Got my letter tonight, will go and pick up my book tomorrow.

Things are finally looking up from Mazda, got my welcome pack on Monday and now this letter on Thursday.

Im not obsessed with 0-60 figures, but on paper this is a bit dissappointing after what we have seen so far. Even UK mags like Evo and Autocar have been quoting around 6.0.

At the end of the day it will depend how the car drives and feels, and in gear times are more important. Im just a bit concerned that it will feel a bit slow coming from a car that has a 0-60 quoted of 5.2.

 

They will all have tested the pre-production 250bhp cars. No one has tested a Euro car yet. It's pleasing that you've finally got your welcome pack. Not before time!

 

Cheers Lensman, much happier now :D

Im just surprised 10 bhp makes 0.8 sec difference, seems a hell of a lot to me.

 

Well there's my other point too. They were in the 250bhp car but allegedly it had a stuck port so it should be more Euro like. Either way the numbers don't seem to add up. We desperately need an independant review. I can't see why Mazda would artificially slow the car's performance figures: they'll sell more the faster it goes surely.

 

got my letter tonight...will be on the phone first thing in the morning to arange collection

 

Disappointed with 0-60 also....

Expected the RX to be quicker than my integraR - and this is (albeit maginally) slower !
Ah well - it is still quick and that rotary sweetness has been missing in my life for too long.

For those who care - I make the fuel consumption 24.3-25.0mpg worked out from their l/100km figs.

 

Been out swimming on the golf course all day and just arrived home to find my letter. Will contact dealer tomorrow.

0-60 = 6.8!!!

Think I'll have to cancel and order something more sporty!!!

Cheers
Oilman

 

I can't tell how serious you are because of the emoticon. How serious are you? It's definately spoiled MY night and downright weird. I know that 1 second is hardly a major speed decrease but I always wanted a sub 6 second car and the RX-8 seemed to promise that (given the clutch drop of Doom). It always seems one step forward, two backwards with this project. Someone cheer me up if you can please.

 

I thought the 6.8 was for 0-62 mph.

CHEER UP ALREADY. The cars tested at Laguna were Euro Spec/Jspec. And you did not hear any reviewer complaining then.

 

Yes but surely that last 2 mph can't take a whole second ;-)

Don't mind me, I'm just freaking out. I'm hanging on the fence between a 350Z and an RX-8 and I need a clear winner. Every time that appears to be the case something happens to level the field and I'm left wondering again... Aaarggghhh!!!

 

Edo when did you order and what's your EP number?
I ordered from T W Whites Weybridge in January and got EP719

 

Hi Ed,

l have one unconfirmed report a few days ago that there are orders in for 2400 of the 3500
due in Britain this year !

But yesterday l also had one of our members on the phone,
real unhappy saying Mazda had just rung him direct to say the first batch will not be in the country as soon as they expected
so he may not even receive his car now till October !!!!!! and l know he was one of the first because l went with him .

Which l am puzzled about because l thought this time these cars were going to be released
virtually simultaneously but as you can see on our site RE Amemiya already have a production version
and are playing with it !

clive@mazdarotaryclub.com
www.mazdarotaryclub.com

 

Clive -

Went to my dealer yesterday and had quite a good chat.
He feels a bit 'out-of-the-loop' and gets no updates from MazdaUK.
He did not know the books we all received were arriving , and has had no updates on delivery dates or anything from MazdaUK.

It does seem odd that Mazda are ignoring their dealers and phoning one of your members to give them news on delays !
I am not doubting it happened but it does seem odd behaviour.
That said , it does tie in with some posts on the main forum with concerned yanks talking about 2 month delays...

On the upside , the letter I had yesterday does say that next time Mazda contact me , it will be with delivery details. Guess we will just have to wait and see. Last I heard from Mazda helpline was the unnofficial date of launch was aimed at 31st July.

Morgan.

 

Dont have a number yet - or any correspondence from Mazda UK. 2400!! So they have a nice £2,400,000 in deposits - nice interest earning on that...

 

Re 0-60 times - I spotted the following in the recent US 'Car and Driver' test report:

'To get the most out of this car, you must be willing to use its 9000-rpm redline and maybe even the 500 additional rpm to the engine's rev limiter. As usual with rotaries, that's no hardship. The engine gains rpm so smoothly and freely that a tone sounds at 8500 rpm to warn you that the redline is approaching.

'With the help of an 8000-rpm clutch drop and the engine buzzing like a flock of angry hornets, the RX-8 scooted to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 14.5 seconds at 96 mph.'

