Alllllmost bought a 350Z.....
 

EDIT: ACTUALLY BOUGHT THE RX8 INSTEAD...




I wanted to thank everyone for all of the questions they helped me answer on the RX8.

I've taken the RX8 on a couple of very spirited test drives and I think they are an absolute blast to drive and definitely one of the best handling vehicles in the price range. You all have great cars and I have a lot of respect for the RX8 but in the end, my wife and I've decided that the 350z would be a better car for our family.

Best of luck to everyone and I hope to see you some of you with your RX8s competing in the autocrosses around the Chicago area.

I'll probably continue to lurk on the board a while.

Cheers to everyone.

Good Luck its a nice car..................

awesome its a sweet car, you'll enjoy it, love the sound of that engine

I guess your family only consists of 2 people? ;)

Congrats... I'm sure you'll have a great time with the car...

It just struck me as funny when you said, "best car for our FAMILY" ;)

Machan:

You running in SCCA autocrosses at Rt 66 Raceway? If so, for sure I'll see you there - look for the Yellow RX-8 - #355

Probably not. I'll mostly run the events at Maywood Park with the local BMW and Audi clubs. Not sure if I'll do more than 10-12 events this season. I might run some stuff with the Salt Creek Sports Car Club. Might also do some Windy City Miata Club autocrosses or some WAI autocrosses in Milwaukee at Miller Park. That's a lot of autocrosses though so I don't know if I'll get that much free time from the wifey. I also need to leave some time for DEs. Probably doing Road America in the spring and Grattan in the fall with the Bimmers.

I live pretty north (Lake Forest) so Rt 66 is a bit of a long drive for me.

How are the SCCA events? Are they too hardcore? Are novices welcome or thoroughly abused (probably welcomed and abused on the track :p )? I've only done four events and some car control clinics. Been reading the autocross bible and getting some coaching. Want to do an Autocross Evolution school if they make it near Chicago this summer. I'm an addict.

The Miller Park SCCA events are great, very active region and lots of friendly people.

Do you run there? Is it newbie friendly?

I love Milwaukee by the way. My folks used to live on the east side near Lake and North for about 15 years. I went to university in Milwaukee (Marquette). One of my favorite towns.

I live on the Eastside near the lake as well :) I have run there but I've prettymuch given up on autox, spending a whole Sunday for 6 minutes of tracktime and not being able to be competitive if I just want to mod my car the way I want to grew old. I had done autox in other regions before moving to Wi. so I can't really say how noob friendly it is, but my impression is that they are from others I've talked to. If you end up doing some events there let me know, I still stop by to spectate and say hello to people from time to time.

Two person family. Here are the reasons I went with the Z.

1) My wife likes the Z better. She is from Japan and is very image/brand concience (it's a Japanese thing). To her, the Z is a more desireable and beautiful car and is somewhat legendary in Japan (The Fairlady Zed). Nissan is also recognized as a better manufacturer in Japan due to the fact that they produce supercars like the Skyline.

Normally, I wouldn't care so much what she thinks but I don't want her bitching and complaining every time she has to ride or drive my car. I also had some other reasons.

2) I can't fit in the RX8 with a helmet if it has a sunroof. So I couldn't get the GT trim on the RX8. While a true track junky would scoff at things like the leather interior, I'm more of a weekend warrior type so I like the leather and the nice trim. I think all that stuff helps the resale. With the Z, I can get leather and not have to worry about helmet issues.

3) I have a 1.5 mile commute my office and I live in Chicago. The whole engine warm-up thing for such a short commute (especially in the cold weather) seems impracticle and would waste lots of gas. We also have a one car garage and narrow driveway so little things like moving cars around to get into and out of the garage would be annoying if you had to do an entensive warm-up to avoid the flooding issue.

4) I sense that the attention required by the rotary (oil/warm-up/etc) is not something that I'd find desireable (and my wife would not tolerate it). heaven forbid she should have to check the oil.

5) I think in the longrun the Nissan will have better reliability and better resale, especially in this market (Chicago). RX8s are simply not selling. Dealers have 2004s on the lot that they are selling for $4000 below invoice.

6) Power and torque, while the RX8 has plenty of both for me right now. I think as I do more autocrosses, track events, and I improve my car control abilities, I'll be wanting more and more power. The Z has more torque and 49 more hp and should be lots of fun. The hardcore track guys might say the lighter car is more fun but I think the extra 200 lbs in the Z is worth it for the extra hp and torque.



Again, don't get me wrong. The RX8 is a great car which is excellent to drive, just maybe not the car for me. Maybe I need to wait until they come out with a new RX7 or factory turboed RX8 :cool: ....

Happy redlining everybody :D .

*Edit* My post didn't make sense anymore so I changed it. :p

Congrats on the 8

Ever close Wolski's?

I used to hang out at the bars along North Ave like Hooligan's, Von Trier's, Landmark, etc..

Me and my friends got hammered shortly after I moved to Milwaukee and managed to plaster the I closed Wolski's bumper stickers all over the car of my friend who went home early and passed out :p

Haven't been to the Landmark in ages, but their import beer night was great. Von Trier is also a great place to be in the summertime, gotta love the old school beer gardens. I usually hang out on Brady St., nice and convenient and a slightly older crowd than what North Ave. has become. But I still manage to go watch a game or two at the BBC and take advantage of 1.50 burger and 25 cent wing night :)

yep. good luck with that 'family' car of yours. :rolleyes:

Machan, your sales numbers I think are off big time man, you need to check on that. I think we have a thread in here somewhere thats show the RX8 beating the pants off the 350Z in sales for 04.

In Canada RX-8s sold 2 for every 1 350z in 2004. But the 8 was a first-year model, so...

True True my friend...........

yes, import beer night was great, every tuesday it was back in day. $1.50 imports and you had to get there early because by the end of the night it the good stuff would be gone.

How old are you? I'm 34.


Have you seen Pat Mccurity (sp)? He's an east side legend? He used to play at the Celebrity Club, but that place is long gone.

I'm just talking about my area, north burbs of Chicago. Lots of money back on 2004 Mazda, little money on Zs. Maybe it's more of a sign of the inventory management (ERP) of the companies involved. We'll know more come spring time.

As has been posted, MSN or someone has placed both cars in their top ten for resale value.

I wonder if they are looking at the average sale price of the 04 rx8, because prices reduced greatly on them and they sold most of them at or well below invoice.

Where in the chicago land area can you get an rx8 for $4,000 off? Last i looked (2 months ago) prices werent real low.

Congrats and good luck with the Z, I like Nissan very much, but family car? LOL...selling better?

But, I love that VQ and you will enjoy your Z.

The below invoice price and stuff is strongly based on area. In FL car dealerships faught me at every turn...every inch, with the cars price. While I got a pretty dang good price for my 8 most dealerships really did not want to work with me. So, it's really dependent on your area.

But, again...injoy the Z! If it came in a usable 2+2...I probably would have gotten a Z too, but my 8 is like a drivers drug!

I guess based on this point alone, I do not blame you for your choice. I believe that the warm-up is definitely required, and there's no telling what kind of issues you would have making 1.5mile trips.

Make sure to follow your severe service interval for the Z. 1.5 mile commutes is absolute hell on an engine. The build up of combustion byproducts causes excessive engine wear, and increased fuel dilution. Make sure to take her out on some extended driving trips weekly if possible.

Honestly if I was 1.5 miles away from work, I don't think I would have purchased a sports car. Poor thing...Your oil won't even be at 50% operating temp when you park it :(.