I am in the midst of car selection..
for a while I have been looking at Alfa 147 GTA which has sweet 3.2L engine. hot hatch with sizzling performance I hear..
then I came across Mazda RX8. I had always liked the RX7 and RX8 really caught my attention lately.....
I can't really make a firm decision atm..
GTA is nice European hatch and I would probably have gone this way if it wasn't for the fact it's 60k for a damn small hatch car..
but the performance seem to justify the price.....
then RX8, which is genuine 4 seater with nice design, decent equipment, performance etc, but is still a Japanese car in essence.
mainly I am worried about the insurance, and resale value etc for RX8 down the line...

it would be good to hear some comments from RX8 owners, experts etc =)

 

Hey I thought of the 147 GTA as well... read my test drive report hehe :D

step-hen's Ultimate Test Drive

P.S. my quest for my new car gave me the visit to the following cars.

Mazda RX-8
Nissan 350Z
Alfa 147 GTA
WRX STi
Audi S3
Honda S2000
Lotus Elise
BMW Z4

I wanna test as well... Monaro, EVO 8... ?Any more suggestions? Crossfire ... eh no thx

 

hey Takahashi.

thanks for the link man. just looking at it now. awesome site =D
so what's your verdict? heheheh

 

well... I like the 147 GTA is FF and RX-8 is an FR... insurance for me 29 y.o. in Melbourne is ~ $1300. GTA is around the same. Performance is roughly similar but I think it is a different drive.

Hard to choose I will be happy with both choices... mind you there are other 147 on the road and in some sense it is not as head turning as the RX-8 but if you want to be low profile then it is better, isn't it?

I don't mind 147 GTA being another car, but my wife can't drive a stick

 

read the review for RX-8 and GTA.
looks like u were also quite impressed with GTA?

 

On the resale value front... I would expect the 8 to do better than the Alfa.

Apart from that, I see it as a style issue... the 8 is a very together package, designed from the ground up. I see the GTA as an add on (a nice one at that though).

I considered the GTA, but have absolutely no regrets in going with the 8.

 

What size feet do you have? If they are anything over 43 (8.5 in the old money) I think you will find the Alfa footwell too crowded and uncomfortable. A little thing but one that drove me mad when I had my AlfaSud Ti. And it is still a problem in both the 147 and 156.

I test drove a 156 GTA and was very disappointed. I'd be more tempted by the BMW 325ti than the 147. But now the 8 is, IMNSHO, one of the best cars I have ever owned (and that ranges from Cooper S, Alfasud, Golf GTI, BMW 525, Volvo turbo Range Rover plus other Mazdas)

 

i would go the rx8
better value for money and resale
also maybe a collectors car

 

takahashi - ditto - I saw the crossfire in real life for the first time last Saturday... it looked like a station wagon with a chrome roof rack that had been crushed into the shape of a sports car... badly. Yech.

 

The alfa 147 and GTA 147 have the same shape they are hard to tell apart , the 147 and its chassy engine and, bodyshape is all last years model .

Why pay $60,000 for yesteyears model also resale value of ALFAS suck .

Handling looks performance ,value imo all must go to the RX8 which is a 2005 and beyond car as opposed to a old been around for 6 years model .

If you have to get the ALFA id wait for the next lot of new body shapes and upgraded engines.

For my money THE RX8 WINS HANDS DOWN IN ALL ASPECTS.

Michael

 

My wife just added a comment that it is a girl's car. I think I am in trouble now as she may be saying that she likes it. Oh man~~ ~~ have to save more money now

 

I love my RX-8! I wouldn't even know where to start singing its praises or comparing it to other cars, so I wont even bother. Sure, enough power to fry the back tyres would be nice, but the '8 is by no means a slow car. What you might lose to an M3 or a GTR or a HSV in a straight line, you make up for in the corners.

I've shown and let a lot of people drive my RX-8. No-one has had a bad word to say yet. You know you've made the right choice when five mintues after they first see the car, they are still staring!

IMNSHO - I like it!

 

Hey takahashi..............Liked the reference to our partnership at mallala.

Sweet!

 

Is that really you? Hehe...

How is it going? See that you also has a Black RX-8... do you still have your RX-7?

 

still got the Rx7. Can't bear to get rid of it. The Mx5 race car got written off during a close encounter with a concrete wall at Mallala at 180km/hr. And I still have my red Mx-5 daily driver!

Theblack 8 is beautiful but a bumer to clean though. Now get this I've had it three months now and it has only done 1065km. Even more ridiculous than the 5 year old RX-7 with 26000km.

What's even worse is a friend of mine who has amongst other things a Ferrari 360 modena. Two years old with 1200km. Just added an AMG 500SL, that is an awsome car!

Love your website!, still reading through.

 

Don't worry whether it is a Japanese car, Alfa is also just an Italian car. They only good in the engine department, but not classy interior(Ferrari maybe, but not Alfa Romeo) and solid build qualilty. If you care about status then 325ti or even 320ci will works better than an Alfa.

Well then again I might be biased, I am the kind who will buy a Porsche instead of Ferrari(when I have the money ). I believe in German engineering. :D

 

seems like everybody likes their RX-8?
hope I can soon join the ranks =D
for those who've driven few different cars, how is the gearbox compared to the other rivals? is it quite smooth?
i've been driving mainly automatic (tiptronic) for couple of years and if I do get RX-8, it will have to be the manual version (like so many of you guys say =).
just wondering how hard would it be for me to pick up the pieces..

 

the manual box is really well sorted.....you'll love it

Check out the videos on taka's site...........they're awesome!

 

Easy!!:D

Just watch out for the short clutch! Most friends that come from an automatic car tends to stall when they first try my car.

 

I found the clutch is light and easy to control although I stalled the car in Mallala when I first drove it.

AMG I don't know about you and the clutch. I still have the video that you stalled the car! :D

"AMG in Mallala raceway." I am now officially asking the permission (if you wanted to show the video to public) coz there is display of your very good driving skill and you cool face LOL :D

 

permission granted. Yes I stalled it, and I still stall every now and then, I'm used to beefy clutches!

I'll post some videos of the murcott driving day.

 

sounds really great guys.
it would be great to see some footages too =)
i really gotta try the car out, testdrive although I am thinking of buying new car around Feb.
all the comments u guys tell and the videos I've seen makes me wanna try the car out ASAP, arghh... hahaha

 

I will have my digi cam with me when I go to the Murcott on 28 Jan. Take some MPEG then

I love to have the camera there when I test drove the car. One guys not letting me do it so I did not do it for the rest of the drive. He was not a good salesman.