rael

If you ever drove the MX5 you will know why. Whilst it looks quite sporty it does not really drive and feel that way. Engine has no real power. I appreciate that it is (so I have read) the best selling 2 seater thanks to the US sales but that is another discussion.......

rael

Lock & Load

Suprised to hear you chaps are told to pick up your books from the dealers at least here in australia we got oursby the post ,i ceartanly dont think thats great customer service,.We have been informed that we are also getting a version of the european spec cars albeit we are not getting the rear lip spoiler or the rear fog lights and no option for the sunroof .Istrongly believe tha the car may dissapoint in the 0=62 categoryas 6.8 is more realistic with the 240hp unit,we also only have about 150 pre orders inaustralia.

oilman

Ok Here goes, letter is 6 pages long so cannot quote verbatum.
Dated 15/5/2003

Some bits of interest you should know are:

Launch events & Timings

European press launch preview
17,18,19 June
Rimini
Major European press

Uk Press Launch preview
18-25 July
North wales
Key journalists from Uk press

Uk fleet launch preview
25-31 July
North Wales
VIP fleet buyers

Dealer principal Uk drive
5-8 August
Manchester Airport
Uk principal dealers

Uk dealer RX8 specialists launch
8-12 September
Central England track location
Sales managers, RX8 specialists & aftermarket


Mazda Uk has aquired 20 RX8's for press, fleet & Dealer principal Uk events. To provide exclusive driving event ahead of Uk sale date.

The production acceleration of build is slower than anticipated and as a result the first significant volume of UK production to meet customer orders (1062 units) will now be built in JULY.
With shipping times of around 36 days from Japan, we are advising the 800 (so far) pre-order customers that delivery for registration will be during SEPTEMBER.

We are in the process of allocating our initial production to pre-order customers on a "first come first served" basis.
Production of satndard power (192ps) will begin AUGUST and the addition of the blue, yellow and green will begin SEPTEMBER along with the introduction of black and red leather option with the black paint. At present this cannot be guaranteed and would urge you not to promise a delivery date to customers. We are writing to customers at the end of this month to give them a firm delivery date for their actual vehicle.

We have a further 600 units in mid october, 800 units mid november and 600 mid december. If a customer chooses to wait to drive the car before ordering then we do not expect delivery in 2003.

Demonstrators will not be available until early september.

Given the level of interest and to support the pre-order process we are currently investigating the possibility of holding exclusive previews for your pre-ordered and prospective customers at a number of regional locations thru June, July & August.

Prodrive Live

With all high powered cars it is important to ensure that the power and handling are exploited safely and we will be offering every customer a free day's performance driver training.
The day will teach owners to get the most out of their new car.

Customers can choose to travel to Prodrive in Warwickshire or an instructor will travel to the customers home for extensive driver training on road.The day will also include cover care and maintenance of a rotary engine that a customer can carry out.

Technical Info (see seperate thread)

Well, I suppose they must be working quite hard behind the scenes!! Shame about the delays


Cheers
Oilman

black knight

I find this amazing, given the proximity of the crossfire and 350Z launches not to mention the 3.0TT.

I can only imagine that Mazda have had techical problems with the car itself or the manufacturing process.

Depsite their waring that a delay in ordering could force an 04 delivery, I think I'll take my chances. I mean if they restict supply then they wont be able to capture market share - simple as that.

Realistically given the wankel engine and the novel design - the car, could as clarkson would put it, suffer from 'supersonic decpreciation'.

Dont believe me? - check out the W8.


Cheers

BK

rael

I do like the training day suggestion as many of us will need that not being rotary experts, but can just imagine the admin mess as they try to organise this as cars get issued (going by present experience).

rael

sixspeed

Did you take the colour swatches outside to look at under the sun (not there's been much round here lately), or at least in natural light?

I must admit, it brought the colours out a lot better than looking at them on the dealership wall. You could see the gold flake in the Velocity Red, and the blue looked similar to that on the Nissan Skyline - although without a direct back-to-back comparison, it's hard to tell exactly.


-andy-

Lensman

Hold on guys: in the book the 0-62 time for the UK car is indeed 6.8 seconds BUT the 0-60 time for the US car is stated as 6.6 seconds. We KNOW that the US car will see a sub 6 second time so that could be (mild) panic over!

oilman

Lensman

read my specification post, the power is down to 231ps!!

Cheers
Oilman

AnilS

Rael, when my dealer (Brooklyn) rang yesterday about the book, they did offer to post it but, for fear of postal damage I'm opting to pick it up. My dealer seems fine, its Mazda thats dragging its heels.

Anil.

MarkW

Picked up my book at lunchtime. Very Nice. Dealer told me they were expecting their demo car early-mid July, and first customer cars still end of July.

Oilmans letter seems to suggest otherwise.

Therefore some dealers either havent got the letter / havent read the letter / dont want to tell you about the letter (delete as appropriate).

Thanks for posting the details Oilman. Good news about Prodrive Live.

ed hall

I called my dealer today about the letter about the book today. TWWhite and Sons in Weybridge didn't know about the book...so i'm waiting in eager anticipation to read it.

They'll get back to me! Still waiting!

Oh the service in this wonderful country we live in. In the US, somebody would have been sued by now.

bugbear

ed, I called TW Whites this evening - i was told they were waiting for the books to arrive and then they would POST them out to customers.

ccrx-8

bugbear did you ask your dealer about the power rating

ed hall

thanks Bugbear. I called early today, maybe Sarinda (the sales person who took my order) checked things out. Great stuff! Can't wait to get it and see what all the fuss is all about

bugbear

sorry ccrx-8, i was so surprised at the positive response i forgot to ask about anything else!

oilman

Picked up my book today. Nice pics, especially of the RED!

Look forward to reading and commenting.

Cheers
Oilman