It was 8900 and is now 8000, but it has a better powerband now by most accounts.

 

I have several best motoring vids on my computer where the RX-8 beats out all the cars you have listed there. And another vid where it beats out a Z on a track.

Best motoring is probably one of the worst ways to compare cars. Those vids are more about the drivers than the cars.

 

Boils down to the driver when cars are this close. If you lose, it's not the car.

 

Driver ability is a greater factor on the street than most would care to admit. At the track most people have some level of experience so things are a bit more equal. On the street, anyone with some level of track experience carries a bit of an advantage in the psychological arena as well as a broader understanding of which cars have which potentials and so forth. Take the guy with the new GTO who had heard the RX-8's are slow. He didn't know well enough to not mess with a certain RX-8 out there. He got beat every which way and fled the scene in embarrassment.

Charles

 

I agree that bestmotoring isn't the best way to compare cars since all the drivers are different for each car.

I have several best motoring vids on my computer with the 8 and the one I'm talking about is the one with the rx8 type S, not mazdaspeed version. The 8 comes in second from last, the miata came in last.

The mazdaspeed version did a revenge battle and won the s2k and came in first but the other cars in the race were different such as alfaromeo 147 and a vw ( i don't remember which but it had a v6 engine)

Although it depends on the drivers a lot, there is a straight line in tsukuba circuit (where the race took place) and the other cars got ahead of the 8 there mostly. This shows that the other cars are faster in straight line performance than the 8.

Although bestmotoring vids aren't the best way to compare cars, they are a lot of fun to watch

 

Sure, but they really aren't that close. Given equal drivers the S2K will ALWAYS win, it is a step above when it comes to performance. If the S2K wins it's normal, if the RX-8 wins it's a bad driver in the S2K and a good driver in the RX-8.

 

I test drove the s2000 a couple days before the rx8. The 8 was much more comfortable and felt just as fast and fun. I bought the 8 for the rotory and high class looks. The s2000 is'nt all that great except it's a convertable and that fact appeals to me.