18ME

No, I was quite civil to the Mazda rep. Only when I got back home and read on here that some people had got inside it, that I felt annoyed.
At the time I felt fair enough if nobody's allowed in.

shahpor

I know what you mean about the drives. I only managed to get in 3 of the 6 drives that I booked.

Still wasn't too disappointed as I wanted to try the S2000 and the VX220 Turbo, and I did get to drive both of them.

I hope that you are right about the suspension being lowered for the UK market. I had forgotten exactly how bad it was until I saw the pictures again.

If the ride height is not changed before it comes to the UK, then if it is really a problem the only solution I can see that wouldn't lower the car too much is fitting bigger wheels but not changing the profile of the tyre. The only drawback to this solution, apart from the cost, is that the wheels would have to be hugh (19 or 20 inch), and would screw up the rolling radius.

Still I hope it doesn't come to that. Probably be so happy to get the car that I won't care about the ride height. :D

Shahpor

Lensman

Fear not, it has two. I inspected them both closely! That car doesn't have the headlight washers or fog lights that we will get as standard in the UK. It had cloth seats too (I know this as I was one of the privileged minority who got inside it - after sufficient whinging!).

The ride height is not that bad and I looked the car over for a long time without noticing any problem. It was only after the event that I went looking. It really didn't ruin the look of the car to my mind and chances are we'll get a lower vehicle anyway. Having the car on the stand didn't help because the wheels were artificially off the ground and so the view was odd.

shahpor

Maybe your right. I don't think it will be that big of a problem anyway.

Will have to check it out when I see the car again at the Motorexpo.

Wonder if they will let me sit in it again? As soon as I mentioned the magic word 'pre-order' they reluctantly let me sit in it last time.

Shahpor

Lensman

Yes well it didn't work for me first time and only worked the second time because I caught another punter in the car (two of them) and produced my pre-order notification. Did I mention that the second rep stated that anyone who is interested enough to pre-order will happily wait until September to see inside the car. Grrrrr....

shahpor

I have to admit that neither of the rep's were particularly friendly and only opened the car reluctantly.

I hope the ones at Motorexpo are better.

Also, the first rep didn't know about the forum. Once he heard about it though, he took down the address and said he would check it out.

Shahpor

shahpor

Also did you notice that the car had Bridgestone S0-3's on? I asked the rep about these, but he didn't know which tyres it is suppose to have.

I was under the impression that the car will come with Bridgestone Potenza RE040's.

I hope it doesn't come with the RE040's as I have personally experienced these tyres and didn't like them much.

Apart from not griping very well, they generate a lot of road noise.

Considered doing a couple of track days to scrub them so I can get a new set of tyres! :D

Shahpor

Lensman

A friend has RE040s on his Elise and they seem OK but the 350Z owners in the USA are removing their's and putting Michelin Pilot Sports on. Expensive but apparently a whole new ball game.

shahpor

Honda Civic Type R's have RE040's on. A mate of mine just got his changed for Toyo Proxies. Made a hell of a lot of difference.

Michelin Pilot Sports are the tyres that I want as well.

Still have to wait see how they turn out.

Shahpor

ChrisW

That sounds very annoying - you would think they could have put some sort of cutout in the engine cover.

Did you actually remove the engine cover and is it easy to do?

shahpor

Didn't actually remove the cover, but it seemed relatively easy to do.

Shahpor

shahpor

One other thing is that I liked the blue illumination that was on the instruments when the car was off. Very nice and unusual.

Also, I turn on the lights with the ignition off to see what they were like. Have to say that I was impressed with the amount of light that the bi-xenon headlights produced, even on dipped beam.

Shahpor

shahpor

Oh yeah, one more thing (seem to be remembering a lot more things now ).

With my foot on the brake I released the handbrake to see if it got in the way of the gearstick. I am happy to report that it didn't get in the way at all even though it was sticking up a bit.

Also, the gearstick fell right into my hand in my ideal driving position. One strange thing is that it was more comfortable to hold the stick from the side with my arm resting on the transmission tunnel then it was to hold it from the top.

Still, the gearchange itself felt great, quite a short throw and slots into gear nicely.

I am sure I will think of more things to come over the next few days, so I will keep you updated.

Shahpor

Lensman

Yes, I did the same with the handbrake. I also engaged the footbrake because I had terrible visions of the car rolling off the stand. The Mazda guy obviously disliked me as it was so that wouldn't have impressed him any more! The handbrake is a non-issue, the gear lever is fully accessible and delicious. I second Shahpor's description of it. The best word I can think of to describe it is 'precise'. It feels like I imagine a bit of military kit would feel, just beautifully engineered. The aluminium rotor shaped **** is great too. It has a slightly cold feel when you first touch it and it feels solid and SWEET! With th engine off all the gear selections (didn't try reverse) feel identical and the shortness of the travel to select them is exemplary. I heard it described elsewhere that this is because of the low torque from the Renesis: the gearbox can be very subtle without being ripped apart. There's plenty of room by the pedals too, the hump isn't an issue either. The clutch is just right, not jelly light and not concrete fierce, just enough resistance to let you know it's there.

jimbobjoe

Hi everyone.
Just got back from the show.

