Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

Hey everyone,
Just wondering what you all think is an overrated or underrated sports car. I was just thinking about this the other day and thought about how everyone believes that the skyline is the best import car of all time. I can understand why they think that, twin turbo inline 6 awd. Very nice, a masterpiece by nissan. But i was watching so many japanese videos where stock, an rx7 took our an r34 vspec 2 on track racing. I remember watching fast and the furious when it came out and 2 fast 2 furious and when the skyline came out, all the teens and college students that were there all jaws dropped and just thought to myself, its nice but on the heavy side (the stats of the car impress me more than the looks). I mean, they are nice cars but i feel that most of its noteriety is because it never showed up in the states and because you really got to be rich to have one. Also, as a former supra lover, these cars are freaking crazy nice (twin turbo, inline 6, rwd and blahblahblah). Lovely machines but i fell are overrated. Though i enjoyed seeing it in the gillette (i think thats how you spell it) commercials.

Mazda RX7's i feel are underrated here because of the bad reputation they have for being unreliable and because they don't live up to the other super cars (because of lowers hp and torque). I feel like the US is more inclined on drag racing and straight road racing that i feel like they don't really appreciate the ability of a cars handling on the track (may not be true for everyone but i feel like its the majority of people). I know here, we all appreciate the rx8's abilities on the road. I remember hearing a discussion in the coffee shop that i work at that these two guys were arguing about the japanese super cars. One man mentioned the rx7 as being one of the japanese supercars and the other just started to laugh saying it shouldn't be considered one and calling it a peice of junk. I felt inlcined to defend but we were getting busy and i couldn't comment about it. But yeah, some people just don't appreciate the rx7.

Also, i feel like the 240sx (s13 and 14's) are highly underrated in the US. I know that s15's and s14's in japan compete with skylines, supras, rx7's and ect. and even has the potential to beat them but over here, i mean only time i see them is in drifting competitions and car shows here. When i see them on the road, always some old people driving them, most are pretty wore down but i feel those are some nice vehicles.
Thanks to initial D, the AE86 is getting pretty popular now and days, those are nice cars but its hard to find an alright condition one because of its age but it was really underrated until initial d mainstreamed it.

Integra Type R's, overrated because its a GSR but lighter. I just feel like its overrated because everyone wants it just to have a Type R but most people i know that have it dislike it because no power windows, no A\C and i ask why did you get it? They answer, its a type r. Then i tell them not to complain about all those stuff because they choose to get a true racing car. That car is not made for comfort or convenience, its made for tracking and so on. I mean, if you want it that bad with all the convenience, save some time and money and get a GSR and just put type r badges and stuff on it.

The RX8 i feel is underrated because of lack of hp and torque that so many people say about the 8. They compare it to the rx7 like its the replacement for the rx7 but its not. 2 different type of cars, 2 different classes. Most people don't appreciate the suspension and control of the car (except for all of your that are aprat of this forum). A guy came up to me while getting gas and said why did you get this car? I responded by saying, the looks, and the control that i have when driving and he responded by saying, that the rx8 is a peice of trash and called it a wannabe sports car and blah blah blah. Oh man, i felt so offended by that guy and just thought to myself that no one appreciates what mazda tuned the car for, for tracking.

ANYWAYS, i would like to know what you all think is an overrated and underrated car in the US. Most contries i feel appreciate most if not all cars that are out. But i would like to know what you all think.

side note: sorry for the long long long very long, could be a book thought. I guess i started venting my frustration while i was typing that. Well, i thank you all for your patience and all of what was said was my opinion and i dont want it to seem like im talking trash about other vehicles. I do appreciate all the vehicles because the designers created them for specialty things. So please don't think that i'm hating on certain vehicles b/c i'm not, just stating an opinion. Thanks for reading though! You must all be pretty mad at my long venting post.

