CosmosMpower

Actually the S2000 isn't a bad daily driver at all, the previous owner of my girlfriend's car daily drove it from the suburbs to downtown dallas all 6 years he owned it and my girlfriend daily drives it to work/school everyday without any complaints. The seats are actually pretty comfortable, the ride is a little harsher since she has the 00 model but it's not a beating like a Lotus Elise.

I will say the RX8 is MUCH quieter in general, wind nose, road noise and engine noise. The rotary is a unique engine but how many 4 cylinder 2.0L cars can you think of besides the S2000 that can rev to 9000 rpms and make 120 hp/liter? They're both very special cars in their own right and at the end of the day I'm ok with that because I can drove both anytime I want

staticlag

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...4&page=1&pp=20

The Mighty Red

In that case, come on out to the Pennington Field parking lot (in Bedford) on the morning on May 28th (bring your RX8) and I'll see you there for a day of Equipe Rapide Autocross. http://www.autocross.com/er/

There's an SCCA Autocross this Sunday (May 7th) at the Texas Motor Speedway bus lot but I won't be there for that one. http://www.autocross.com/texasregion/

CosmosMpower

I'll try to make it out, never been to an ER event. I usually just autocross with LSC BMWCCA, NTS2K and Maverick PCA. Plus I heard pennington field is very small and I prefer wide open courses more.

Wurmfist

It depends on the state, but most states have a 3-day right to refuse policy once you sign a contract, even on houses. Unless of course the item is being sold "as-is". Not sure exactly so this may be wrong information but it's probably why they have the 3-day unconditional return policy. They have to honor it even if they didn't advertise that. Any lawyers on here that know?

SoFL_RX8

seems like less and less people test drive this car before they buy it...

am I the only one who thinks its silly that ANYONE would be so unsure as to return a 4 day old new car?
I hope you have the financial means to accomidate your indecisiveness. If you do, you should move to Miami, you'd fit right in with the rich folks down here. And if not, its okay, you can move back in 4 days if you dont like it :P

valpac

iTrader: (2)

Many have already said it.. you'll get hosed trying to return the car to the dealer. A private sale will get you closer to what you paid, but still a loss.

Springs and sways make the car a totally different machine. get 'em and enjoy your car. You may yet grow to love your 8. Good luck in whatever your decision.

Never drive in the rear view mirror.

CosmosMpower

Actually I drove my friend's 04 6spd sport for a considerable amount of time and it felt great on the street as does mine. I also liked the room and my overall impression of the car was positive so I decided to pull the trigger. However, I didn't get a chance to autocross a RX8 before I bought mine and that's where I decided it wasn't up to par for steering feel.

How many of you guys that posted in this thread have actually autocrossed an RX8 or taken one to a road course before your purchase? I doubt few if any, and if you have how many have compared it back to back with a superior performer like a S2000, Elise, Boxster S etc. If you've done that too then i think you'll see where I'm coming from.

Also I don't know where you guys are getting the idea that i would get hosed on a private sale. It's an 05 that hasn't even finished break in miles brand new without a single ding/scratch etc on it. KBB private puts it around 1000 MORE than I paid for a private excellent used sale right now and NADA values it at nearly 2000 more than I paid out the door.

Either way after I break it in I will autocross it a few times stock just to make sure I have a repeat experience of last time and if I still don't really like it then I will get some koni yellows or tein's and a set of swaybars and hopefully that will cure my problem. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions, I'm 100 miles away from being able to rev past 4000 rpms (according to mazda anyways).

mysql101

I don't think kbb numbers reflect market value. People who go by kbb tend to have no bids on their cars (when sold on ebay). But you're right, a car that hasn't been used will be a lot easier to sell.

DreRX8

I bought my car for daily driving purposes.

ALP22

Yeah right!

Who here can honestly say they never redlined their 8 during the first week?

TJLack

When I broke in my 2004, I kept under 4000 RPM for first 1000 miles (racing beat recommended breakin) and then gradually increased. Didn't redline until 1500 and not consistently until 2000.

Plan to do the same for my 2006

TJLack

KBB not at all a real world price. Edmunds used car appraisal at private party sale price is more realistic in my experience - i.e. around $25K for a super low mileage RX8 GT with all options except Nav.

http://www.edmunds.com/used/index.html

CosmosMpower

Me, you can take it to the dealer and plug the ecu into the computer and you will see the revs have never gone past 4200 rpms once. I have better self control than some people and I can wait a few weeks to drive the car harder since I made a large investment into it.

That and I also have a S2000 to drive that is MUCH more rewarding to rev to 9000 rpms

CosmosMpower

Funny you should say that, I just ran the Edmunds according to your link and it priced my car HIGHER than KBB private excellent value.

If you don't believe me look it up yourself

2005 RX8 6spd manual
Winning Blue/Black Cloth
482 miles on it currently

Options:
Sport Package (DSC, HID, Fogs)
Appearance Package
Rotary Accent Package

75010 zip code, tell me that you find the value to be less than 22,000 in top condition (which it is). I repeatedly come up with 23.5 using dark or light blue, also the Edmunds options list doesn't even mention Appearance or Rotary accent packages just dumb stuff like homelink mirror.

rodrigo67

Something you might want to consider.

This car seems to adapt to the way you drive. There has been lots of posts how people have tracked thier cars for a few days and now all of a sudden the car pulls much more then before and seems more agressive. Also, when you get a reflash it seems stronger because all the settings have been reset.

If your friend drives on the easy side and the car adapted to his style, you would definitely feel the difference...


Just a thought...

CosmosMpower

Interesting, I've heard of adaptive ECU's before but I didn't know it applied for the RX8. My friend drives his car pretty easy on the street (it's his weekend car) but he also autocrosses it pretty hard a few times a month. My main concern wasn't the power etc just the suspension/steering feel.

Glyphon

like i posted on the previous page, the rx8 actually has a better turn in response rate than the s2000 does. the s2000 just creates an illusion of quicker turn in because it uses a different steering ratio that requires the steering wheel to be turned less to get the desired turn.

CosmosMpower

Right, I didn't say the initial turn in response was slow I just said the ratio is too slow so it takes MORE of a turn to get the same amount of turning. For instance going around a typical 90 degree corner with my hands at the normal 9 and 3 positions in the S2000 I can easily make it around by just crossing my arms, not so in the RX8. It feels like you have to wheel the RX8 around with more effort to point it where you want which is what annoys me.

mysql101

That's because we have direct drive electronic power steering. How can you beat that?

Glyphon

oooooh...ok. i completely misunderstood what you were unhappy with. i'm following now.

i'd like to test out one of the s2000 type-v with its variable steering ratio, but i don't think they are available in the US.

CosmosMpower

They're not unfortunately, if you could get type v S200 with VGS in moonrock color here in the US i'd be driving one right now. Either way test drive a normal US s2000 and you'd know what I mean, I think it will just take some adjusting to a new driving style.