Owned an RSX Type S for 26K miles. Beat the s**t out of it. Not a single problem. Maintanence - 5 oil changes at the dealer. Never had to look under the hood. And when I sold it, the depreciation was next to nothing. About $160/month of ownership. Don't think any of us can say the same about the RX-8. Honda makes great cars. No two ways about it. If only they had an RWD coupe with one of those sweet 4 bangers...

WOW! I can't believe I wasted so much time reading this. It bounced all over. Anyway, to respond to the original claim. I would never compare a RWD to any FWD car at all..maybe AWD. I consider my 8 an entry level luxury car. I understand some guys live life in spans of 1/4 mile (which is cool)....but I would never even look in the direction of a Civic (great economical cars...and Honda dressed them up nice this time, but it's no RX!!).

And just to start crap...I think the Maxima is so damn tired. Nissan doesn't even know what to do with it...LOL! You'd have to be insane to buy one with the current Altima on the lot.

Consider yourself lucky to have dumped it while it was still fairly new!
My civic issues were with the suspension, alignment, wind noise and general poor feel to the car. We had this car for 95K miles. It was on its third set of tires when I traded it!
And I forgot to mention that it had the worst shifter/manual transmission I have ever experienced. It would bind up on a first to second shift at higher RPM which could get dangerous under some conditions.

I can say the same thing about my '91 Sentra SE. I can say it about my '90 Mustang 5.0 LX... which is still running as my father's project car. I can continue on... '79 Mustang Pace Car, '83 Mustang GT, '87 Mustang GT, '9? Ford Ranger, '87 Taurus...

Cool thread for me, glad to see that it's back on track.

I have a new Si coming my way, hopefully sometime early next week.
I REALLY REALLY wanted an RX8, and in some ways I still do, but in the end I think I went for the Si 'cuz it was the "safe" decision.

I travel for work so my car sits in the lot for up to 5+ days at a time. I also do a lot of short hops (grocery store, blockbuster, etc.) Neither of which is suited well for the 8.

Athough maintainence on the 8 is managable I need a really reliable car. Going to the shop for some minor work covered under warranty is no biggie. However having my car not start and me missing work is a HUGE deal. Even though it's just a spark plug change it still requires a trip to the shop and I don't have that time when I'm on my way to catch a flight!

Even though I don't do a lot of miles the gas issue was another problem, not for me so much, but the wife wasn't happy about it at all, so it was just another hurdle for me to get her to overcome, and we all know how much fun it is trying to convince the wife to like something she doesn't!

I also don't have anywhere to store wheels/tires right now, although that will change soon, so that was another factor, if i got the 8 I'd need snow tires right away (I live in Buffalo).

I love the look of both cars. Although the 8 is sexier on the outside I think I'm one of the few that LOVE the Si's 2 tier interior. I love the red stitching and red backlighting as well. Even the steering wheel is stylish!

What else? Insurance for the Si is only going to be $11 more a month than my current car, so that was no problem. I am worried about it getting stolen so I plan on putting an alarm in it ASAP, any ideas?

My wife drives a Mazda 3s 5 door...awesome car! But I'm not too happy with the local Mazda dealership. When we bought her car I felt pressured and when I've gone to deal on the 8 the salepeople really weren't informed at all. I got the feeling that all they care about was $$$. On the other hand when I stopped by the Honda dealerships (3 total) they were all very well informed and fair. The salesguy from the dealer I'm getting my Si from was VERY knowledgable. He was a gear-head as well and just loved cars. We chatted for close to an hour when I first went in to look at the Si and he didn't mention a test drive or putting money down for one or any other sales tactic, we were just talking shop, so that was cool.

What else? I guess resale value (as long as my Si doesn't get stolen!lol) is another issue. With these massive rebates I'm sure they're killing the resale value. We all know how well Hondas hold onto theirs.

I think if I had a 9-5 job where I'd be driving every day it would be a little different. I'd be able to keep a close eye on it's needs and give it the TLC that I think the 8 needs in order to be hassle-free, but in the end I think I chose the car that was more right "for me". It is kind of apples to oranges but still a valid comparison IMHO.

Another poster mentioned why we're even talking about Mazdas top model to Hondas "cheapest" model...well I think that says a hell of a lot about Honda! ;)

sounds like a good choice to me

WRX was tuned for mid range power (3000 - 5600). Indeed... power does taper off once 5600 rpm has passed. It then becomes a case of revving the motor to 7000 rpm coz it can! Also, you need to so as to be in boost after upshifting.

I could have sworn you just drove a GTI with DSG? Did you plan on buying that a matter of weeks after getting your EVO? I really think you do go drive cars to come onto forums and give us your opinons albeit very well written and you make SOME good points but I still find it strange. Oh and my butt dyno is fine thank you very little. Either way I guess I can some up a SI comparo with a 8 this way, a rx-8 is a purpose built sports car with real sports balance, setup. The SI is a tuned econo car with sporting intentions (fwd) does that make it a bad car; certainly not its' a great car and will make many owners very happy for many reasons. Yes it's quick and handles but to me thats were the comparo starts and stops..yet again just my opinion.

I think the new CivicSi is a neat car. For those that don't mind/prefer FWD, it's a good choice (though the Mazdaspeed3 looks tempting).

Though I will say, had a friend in college with an older 160hp Si - forget what year. One summer he put in hotter cams, a full catless exhaust, intake...my FC RX-7 turbo still pulled the same car lengths when we compared, and my car had no powertrain modifications done that summer. Maybe it's wrong, but we walked away with the opinion that those cars need FI or NOS to make any worthwhile improvement.

It's an easier stretch to compare an RX-8 to an S2000, Honda's top model (not including Acura). Both fairly lightweight, RWD, high-reving sports cars that excel at autocross. Performance goes to the S, but practicality goes to the 8.

I think more people would be cross-shopping between these two than the 8 and a Civic. Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't want to own a Civic past the age of...22 or so. ;)

Why was this moved? :scratchhe

Hate to be late but by buddy has an 06 WRX and it isn't any faster than the RX-8.

Isn't any faster with regards to what?

I did, my fiance has needed a new car for a while so I went to check out the GTI because I know she'll try to buy the first car she drives.

Good call, at least you fiance wants something sporty and fun, my gf wants a damn chevy avalanche.....which I hate VERY much....anything with a bowtie except vette. Out of everyone on here you are the best to get into good rants with, at least the only one I'll spend anytime trying to get a rise out of:):):)EVO's wings are rice:):)j/k sort of

Well I drove both and I now have an RX-8 in my garage.

The Civic Si is a nice car but there were some things about the car, which I did not like.

Dislikes:
- The interior meterial was somewhat cheap.
- That funky dashboard :eek:
- I could not see the front of the car - cab forward design. There was a huge dash
that extended out to the bottom of the windshield. I felt like I was in a Chrysler.
For a sports car I want to see the front.

Likes:
-Great exhaust sound.
-Nice ride - not too harsh, a little soft in the corners.
- The seats held you in place.
- Can use car all year round without changing tires.


The RX-8 interior materials blew the Civic SI away. You new you were in a much more $$$ expensive car.
The RX-8 exterior styling speaks for itself - Beautiful
I had RX-7's in the past and love the Rotary engine.

Finally - I just couldn't see myself in a car that was geared towards the younger crowd.

As for the WRX - I could not even sit in that fugly car - sorry.