- Jon

mike1324a

The Skyline is mega overrated. The rb26 is over rated in terms of engines too, i feel the 2jz is superior. The supra is also over rated. I too, still love the car, its beautiful and can put down some serious power with very little effort but you know its over rated when you pay the same price for the car used with 40,000 miles on it as you did brand new. I will agree the 7 is underrated. The 240sx's are a bit pansy here because of the lack of the sr20det and because we never got the s15 which, in my opinion is easily the best looking. I think, along with any prelude, civic, integra and crx, the eclipses (some are good but the majority are not) are overrated. I think the boxter and 911( maybe not as much but it is a damn fine car) are a bit underrated here in the US. Of course im gonna say the 8 is underrated but im tired of people telling me i should have gotten the Z. The Z is a good car but i think its just a bit overrated.

yiksing

I think most people overrated the GTR's power (not comparing with supercars here) but underrated its AWD system.

The 350Z is overrated (no offense Z owners, I love the car as well but non-true enthusiast seem to think its so bloody fast, I would think that it would have a hard time going against STI or EVO).

The 8 is certainly underrated coz most look at specs sheets and ignore it totally, little did they ever consider OVERALL BALANCE but I agree it could use a bit more torque.

The Type R is also underrated and its not just a little more than a GSR, even a Type S is far from coming close to a Type R in terms of performance, as for power windows and stuff, the Type R do come with these as options coz the imports in my country all have them.

Celica GTS is underrated

RX4life

i agree on mostly on what you said.. but i think you are somewhat confusing poplularity with overrated.

there is a reason why the skyline and supra eVO STi type R as well as other cars are popular.. they are remarkable cars because of their character and their potential, simply put they were and still are a technological break throughs

with the introduction of twin turbos and AWD and Vtecs..pretty amazing if you think about it..

yes unfortunately the rotary never really caught on by the masses because of its crucial weakness.. the thirst for gas and oil.

and the bad rep the FDs had, just made it worse...a real car guy knows what the FD is and the its capabilities..

i honestly think if it wasnt for gas prices and excessive oil consumption, the FD would be recognised for what it is and if they continued building the car till 02 like they did in japan.. slowly upping the power each year to match those of the skylines and supras.. it would have been an instant hit..

the gas station guy is right to some point .. our 8s are a hybrid, leaning more towards sports car but it does have some sedan in it... its unique and thats what sets this car apart.. just the fact that it doesnt have a conventional engine sets it apart from the rest...

and think about it this way how many people in their lifetime have the chance to drive a rotary powered car compared to a piston engine which drives 99.99% of cars out there!

we are different and in a world where different is not always appreciated ....think of yourself as a unique individual...someone who has seen the otherside... and laughs back at the ignorance, and close mindedness of people...just laugh back at him and feel sorry for him.

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

True, i might of got a little side tracked with popularity when talking about the gtr and supra. I love the supra, i still dream about cheating on my rx8 with it, hahaha! But i have a look but no touch policy compromise with my baby. Anyways, i do agree with them being a technological break though and i'm impressed by it but at the same time, i guess the vast majority overrate the car because they see it in movies and sort of like the holy grail. Yes, its a technological break though but don't over simplify the fact of power and etc. With the gtr, big innovations and at the same time, sacrificing weight and etc. Also i'm going rotary all the way now! In a year about, im going to purchase an FD, hopefully r2 or r1 if i can find one stock. But from the day i got the 8, i agreed never to get a piston car unless its a family suv or van. With the suv, im thinking about the cx7 cause its sort of an offspring of the 8.

But anyways, it just somewhat irritates me that kids, teens and even adults would just use the spec sheet as evidence of the car. Sure spec sheets say a lot but most don't realize the potential within cars.

For YIKSING: I didn't know the type r came with those features. I should of done more research on that but with like 5 friends that own a type r, none of them got those options on it. Kinda wierd. And i agree with you about the 350z. Also, yeah, the celica is underrated and if they came out with the gt-4 in US (im pretty sure they didnt come out in the US), the celica market would be up there. Too bad some people don't realize that without the celica, the supra may never have existed.

Madhops

If we are also talking about past underrated cars, one of my favorites is the Celica GT4 ST205, we never got it here in North America (don't know why, we got the older models). This thing was all wheel drive, 242BHP, looked cool, was packed with techno goodies, and won tons of WRC races.

