nice write up man its nice to get a chance to play with both outside of test driving. i have just one question...im pretty sure the 8 stops faster than the Z even with the brembos. (a name brand doesnt take away additional weight that needs to be stopped after all)

 

Ya know, for me the two cars are so equal that the daily practicality, uniqueness, and style of the RX-8 win it for me. The Z is just not that much faster. And the Z forums suck. If I were going to go for a 2 seat torque monster, I'd buy a Corvette. Nothin, and I mean NOTHIN beats a healthy V8 for torque. :D

 

The RX-8 has shown to stop in under 120 feet from 60, the 350Z has averaged 125 feet from 60. Maybe you just like the feel of the brakes better or think brembos are awesome? I would take stoptech over brembos any day of the week.

The 350Z tank is 20 gallons, the RX-8 15, no wonder you have more range, the 350Z and RX-8 have shown to average about the same fuel economy in actual road tests.

I don't think you mentioned anything about the shifter feel of the 350Z, I hate how the 350Z shifts.

Cargo room I think the RX-8 has the 350Z beat also.

Is this your only car? I would have to take the RX-8 if so, sometime in your life you might have to take more than one other person in your car.

So basically in all of your comparisons the RX-8 beats or equals the 350Z except for low end torque and performance mods, yet the 350Z isn't exactly up there with performance mods. It is also well tuned from the factory and bolt ons are only minor gains. Also consider since the RX-8 is lighter it will take less HP increase to make it faster.

Are you really planning on spending 6-7K for the twin turbo or supercharger kit? Don't expect it to be bullet proof boosting 400rwhp with 10:3:1 compression.

 

woohoo, lots of replies.. nice nice

I just came back from a 350z meet and saw a super charged Z... SWeeeeeTTT....
I didn't have a chance to ride in it ... long story to why I didnt..

Okay, the transmission

the transmission in the Z is ... sadly.. crap
its notchy, its a long throw (compared to the 8), and it GRINDS!! <--- dealer will replace that

it takes quite some effort to switch from 2-3 cause the distance is actualyl quite long and you have to apply quite some force (compared to teh RX8)

Perhaps, one of the reason why I didn't drive as fast teh the RX8 on the straight is becasue I can;t switch as quite as I did in the 8. I only found out how good the 8's tranny was after I drove the Z.

I dun know... I dun like teh Z's tranny at all.. I bought a short shifter so that might make it better....

Exterior:
not the looks, the paint

paint on the Z = ****..
they chip like crazy.. I never knew what chipping meant until I got the Z... hello... they painted it with white out or soething... okay.. exaggerating here but seriosuoly.. they can do better

it takes about 11,000 k to turbo charge a Z (plus labor and tuning)... it gives about 350-450 hp depending on how aggressive you go.... not a lot of people are having problems wiht the Z twins turbos

RX7 was kinda disaapointing ... lots of break downs.. I know some were okay but lots of them broke down

I have been bashing the Z a lot, but I do like the car

it has the muscular look, weight for stability (I know 8 is stable in high speed but Z is even better and I know they didn't purposely add weight to it).. the power is much more assesible... I started off teh car in 2 gear and I didn;t know I was in second... loads of torque

its hard to decide... I drive the Z more cause its new

I talked to a couple of my freinds...

the RX8 is really easy to drive, and it takes a couple of hours for a driver to really get use to the car's handling characteristic.....

its easy to drive ... very easy... too easy

the Z is more challanging to drive casue of the power and the chassis (more rigid)... if you load up the front well enough.. lifting off and throttle will change the direction of the car very well.... the 8 does that too.. but its not as crisp as the Z..

okay.. woohoo.. lets see if you guys will agree or disagree with my thoughts =D

keep em' coming

 

Seems like you know what you are talking about and you seem to be treating the pros and cons of each car fairly. Good luck w/ your decision.

- Irish

 

Word up. those were my choices too...and although lately i've been dreaming of an sti... the uniqueness of rx-8 is undeniable, and very valuable to me.

 

yup, Z's are everywhere in boston...
but I have the white ... white Z's are RARE

in boston at least

 

Sell bothof them and buy a 20b

 

I'm guessing you mean a Cosmo, why would he downgrade from two current model cars to a mid 90's luxury coupe?

 

I meant an Rx7 w/a three rotor. Thatwouldnt bea downgrade at all exceptmaybe in styling and gas mileage

 

buying a 20b rx-7 is a $35k venture.. give or take.. unless you buy an rx-7 and have it converted.. then it is more like a $50k venture.. for a 10+ year old automobile, with no support from mechanics whatsoever. good luck getting parts.. and plan on fixing it yourself.. or spending lots of money.

 

man youguys need a sense of humor

 

Hard to tell emotion with words here. You need to be very clear on this board.

 

(about title) WOO HOO congratulations....

 

i dont own an rx8 so im not bias'd but i hate the z lik ewww when im inside i feel everything is so cheap plus its faster but it doesnt feel fast still i look at the mph shooting up and i know its fast but it doesnt feel fast and its hard to drive u cant chill and drive fast its rouch on you and it isnt fun at all and the handling is nothing compared to 8 i hate the 350z i hate it i hate it i hate it i hope it and the srt-4 both die. rx8 is so much better

 

I think you dropped these: . ,

 

The 350Z already has a fairly high compression ratio from the factory at 10.3:1. I definitely wouldn't say it's the best car for forced induction. I haven't heard much as to how much boost it can take reliability, but with the starting compression ratio as high as it is to begin with, I'm guessing not much. I think I even got a video on this computer, of a 350Z with a twin turbo setup at the drag strip, completley blowing apart its block.

I'm not saying the RX-8 is any better of a candidate than the 350Z, but the Nissan is by no means a car begging to have air jammed into it.

Also, the RX-8 ran an exact same track time as the 350Z on top gear, so saying that the 350Z is the definitive better track car isn't always true. It depends on the course.

And finally, of course the 350Z is going to have a longer range, it's gas tank is about 5 gallons larger I due believe.

 

Please tell me you have driven an 8? Your words are very harsh, I hope you are treating both cars fairly?

- Irish

 

my 8 have very "thin" paint layers on all panels

 

I've been seeing Z's everywhere in LA lately, even a lot of white ones. Another nice thing about the RX-8 is they are less common. Even though I miss the torque of the Z (which is compounded by my mistake of getting an A/T), I think at this point, it'd be very hard to go back to one. I'm used to having radio controls on the wheels, the sunroof, the paddle shifters, the trunk and it's a more liveable car on a day to day basis.

The one thing I'll give the Z though, aside from the torque, it did get better gas mileage. I finally go high fourteens on my 8 doing a fair amount of freeway driving.

 

i've had zero paint chipping/scratching even after being pelted by gravel...lots of gravel. but just touch the car with the key once.....scratched go figure.

 

14MPG? I get 14MPG in stop and go driving, where the go is less then 2 minutes driving and the stopping is turning off the engine. On the Freeway I average about 20MPG and the tight twisty roads I get around 18MPG.
As for the preformance of the 2 cars I'd say they are pretty close to the same (as close as you well find).
I think it all comes down to the weight of the cars.
In a video I have the 350Z and the RX-8 went head to head.
The 350Z was clearly faster in the straights, but could not slow down as fast, take the corners as fast, or as stable around the whole track. In the end the RX-8 did win but only because the track didn't have as long of straight sections as the 350 Z need to use it's power to the fullest.