RichardK

All cars begin as concepts, somewhere. But my gf pointed out that my current cars (Outback excepted) were 'concept cars' that made it almost unchanged to production

Will the RX8 continue this trend, or does it count as a 'preview of a production car' sort of concept?

Anyway, even if I lose the concept car link - my two cars have a connection. Japanese, and they have wierd doors!

If you hit the link in my signature (Atomic Monkey) you'll see a car which is seriously rare in the US - I think perhaps two are running about there - but a few are making it into Canada now.

moRotorMotor

I have never seen a car like that before. The only thing I like about it is the doors. The interior is what really threw me off.

RichardK

I quite like the interior, though I wish that the 80s Japanese themes had infiltrated it more and it had a digital dash. I know they have problems, but they're cool

What should throw you off is the 1.5 110bhp engine. It's a little shopping car!

Gander, eh? I've stopped there when a jet had to refuel. What's it like driving down (I think - maybe it's across) there?

zoom44

does the Sera come with "scissor" doors stock?

zoom44

never mind i see it does

http://my.reset.jp/~inu/ProductsData.../SERA/SERA.htm

intereestign that the first hit with google was in fact the page you linked

you know one our admin's username is omicron?

moRotorMotor

Gander is not a bad place to be driving as long as you know where the bad parts are. There are some roads that are so bumpy, you feel like you are riding a horse. It's neat that someone recognizes Gander . We miss having the Concorde land here.

RichardK

Scissor?! Blasphemy! Those are "Butterfly" or dihedral doors, and the Sera was the first car to feature them (the next, IIRC, was the McLaren F1, then Enzo then SLR - hoever the Sera is still the only one to extend the glass area into the roof, which is the really nice bit of the design).

I don't get scissor door conversions. You have to open them out before lifting them anyway... The Sera needs 43cm clearance to the side to fully open the door, I love parking near people and opening the door quickly without looking - they're sure that you're going to hit the car.

Although now the doors lift themselves from a few inches, which is cooler still. New parts++

RichardK

I wish I'd been on Concorde, I was on a Lockheed Tri(dent/star?), some ancient airliner en route to Florida. It was actually very impressive, seeing how this old design was much roomier and more comfortable than a new 767/777 - though, the engine noise was terrible.

I didn't see many roads when landing, hence why I was curious about the driving. I've only driven in Ontario, and the route across to PEI (that was a great drive - 160km/h in a 4.7 Durango, one side on packed ice, the other side on tarmac, and secure as anything).

I quite enjoyed the Nortern Ontario roads, but I was very scared of traffic cops having a UK licence and driving the Durango or previously, a 300M. PEI was easier to be relaxed in, the roads were very much like Scotland.

moRotorMotor

I have to applaud you for driving a Durango 160km/h. It didn't feel like you were driving a boat? I'm curious, are you the same Richard K as on Top Gear?

RichardK

*laughs* Hell no. Though they offered auditions a while ago, and I intended to send in a tape (why I didn't defeats me. I have a DV cam and a Mac with all the editing software. I'm just lazy). Are you thinking of Richard Hammond (Hamster)?

The 2005MY Durange I was driving was a bloody good truck, I wound it up to 180 at one or two spots. They're very stable, and my gf's family made the mistake of saying "Well, I bet you can't get the tail out" - I've been driving AWD cars on and off since I was 19, so I demonstrated... not sure the AWD system would be up to much off-road though, I'd rather have nice, familiar Quadratrak.

I'd love to drive a Hemi version, but I'm mostly envious of the AWD Magnum Hemi - if they sold those here at the direct exchange rate price, I'd have one without even thinking about it.

zoom44 - Omicron is something I've seen on a Lancia ID plate on that website, so I think that is where they get the name from. AndrewC who is the Sera nut who set up that page (one of my homepages is also quite a common hit for Sera) has never mentioned any RX8 connection, so I think it is a coincidence!

moRotorMotor

Haha, my mistake. I thought Richard Kay is the Richard on Top Gear. I believe he is the touring car champion. Nice read about your little 'demonstration'. Welcome to our RX-8 Club too btw.

Never mind, scratch Richard Kay. It's James Kay, he's the british touring car champion and I mistaken it for a Richard Kay who doesn't exist. I'm losing my mind. Haha.