The similarities are almost unnegotiable. A lot of the feature are same in terms of basic design but then differ slightly. I think the S2000 is an amazing car overall. But I'm sure their will be lots of confusion early on with non avid car enthusiasts.

I doubt it. The general public is probably still able to tell the difference between a convertible and a non-convertible car. :)

and the best part is rich old men probably won't be looking for the rx8 (hardtop), so the prices shouldn't shoot up too much..

personally I have yet to see anyone under 40, with hair, in a s2k.. :)

i know many, but i live in young ceo land. so oh well

mmm, S2000's are sexy...but either way, who cares. the RX-8 will hand it it's ass in a race :)

I think seeing the two go head to head at the AutoX circuit will be something to watch.

Screw winter! I want great handling! :)

S2000 vs RX8 would be close. The RX8 has only ten more hp and is one hundred pounds lighter with the same torque....thats gonna be all driver.

I dont think it will be close between to 8 and the S. The 8 will have much better handling. I think it will shread S2000s at autox.

autox yes, 1/4 mile maybe not. AUTOX is alot of driver too ya know, and if the gear ratios are sloppy it could be a problem.

Lets just asume same driver, I think the 8 will be faster. Its lighter, has more power, has better balance, that usually means faster times at autox. Now if I raced a bad RX8 driver in my Eclipse, I'd probably whip his ass. Hell I've beaten Vipers at autox, cause the driver didn't know what they were doing.

Actually I believe the specs put the RENESIS at 162 lb-ft of torque. The S2K has 153 if I'm not mistaken.

Mazda has said they know that the gearing must be done right to make the car stay on the roll. There was an article back in the day in Road and Track where one of the writers drove a modded Miata with the RENESIS. While it wasn't close to final spec, the guy said, you know Americans tend to like torque. And the Mazda engineer said, oh, we know. We will make the motor, and the gearing so that you say wow, i never thought it could do that there.

I wouldn't worry about the gearing. What I'm really wondering, is how is it that you can build a hardtop car that much lighter than the S2K?? I know the FD3S was extremely light, but how are they keeping the RX-8 about the same? I'm interested to see ;)

Check out http://www.rotarynews.com to keep up on latest rotary engine developments. Its a great site.

i'd put my money on the 8.

I don't think we can truly compare this car to the S2000 (yet). Until anyone here has both of them I don't think anyone can say anything about quarter mile times, autoX, etc. Rexate, what do you consider to be good balance on a car, the s2000 is an almost perfect 50/50 (50.1/49.9 if I recall). Driversusing precise weighting scales for balancing their have continually come up figures less than the factory claimed weight of 2800 lbs (more like 2650 with half a tank of gas and no driver). And as far as all of the above is concerned none of these factors are determing in the ability of the cars in autoX or other types of racing. Vehicles like the Integra Type R continually dominate AutoX even against some of the fiercest competition, and the ITR does not have an incredible power/weight ratio or perfect balance. Only back to back tests in the hands of skilled drivers and our own personal test drives will we be able to determine which car is a better handling vehicle.

Well I think a mid engine rear wheel drive layout is better then a front engine rear where drive or a front engine front wheel drive layout. The RX8 will be lighter then the S2000, and it will have a perfect 50/50 balance. The RX8 may not be as fast as an RX7, but I think the handling will be close to an RX7, and so far I haven't seen any S2000 beat or even come close to RX7 at autox. Actually most of the S2000 that run autox around here I spank in my 3000lb 205hp Eclipse! Though I haven't beaten the RX7s that run in this area. Another thing is that the RX8 will have a roof and the car will have a lot stiffer chassis right from the factory. Plus anouther 10hp doesn't hurt. So everything I seen on paper seems the RX8 is better then the S2000 in almost every area. Unless Mazda really @#$%s up the 8, the RX8 will be able to take the S2000 in the 1320 and autox. But then again we'll just have to wait to see until the 8 comes out. But I think I'm making a pretty accurate prediction.

If you are considering the RX8 a mid-engined car (which most people do) then the S2000 is in the same category, the engine is behind the front wheels on both cars. As for the rest of the comments, all I am saying is that everything is speculation right now, so you can't say for sure that it will be lighter. Sure, the RX8 has has that puny rotary, but the S also has no roof. You also cannot assume that the RX8 has a stiffer chassis. If you have ever seen a bare S2000 unibody you will realize how impressive the X frame of the car is. The fact that the RX8 has a large hollow space inside in comparison to the small cockpit of the S2000 makes the two close contenders. Finally, autoX is a highly subjective test, no offense i have never had a newer generation eclipse beat my Integra GSR. My point is that we can't confirm anything until the production car is realeased and we see some real numbers and handling tests.

Originally posted by 3digitsdaily
If you are considering the RX8 a mid-engined car (which most people do

Front mid-engined (FMR) and mid-engined (MR) are two very different things. An FMR will likely end up with a 50/50 weight dist, an MR typically is about 40/60 with the heaviest part of the car (the mechanical guts) situated right in the middle. With the majority of the vehicals weight right on the axis of rotation transitional response in an MR is phenominal. Watch F1, when Schumacher throws his car into a corner it seams to rotate instantly, due in large part to the mid-engined layouy. All things being, equal an MR will rotate faster than an FMR or FR car. Of course this fast rotation can get inexperianced drivers into a lot of trouble as an MR is usually quite spin prone.

In terms of auto-x ability between the RX-8 and the S2000 I'd put my money on the S2000. Simple reason being the length of the cars wheelsbases. The S2000 has a much shorter wheelbase and therefor should be quicker on its feet, something that auto-x is all about.

PS - us MR2 guys are very sensitive when it comes to FMR cars being labeled as MR's! ;)

Sorry about that KrisA, didn't mean to offend :)

they're quite similar, appearance wise...

go here (http://www.8op.com/dfour/s2000rx8/)
2 see comparisons between those 2 cars..

Being an S2000 owner, I would have to think that both cars would be fairly similar on the street/track or auto-x since they both have common traits.

The S2000/convertible and RX-8/Suicide Doors both provided the designers a reason to stiffen the chassis on both cars. Both are 50/50 weight balanced, weigh about the same, produce similar power/torque, high-redline, have a start button, and are Japanese;).

I'm sure that the RX-8 will be alot fun to drive. I know that I'll be test driving one when I get the chance.

BTW, I'm a 1st and 2nd Gen RX-7 ex-owner. :D

Originally posted by apex-r
go here (http://www.8op.com/dfour/s2000rx8/)
2 see comparisons between those 2 cars..
Wow I never even thought about how closely the RX-8 resembles the S2K. The front ends are nearly identical!

As far as performance goes...I think the S2K will have stiffer suspension and probably handle better overall...I'm not sure about in a straight line.

The S2K is a real performance oriented vehicle. I think Mazda is trying is trying to attack a wider market with the RX-8.