took it as far as 160km/h (100mph) and it felt good. On steep hills sometimes I changed down to 5th to get a bit more response as 6th is purely a highway cruising gear. An RX-7 I passed came past me at an obscene speed just to prove who is still the boss!
My only "problem" with the car has been that around the 800-900km mark on the highway, if I held the car at around 5k rpm in 5th the oil light would come on. This happened 3 times and made me a little nervous. Checked the oil the following day and it was still max so some glitch in the system there. Daily driving you naturally hang around 4-5k rpm I find.
Haven't had any problems with the seats since the first day. I think the first day I was so excited I didn't realise I was sat in the car for maybe 6 hours! Plus I didn't realise all the adjustments available. Been doing 3 or 4 hours without problems since. In other comfort terms the gear stick is slightly too far back. If I lay my arm on the centre console the gearstick is around my wrist whereas in the S the stick was directly at my palm. But maybe I have a funny shaped body!
I still find the brakes strange. You have to push so far to get the car to stop in a hurry - as if you're experiencing fade during the stop. Probably haven't broken them in yet as I haven't been doing much braking. It could just be they're normal and I'm used to the pedal feel of an S which may be too sharp for other people.
At highway speeds most of the noise is from the tyres. You get a little wind noise from the mirrors at high speed but nothing much. For long journeys it's much more comfortable than the S but won't be as quiet or cosy as a luxury cruiser. You have to turn the stereo up a bit to hear but not as much as the S or Miata.
So at the weekend was my one month service (after one week!). It cost Y7000 which is about $60 I think. I got oil change and oil filter. Plus there was loads of other stuff like checking brake hoses and transmission fluids. All a bit funny as the car is still so new nothing had been used! No oil used during run-in as far as I can tell. The oil itself was really lightweight - when wiped on paper it was almost like kitchen grease. No idea of the actual oil specs. I also took the chance to order the rotor accent package which here they call "crests"! They forgot to stamp the logbook but when I go back for the crests I'll remind them. Every time I go to the dealer there is someone climbing in their RX-8 for a test drive! There's a lot of interest.
Took about an hour and they washed the car for me! So instantly took the car out for above mentioned full reving. It's raining today so car will be covered in cr*p again when I get back tonight unfortunately!
AudioPilot definitely works. It's quite cool. Quitens the volume at traffic lights and then ups it when you pull off. Really had to listen for it yesterday so very unobtrusive. Effectiveness may depend on what sort of music you listen to I guess.
One of my wifes friends got the navi to do re-route so on the way home last night it routed us around a little jam through the back streets. Very interesting - learnt something from the navi as I always used to get stuck at that point on Sunday nights.
Fuel mileage? I get around 400km on a tank (50l). That's about the same as the S2000.
Congratulations to Yuhki on finally getting his car - that's all 3 of us on the board in Japan having our cars now. Must be having fun as I don't see many posts! Check his post for the picture of the keys that I promised.
Best thing about the car so far? Apart from the fact that the whole family fits in (!) - it has to be the noise!
You're probably all bored of my comparisons vs the S2000 but it's what I know so I'll carry on. Don't flame me but as the power delivery on the 8 is so smooth it's not as much fun as hitting VTEC in the S. It also doesn't feel as fast although it probably is. I'll need to have a run with my S2K friends to get a feeling for relative speed. I'm pretty sure the 8 will beat the S off the line but the S will come back through VTEC.
The power band on the 8 is broad, as we all saw from the graphs. So I don't find the need to go to the red-line and row the gearbox as much as in the S. Above 5k (around 10am position on the tach) the car pulls well, say for overtaking in 2nd. Due to this band you can stay in gear for quite a long time - keep the power delivery on rather than desperately snatching for the next gear.
For better or for worse a lot of my run in was on the highway. Not much I could do about it as I had a tight schedule meaning the back roads were out. In 6th your cruising around 4k rpm for 120km/h. Took it as far as 160km/h (100mph) and it felt good. On steep hills sometimes I changed down to 5th to get a bit more response as 6th is purely a highway cruising gear. An RX-7 I passed came past me at an obscene speed just to prove who is still the boss!
My only "problem" with the car has been that around the 800-900km mark on the highway, if I held the car at around 5k rpm in 5th the oil light would come on. This happened 3 times and made me a little nervous. Checked the oil the following day and it was still max so some glitch in the system there. Daily driving you naturally hang around 4-5k rpm I find.
Haven't had any problems with the seats since the first day. I think the first day I was so excited I didn't realise I was sat in the car for maybe 6 hours! Plus I didn't realise all the adjustments available. Been doing 3 or 4 hours without problems since. In other comfort terms the gear stick is slightly too far back. If I lay my arm on the centre console the gearstick is around my wrist whereas in the S the stick was directly at my palm. But maybe I have a funny shaped body!
I still find the brakes strange. You have to push so far to get the car to stop in a hurry - as if you're experiencing fade during the stop. Probably haven't broken them in yet as I haven't been doing much braking. It could just be they're normal and I'm used to the pedal feel of an S which may be too sharp for other people.
At highway speeds most of the noise is from the tyres. You get a little wind noise from the mirrors at high speed but nothing much. For long journeys it's much more comfortable than the S but won't be as quiet or cosy as a luxury cruiser. You have to turn the stereo up a bit to hear but not as much as the S or Miata.
So at the weekend was my one month service (after one week!). It cost Y7000 which is about $60 I think. I got oil change and oil filter. Plus there was loads of other stuff like checking brake hoses and transmission fluids. All a bit funny as the car is still so new nothing had been used! No oil used during run-in as far as I can tell. The oil itself was really lightweight - when wiped on paper it was almost like kitchen grease. No idea of the actual oil specs. I also took the chance to order the rotor accent package which here they call "crests"! They forgot to stamp the logbook but when I go back for the crests I'll remind them. Every time I go to the dealer there is someone climbing in their RX-8 for a test drive! There's a lot of interest.
Took about an hour and they washed the car for me! So instantly took the car out for above mentioned full reving. It's raining today so car will be covered in cr*p again when I get back tonight unfortunately!
AudioPilot definitely works. It's quite cool. Quitens the volume at traffic lights and then ups it when you pull off. Really had to listen for it yesterday so very unobtrusive. Effectiveness may depend on what sort of music you listen to I guess.
One of my wifes friends got the navi to do re-route so on the way home last night it routed us around a little jam through the back streets. Very interesting - learnt something from the navi as I always used to get stuck at that point on Sunday nights.
Fuel mileage? I get around 400km on a tank (50l). That's about the same as the S2000.
Congratulations to Yuhki on finally getting his car - that's all 3 of us on the board in Japan having our cars now. Must be having fun as I don't see many posts! Check his post for the picture of the keys that I promised.
Best thing about the car so far? Apart from the fact that the whole family fits in (!) - it has to be the noise!