Going to be on vacation through the weekend, a few pics of the 09 test car...
 

Got the keys the other day for the 09. She has 600 miles on her now, going to have about 1800 when I return it next week so another employee can borrow it. I cleaned it up last night and did a couple pics of her. I will be driving it from VA to OH tomorrow morning, grabbed a couple quarts of oil just incase. Luckily I managed to talk my uncle into driving the finaly leg up to Ann Arbor, MI for saturday, I will be the michigan college football game/visiting family. Only sucky part is I gotta log every time I start/shut off the car, they are analyzing something with some little ecu looking thing in it. The engineer started to show me but half of his laptop was in japanese and it seemed like he was just looking for errors/codes in the system. He mentioned something about being able to see how I drove in it but I gotta bug him today about the results, I took it easy on it though the first day I drove it. Anyways heres some shots I did for fun, cant wait till xmas I get a real camera :) Sorry noticed they are kinda brighter then I thought.

http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030151a.jpg

http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030153a.jpg

http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030156a.jpg

http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030158a.jpg

http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030159a.jpg

http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030160a.jpg

This was a try, popped the engine cover off for this.
http://www.photodump.org/stored24/P9030163a.jpg

nice, but you should remove the blurry pix..

I drove 2400 miles in my car one long weekend. Have fun. I wonder if Michigan has settled on which quarterback they will use. The backup QB seemed to have better results in the opening game.
I'm waiting for an engine for my car. Looks like you guys will be supplying it. ETA at the moment is unknown.

Have fun, but try to avoid speeding tickets!

sounds like it's guna be a fun week.

I knew they would lose to Utah, I planned to hopefully watch them beat Miami(OH) on purpose. They are going to have a bad year, both QBs suck but its a practice season. My wife wanted to go find out my second obsession outside of cars so I got some tickets and its the only time she can get off from school for the next 2 years so it works out.

I need your job, kthxbye.

just cant even force myself to love the 09s :(

I'm not a Alum. I grew up in Michigan and a U of M fan.
Watch your speed driving through Ohio.

You have a new free car to drive. I hate you !!!! :lol:

sleepy.

the transmission is yummy!!!! have fun..

beers :beer:

yeah the chip is prob in there to see how much you "beat on it" haha have fun

Man I like those tailights, I asked about buying them and they asked me for a little over 3g's plus I would need the rear end for $600 without paint.

Drive the hell out of it!

drive it like you stole it.

LOL have fun bro... pick some ladies up for us on the way

Well, U of Michigan won the game. It must of been a fun time in the Big House.

Made it back home, yesterday. Exhausted, spent basically 24 hrs. in cars(18 hours in the rx8). Michigan won, yay for me, it was a pretty bad game but it was still fun to see a game since its been a few years for me.
The rx8 now sits at 1700 miles, friday it was at 600. Probably broke the motor in nice for whoever gets it next. averaged 21-22mpg on the highway. I expected those mpg figures, ran smooth and I had my fun through the curves of the VA/WV mountains.
Oddly I had to add 1/2 quart of oil when I left work at 600 miles from a coworker who drove it last but I piled 1000+ miles and it still sits just under full on the dipstick. I drove mostly 70-76mph the whole way.

Only issue was my tomtom kept messing up and the highway would disapeer. Not the best car for a long drive and being 6'5 but its a sports car not meant to be a long roadtrip car, I broke her in over the weekend :)

They hardly use any oil at steady Interstate speeds. Higher RPMs, engine coolant temp, and the amount of intake air all increase the amount of oil 'injected' into the combustion chamber by the OMP. Some people use virtually no oil on long Interstate trips.

The only thing I don't like about the 8 for long Interstate trips is it's soooo boring--I long for curves and hills.

Did you forget to put on your glasses? :lol:

Lucky Dog,,, have a nice time and let us know how she feels Sleepy. :)

Here are some pics of my '09 if anyone is interested. Clickable through to Flickr.


https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164...396e1b38ca.jpg


https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095...1d9c01d459.jpg

Nice car and even nicer pictures! I love the way you got the light to reflect off the hood. Makes it almost seem two toned.

How did you get the front license plate to stay on like that? They give us a terrible plastic front plate holder that makes the car look like it has buck teeth over here in the US.
I like the red rotary fog light in the mid back. I wish they had that option over here. It lights up with the front fog lights right?

Thanks. Light reflecting of the hood? I wish I could claim it was me but I must thank the mountains of Hakone, the weather, my Canon DSLR and a superb Canon lens.

Seriously though, the pics came out well, glad you like them. The licence plate is a a standard Japanese one so I guess we are lucky that they are small and no too obtrusive. I am originally from the UK, and over there the plates are long and thin and really get in the way at times.

The rear fog is a nice touch, with its rotary form. Oddly though it requires a switch to operate rather than coming on with the front fogs simultaneously.

Cool pics ...

Have to say it looks MUCH better without the fog lights.