Well the demo RX-8 is sitting in my garage with a gentle cackling sound as the exhaust cools down.

With the kids in bed I took the '8 for a good drive round the North-West of Brisbane

I drove around for much of the trip with the Windows open listening to the engine.

Lessons learnt already
1. Changing Down is a good way to almost smack you head on the wheel :o
2. Staying on or around the speed limit is very difficult :p
3. You attract lessor species of car who attempt to outpace you - such as the Nissan Silvia turbo with the huge cannon who I left for dead before his turbo had even got chugging at the lights
4. You reach 9000 very quickly "beep"
5. Staying below 5000 rpm for the first 1000km in my car is going to be difficult.
6. I need lots of practice
7. Visibility is fairly restricted so the best thing to do with traffic is to leave it behind you.
8. Neighbour is already jealous (he has stock Celica) and was spotted inspecting the car whilst I had dinner.
9. The fuel gauge moves down about as quickly as the tacho moves up (maybe there's a connection?)

 

did you get a demo overnight?
if yes, how did you do that

 

Sounds like this guy is having too much fun :p ... in someone's else expense too.

You should practice oil checking. ... painting caliper, piggyback installation and tuning, supercharger installation on the car before you give it back :p

Well break in the engine has to be done... I am sure you will be patient.

This is exactly a year I had mine. It has it ups and downs. The down bit is certainly the stupid squeaking noise from the bolts on the seat. Make sure they are tight enough not to slipped. Coz once they do, they are hard to fix. I manage to crack the problem with a thick plastic washer.

I also agree with visibility issue. The rear left mirror is too small. Just becareful turning right in a dividing road.

 

All i can say is congratz...blue is hot. 61gs is tempting.
I think i got ripped off hard, but maybe cos earlier delivery

 

Yes demo is overnight
How - easy ..... bought one earlier today ..... demo was to "allow wife to drive it as she was at work"

Very warped logic of sorts.

 

Yup, that compression takes some getting used to. I almost put mine on its nose punching down to second on my first day. So much so the DSC kicked in! Where you thought "second gear" in the SP, now think "third gear" in the RX-8. The wonderful thing is you can go down Hale St in 4th and not have to touch the brakes.

Speed limit ... yes this is hard, because the car never screams to go up a gear, you find yourself driving faster than you realised.

Welcome to the fun of a new RX-8!

 

smart - have you try the DSC yet?

 

No too chicken atm - but I do know where the button is!

I found whilst turning down the console lights.

DSC experimentation will have to wait awhile - too many other things to learn.

 

At least you can floor it in 2nd gear turning and do lift off/ weight transfer. It is such a lession with other people's car :p

Wish you are in Melbourne. I am so free tonight that I can show you :p

 

Thanks Taka I appreciate the offer and the dealer's demo car would have been the ideal platform to learn on.

I hand the demo back in the morning and then it's a week and bit of waiting for delivery.

 

Things to do with a demo car:
1) long hold the dsc and perfect your 1/4 mile launches.
2) see how long the rear wheels can spin before the safety mode kicks in.
3) see if hand break turns are as easy as they appear in the RX-8
4) take any non bolted down parts for your car, you never know when you will need spares

Anyone else please feel free to add to this list.

 

Don't make me laugh too much - my drive way is quite narrow and I don't want to ding the demo