Well, I'm another one of the lucky ones who got to test drive the hi-power RX-8 at Milford:

Firstly: A big thank you to Graham at TW Whites who put up with my crap gear changes and constantly slowing down just so that I could accelerate again ;)

So what did I make of it:

* The engine is really, really quiet when you're not pushing it. If any thing it's quieter than my 24V V6 Mazda Xedos!!

* The gearbox is really sweet ... I felt at home with it pretty much straight away. Far, far better than the one in my Xedos.

* Clutch, brake and accelerator pedals were pretty much in the same place as normal.

* It gets to eighty plus before you really know it, so it's going to be very hard to stay anywhere near the UK limits.

* The beeper warning you to chage up is just a very quiet beep .. and yes ... 65+ miles per hour before you hear the beeper in second :)

* The ride is nice ... not hard at all, although there is some road noise.

* If you are used to looking over your shoulder before pulling out on the motorway .. FORGET IT! No visibility at all. So, get used to using your mirrors for all overtaking manouevers. That explains the split mirrors!

* I take back what I said about the red interior ... actually quite nice once you're sitting in the car.

* The only "tacky" piece of plastic I could find was the ashtray cover .. the rest is as good or better than my Xedos.

* Torque: As long as you are above about 4000 revs the torque seemed fine ... As it's supposed to be a sports car I guess it should spend most of it's time there anyway.

AND: DID I WANT TO GIVE IT BACK?

NOOO WAY! I can't wait until I have one myself (should be last week in October apparently) so that I can really throw it about; I was a bit too cautious today, but didn't want to risk breaking anything as so many of you still want test drives in her.

So so glad you thought about the same as me. It REALLY IS GREAT EVERYONE!

Well done for getting the beep. what was your top speed? :)

I use my mirrors anyway and not look over my shoulder anyway so I don't mind that fact.
I wasn't making a big thing of the pedal position - I think in the past people had been worried that there wasn't enough space etc for them all to fit, what with the narrowing footwell, but I didn't have any problems - just a slight shift to the right which took a couple of secs to get used to!

I didn't move the ashtray cover as the last time I did that on the preprod blue it came off in my hands - perhaps this is something that is still a little flimsy?!

Originally posted by mr_digital_uk
So, get used to using your mirrors for all overtaking manouevers. That explains the split mirrors!

Say what is "a split mirror"? Here in US mine looks like a plain ordinary mirror???

I agree with your conclusions, and you're correct, you'll never want to give it back (once you get one!)!

@959 miles having more fun than ever!

For the record: I only "got the beep" in first and second a few times. I guess if you get the beep in any higher gear you'll be well into ticket country.

Let's just say my top speed was only two digits ... didn't fancy losing my license before I get my baby :)

Hi

http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9349&perpage=12&pagenumber=2

click the above and look at the first pic - this is what is meant by a split wing mirror. Ie it has 2 different mirrors in 2 different directions!

Originally posted by renegade_si
Hi

http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9349&perpage=12&pagenumber=2

click the above and look at the first pic - this is what is meant by a split wing mirror. Ie it has 2 different mirrors in 2 different directions!

That's different.. I guess it's cool too? Does your mirror control have 4 adjust positions so you can do each of the 4 mirror 'pieces' individually? What do you set them for, say looking down and looking back? Is this an English saftey requirement?

Nice to learn something I'd never heard of every day, I'll have to say! Car trivia, amazing!

Hi there again Spin9k

When you talk about 4 mirror pieces I presume you mean 2 pieces for each mirror - I've altered the picture with a blue line showing the "split" in the mirror in the main picture.
The controls to change the mirror position will be the same as before - both sections of mirror will move together - you can't change the angle of the split.

Well, not without smacking the mirror against something that is :D

hope that makes sense

Hey, how come we don't have that?...Seriously, though. That would be a worthwhile "mod" for me. I wonder if that part will be available through a U.S. parts counter...