Rx8 vs 2012 Rav 4
 

My friends wife has had an Rx8 for years (its an 04), and they recently had a baby, so he decided the Rx8 wasn't good enough and went to go look for a soccer mom car, and after much looking, they ended up with a 2012 Rav4.

i would never have thought to compare a Rav4, and an Rx8, but it happened, and i've now driven both cars back to back, so i can offer the comparison.

Power: the wife wanted to keep the 8, because its awesome to drive, they compromised with the Rav4, because its actually faster in a straight line. i don't know how much HP the Rav4 has, but its got a BIG V6, and runs low 14's in the quarter. the Toyota does feel very powerful, however its also a big truck, so its heavy. we can call this even.

Safety: since the primary mission is to carry first born, safety was job 2. both cars have a 4 star crash rating. i'm not sure how comparable this is, as the Rx8 is a car from 2003, and the toyopet is a truck, but 10 years newer. so we can call this a draw as well.

practicality: the Rx8 wins here, the door arrangement and height make installing baby really easy. the Rav4 is a truck, so baby must be lifted in. additionally the toyota is (typically) big on the outside, but small on the inside, so while it can carry more stuff, its not as much more stuff as you'd think.

handling: the Rx8 hands down wins here, the toyota is numb and kind of scary.

ride: the Rx8 wins here too, the Rav 4 has a really bad ride and its noisy too. i guess its a truck, but still….

styling: the Rx8 might not be a masterpiece, but the toyota is so bland i'm not sure we can say it has styling. you can park the toyota in a parking lot by itself, and not be able to find it.

mileage: this is a draw, the toyota has a BIG v6, and its a heavy truck, its better than the 8, but we're talking 24mpg vs 22…

for a conclusion, the Rx8 wins fairly hands down. its quieter, rides better, easier to use, and almost as fast, with similar mileage….

so if you are considering a car that runs 14's in the quarter mile to haul your baby around, you should buy the 2004 Mazda Rx8 in lightning yellow

OOOOOOO k

It's a fair review. Thanks!

:lol: @ lightening yellow

so did they keep the 8 then?

if the 8 beat it in most aspects i don't quite understand the point of changing cars.

Well… I guess any two cars can be compared, but seriously, a sports car and a Rav 4? Apples and oranges. Make that apples and watermelons.

I was thinking it's more like comparing apples to sock puppets.

I can relate. Last week I was comparing the Honda Del Sol I currently owned with a pickup truck I was thinking about getting for a daily driver. It was mostly a battle of gas mileage vs practicality. Long story short, just sold the Del Sol yesterday and am looking at pickups now.

First of all I think the RX8 is almost a masterpiece and secondly it is hard to believe that an 8 is more practical to carry a baby and all the stuff than a Rav4. :yesnod:

What a comparison...lol

Oh believe that... I kept my RX-8 and have always used it since the birth of my daughter almost three years ago. She came home from the hospital in my RX-8.

Rear-facing:
https://fbcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.ne..._5929174_n.jpg
Stroller:
https://fbcdn-photos-f-a.akamaihd.ne..._3459040_n.jpg
Forward-facing at 16 months:
https://fbcdn-photos-d-a.akamaihd.ne...75283662_n.jpg

And boom goes the dynamite.

i don't get it either, i think baby = big truck or something. they did keep the 8.

it is apples and watermelons, until you have a baby. like i say i wouldn't have thought to compare the two (i actually didn't know toyota still made the Rav4), but my friend has the two, and a baby and last week the Rav4 was in the shop, and instead of being a major disaster it was fine.

Why a v6 rav4 and not a diesel one? it makes no sense...

Please do a review on a 2001 Honda CR-V VS a C7 Corvette next!

Yep, it boomed 16 months ago after 167,305 original miles. I had put in a reman-engine so it can still go zoom-zoom...

Toyota doesn't sell a diesel Rav4 here.

lol, i think you missed the whole point. and secondly who would buy either of those?

Move to a 21st century country then!

:p:

seriously though, a 2.2l 4 banger turbodiesel has all the torque you need to tow and offroad. Why use a bigger gasoline v6 that is overall worse and also gets bad gas mileage?
On your long, boring roads and with your speed limits a diesel car is the way to go.

The U.S. is weird about diesels. They're not nearly as common as in other parts of the world. Many manufacturers do not send their diesel models to the U.S.

because the diesel probably doesnt pass emissions here?

i live in California, and we have a thing called the CARB, Clean Air Resources Board, and their mission is to clean the air, at any cost.

there are two errors with CARB, the first is that its a non elected board that has basically infinite power (even Hitler was elected), and the second is that their mission is too specific. their mission is to ONLY clean the air, and they will poison the water (with MTBE) to do it, energy efficiency also isn't on their radar.

the CARB has kind of worked, the air IS cleaner.

so what about diesels you ask? well the CARB mandated low sulphur fuel (you should see whats required to do biodiesel here, its basically impossible). this low sulphur fuel is supposed to improve tailpipe emissions, but since every diesel in the world is setup to run on normal diesel, basically very few diesels pass the CARB emissions test and can't be sold here.

we've also legislated ourselves special gas, which means we pay a lot more because its special, and then sometimes even more because there are only 2 refineries serving California, and sometimes they catch on fire.

so if you look you'll see that there a lot of diesels in the states but not many in CA. BMW, and i think the blu-ray mercedes?

Yup, low sulphur is bullshit. Ethanol produces formaldehyde with combustion...
..And you have 20mpg "low emission" cars that pollute more than a "kind-of-high" emission car that does 45mpg.

'Murica I guess :)

California! and we can't do anything about it, because they aren't elected.

the rest of the US gets the diesels

i had the Rav4 last week, so i can add more.

1. it has a large badge on the side that says "sport" so obviously its a valid competitor to a 911, or a corvette.

2. handling. we know the Rx8 has a very even weight distribution, side to side as well as front to rear, and its got excellent geometry, but the real magic in the Rx8 is the long wheel base. so we get a chassis which handles excellent, and rides well too.

i was prepared to say the Rav4 is like a 60s american car, big engine, soft numb suspension, but it isn't. the Rav4 handles like a go kart. it also rides like a go kart. the suspension is super stiff, it doesn't move much for anything. if the steering had any feel, it might actually be fun, but its numb and somehow non linear. so the net net is that cornering is kind of scary.

3. the toyopet was i think $32k, and for that kind of money my parents have a volvo XC60, which is smaller on the outside, bigger on the inside, rides better, and came with two plane tickets to sweden.

Yeah my buddies wife has new Rav4 (she has owned three versions over the years) and this new one is turd as well. Solid reliable transportation and that is about it.