Some of you may know I have been torn between the RX-8 and the G35 Sedan 6MT for the last few weeks. I also test drove some other cars (e.g. EVO) that were a lot of fun too.

Last week I tested the RX-8 and loved many things about it. But there were some niggles. No real feel of acceleration in the rev range I drove it in, although it went very quickly in a relaxed sort of way. More importantly the car didn't look as pretty as I remembered it and looks are important to me although one might not think so based on the other cars I mentioned above. That particular RX-8 had just arrived at the dealer and had not been cleaned up yet - a dirty black car covered in rain-drops on a gloomy day doesn't often look good, I could barely see it's shape let alone it's details.

On Saturday I went back to the dealership with my wife and mother-in-law as they had a silver car that was about to be picked up. STUNNING - in a field of nice-looking Mazda6s this stood out like a beacon. Also the cloth interior is much better than I had expected, those who ordered it will be very happy. The mother-in-law (very practical minded, doesn't drive or care about cars) didn't like it because it only had two doors - I showed her the rear swing-doors and then she liked it too - even the mother-in-law approves!

I measured the space in the back for a rear-facing baby seat (need horizontal 32" from seat back) and there was sufficient room in front of it for my 5'1" wife to sit in the passenger seat. The stroller may not fit through the tiny 13" wide trunk opening, so I may need to buy a second (smaller) stroller. The lack of 'push in the back' - well I rarely went above 5000rpm in my test drive, so perhaps it will materialise from 7k-9k or when the engine is carefully broken in. I can certainly live with it as it is not too different from my IS300 already, and I can enjoy all the other aspects of the car in the meantime. The lease price differential between this car and my IS300 or the G35 is still huge, so I may decide to finance it instead (a first for me).

So RX-8 it is - thanks for everyone's reports and feedback that helped me decide. My car arrives later this week or maybe next week...

 

Good choice!

 

You chose well.

Enjoy the car when it comes in.

 

Yes! Good choice. They're so much sweeter for real... As far as the power goes, you were just getting into the zone @ 5k, you'll see.