I don't care how big of a hole-shot you need, a 17 second SUV does not beat a 14 second Sports car. :) Not of the sports car was 'trying'. Could happen, I guess, if the race were shorter than about 20 feet? Maybe?

186 pound feet of torque I believe.

maybe he has an automatic 8 an automatic 8 prolly would lose to an suv.

What does the 8 have?

Doubtful that'd happen too - at least not to a 17-second SUV such as the XL7. I bet I could power-brake an RX8 and out launch MOST SUVs, Mini-vans, etc. :)

Prolly out-launch most manual RX8s, for that matter.

2.1 second 60ft- times ;)

Even still, the weight difference is too huge to discount. The XL-7 weighs almost 3900 pounds to the 8's 3000 or so. It'sa no contest. Do you haul anvils in the back of your 8? Did you take your tires off and are running only on the rims? These are the only viable explanations I see for failing to outrun a big SUV like that.

I have not owned 11 cars just 4. All the previous ones were old as hell, and I drove them into the ground. Despite their age I still like most of the older ones more than my brand new 8. You're right I am beating up on the 8, I hate the car, and now I am stuck with it for 4 years. If I could afford to get rid of it I would.

That's irrelevant, but for giggles it's 159 pound feet. That number is really of no meaning. Are you forgetting that the 8 is a sports car, with more aggressive gearing? If you can't pass an XL-7 with the 8, would you be losing to a 2.5 RS in an STI? Or since you're so concerned about torque numbers, would you lose to a uhaul with the v10 turbo diesel probably running around 600 pound feet of so?

Pkskull, why don't you just admit that you're a mag racer and a grown man who is just now learning to drive a stick? You could have bought a Vette and you'd probably get smoked, since you don't know how to properly drive.

We all know that the 8 isn't the fastest thing out there, but those of us that can drive it properly at least get more out of it than you can.

I'll concede one area where the XL7 whoops up on RX8s.








Towing Capacity.

If you hate it so much, why not go sell it? Trade it in for an SRT-4 which has loads of torque. There are many ways to get rid of the car, if you don't like it, do something about it.

It just sounds like you bought the wrong car for what you want. Many people buying the 8 know it ain't gonna hang speedwise with many other sports cars/sports sedans. Instead they buy it for the handling (twisties is were it lives) and the unique styling. Where you made the mistake is not trading it in before the 2005's came out. Now you will be upside down on any trade and will get screwed unless you find a dealer to work with you. (The mazda incentives are not helping either). Or enjoy driving the car and know that your not gonna have a chance with a STI or EVO....(or even the Legacy GT... ;) ) and wait for someone to make a reliable FI system. Really...don't be so hung up about what you can and can't whip in a race.

I think it's fine for him to want more power, it's his opinion. He just needs to quit complaining and do something about it. Put it up for sale, put an ad in the classifieds or Autotrader.com, and use the money from that on a down payment for a new car. If you hate something so much, you'll be mad you kept it for 4 years, and you won't get much out of it fun-wise or money-wise. Sell your car!

Thats exactly my problem there is no way I can afford to give up all the money. I put down 15,000, so I would not be upside down, but I would lose a ton of value if I traded it. I've come to realize that I can't beat those cars, and for that matter, I can't beat anything with a good motor. It's just disheartning to own something you hate when I worked so hard to get it.

As for the XL-7, I have already concided that the RX-8 will beat it, but I am telling you that you will have to work really hard to do so. In order to beat that truck down you will have to flog the 8. Do that enough, and you need a new clutch. The problem isn't just that the 8 is slow, but also that you have to work so hard to get it moving. Shifting at 7,000 RPM's is terrible for the clutch and your drive train.

Two things...1.) If you have an MT shifting at 7000 is not a prob..don't worry about it. Your still 2000 rpm below redline. 2.) If you are not upside down than just trade the fucker in. Cars depreciate...fact of life. You won't get nearly as much towards a trade in 4 yrs from now than you would tomorrow. Regardless if you put $15,000 down. Really...you prob owe $8-9,000, the car blue book is around $24,000 (give or take). Realistically the dealer will give you 18-20k for the car due to the 05's being out and the incentives currently available thru Mazda. You will loose at best $5,000...probably less. Just dump it and get what ya want.

It's not the engine you have to worry about at 7,000 it's the clutch. If you f up the engine they will replace that, but not the clutch.

Brother - you need to invest your money in a driving school. I'm hoping you aren't insulted by that; no offense intended.

regardless of any of this peak torque doesnt matter at all. torque over the powerband does, (look at the area under the torque curve to give you an idea of potential)...you got more area under the curve you have more potential for whatever weight the car is. calculus always wins. i doubt the xl7 has as much area undner its curve.

btw i almost never get smoked off the line...a wrx is faster off the line, but im certainly not losing to big or small SUVs either.

incorrectly shifting is bad for a clutch at any rpm, if you shift well you can do less damage at 9500 rpm than someone who doesnt know what they are doing at 4000rpm. and btw if you're complaining about being slow racing the car why are you not using the entire potential of the car before you completely discount it. Its not a camry it has a 9500rpm fuel cut off because its built to handle it.

PkSkull77,after reading your post, I have come to a conclusion: you are one sad sad man! If 77 was the year you were born, that would make you 27. A bit too early to have a mid life crisis wouldn't it? Unless you only plan to live to see your 50s. Sad indeed. :(

ahh that explains it. If you're shifting at 3,000 rpm you're going to get smoked by the 12 year old on a BMX.

Don't worry about the clutch when you shift at 7k. The majority of clutch wear occurs when you accelerate from a dead stop. So unless you dumping the clutch at every light (which will not only burn the clutch out but tear up your gears) you'll be fine. Of all the WRX's , STI's and EVO's I have worked on, never have I heard of anyone complaining that they burnt their clutch out shifting at Xrpm. Just sell it now and get what ya can. You won't loose that much.

Honda did the same thing to me. I had a CL-S with 260HP. 1 year later they release the Accord Coupe with 240HP and 6 speed. To top it off it had voice activated everything. For 5 Grand less than the CL-S!!!

:mad:

Why would they give the car such a high redline and fuel cutoff if they wanted you to shift at 4000rpm in every gear? The car was built to handle it, so was the clutch. When you're going down the track do you wind it up to 9000 and take your foot off the gas until the tachometer says 4000 to shift? They gave this car such a high redline for a reason. The S2000 is the same, slightly lower redline lower, you are supposed to wind it all the way up and then shift. I think you might want to consider getting performance driving lessons, it would help a great deal. Don't take any of this as an insult, if you hate the car trade it in. I don't think you whining is getting you anywhere.