Tbone

I just got my new 8, and LOVE it. I have seen some of the appearance mods on these cars, though, and some are just too much. Huge wings, wacked out body kits, and although some aftermarket rims are nice, some are just plain wrong for this car. I KNOW I am opening up a huge can of "opinion" worms here. I 'm just wondering if I'm in the minority in thinking the style and lines of the stock 8, with the stock wing and wheels and such is not enough? One of the things I LOVE about this car is it doesn't look like everybody and his brother's hopped up rice-burner with so many mods you can't tell what the car started as. To me it's a very classy car as it sits. I think clear corners on some are nice, but beyond that some of these mods are just too much.

No need to flame. Just wondering if there are many others out there who love the 8 for what it is.

Tbone

RXE16T

To each their own I suppose...... while I still love the clean uncluttered lines of the basic RX8, I still yearn to differentiate mine from the other thousands out there.

Admittedly some examples are too over the top and have managed to ruin the look of the car altogether whereas some have visual enhancements which improve the appearance.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder....... so one person's cup of Earl Grey may not be another person's Jasmine (tea that is).

Not one person on this Earth was created exactly the same, so neither should be every 8 on the street.

It's like the performance of the engine, some people are content with its adequate power whilst there are others out there dying to add forced induction to increase its output.

I guess it's just human nature, we do it because we can.

Razpewton

It's no different from clothes, houses or....surfboards. There are approximately 288,262,988 distinct, unique individuals in the United Sates alone. One person sees beauty in the Monarch butterfly in early June, whereas another person may view that same butterfly as just another potential mess on their grill.

With the millions of unique preferences existing side-by-side, I guess the one common character we ALL have in common is our comfort-zone tolerances.
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You have those who mod their cars, guided by their perception of "what people will think."

Then you have those who feel, SCREW IT...this is MY CAR, I'm makng the payments, and I'll do whatever the hell I want to it.

bowman

Opinions are like....well, you know.

In my opinion, the OEM wing spoiler and appearance pkg are too much.

PegzRX8

Tbone, I like mine just the way it is. Although, I am a 44 year old woman and all those extras dont mean anything to me. I actually went shopping for a BMW Z-3, but saw the 8 and just had to have it!

scoutwalker

tbone i like mine plain just clear corners on it. i like the look better as is. i don't need to blow money on it. i have many other toys to do that. plus i'm in the market for an 2005 corvette. and when someone says they want thier 8 to be different well i rarely see another 8 on the road. but to each their own.

orbist

I don't think any of us would have bought the 8 if we didn't like the vanilla looks.

As above, its all about personal taste and individuality.

I don't like the apperance package, the visible join lines look more rice than adding a full bodykit - IMHO (no flames needed!) because they are so obviously stuck on. The US hoop spoiler doesn't suite the lines of the car - again IMO.

I didn't like that from certain angles the pointy nose could look a bit cutesy, so I knew I wanted to do something - ended up with the bits and bobs I have because each one did something more for me than the standard body / mazda accessories.

I'm sure out of the thousands of us on here, some will agree with me - but more won't - but thats the whole point, its your car, you drive it, you do what you want to it.

As I said above, we all like the stock car - cause we bought it in the first place, but there is no harm in adding to it, personalizing and making your own.

Everyone goes on about how bad ricing the car is, and how they will sell it when it starts getting into the ricer market - why? Your car isn't riced, so why do you think anyone is going to think any less of you or your car, because some 18 year old has gone OTT with theirs.

(end rant mode)

titaniumgrey

I personally think the car looks way too high stock.... huge wheel gap ...

shelleys_man_06

Why not fill the wheel wells with 24"s?

slllygrl10

Well I'm going all out. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...d=1#post569261

titaniumgrey

lmao , that'd be funny , make a rx-8 suv

Zio

I think the cars that people have added MS kits and MS wings and nice rims look awesome, but when you start adding those GT wings and huge Body Kits like the Veilside ones then you cross over into rice territory.

irish8

Good question Tbone. I guess the real answer is...to each their own. A car is truly a form of self expression. I'm not the super loud type and I'm not a fan of huge wings, massive body kits etc. But the reality is...if you cut the check for the car every month you should style the car the way you want. Mine...simple, small appearance mod's, nothing too loud.