I totally agree with what RX4life said about why those certain types of cars were popular, the technological breakthroughs were what people identified with in those cars. Take the the Integra Type-R for instance, true it wasn't the fastest car around but it had the highest hp/liter N/A engine available, and it was the best handling front wheel drive car around. So yes the Type-R was hugely popular but definately not overrated.

shaolin

RX-8 is over rated.

Ford Focus is under rated.

Ford Focus FTW!!!!

PWN3D

OMGWTFBBQ

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

Yeah we (as in the US) missed out greatly from the gt4. Really sucks for us. I can see where you and rx4life are coming from with the type r and it probably is true. The US is a deprived nation in terms of cars. We missed out with type r's, rx7's, celcia gt4, skylines and even silvias/240's. A lot of these cars are popular due to rarity except for the rx7 because of the bad rep. If only the majority knew about the bathurst, type r, rz and even the spirt r, i believe yeah, the view on the car would be different just like rx4life said.

Again, i'm sorry for the mix up between overrated and popularity but the 2 can sometimes intertwine with each other.

Another underrated vehicle i just though of was the mitsubishi gto aka 3000gt. I just thought about it because it was considered one of the super cars between 1990-1999 because of the AWD and twin turbo. I believe its underrated because mitsubishi did the vr-4 (the awd model twin turbo) but never got the kudos that nissan did. Even though it was crude and less technological, i mean they deserve to be noticed but was swept aside due to the gtr's. Even the rarest convertible hard top with auto retactable hardtop vr-4 didn't get kudos for being one of the rarest and last super cars made in the past decade. Thought i would also add this car to the list of underrated.

For an overrated car, some could argue the STI because of the spec sheet even though so many test compared it against the evo and the times and starts were almost and if no identical to each other. Though the STI boast 300+hp i believe while the evo mr's only have 278 hp, throttle response on the evo is a little bit quicker and so on but the misconception of hp=everything blinds people of real stats. But this car might be another intertwining between popularity and overated so if it is, i'm sorry for the adding but i though i should throw this in to the pile.

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

I'm curious why you think the rx8 is overrated and the ford focus is underrated. It'll be cool to give us your reasoning, i'm interested in reading why. (I dont want to seem like mean or anything cause everyone has a right to their own opinion, im just a curious person. Haha)

Ike

Sarcasm > You

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

hahaha, i'm really curious! I just didnt know how else to put it because everything else that i typed seemed sorta messed up. Haha, i tried.. i tried


Forgot to add, im honored by the great IKE's presence into my little unworthy thread. I read too many threads with you in it, never thought you would drop in to my little one.

astro

BTW, what year did the US first get the WRX or EVO?

Ike

I was simly pointing out that Shaolin was kidding. Though if for some reason he isn't it could certainly be argued that the Focus is underrated, they're great little cars, especially models like the Focus RS that we don't get here. Autocar did a test a little while back and the Focus RS was 4.1 seconds a lap faster than the RX-8

In response to your original question, it's tough to answer since I'm not sure whos ratings we're talking about. I think the GTR and Supra deserve all the hype they get, they are incredible cars that helped changed the way all Japanese performance cars would be viewed for years to come. The 3000GT stands out as a car that is overrated by the casual car guy, it's an understeering pig of a car that has some neat gadgets. The Silvia is also overrated in my eyes, they can be really good cars but it takes pretty extensive mods to make them that way. Here in the US they're underpowered yet so many kids think they can buy one, put on some graphics and a exhaust, and suddenly they have a super fast drift car...

One underrated car for me is the MKII MR2, the car just didn't sell and it's still a great little performance car by modern standards. The SRT-4 also wasn't given enough credit for being a good all around car and one amazing performance bargain. It one of those cars that other people like to pick on and disregard as being nothing more than fast ina straight line.

