alright... within the not too far future i plan on trading in my car for something better. right now ive got a jetta w/ the turbocharged engine... been nothing but trouble but still fairly entertaining i guess. so i think its about that time to ditch this thing and finally buy a new car. my debate right now is which car... i want a rwd car that is pretty balanced, but i also want some power. everything ive read about the rx8 makes it sound like it's awesome carving corners, but not the quickest thing out there. i've read some mixed things about turbocharging the engine (which i must say after having my first turbocharged car, im a bit of a forced induction addict now). my other option is perhaps a Z, but then again i see way too many of those and its not quite as practical. plus all ive heard from other people i talk to is "get the new gli or a new gti"... but i cant handle more problems with a car.

so i guess what im looking for here is some honest input from anyone... modifications, reliability, etc... any good selling points for it id be willing to hear, because to be honest i think its by far one of the best looking cars out there... just gotta get around to test driving one soon.

 

The RX-8 is just about the best balanced car you can buy for under 50k. You might look into the new CX-7. You can preorder it from Mazda's site now. The Mazda speed 6 is also a great car. It really depends on how long you are going to own it and what you plan on doing it. However, nothing can substitute for a test drive.

 

oh im aware of this... just seeing if i can get some owner input, and i plan on owning it a good while, however the only two mazdas i really like the styling of is the rx8 and the mx5... and as for a cx7, never will buy an suv... i hate them, its either a car or a pickup truck, no in-betweens.

 

Rx8 is well balanced and a fairly quick car. Not the fastest in terms of horsepower like that Z. Also, since you have been driving a turbo'd car, you might feel the loss of torque in the rX8.

but, after you test drive the car, you might just fall in love with the car like the rest of us.

if you check out the multimedia section, you might see some modded car pics. In the techie section, you can see the stuff that can be done on the car that other ppl have done.

So, there you go. This forum is the best place with tons of info.

All the best.

 

thanks a ton buddy... ive been craving a car that can stick at a decent speed... my old old car could corner like no other, the jetta is like a brick... kinda plows.

 

test drive em both and pick the one YOU like the best. no one can choose that for you, because either car will have positives/negatives and if you talk yourself into one over the other you'll just be on here posting about how much you hate the crappy gas mileage, can't stand the thought of possibly flooding, etc.

if you fall in love with the 8, you'll be like most of us ... willing to accept the annoying little idiosyncrasies with a smile as you redline beep!!! otherwise you'll end up liek the other 10% of the forum, just here to bitch about how much this car sucks.

 

hahah, thats how i am now with my current car... bitching about it on other forums... not really my choice of cars, but i was fortunate enough to receive it as a gift and i did have a choice then between two cars... both jettas, one had a lame 2.0 engine that was worthless, and the other had the turbocharged one, a no-brainer. but this car im buying myself... my big qualification: as long as i dont get a check engine light once monthly like i do now, ill be happy with pretty much anything... and i do plan on testing out a few cars, just like to do my research before hand... i like to be informed so the dealers cant try to blow smoke up my rear.

 

If you want a pretty quick, nimble car while remaining practical, it's hard to beat the 8. The only car I can think of that really competes as far as practicality and overall performance is the G35, but then you're getting up well past 30k. You can easily get an 8 in the low to mid 20s. Sure, I'm a bit biased because I love my 8, but I really think they hit the nail on the head in making a wonderfully balanced vehicle.

However, just as Reds said, don't let other people pigeonhole you into getting a car you don't like. This car has some issues like flooding (might be fixed, not totally sure), lack of torque, crappy gas mileage and an engine that requires about half a qt of oil between changes. If you're willing to accept these things and you enjoy the way the 8 drives, I think you'll be quite happy with it.

Now, if you're more of a raw power kind of guy, you might want to look into the GTO also. They discount those things like crazy every now and again and they're also a pretty darn nice car on the inside. Only problem would be insurance probably - I was seriously looking for a while and then learned that my rate would double in the Goat. That stopped me right there.

Anyway, good luck with the hunt! Hope you find something that suits you well and doesn't give you the headaches of the VW

 

think about a used c5 vette?

 

absolutely not... me and gms just dont agree, never have. never liked the vette not even the old ones... gimme a ford or dodge anytime... but not a chevy.