i3man

I don't quite understand the 1/4 mile obsession that so many car owners have. To come to RX-8 club and constantly bash the 8 over 1/4 miles times is utterly ridiculous.

Every one of us that bought an 8 could have purchased or built another vehicle for $30K or less that blows the doors off the 8 on a 1/4 mile drag strip. So we obviously did not buy the 8 for that reason.

How important is 1/4 time when I drive my 8 to work everyday?

How important is 1/4 time when I go to the supermarket to pick up a loaf of bread?

How important is 1/4 time when you're taking your spouse or partner out to dinner at a nice restaurant?

Every 8 owner bought the 8 for a host of reasons the least of which is how fast the 8 covers 1320 feet.

moRotorMotor

I totally agree with you.Those that bash on the 8 for the 1/4 mile time are people that are either;

A) Lives in a neighborhood with his/her: work, grocery store, and restaurant exactly a 1/4 mile away... or

B) Has a really bad fear of getting stuck in traffic on the way to: work, grocery store, and restaurant exactly a 1/4 mile away from home.

Other than that, I have absolutely no idea as to why people like to compare 1/4 times. Have a Nice Day

SikRedRX-8

Agreed it is so old how people compair 1/4 miles times. Why would you want to go that fast just to get out of your 8 faster, I love driving my 8 and usually take the long way home just to get the extra time in it. And honestly if you get to the store a 1/4 mile away a second faster then me, good for you, because I look better in my 8, so I will take my precious time.

rotarymagic

The 1/4 mile time is an indicator of performance, nothing more. If you add up a cars perfromance statistics, you can compare it to others that you are considering.


One must remember, the 1/4 mile is one of about 5 important performance numbers...it is not the most important, but it does matter, if you care about performance.

What are the 5 performance statistics that matter?....
0-60, 1/4 mile, slalom speed, 60-0 braking, skidpad g's.


The fact is, that the RX8 is still faster than the majority of cars on the road, so one should not judge the car based on one performace number...it is, just a number.


There was a track test posted not too long ago, where the RX8 performed as well as a BMW m3 in regards to a lap time around a track...take that for what it's worth, the RX8 is great!!!

syntrix

All of those performance metrics are great when you compare on paper.

In the bike world, the aprillias are rated very poorly on paper compared to a lot of other bikes. Yet they are the bikes that are turning faster track times.

Performance requirements vary from person to person. We just live in a world where everyone wants the fastest car.

1/4 mile runs are fun, but not my cup of tea. Running is also hard on cars, as you don't launch the car at every stoplight (I hope you don't!)

manbar

People are frustrated because for a 30k+ sport car or sedan, you would expect the numbers to be a little bit better. Of course the rx-8 is not about speed.

btw, the 0-60 is bad too. 0-60 in 6.6 seconds (edmunds), horrible for 35k car (edmunds price for red rx8 with works), but speed isnt why people buy the rx-8 anyways so who cares.

zerobanger

I drove the rx8 saturday and now I completely understand why every single review picked the rx8 over the 350Z/G35, etc.

Its so true that on paper the Rx8 loses to just about every conceivable car in its class.

When you drive it, it OWNS every conceivable car in its class.

My FD has approx 350 RWHP, traps 112+ and weighs 2750 lbs, and I found the Rx8 to be MORE fun to drive.

RX8Lover

I was waiting for someone to finally chime in defensively with this lame excuse.

Because edmunds got 6.6 means that this should be regarded as bible? They are the end all say in the speed? NO.

And for a 35k car...sorry. If you like, I can make a list of cars that are above and beyond this price that are slower...one of which being a BMW 325i. They "only" make 185 horses or so. But do you see people bashing that? NO.

Oh, and by the way, my car only cost $30k, not $35k. Get your facts straight. But like you said, WHO CARES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Positron

I spent the past weekend in Baltimore for a little R&R. Driving from DC to Baltimore on Friday morning and then back on Sunday afternoon was an absolute blast. I was tooling up and down 95 at between 60 and 85 as the traffic allowed. There was NO question in my mind about the car being underpowered or worrying what my 1/4 mile time was. It was a joy to drive the car on a high speed road! I didn't seem to have any problem going up to 80 or 85 to pass someone. And the car handles so well (even with the 17 inch Blizzaks) at just about any speed.

And did we ever turn heads driving around downtown Baltimore. At the hotel at the Inner Harbor the valet parked my 8 next to the Porsches and BMWs and other cars costing 2, 3, or 4 times as much.

When all is said and done, I bought this car for me, not so I could beat out someone wanting to street race.

rotarymagic

well, they may have gotten 6.6 in their tests, if they really tested one. But, take a more reliable source when quoting statistics.


A more reliable 0-60 time is 5.9. My 2001 Maxima i used to own did a 6.7 0-60, and the RX8 is significantly faster than that, hence the 5.9 0-60 time

Broker73

Manbar, are you kidding. You know how many cars the 8 beats in the 0-60 area that are way more expensive. Another no brainer post??