Ike

2002, sad we missed so many good cars, the STI showed up in 2003

dillsrotary

i think one of the rare japanese cars we here in the US missed was the altezza(lexus IS300). In japan as a toyota model it was a pretty fast 4 door rear-drive sedan, boasting the supra's 2jz engine in the turbo form(i think it was a single turbo instead of the twin version.) Also its rear tail lights gave birth the the "altezza" clear lamp look that everyone liked.

Hornet

Good call! This has got to be one of the most forgotten cars ever! Mid engine and if I remember correctly it had the 50/50 weight distribution going for it too!

Chrisbert

Was that MKII MR2 the one from the early 90s? I remember that car; it was quite fast for its time, but insurance was outrageous for it. Then they went with the wedge shaped one with the supercharger in it.

BlueEyes

This was the Mk2. ignore the tape. I really liked these cars, this is what I would like Toyota to bring back instead of the Supra. Only done right, not all half *** like the Mk3.

Hornet

Beautiful, and that one is a turbo!

astro

Wow... I was wondering why you guys never mentioned anything about MY93 or the very first generation of WRX. The MY93 - MY98 were very small cars... I actually preferred the smaller dimension compared to the MY01 platform. I've also had MY98 WRX and MY01 Sti with those round headlights. Not the pretty, however it went OK!

Back on topic...

I once benchmarked my Sti against a Porshe Carrera 911 3.4 litre 221 kW model. My Sti was rated at 206kW. First 3 gears the STi is pretty quick... very very quick. However, at about 160 km/h on fourth with turbo boost spooled up, a Porsche 911 just blew me away. My foot nearly popped through the firewall with vigorous force and wondered whatever happened to my turbo power???? That feeling of just seeing the back end of that Porsche pulling away is something I cannot forget. Effortless grunt and power from a 3.4 litre NA. I guess I can say I overrated my STi against a thoroughbred... hahaha!.

Another was an S2000... which kept buzzing next to me in my STi up to about 180 km/h... 5th gear and above 200km/h... the STi slowly pulls away. S2000 underrated. IT is quick once it is in the engine's powerband.

MY01 Sti has great mid-range... however, top end power seems to tapper off quickly and you are just left spinning the motor to redline "coz you can".

I grew up and got myself an RX8 . Hmmm... and this is the first time I have ever joined a forum. OR went out on drive days with fellow RX8 owners and doing track days, and anything that cost money that involves my RX8.

Hornet

AWD drivetrain loss sometimes is a killer when you are moving especially when you look at the Porsche already having more power at the flywheel. The S2000 is more than likely close enough in power but lighter giving it an advantage and in all reality at speeds like that the rwd really shows the advantage! Cars like the STI and Evo are really at their best below 100mph (160km/h).

Tirminyl

I agree with Ike with Focus. The new 2.3s are great. Get a Cosworth tune kit and your at 230bhp NA and ready for turbo. Sex. Also you can swap a 3.0l Dura V6, 2.5 Dura V6, 5.0 cammer, 4.6 V8 and almost anyother Ford V8 under that hood. It is a fun car and can be made with FWD performance and AWD performance due to its versatility.

Another car is the Escort Cosworth. I love that damn car. Many don't realize the performance of that thing.

Red Devil

I was going to name the MK2, a much better car than the Supra in those same years, imo.

dmp

more of a problem is the bastardization of the word 'sports car'. Every Kia owner with a big wing claims to own a sports car nowadays.

sti_eric

Couldn't agree with you more! When I hear certain vehicles called "sports cars", I often think of the witch scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

CROWD: A witch! A witch! A witch! We've got a witch! A witch!
BEDEMIR: How do you know she is a witch?
VILLAGER #2: She looks like one.
....
VILLAGER #1: She has got a wart.

My version:
ME: How do you know that it's a sports car?
RICER: It looks like one!
RICER: It has two doors and a wing, it must be a sports car!

Personally, I like to recognize two categories: sports cars (cars that have the performance aspect to satisfy the "sport" part of the equation: Corvette, GTO, Evo, STi, etc) and sporty cars (cars that look like sports cars but don't have the performance to back it up: Celica, RSX, etc). But, that's just my opinion!