sti_eric

Performance is not the only goal. Can a bike haul you and 3 of your friends up to Vermont for a ski weekend?

bascho

With a side car and a trailer it could

saturn

I can't feed my family with a codpiece either, but that doesn't stop me from putting in on my xmas list.

dragula53

funniest thing I have read today.

Ike

I have driven five different supercars, some fairly extensively, my Evo is faster and more fun than the 355 I drove around Burgundy a few summers ago. I've also been in many of the older supercars, their fit and finish was crap, they were not the high attention to detail foofy cars of today, they were raw and all about performance. Have you ever seen a Ferrari F40 up close, it makes my Evo look like a luxury car.

Shifter karts are usually 125 and 250, and I could only hope my Evo was as fun as a shifterkart.

Steiner

+1

My brother had a little league coach a few years back with one of those. No stereo. No power windows. No power locks. I don't think it even had front airbags or ABS. What it did have IIRC is a twin turbo charged V8 mounted behind the driver, some really aggressive racing seats and the fatest rear tires this side of a Viper. That thing had to be over 400whp too. It was amazingly fast and obnoxiously loud with the duel twin tip Euro-trash exhaust. He was a rich bastard. Wonder what ever happened to it?

coolingmist

I traded in my Rx-8 a few weeks ago for a Lotus Elise. I agree with alot of what you said. I enjoyed alot about the car including the amazing refinement and solid feel. It was comforitable and sporty. I could not deal with the fuel and oil consumption. During aggressive driving you can watch the needle move. 14 MPG city during normal driving sucks. My Elise gets 20-22 City and 33 HWY and thats under agressive driving.

Mazda needs to make some serious changes to the Rx-8 if they want it last more than a few more model years.

Steiner

One thing I'm noticing on here about the vast majority of former RX-8 owners is that the RX-8 only increased their appetite for performance...whether it be power, handling or both. There's a lot of cars you can't say that about. For example, my buddy bought a brand new '94 Z28 right out of high school. He had so many problems with that car it was unbelievable. He swore of performance cars forever. These days the poor bastard drives a Toyota Echo.

Animagix

I think if we werent getting 12mpg around town, the rx8 would be acceptable as an underpowered car in it's class. I too am looking at wrx/STi's (maybe evo- sat in one, interior was a big turnoff). I think there's something seriously wrong about getting 12-13mpg city driving and my tank goes empty when the trip odo hits 200 miles.

alamike

Did you consider a C6? They appear to be at about the same price.

tjklein

This right where I'm at. I really like the car, I love the looks. The interior is nice and cozy, with a lot of unique touches. Two things are getting to me; performance and practicality. I had to park my 8 most of the winter here in MN. That sucks. To have to drive a 96 Cutlass in the winter when I'm making $450/month payments on my 8 sucks.

Then you add the fact that it really is underpowered for this market. (US market) I mean let's be honest here. How many rebates on new 8s would you see if the car had 275hp? I'm pretty damn sure that our cars would hold their value like the 350z if they had more power too? The RX8 is a 'tweener and that's why its at where its at. It's a rear-wheel drive sports car without the capitalized SPORTS.

Mazda did the same thing with the Mazdaspeed 6, another 'tweener that just isn't going to do well long term. All manufacturers in between cars never work out for long. There are quite a few of them if you think about it.

Anyway, I'm searching for an STI. No rush but looking. Yeah it's not as "nice" as the 8, but I can drive it year round, and really enjoy pushing the the accelerator, and at the same time save 20% at the pump.

sti_eric

Note - I drive the STi and the RX-8 all winter here in NY. Tires are all that matter.

Rich Rx-8

I agree with that darkman guy.....even though his movies suck......I think that extra perfomance is not worth the money people are spending. I'm not HUGE on performance, more so style and handling. Like darkman said a $10,000 bike or Civic turbo w/swap can perform the same as an evo or STi. My buddy's civic is ridiculous and my other buddy's bike is scary fast, both handle sick and are fast as hell. I love both cars, EVo and STi, but you don't need to spend that much to get crazy performance. I looked at the civic's as well, especially the si. Does anyone have any experience driving the si?

Rich Rx-8

Is anyone else excited about the Mazdaspeed 3? I am.

RX8_GT

We can agree here - the RX-8 with its stock tires were dangerous below 40 F. Now with new tires - year round is possible. Drove my original 1986 RX-7 in Canada in all types of weather - the 50:50 balance helps.

Ike

The difference is what kind of tires you can use. I have abandoned snowtires in recent years and now drive on ultra high perormance all seasons in winter with my AWD cars, you're not going to be able to pull that off in a RWD car. It's nice not having to put up with the awful handling and road noise of a dedicated winter tire.

StealthFox

when i glance at bugeye gd's i always say neon at first. on top of an already economy car based body its not a pretty sight. the 04/05 is the best looking GD by far, the new 06 thing looks terrible and the 4 owners of 06 wrx/sti's i personally know all dislike the new grille but got the new model for other reasons.

either way all GDs are ugly compared to the gc8 STi RA coupes, now thats a real sporting coupe chassis with a mean look to it.

StealthFox

you take the cake for this thread for good logic some people were missing in posts before this +1

Design1stCode2nd

The ultimate in functionality and fun perhaps?
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=107292

I bet I could get the wife to sign off on this if it was available in the states. Yep I’m thinking she couldn’t give me any damn lip about not having a family car.




The looks on Porsche and Vette owners faces as you smoked them would be too priceless.

rx8ultra

Nice Wagon

Steiner

I wish they would bring it here. Production has already ceased however.

Ike

I love the STI wagon but can't stand the Evo wagon, too Volvoish for me.

Design1stCode2nd

Already? Damn that sucks. Doesn't seem too cost effective, oh well.

Design1stCode2nd

I didn't know they made an STI wagon, assuming in Japan only...

Steiner

Only Japan got them. 2,500 units IIRC. Dayum shame if you ask me. My wife would look good in one of those.