You look at one mag, and claim it is the bible. I guess those who paid 5-6k more for the G35 should be upset eh? Not much difference in performance. Give your head a shake

voon

I'd be interested to hear what it is about then. Of course, get from A to B, that it has 4 tires, that you have atrunk maybe ... skip that. If it's not about speed and power, why did people buy a sports type car like the rx-8?

I don't own one, but I'd buy one (if mazda would offer another engine .. 15 liters/100 KM is too much for the power of the rx8). Reasons are:

- The RX-8 looks good. Yes, I think I want looks on a car
- It has a trunk, married with sportsy looks (a Seat Leon offers more tho)
- I kind of like the interiors, too
- Did I already say it looks cool?
- Has four seats that are even more or less usable in the back
- It does have power, even if not adaequate to it's fuel usage

However, many cars offer looks, interiors, trunk etc ... I think the last one is an important line, why people bought an rx8 .. it *is* about speed, at least partially.

Or would you have bought the RX-8 if it came with 90 hp diesel?

djmano

maybe....then i wouldnt have to think twice about tossing the stock motor aside and dumping a 13b-tt in there.

hmm...300-350 hp in my 8...makes my mind spin.

HIX8

My personal favorite...

JimW

I certainly bought my RX8 for speed in the 1/4 mile, but my 1320 has a lot of curves! and as far as edmunds lame 0-60 times, every other car mag and tester such as motor trend, car and driver, road and track, the television show (motorweek) and many others tested the RX8 to 60 mph in under 6 seconds!

manbar

>>edmunds has been in the car business since forever...so yes. Their numbers hasalways been more accurate than others.

bmw325 is a crappy car i agree, u happy now?

so what if ur rx-8 is 30k, obviously u have less option than the car edmunds test drive, obviously...

manbar

i dont know where ppl got the 5.9secs from, but the rx-8 can not pull that off. My friend and i ran his rx-8 a lot of times and never got anything under 6 seconds...we usually like to performace test on the cars (new or oldschool) and compare them with magazines or other reviewers. WE ALWAYS GET close comparisions to edmunds, so thats why we prefer edmunds over other reviewers.

manbar

Please list a few cars so i can at least tell you why or something.
The G35 is a luxury car, rx-8 is not. Understand why it cost more?

manbar

people like me buy it is because of looks,handling and the fun-factor that is the rx-8 itself.

If people like you that think speed vs money is everything, then we all will have SRT4s.

bobclevenger

If the G35 is a luxury car and the RX-8 isn't, please tell me why the RX-8 is more comfortable to drive? Yes I drove both and that's one of the main reasons I bought the RX-8. Also tell me why my RX-8 has almost all the amenities that the G35 offered if it is not equally a luxury car (and much better headlights!)?

Nubo

The reason for obsession with 1/4 mi times would seem to be stoplight racing, since few drivers will ever time the vehicle on a track but a significant number will try to "beat" various other models on the street.

bobclevenger

1/4 mile and 0-60 times are a rough indication of a car's accelleration ability. A car that can accellerate smartly "feels" good. I know what some of my former cars did the 1/4 in and I sort of compare them mentally: "My '96 Cobra did about 14 flat; '63 Dodge did mid-14's; yeah, they were pretty good. '70 Challenger ran 12's, but it got about 11MPG when driven gently!"

zoomzooomp5

OK, enough about the 1/4 mile time bashing on the 8. The RX8 is a fast car for the steet. It's not the fastest by far, but it certaintly faster than most car on the street. It has four seats and four doors, it turn head were ever I go, it cost my 28,500 with the aero package and man the chicks dig this car even the little kids at my daughter school tell here that my 8 is a cool car. My daughter is only 8 years old and she love to ride in it as much as I do. And when I take it out to autoX, it's very competative with the 350z and s2000. Heck I even beaten some of them and I look good doing it.

RX8Lover

sorry, you're wrong ONCE again. The only thing I didn't have is a Nav system. Obviously you don't know what you're talking about...obviously...

I also would like to add that you and other people on this forum that argue about the 1/4 mile times are arguing over .5 seconds between the RX8 and the 350Z. .5 SECONDS! Come on people. If the RX8 can do somewhere between 14.5-15.1 in the 1/4 mile (depending on the driver) and a 350Z can do it in 14.0-14.3 (ALSO DEPENDING ON THE DRIVER), you are really talking about a very small gap, and is far from being slow.

Why don't you spend less time on this forum trying to make yourself feel better about not getting an RX8 and a little more time doing something like getting a woman. :D

RobDickinson

I know my RX-8 isn the fastest in any catagory for the money.

The RX-8 is £22000, I can get a caterham/westfield like car that will beat just about anything round a track for £10-15k. For £34k you can get a caterham R500 (thats 500bhp/ton) which round a track will slaughter all but stupid money cars (or Ultimas).

What I wanted from my car was genuine sports car handling, rear wheel drive, 4 seats(important, if only 2 it wouldnt be an RX-8 on my list), reliability and practicality (for daily use, not load lugging), not a specced up econobox/sedan and price.

In the Uk there are very few matches for the RX-8, its literaly in a class of its own, especialy for its price.

Change some variables and other cars may be better (2 seats = lotus elise, 4wd = STI/EVO etc) but for an OVERALL package the RX_8 cannot be beat.