AndyPearce

As some of you may know I have been waiting to see if the two people who lift share with me on my 138 mile daily commute would fit into the RX-8 before I could commit to buying it. Finally got to test drive an RX8 without a moonroof last night and while it was very tight on space they both agreed that there was enough room to be able to spend up to 4 hours a day in it.

I'm so relieved as my solo test drives had done enough to convince me that I wanted the car but the passenger issue was the dealer maker or breaker - just got to sort out my finances and sell my T5 now.

A couple of thought in addition to my other test drives;

Handling - last nights test drive was with 3 large blokes and one medium size salesman and in pretty wet conditions (in the dark) and the car handled superbly. I took it through one of these industrial estates that is a series of roundabouts joined by a serious of small straights and I gradually increased the speed around each roundabout I hit. The car seemed to get more grip the faster I went even with a large amount of weight in it. I'm scared to think how fast this car can go round the bends if pushed hard!

Performance - I've never been disappointed with the level of torque in the RX8 but having 4 people in the car meant it started to show last night. It wasn't enough of an issue to put me off but it really highlighted that it's a good job the RX8 is relatively light with the amount of torque the engine produces.

Colour - I saw (and drove) the Velocity Red last night and have to say I was somewhat underwhelmed by it in the flesh. I have to admit I'm not a big fan of red cars anyway (I'd probably get a Ferrari in yellow! :p ) but even so the red was a bit of a disappointment. I'm sure it looks a lot better in sunlight but I'm glad of my colour choice. The car I drove also had the red/ black interior and that was a lot more appealing than I expected but my passengers thought it too much. I suspect I've got used to the look of the black / red combo whereas it was fairly new to them and so stood out more.

Headlamp washers - gave the windows a quick splash and my passengers watched the headlight washers in action and said it was so cool - it's the little touches that often give the best impression.


Can't wait for mine to arrive now but it seems that none in Wales have arrived early yet!

Pillman

Andy, glad you have made the right decision. Like you I have two children and my only real concern was the lack of visibility for them on long journey's (see commnets below).



Had my second test drive on Saturday around Sandwich in Kent. Wife, 2 kids and 2 hours of fun...
Best bit: Huge dipping road ahead - OK let's redline...grinning like a lunatic at my wife..."listen" I shout at the family..."sounds like a bloody F1 car"
2nd best bit: going slowly through Canterbury with people turning and staring...I had no idea how much fun can you have doing 5,000 rpm while going slowly ...?
3rd best bit….leather seats that can be adjusted in 50,000 seat positions..!!

Worst bit: Child of 5 saying "I'm going to be sick" never had that problem before...need to get a high booster seat…!!

According to my wife I spent the entire two hours talking like a child who has eaten too much sweets..."look at that".....oh..!!..can you believe how well that works!"….

Edo

:-)

Contigo

Same here Pillman, my lady was looking at me as if I was three again! I was whooping as the engine redlined.

Fantastic bit of kit!