Hi Everyone -

After tons of research and test driving I decided on an Rx-8 a few weeks ago. On Tuesday night I made a deal for an 05 black Rx-8. The dealer was very reasonable as we worked through the pricing of the car and the trade in for my Z3. Pick up was arranged for yesterday morning.

When I arrived there were 2 very shiny Rx-8's in front of the dealership - a black one looking gorgeous and one that was a "different" black - it had the upgraded wheels and a light colored interior. I walked up and realized it was a Shinka! I had seen pictures on the internet but did not think one would be available as there are so few made. The pictures on the internet looked very "purple" - in person the color is much darker and richer. The sales guy walks up and says - how do you like your new car? It had arrived that morning and he had it prep'd for me - knowing how much research I had done and how passionate I was about the Rx-8 he set it aside for me knowing that I would be very likely to take it. All I had to do was pay the difference in MSRP from the black one I made the deal on - $800.

I took it for a 10 minute drive and signed the check - no hesitation. The interior is very classy, has lots of upgrades that look great, the stereo is satellite ready, upgraded suspension, upgraded wheels and the uniqueness of the car made the decision easy.

The color changes under different light - ranges from dark brown to black to redish/purple to purple/black - pictures do not do it justice.

Took it out for a long drive on mountain backroads last night - had a blast!

I really appreciate what the dealer did - there are only 20 coming to Canada, his dealership only gets 2.

I'll take some pictures this weekend - meanwhile here are a couple from the LA autoshow from UrbanRacer and one from Rotary news that are close but still do not capture the color changing. Interestingly the color of these pictures depends on your computer monitor as well - they look different on my work monitor than my home computer.

Thanks to Japan8 for the post a few days ago, the link to the Mazda Japan site for the car is now up:

http://www.rx-8.mazda.co.jp/limited/sport_prestige/

Thanks to all who post on this site - I got a lot of great information from this forum.

Mods in the next couple of months:
Ipod Link
Window Tinting

WOW, you lucky dog...

But as always....PIC's PLEASE! or else people will call you out and say (BS)....

Nice. Welcome! We are all looking forward to your pics!

Sorry, I forgot to say that...Welcome and enjoy your new baby. That would make you the first owner of the Shinka on this website...congrats!

Where'd you pick this up at TopGear?

congrats man, and welcome to the club.

pics of your car please?

nice man...now lets jump him in !

So, you can say you have an "RX8:EVO" hehehe :D

I love the color on this car.

congrats . enjoY !

ZoomZoom! :D

beautiful. welcome abord :)

WOW, you lucky dog...

But as always....PIC's PLEASE! or else people will call you out and say (BS)....

that is funny

you are catching on quick :D

Chris and Peter at Signature Mazda in Richmond were great to deal with, I was really happy that Chris picked out the Shinka for me .

Just got back from an "extended" lunch :)

Nice car, man. Just wondering if there are any other differences apart from the mean paint job?

Congratulations :) .

suspension tweaks as well.

nice choiice TopGear welcome to the forum- all shinka owners should be RX8club.com members:D

not sure I like the tan interior- generally I like that look but not on this sports car... has a luxurious look- kind of out of place on the 8

oh wow thats awesome looking car!

OMG!!

Vancouver owners... we need a meet NOW!!!!

Also in Vancouver, meet required to see.. errr.. meet the Shinka... Let's plan it in the Canada forum.

Oh, In addition. Almost bought my car from Signature Mazda, but continued to look around. I found that their service/sales people were the best, and most knowledgable. On the other hand, the best price they could offer me was the highest quote I got.

I picked up the car for about $4000 cheaper at Morrey Mazda. Just FYI. Congrats on the Shinka though...

(Remember that I was really price conscious. I was moving up from a Honda Civic, if I was trading in a Z3, I may have been a little more liberal) :) :)

Found the attached pdf which does a good job going through the equipment

Main differences:
Color - special paint
Suspension - 14mm shocks instead of 12.5, foam filled cross members
Headlights and taillights - chrome bezels
Low lip rear spoiler included
Front air dam included
Wheels - polished alloy wheels included
Tires - this doc says "performance tires" - not sure what tires were on the GT
Leather covered console lids, park brake handle, door trim
One year Sirius subscription (looking forward to that!)
Homelink included

The only changes that will affect driving are the suspension and possibly the tires, the rest are cosmetic. I do think the suspension is different - hard to describe as it seems stiffer yet rides over bumps well. I'll be doing more "testing" tonight.

Overall the changes are a great value and I really like the color - color is personal choice each of us has, I'm sure it won't appeal to everyone. I'm extremely happy with the car - it is fun to have something unique. I know I would have been very happy with a black GT as well. I already have people stopping to talk about the car when I park at work - lots of positive comments on the color with people noticing that the color changes depending with the angle you look at the car.

Thanks for all of the nice welcome messages - I'll post pictures on the weekend.

Dude, that looks like a great car congrats on getting it. I saw it at the la auto show and it looked pretty cool.

I just had to wipe the drool off my keyboard -- that's a GORGEOUS color! Congrats!

Congratulations :) .

yeah right you smug bastard :p :D

your lucky I'm not quoting some of your prior posts :p :D :p

congrats on the new car. I think you are probably the first that we know of with the Shinka. I'd love to see the paint in person. Hmmm ... a trip to the dealership sounds to be in order.

yeah right you smug bastard :p :D

your lucky I'm not quoting some of your prior posts :p :D :p

Hahaha...... ;)

Congratulations :) .

