I have the RX8 for two and a half years now and pretty much love every minute of driving it... with a few exceptions that make me want to dump it, like today.

I don't street race... But today I happened to be a first car in my lane and looking forward to zooming into a nice 270 deg curve ahead that ramps onto a hwy... A Camry was in the parallel lane and had the same idea, I guess. I half expected him to just go straight and so I kept the rpm at 3000 while waiting for the light to change, for a relatively gentle launch...

When the light turned green, we took off pretty much together, but by the time I got moving half-decent he was already ahead and merging into my lane... I kept it to 6500 rpm in the first and then just let it go... there was no way to get ahead of him and it would have been even more embarrasing had I tried harder...

We can talk about all RX8's lovely handling and so forth, but at the end of the day our car will still get smoked by something like a Camry. We can talk about good vs bad driver & so on, but let's not kid ourselves... There is no substitute for torque, and I don't believe one has to drop clutch screaming at 8K rpm in hopes of not coming behind a Civic.

I don't know even if I should bother with a supercharger or go get something that has f*ng torque, after all. I had quite a few smiles wiped out at the end of a great drive by some family car or truck rudely putting me & the car into our proper place.

 

Sorry, but I just don't get why people care who is faster than who? Must be an ego thing but for the life of me, I just don't get it. Who cares if a Camry can beat you off the line???
Just enjoy your car...

 

I take it that this experience left you so traumatized that you were unable to perform for your wife or girl friend that night?

Sad story. Made even worse by the knowledge that there's a fresh "kill" post on a Camry forum.

Ken

 

You've lost me slightly, did he floor it?

I sorta know what you mean by the torqueless low rpms, but honestly once the 8 gets above 4krpms, things are pretty fine..

 

I know this is won't be a popular answer on this board.
But if things like this really bothers you, then you should really look for a different vehicle then.
If the shortcomings of the car you're driving outweighs the benefits to you, no matter what other people say, you should drive a car you truly love, if financially possible.
Cheapest options would be FWD pocket rockets, such as the Chevy Cobalt SS or Mazdaspeed3.
But if you can afford it though, definitely go the routes of RWD/AWD.

 

I understand the frustration of the slow starts. I suppose you can think of it like this, you know what you have and you have nothing to prove. I doubt if the Toyota owner will have people looking at their car with sounds of astonishment and excitement. No one is going to tell them "Nice car!" By the way, I hear you can get a Camry pretty cheap used. If that is what you want. For me, I don't want to blend in.

 

A camry will pwn an 380awhp Evo VIII to 30mph. I am not sure how that is relevant to anything?


Your car is slower than a Camry. Get over it.

 

You've had the car a long time and you just realized how slow this thing is . I used to bitch about it but , I gave up . I do agree with you , but what can we do ?

 

I learned a long time ago that someone is always faster.
So what?

For all you know the Camry might have been spec'ed out under the hood.
Who cares? [Not saying who cares at you but who cares about a ramp race?]

Get a faster 0-60 car if you must but do not be shocked when you lose again.
Someone is always faster.

And the Camry driver might have been the better man behind the wheel.
1/2 a second being slow on the gas and off the clutch is more than enough.

It's not that deep if you're not a pro racer is it?

 

The day you start caring who's faster than you from street light to street light is the day you should think about trading in the car.

 

If you don't like the RX-8 leave and get something else. No one is holding you at gunpoint.

 

Most modern cars will out handle and out 0-60 any so called 1960's "musclecars" SO WHAT??? Its the experience, the sensations, the WHOLE package..

And just like another package, its not what you have but what you do with it!

 

Have to agree with the rest of the guys. Get a car you're happy with all the way. I just got my 8 and don't have issues at take off at the light. Unless someone guns it, then I beat most off it if I care to try. We have a light at a T here that has both lanes turn left. Had the inside lane with a Ford 250 truck on the right and I could see he was antsy. Light turned green and I got on it and smoked him before he could catch up where traffic cones closed off the right lane and he had to get behind me. Of course the turn helped since it slowed him down but with the Rx8 known to be one of the best handling cars out there; there was no way anything of lesser handling was gonna beat me off a light through a turn.

If someone passes me on a straight lane light, whoopee do. This is my first sports vehicle since I've owned all trucks up to now and that's coming from a racing background so you can guess how much I was missing the scene. I'm content with its pros/cons.

Moral point, find something to enjoy your vehicle for. If the bitching takes over the smile then well, get something that reverses that.

 

i got my 8 for its style!! its a SEXY car hands down..in and out! if you care about speed just upgrade it or buy yourself something fast. (get a turbo hayabusa) you might kill yourself but you will beat just about any car next to you! j/k don't do that

 

get a turbocharged 20b, that should beat a camry :P

 

Actually being a life long 24 years of driving manual transmissions, I am most giddy about how SMOOOOOOOOTH the clutch uptake is when taking off from a redlight in 1st gear and also how smooooooth it does when cruising parking lots at slow speeds in first, no herky jerking motions.... Gotta love the low reciprocating mass of those yummy rotors...

 

^+1. I wouldnt trade this car for the world

 

IF you owned your car for more than 2 years you should know by now that ANY camccord V6 can beat you off the line.

What you really should do is...let him in...and ride his butt on the turn.

Or just slow down enough to give yourself more space so you can do your red line in 2nd gear turning exercise...

Thats probably what I will do if I got a camry beside me...I want the fun in turns not drag race....

 

Yea I feel that way sometimes.. Also sucks knowing I'd have to pay 50% of the car's original cost in order to match a Toyota family sedan in acceleration.. Seriously why do those turbo/supercharger kits have to cost so much, aren't they about $300 or less in raw materials???

But then again its handling is sublime, it looks sexy, and it was affordable. The engine's a gimmick but I'll eventually have my Z06, or perhaps a ridiculously fast electric in about 6-12 years.

 

Wow, I didn't know there's a turbo or supercharger kit that cost $13,000...
That kit better include everything and more!

If driving this car is so frustrating for so many members, I wonder how the Miata (most popular selling sports car of all time) drivers handle the lack of speed (way more so than the 8).

I wonder if maybe the Miata owners are simply smarter shoppers that did extensive research and test drives, because I really rarely hear Miata owners complaining about lack of speed.

I guess it could also be the younger crowd that the RX-8 attracts, who tend to be obsessive with "speed" rather than the driving experience.

Even though I'm technically in that "young" group @ the age of 24, but I guess I've never been fascinated on who's "quicker" from light to light.

Then again, I'm a Car and Driver subscriber, not a Super Street reader.

Give the OP a break, he's simply admitting the mistake of purchasing the wrong car for HIM. Everyone makes mistakes, and hopefully the gentleman will find a new car to his liking.

 

Video please or it never happened!

 

I never understood why people drop 6-7k on a kit that only get's them about 70hp and some torque. You could buy a separate, faster car for that much money. Might as well aim for 350-400+hp or else there's just no point that I can see.

 

The toyota GR engine runs out of steam pretty quick in the camry I'd imagine.

Plus its a camry. Do you bitch about a MB or Jag beating you? Of course not.
The only difference this time was its a camry that beat you.

Sure I guess that's "insulting".. but is it really??
A new camry isn't that dissimilar to any other luxurious sedan with a powerplant under the hood. So whats the big deal?? (not calling camry luxury but ya it has luxury features)

 

+1^!! agree!!!

 

Time for a new car then...