Accept it's not a Euro spec car but I don't think they're going to be dramatically different.

See here.

 

So we got a book and a very nice book at that. But so what? Where is the car Mazda?

When in my dealership I asked about test drives etc. and was told that it was possible that their test cars wouldnt arrive until the same time as the first orders (July)although there was the possiblility of getting some mid-June. Go figure. Who would by a new car other than a BM, Merc, porsche without driving it.

So what are Mazda up to? Who knows? Tempted to write to them - their marketing dept needs a kick up the proverbial - a first year marketing student could do better.

Ahh... feel better now..off to drive a different RX - the 300 by Lexus so who knows may cancel depite my very low EP...

BK

 

I'm afraid Clive is right!!

My Dealer has a letter from Mazda Uk.

Quote:

"Expected delivery of Customers vehicles (1062 pre-orders) will be built JULY, 36 days shipping. Registration SEPTEMBER."

Sorry guys, SEPTEMBER it is so forget JULY!

Hope to see sight of this letter today which also mentions the dimensions etc of the car.

Cheers
Oilman

 

So only 1000 pre-ordered out of 3500?

Know when the letter was dated?

 

I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't so much Mazda UKs problem as it is Mazda Corporate (or Mazda Japan.. whomever). The car has only just started reaching customers in Japan. The UK cars are on the way, but they cannot get them any quicker than the factory can produce them and/or will let them have them.

I believe the first batch of cars are all dealership demonstrators (or certainly the dealers will get their cars before any customers). This is the reason why initial customers are having their cars delayed, since the first delivery to the UK is in July and these cars are all going to the dealerships as demos.

Additionally I can understand why, this being the case, the Mazda PR machine is holding back. What is the point in pushing a car that Joe Public cannot see/drive/order (your everday customer isn't going to put money down on a car he's never seen) for another 2 months. By the time they get a chance to look at one properly they'll have bought something else. No one likes to wait (look at the state of us lot! :p) and if you hit the public with all sorts of advertising and promotion now, it'll lose it's impact if they cannot book a test drive tomorrow, and put a deposit down the same afternoon.

Anyway, that's enough rambling. You see where I'm coming from I expect...


-andy-

 

It was made very clear from the outset that this is such a new car that no UK driveable cars would be available prior to launch. All the first UK cars are allocated directly to customers. The first car my dealership gets is the one I drive away in.

Was that not made clear to you before ?

They could have delayed the first deliveries to customers, so that dealers get test cars first, but I don't want to wait for that. If you do, that's fine.

Sure the marketing department is often rubbish (but I do like the book), but even the best marketing department in the world cannot give you a test drive in a car that doesn't exist yet.

Oh, and welcome to the forums
:D

 

First production batch is 1000. The next batch follows couple of months after.

Funny, my dealer had heard nothing of any delays. But they aren't exactly being kept in the loop.

 

Regarding the 0-60 times. First off, don't know why manufacturers provide slow times but some defintely do, so I wouldn't take what you read in the book for granted.

Secondly, the time is to 62 and not 60mph. It may not seem like much, but I have noticed that some cars are upto 4/10th's of a second slower to 62 than to 60.

I get the feeling that the car will be faster than it is quoted, otherwise the other stat's (like weight, power) would not add up.

Also, I don't think that 10hp will make the car almost a second slower, so I would think that the actual time will be much closer to the tested time then the one quoted in the book.

Shahpor

 

Getting back on subject, why are the books not being hand delivered to our homes, they have the information? Nice having a book but does little to reverse the tide of negativity.

rael

 

Interesting... I've been told exactly the *opposite*. The first batch (125 or so?) of cars are going to the dealers (who also have all been told to spec Velocity Red). This is why the first customer cars are being delayed (as per continuing reports on here).


-andy-

 

OK, been to my dealership (for the first time as I'm a web orderer) and got my book. It's quite nice but nothing amazing. I'm pleased that Mazda showed willing though. My dealer seems very personable and pleasant.
I saw the colour swatches for the first time too and there was a Tit grey Mazda-6 on the forecourt. Even in the rain it looked really good. The blue colour is MUCH darker than I expected and will look wonderful if the body shape suits it (and I'm doubtful). Velocity red is very nice too and also darker than I expected, it will look classy.
My dealer stated that they will acquire a red demo car in July (available for test drives) but there was no word on customer deliveries. They seem excited by the RX-8 and seem to think it's the first real Mazda sports car since the RX-7. They don't count the MX-5 for some reason.
Damn, just realised I forgot to check out 'Nordic Green'.