Gomez

Heard on the grapevine that you have placed an order for the first Shinka to arrive in Melbourne :) :cool: :

Congrats Topgear are you a flyer or a flight attendant .?

cheers
michael

I love the color on this car.


You and me both. Nordic Green, Strato blue and this color rock.


Congrats on the new 8... you lucky $%&^%#! Now go for another relaxing long drive. :cool:

Very nice, and congrats on being the first Shinka. I'm goin to the dealer this weekend, hope they have one I can look at

Man you are lucky. I went in on Jan. 3 to order a Shinka in San Diego. I was told they were on the boat and would be here in a week. I was given the printout with my VIN. The printout had delivery listed as the 2nd week of January. One week later I was told I would have to wait another week. By the end of that week it was up to a 3 week wait. I still am waiting. Am told the car is in Calif. but waiting for the dealer installed options to arrive. I am hoping to have it next week.

The guys at Signature Mazda are pretty good. I did most of my test drives with them, spent a lot of time talking to them about the car. I ended up getting a used one from Burrard Acura, saved a couple grand over the best price Signature could offer me. I take my car to Signature for service though. They're just down the street from my work, so it's convienient.

We really should do a vancouver meet when the weather gets a bit better. Maybe sometime in mid march we can make a run up the sea to sky or something.

Today is a BEAUTIFUL day in Downtown Vancouver. My oh my how I wish we were cruising the Sea to Sky today, rather than churning out sausage for our employers.

Congrats! I'll be sure to keep an eye out for you on the road :)


OMG!!

Vancouver owners... we need a meet NOW!!!!


:D :D :D

I second that
The sun's shining pretty nice today.. if it keeps up we might have to do the lillooet drive again soon :D

I am definitely interested in a group drive from Vancouver - it would be great to meet fellow enthusiasts. Mid March sounds good.

If everyone is short on time we could head to Whistler and back - if we could do a day trip maybe go Sea to Sky and back down through Cache Creek. Alternatively there are some nice roads in Washington State.

Let's set it up in a couple of weeks in the Canada forum.

Have a nice weekend - it's going to start raining again tomorrow aft. Going for a drive in the morning, maybe Harrison.

Tazman - hope you get yours soon! You're going to love it.

Hahaha...... ;)

;)

I noticed on the Mazda web site that the NAV is not available on the Shinka. Is it because all of them have already been built, none with the NAV?

Congrats on your purchase. Good luck with it!!

I am very impressed. That's one breath taking beautiful car. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the tan interior!!!

Mega-congrats! :D But, I can't believe you didn't pick the username "Shinka" :confused: :)

Wow that's really cool. It must feel nice to have something so different that the rest of us. I like the color. It's kinda like the color "Brickyard" on the 350Z, very rare.

Thanks again for the warm welcome - this is a great forum

Maybe I should switch the user name to "Shinka" - TopGear is my favorite show - I work for a London UK based company and get to see most episodes.

Took quite a few pics in Stanley park this morning - will organize and post tomorrow and put a link here to the multimedia section of the forum. Off to the Tsunami relief concert, should be great.

I hope you enjoy cleaning your car because the interior looks hard to keep clean , i saw a porsche Cayenne in the shinka colour suprisingly it looked neat .

With my 3 sons having full access to my car plus the warm humid weather here on the Goldcoast the interior would not wear well , could you post some shots of the interior .

cheers
michael

Thanks again for the warm welcome - this is a great forum

Maybe I should switch the user name to "Shinka" - TopGear is my favorite show - I work for a London UK based company and get to see most episodes.

Took quite a few pics in Stanley park this morning - will organize and post tomorrow and put a link here to the multimedia section of the forum. Off to the Tsunami relief concert, should be great.


first offf PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES!!! I WANT PICTURES DAMIT

ok now thats that done

second congrats.. and welcome aboard.

third.. shinka is too close to shocka so i dont approve the name change :-)

-shocka (a jealous bastards who is thinking.. WHY COULDNT I WAIT TO BUY THE 8 BACK IN 2003!)

Jealous!! However, no pix yet!! I'm getting close to calling......... :eek:

- Irish :cool:

I am only a couple of days from getting my Shinka Black Cherry delivered to the Indiana section of Louisville, KY. I just came across your post and was blown away at the urbanracer.com picture of it. I can't wait to join you this week as a member of the ShinkaRX8club. I, too, thought that the color would be redder than black. Is the color still pleasing you as you use it? Thank you for really getting my hopes soaring. I'll let you know when Shinka comes to the MidWest.

Took a few quick shots yesterday - posted them in the photo gallery:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?p=714668#post714668


Promusic - let us know when you get it - you are going to be a very happy owner.
The interior is a little darker in color than the one pic I took shows, I'm not worried about keeping it clean as it seems to be very high quality leather.

The only thing I am missing on the car is a sunroof - lots of documentation says it should come with one but I haven't seen any pics with one - not a huge deal to me.

Soooo gorgeous. I am jealous. I need to get those tailights!

Soooo gorgeous. I am jealous. I need to get those tailights!

what tail lights? aren't they the same as all other stock?