Considering Cars.
 

Hi, I am currently considering my options for a new sports car. I like Mazda and drive a protege. Anyway, I've narrowed my options down to two cars, the RX-8 or the 350Z. Did any of you consider the 350Z and what made you decide on the RX-8? There are things I like better about both of them, I would get an 05 model on either one.

I also had the same dilema. The reason i chose the RX-8 is because of the freestyle doors. I have two rugrats, and the freestyle doors make it easier to put them in. So if you plan to have kids, go with the 8.

Heh, no kids yet. This is a car I probably would just keep as the first member of my permanent stable, not a daily driver anyhow. I've always been a car enthusiast and I consider both of these cars significant achievements of their time.

Check out the nifty search feature at the top. The 8 vs. 350Z topic has been discussed many times.

You may also want to read this months Road and Track magazine. They have an update to the long term test drive of the 350Z which is kinda interesting.

I also looked at both before I purchased. I think I made the right choice.

I was debating between the RX-8 and 350Z for a very long time (about 1 year)....the more Z's i saw on the road...the more i wanted an RX-8. People in RX-8's get alot more attention than people in Z's (Because Z's are so common). The new Renesis Rotary was also a plus...i LOVE the way they sound!

I went with the '8. It comes down to seats, engine and whether you want a car that handles - but is still smooth. The 4 seats of the 8, the RENESIS and the 50/50 weight distro make for much fun - for you and 3 others!!

Have you test driven the 350? I test drove the new Z and the 8 today. I won't tell you what I think but here's some of the differences I noticed
ergonomics
clutch
gear findability
comfort
handling

the most important factor to choosing the 8 for me was the no of seats. other than that, i prefer the looks of the 8 over the z.

however, everything else is pretty much equal for me... the z is a notch on top in the performance criteria. if the z had 4 seats which one would i choose? prob the Z to be honest even tho i'm a big RX fan.

I had actually ordered a 350Z, then bought the 8 and cancelled that order. To this day, I still wonder sometimes if I made the right choice, because I really like both cars. But I choose the RX8.

My main reasons for choosing the "8": I could get the RX8 with a sunroof (not an option on the Z), a DVD nav system, spoiler and full appearance kit for less than the Z.

Also, I really like the interior better, the materials look more refined and it just looks better. I absolutely love the instrument cluster on the RX8.

Both cars handle well - the 8 has a better ride though, on the other hand - the Z felt more like a sports car to me, because you sit lower in the car but the Z has alot of blind spots too.

It was a really hard decision for me, and I probably would have been happy with either car, but all-in-all I think the RX8 is a better deal.

You need to test drive both cars, tell the salesmen you are gonna buy one or the other and you want a long test drive, and I have found out through my buying experience if they know you are gonna buy one or the other - they will deal!

Originally my choices were between the Z and RX, but I realized it would be impractical to own two cars with only two seats, so the Z came off my list. I then added other cars to my shopping list--EVO, STi and G35coupe. In the end I chose the 8 over the rest for the reasons everyone else has listed. I liked the looks and the unique nature of the 8. Love the handling combined with a good level of refinement and of course I am a rotary geek.

My sister-in-law drives a Z. She actually prefers my 8. I've driven both cars at length. I find the Z is too hard edged. Its sporting nature makes it too hard to live with day in day out. You compromise too much to have a car with performance potential (mainly powertrain) that you will probably never use 99.9% of the time. The 8 has a different kind of performance potential (namely effortless handling) that I find myself using almost 99.9% of the time.

That being said, if the 8 did not exist, I probably would be driving a Z today. Conversely, another of my friends who bought the Z earlier before the 8 won't admit that the 8 is probably a better all-round car. He keeps quoting 0-60 times, torque figures, even suggested the 8 was a girl's car. Oh well.

Re: Considering Cars.
 

They do have very different personalities, so you'll have to decide which is more your "style," driving and otherwise, rather than simply comparing performance statistics.

Even without kids, those rear doors and seats come in handy. I carry a computer bag with me every day, and it's just soooo much easier to toss it in back.

And that rotary sound... I can't get enough of it.

The 8 is kinda like a 4-wheel superbike, and the Z more like a japanese muscle car. Which can you wring more fun out of?

"You need to test drive both cars, tell the salesmen you are gonna buy one or the other and you want a long test drive, and I have found out through my buying experience if they know you are gonna buy one or the other - they will deal!"

Yes, I do need to do that. I've briefly driven both cars, but was never given a chance to open it up at all. I'm not planning on buying until next year, but I like to do research well in advance. I'll make sure to let the salesman know he has a 50/50 shot of making a sale when I go back.

As far as the extra room goes, I really am looking to get 0% practicality out of the car. I also go back and forth on which styling I like better. The uniqueness of the renesis engine appeals to me, but then I also like the growl of the Z's V6.

Thanks for your input, and I see some of you grappled with the same decision. Doubtless, there are more horrible decisions in the world :) In the end it may come down to which one I can get the best deal on.

Let us know what you decide.