All I can say is...you should have gone today. There was hardly anyone there. It was so quiet they gave out extra drive tickets when you booked in !!!

I bagged:

Lotus Elise
Mazda 6
Honda S2000 (both as a self-drive and a pro-drive)
Jaguar XK8
Caterham 7 (pro-drive)
Volvo XC 90
Honda Civic
Vauxhall Vectra SRi (for a joke - and it was absolutely crap in every possible way)

AND

The RX-8 on display was open and they were happy for people to sit in it They even opened up the bonnet for a quick gander.

I'm happy with my choice
:D

but if it fails to deliver sufficient 'fun' then I'm off to the S2000 shop double-quick. That Honda is just fantastic. The Elise was way too scary to use on a public road.

shahpor

Damn, I thought that today would be the busiest day.

I know what you mean about the S2000. If the RX-8 doesn't live up to expectations, then I can see myself in a S2000 easily.

It was great looking, comfortable, probably has the best gear change I have ever felt and great fun to drive.

Still was very impressed with the RX-8, so will hang on to see how it works out.

Still good to have a back up plan though! :D

Shahpor

Lensman

Can you BELIEVE that! Talk about inconcistency. Yet again Mazda UK don't know their **** from their elbow. I really want this car but they are making it an interminable experience getting there.

shahpor

Maybe Mazda do read this forum.

Maybe after they read the negative comments we made here on sat and yesterday, they decided to try and improve their service.

I'm sure stranger things have happened, just not sure when! :D

Shahpor

Titanium Grey

I went on Sunday, I also had to be persistent with the rep before he eventually let me sit in the car.

I first booked drives in the FBS, the Elise 135, the Caterham (Prodrive), Alfa GTA. Then realising the chance of getting other cars I wanted was non existent. Iwent to look for the 8.

When I found it inside my first thought was WOW! But then I thought why do they have it in here, I'm sure some people probably missed it altogether. Why didn't they have it on a stand outside where everyone could see it.

I was told by the Mazda person on duty (he worked in the accessories dept) that the car on show was a Japanese standard power model, the dark tinting is standard in Japan but might not come over here (I thought it was too dark). As the car is low power I would expect it has the standard not sport suspension, (according to figures in 'The Book') I expect a drop of about 1 half inch in the sport.

While I was by the stand there was a steady stream of people coming to look at the car, although there was never the numbers that could be described as a crowd. After talking to a few of them, not sure if the rep appreciated this, I came to the conclusion that most already knew about the 8 and had come searching for it. I told a few of these about the forum while I was at it as well.

As to the drives;
The Caterham pro-drive was fantastic white knuckle.
The Elise was polished and fun, although having a works driver sit with you was both good and bad.
The FBS was a stunning car to drive, you felt part of the road, even more so than in the Elise, and i expect there would be a few that would be prepared to put up with the build quality for the pure driving experience it delivers.
The Alfa GTA was good fun to but it really shows the difference between a car thats been modified to be fast and handle well and one thats been built with this in mind from the start.
I will be very happy if the RX-8 falls into the area between the pure sports car and the modified hatch/saloon camp.
As with others who have already given their opinions here seeing the 8 in person reinforces what we already feel about the car, I just want to drive one now!:D

Any way, work calls tomorrow, it will seem so dull after this weekend, signing off for another night.

Cheers.

Edo

Well. i went to Motordrive yesterday (Monday) after being told I might like to Move from Sunday as Monday was quieter. I was in the AM. Got there at 8, and was rather p*ssed off to find Lotus, Caterham, VX220, S2000, FBS all booked up. Apparently some people on sunday did not get to drive anything!!! I will be writing to MotorDrive...

My experience at MX8 was good tho. In the AM very helpful chap happy to open it up when I told him I had ordered. Sat in, looked under bonnet. Woman towards lunch-time very helpfull, let me take pics and loook around in in the car, opening boot etc.

Most impressive part of day was being taken round the handling circuit by racing driver in S60R Volvo at quite ludicrous speed.

I managed over 145 in box an S60 T5 and a Saab Aero 93 aswell. Did someone say something about a 100 limit on the bowl? OOps.

shahpor

I know what you mean. Managed 140MPH in the S2000 and 130MPH in the VX220.

Also went round more than twice with the S2000.

Didn't seem to be any marshals about, or they just didn't care.

Good fun though

Shahpor

Edo

Twice? I think I did about 7 laps at 145 in the volvo - never did less than about 4!!

shahpor

I know what you mean. You were only supposed to go round twice, but all I did was see how much of the 20 minutes I had left and went round and round until the time was up.

Shahpor

Edo

What time did you get there to get the elise/S2000/VX220? Theye were all gone by 8:00....

shahpor

I went on sat. Got there about 7:10am. Gates opened just after 7:30. Didn't get the Elise though. Also the Jag XK8 was booked out.

Mainly wanted the S2000 and the VX220 though, so wasn't too disappointed.

Also, only used 3 of my 6 drives.

Shahpor