DaTaSPiKe

Found this on a website, and I am wondering what the possibilities would be on being able to get a white one here in the US? I am looking into an RX-8, and this color just seems to look good on this car. Any suggestions/comments?

Thanks.

Magnesium

I am sure you can buy one and have it painted...

Otherwise, the option would be to purchase in Japan and have it shipped over. Then pay all the $ to have the emissions, glass, and whatever else changed to meet US standards, then bingo, you are good to go!

Then again, maybe next year they will offer it.

DisneyDestroyer

I've heard whispers that white will be reserved for Mazdaspeed RX-8. <sigh>

DaTaSPiKe

Yeah, painting is always an option, but not a $3000 (complete color change) option I want to take. And seriously... I wonder if the emissions with these things would really be that different, as well as the safety features. Maybe time to brush up on my Japanese.

wakeech

um, if you didn't know, it will be far FAR more expensive to import a white Japanese RX-8, then have everything swapped and checked to be made road legal.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

wouldn't it be cheaper/easier to just have a US car painted white then to import one from Japan?

RotoRooter

I heard from Mazda dudes that visted the dealership, that these were the colors best suited for americans using a test market in Southern California and Washington State. The most popular colors were Red, Silver, Black. The eighth most popular color was White. They decided that this will be introduced 2005 or with the mazdaspeed 8 version and the least favorite selling color in the US will be scrapped. It has to be green, that is gone right?

Anyway, not official stuff, but shooting the sh*t with somewhat knowledgable mazda guys is not that BAD, is it?

jtimbck2

I must agree, the RX-8 looks awesome in white (at least in photos) -- and I usually HATE most cars in white! The only other white car I can recall liking was the previous generation Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder -- it looked good in white.

mac

That must be the same "dudes" who thought that the demand for auto's would be 30/70. A quick check with my local dealers show that the only cars available are auto's and a couple of GS's. The only GT's available are the ones with Nav (in Canada, it mean fully loaded with moonroof).

DaTaSPiKe

I am sure it would be cheaper, but at the same time, could you imagine the fun you would have with a right hand drive RX-8 here in the US. Imagine the possibilities at shows/events... and besides, it may be cheaper to have it painted, yes, but then it wouldn't be authentic, and aftermarket paint companies, suck compared to stock quality, at least IMO.

Anyone else?

RX22

Yeah, white would be my top pick. It seems that if you're ordering one to be built, they could do it in white. I know Audi will paint an ordered car whatever color you want for about $3000 extra. If Mazda offered that I would do it. The metallic white would be even better.

miata35

I forget which magazine it was, but today at barnes and noble I read an interesting write up about color choice in America. Of Course, the most popluar color among all cars in America is Silver. But get this, following close behind silver is WHITE, then black, then blue. So I don't understand why the color isn't offered here. It wouldn't cost Mazda any extra dough to add a color to the lineup, would it? And obviously, the demand is there, so whats the deal? My dealership alone has had to turn down 3 or 4 requests for white 8's. In the end, I believe all but one ended up with silver, but they would have been so much happier with their color of choice.

TracyP

I was disappointed not to be able to get white. My RX7 is white and it is definitely my favorite car color. I ended up picking silver and I like it a lot. I still would have prefered white, though.

chinx

um. yeah i guess it would be cool. 'cept after all the redtape and conversion you'll be forced to go thru (esp since you live in AZ), you might think it's easier to just shoot yourself in the foot. it takes a LOT of effort and time and cash to import a new car from japan. first, msrp might be higher in japan. then you'll have to pay for the container to ship her across the pacific, and have an import agency working for you. when it gets to port, which for you will most likely be LA, it'll have to sit at port for a while before you can even pick it up, to clear customs and all that. and then it won't be street legal at all, which means it's not suppose to touch any street. and you have to transport it by flatbed, although that might be an issue 'cuz transporting by flatbed still technically requires the car to be street legal. and then you have to pay a LOT of money to get all the modification just to meet emissions, and then also safety and all that crap. so by the time you get thru all this and finally have your white cool car on the street, it might already be next year and everyone else is picking up their white 8's from the local dealer. that is why all the imported skyline gt-r's cost 90k.

there are, however, other ways of doing this. you might wait a while until there're used white 8's in japan, and buy and import them here. you still have to certify them, but it might not be as messy. i dunno. i don't mean not to burst your bubble, i also do think white is a great color for the 8, and it'll probably eventually show up here. but usually people import cars from japan that aren't available or are otherwise unobtainable here in the 'states. don't really think it's worth all the trouble just to get the right hand drive. i mean, if you really want it, get it converted to right hand; it's probably easier :D