I too was looking at the Z vs 8 dilemma. And a big dilemma it was for me. I'm a Z guy at heart. Always liked them and have owned 3 of them (all Z32's) in the last 12 years. In fact I've only been without a Z since 92 for about 16 months. Sold my last Z early last year (mid 11's- 124mph trapspeed). That being said let me tell you why I chose the 8:


1. Backseat














:)

But aside from the backseat there are a couple of issues I have with the Z:

1. The interior feels a little "cheap" to me. Not what I would expect from a 30k car.
2. Never fell in "love" with the looks. Backend is missing something(and the damn tailights remind me of a Mercury Couger)...front end has Celica headlights. Only view I do like is the side.

I would have picked the Z over the 8 just for the performance edge that it holds (in a straight line), if it weren't for the backseat issue.


I have two rugrats and the extra room was a must. If Nissan releases a twin turbo 350 the kids can walk :)

My 8 vs Z story
 

I based my selection on some of the following always in 8 vs Z order (no particular order just rambling)

available in yellow>not available in yellow
Door hanlde perfect(exterior)>door handles weird
radio controls on steering wheel>Not available
lots of misc storage>limited storage
trunk>hatch back
TPMS=TPMS
sunroof>well none
style that never quits>short lived exterior appeal
homelink mirror=homelink mirror
stock wheel style>stock wheel style
shift feel > shif feel
pretty ass > weird tail lights
price
feeling of being one with the car > feeling like i was operating a piece of machinery
8 yes seats had a small part
Z pure race ability almost temped me
G35 was also a canidate most all of the same reason still led me to the 8.
S2000 too but slightly different process took place.


that is just a taste, my actual pro con list was longer

I choose the 8 because of its flexibility. It's a sports car with the ability to do most of the things a sedan offers. It handles like a dream and at the same time, has a relative comfortable ride. It has the best of most worlds. It even handles snow quite well. Who need an SUV.

In one word the RX8 is Balanced.

Al

Banned for life!!! :p

T.

Check out Best Motoring Int'l 6 (the 350Z shock) and then BMI 8 (Rotary Reborn). Might change how you think about the Z. It gets portrayed as some heavy numb slow pig a lot on this forum but Nissan did a lot of work on that thing and one of the BMI reviewers said it felt more stable at high speeds than an R34 GTR.

What are you going to use the car for? Do you plan on modding it to fix things that you don't like? That's really the thing that matters most.

john

For me it was between the G35, Z, and RX8--I chose the RX8 because I have had a Rotary Before (93 RX7), I've had nothing but Mazdas, and like everyone else--the Z was only 2 seater--I need the extra space and what not--a two seater is fun but the Z doesn't have usuable space in its hatch with that strut brace. The G35 was too expensive and the Z was too common. All in all I am glad I went with the RX8.

The Z does have 4 seats. It's called the Inifiniti G35.:)

Re: My 8 vs Z story
 

For the original poster--Yellow won't be available in 2005, so this reasoning won't be valid for him.

If you have kids and want more power, I'd say go with an INFINITI G35 Coupe, they have four seats as well and are really luxurious, imo..

goto a 350z forum and ask them the same question (try www.my350z.com), and see what they say. They are generally pretty mature too and respects the rx8.
I personally likes the Z better and Im getting one this summer as soon as they have the daytona blue colored base model available again, but ive seen new rx8 being offered for $22k for the automatic (MD, VA, DC area), ull never find a new 350Z for such a great price. stock vs stock the rx8 dosnt stand a chance in terms of performance, but you can use the price difference to mod ur rx8 (I dont know how the aftermaket is for the rx8.. the other members can probably answer that for u), then its probably a different story. practicallity definetly goes to the RX8 too, better daily driver.
If you are willing to shell $35k, look at the G35 coupe, i like it better than both the rx8 and 350z by a lot. The 2005 version with 6 speed manual transmission will have 295hp and 19 inch wheels.
The 350z is also getting a hp boost in 2005 btw, they dont have concreete numbers yet, but it will likely be around 305-310hp.

hope this helps, definetly testdrive as many cars as you can.
and good luck. If i have a family and needs more than 2 seats, I would get a rx8 instead of 350z. (unless i can afford a G35c :) )

known problems:
g35: none that I am aware of, but i havnt done a lot of research on this car, so im sure there are some as every car has problems.

350z:
-possible tire feathering problem (inside part of tires get worn out faster than outside, causing loud noise after 10k miles) -this happens to a small portion of 2003 models, and even smaller portion of 2004 models. Its not yet fixed, Nissan is still trying to find out why it happens. Right now they do offer to replace ur tires for free. Its still an annoying problem if you are one of the unlukcy ones.
-cheap paint that chips easily
-horrible stereo on the base model, the base is way too powerful and amp is way underpowered. if you get a trim higher than base, you also get a better stereo.

rx8:
-engine can flood if youre not careful, theres a new ECU flash that helps, but no one knows if it completely fixed it yet
-some people seem to get really bad gas mileage on their RX8.. do a search on this forum and ull find plenty of posts regarding that matter, my friend gets about 17mpg doing highway commute everyday.
-also has cheap paint that chips easily