norats
07-20-2003, 12:24 PM
I'm still waiting for mine, but I got anxious and drove down to National City mile of cars (Westtcott Mazda) to test drive a demo car I heard they had. It was a silver, six-speed, GT, NICE!
Well, I fianlly drove it and all I can say is WOW. The first thing that grabbed me was how close the pedals are together..this took some getting used to for me.
I'm 6' and the seat when all the way back was just right for a stick, but a little cramped if it were an auto.
Driveability was awesome.
The catch point on the clutch was just where I'd expected it to be & very precise...no slop whatsoever.
Even though this sales guy would have let me take it to 9k I refrained from topping the 4k mark out of respect for the car/future owner...naaah, just the car. Acceleration was so smooth and clean.
The steering was perfect...as if there was no gearbox in the middle of you and the road...felt like the wheel was a direct link to the tires. Had to try a high speed emergency lane change & was very impressed.
I drove at night so it was neat to see the self-adjuster headlights do their thing & the guage pod was super clear.
I went around one really good turn to enter the freeway with acceleration and this thing just gripped the road like nothing I've ever driven...no body roll whatsoever.
No NAV on this one like mine has, so I'll have to wait to try that out.
By the way, the salesguy never heard of winning blue as an rx-8 color.
Something fun to do while waiting for my 8 & kindda bittersweet: It was fun to drive this one, but It makes me want mine even more.
Later,
norats
Well, I fianlly drove it and all I can say is WOW. The first thing that grabbed me was how close the pedals are together..this took some getting used to for me.
I'm 6' and the seat when all the way back was just right for a stick, but a little cramped if it were an auto.
Driveability was awesome.
The catch point on the clutch was just where I'd expected it to be & very precise...no slop whatsoever.
Even though this sales guy would have let me take it to 9k I refrained from topping the 4k mark out of respect for the car/future owner...naaah, just the car. Acceleration was so smooth and clean.
The steering was perfect...as if there was no gearbox in the middle of you and the road...felt like the wheel was a direct link to the tires. Had to try a high speed emergency lane change & was very impressed.
I drove at night so it was neat to see the self-adjuster headlights do their thing & the guage pod was super clear.
I went around one really good turn to enter the freeway with acceleration and this thing just gripped the road like nothing I've ever driven...no body roll whatsoever.
No NAV on this one like mine has, so I'll have to wait to try that out.
By the way, the salesguy never heard of winning blue as an rx-8 color.
Something fun to do while waiting for my 8 & kindda bittersweet: It was fun to drive this one, but It makes me want mine even more.
Later,
norats