Enjoy your 8. Don't visit Trussville or Rosenthal......unless you want to spend money!!! :D

- Irish

rabinabo

When I was beginning to think about options to get, I thought about the body kits and even the appearance package, but in the end I decided to get it plain, without any exterior additions. And I'm really glad I did, because I found that it looks very classy as is. In fact, most of the 8's I do see here in Miami have the appearance package, so I think I stand out nicely with my plain silver 8, thank you very much. Now I think even a wing takes away from the nice stock lines

I do think it may look all right with a little less wheel gap, but I don't think it's at all necessary.

Riccio

Love your avatar - is that you and your daughter, just seconds after exiting your new 8?

Looks suspiciously like the "silly" grin that seems to permanently inhabit my face anytime I'm drving my 8!

RXE16T

I suppose there are varying degrees of "rice".
Just because you add a kit, wheels, exhaust and lower your car does not necessarily make it "rice".

IMO, if you then add neons, huge GT wing, vinyl stickers and airbrushing, then you really have crossed the boundary into "rice".

There are some really classy cars out there that have had visual enhancements and look very cohesive and not at all overdone.

Then there are guys out there that try too hard and end up ruining the look of their car completely.

Opinions, just like taste, are purely subjective.

shorty911

Excuse us for wanting our cars to look nice
you have diferent taste and thats your preference but why try to get others to explain why they like what they do? And i dont see many huge wings or wacked out body kits most wings are either stock or mazda speed and neither atre huge and 90 percent of kits out for rx8's are not "WACKED OUT"

Rob Tomlin

Can't really add much to that statement! Well said, especially the part about differentiating your 8 from others.

Yesterday I saw 3 RX-8's on the same road within 30 seconds of each other. One Black and two Velocity Red. Add me to the mix, and you have 3 VR 8's and a Black one in very close proximity. Mazda has now sold 100,000 8's worldwide, so they are exactly a "rare" car.

This is the reason I personally want to do some mods, including aftermarket wheels and the Mazdaspeed body kit.

shelleys_man_06

You can simulate it here:

www.rimstop.com

Anyway, I would like to see a wing more like Bomex's JZA80 rear spoiler. I think INGS+ has the best looking one out there. I might go with that and the BN Sports kit, or I could somehow graft the Bomex Supra rear lip spoiler.



As for RX-8's being overdone, it's a matter of taste. I like bodykits that are unique, like BN Sports'. I'm also into wheels that others would say look weird on the RX-8, like SSR Mesh, or ADVAN SA3Rs. It's in the eye of the beholder.

rotten42

I don't mind some modification but my preference is....less is more.

jono6395

I'm a UK owner of a Black 8 with red n black seats. Personally, I'm going the other way - towards pure black seats, an black gloss inserts maybe in a year or two. This car was designed to look modded, so modding it strays into personal taste IMHO. Always dodgy. Minimal approaches are better with this car I think, which after all took a leaf out of Anime and Manga in the design stage...

Tirminyl

Why does everyone have to complain about what someone else does to THEIR car? You know that everyone has their own sense of style. IMO the plain jane 8 does not look good at all. I would prefer the appearance package...better yet I would prefer the Speed bodykit, wheels, and drop. No matter how good a stock car may look it will always be ugly.

jono6395

...and adding a 6 foot wing and enormous scoops makes the difference? It does to a VW Beetle, but not to a car that's been properly designed in the 1st place. I bought an 8 so I wouldnt have to mod the car.

1.3L-of-pure-crack

Imho I think the 8 looks better with no rear wing at all. The lines going from the quarter panels to the trunk lid are very sleek. Well at least thats what I say now, give me a year and I'll probably have a spoiler.
My only complaint is the front bumper. I like the stock bumper more than most of the aftermarket ones. Until the licence plate go's on, then it looks like ***.
So I might look into an MS or other frunt bumper.but I'd rather keep it stock and not have a front plate. As far as rims, lowering, window tint, and performance upgrades go, my opinion is YES.

orbist

1.3L... thats why I went for this wing, from behind, it looks like it was truely designed to complement the curves/lines.