My orginal plan was to sport the Eight till I could afford a WRX or EVO. I got to tell you, I am loving the heck out my Eight. I am starting to wish I saved some more money and got the R3. I think I'm going to run my Sport until it is dead, while saving some money. When it starts to get to old I'll trade to get a low miles R3. I am assuming the car will not be sold new by then. Maybe I'll just keep this Eight I have and just buy an R3 later. Only thing is I wish the R3 had the sunroof. Small price to pay though! My Eight right now doesn't have one and I’m doing fine without it.

 

 

 

I think Paimon had the best possible response to your post, op. Not sure what else there is to say. lol

 

 

I find the second image to be more amusing. Maybe that's due to some things.. Oh well, it gets my thumbs up.

I want an R3 myself, but wow.

 

What exactly do you like about an R3 versus any Series 2?

The wheels? You can always score a set somewhere.
The seats? I didn't care too much for these as a daily driver, and they seem to wear really easy.
The front bumper and side skirts? You can always add these to any S2.
The Bilsteins? Many aftermarket options that will perform better than those.
Maybe the Aurora Blue paint on some of the R3s?

I'm not arguing with you but just curious, as I've got an S2 and am slowly adding some of the R3 appearance stuff (I've got the wheels, just want side skirt & front bumper) , but didn't have to have the R3 model over my S2 Touring model.

 

I'd rather have a GT with with an Autoexe kit, coilovers, and some proper sized wheels.

 

As an R3 owner who is heavily biased towards performance driving (autoX and track days) the seats are incredible for that, and not so bad for short hops. Having also driven it on a couple of long drives when the other vehicle was down, they are not built for that.

For me the benefit was getting all the GT stuff I wanted without the weight of the power seats and sunroof and without the helmet clearance issues I have with a sunroof in the 8. Doesnt' seem a problem for you, since you said you want the sunroof.

I like the appearance items and the wheels are sexy to me, but as posted earlier, you can add that stuff to any S2. I have already replaced the bilstein shocks with, well bilstein pss9 coilovers, and have a set of wheels and track tires on the way. 19 inch rubber gets spendy when you scrub it at the track.

My .02c.

 

 

Honestly, I'd pick up a S1 - for modification purposes. As far as sun roof, you can always put one on... or do the easier router - pickup a non-R3, and add the body kit and spoiler from the dealer.

Aurora Blue isn't the only color for R3's. There's white, black and red. Some have regional differences.

 

I want an R3 too, but the only thing i don't like are the tail lights. Anyway, cool story bro...lol

 

^ the ricaro seats.... my shoulders do not fit

 

...and the steering wheel design.

 

this
but i do race mine so i want to get some racing seats but not the R3s

oh and cool story brah

 

I guess I could settle for the S2 GT later on. The seats are pretty sick in the R3 though.

 

You can't add a sunroof on the rx8. Well, you might but it is extremely expensive since you have to replace the roof etc. Our roof is not "straight", it has 2 bubbles for aero purposes

 

I think that is why they kept it off the R3. It looks a bit more sporty to me. I'm torn though, I love sunroofs.

 

nothing's impossible It seems like the roof is one section. Hell, if you had enough money im sure you could turn a Zonda into an automatic.

 

I'd imagine buying a normal S2 and adding all that stuff after the fact would be a lot more expensive then buying an R3. From what I remember the R3 is only about 3k more.

Edit: Plus there are ridiculously good deals on used and older model-new R3's right now. I saw a low mileage R3 for 17k on auto trader yesterday.

 

I was just asking the question on why the OP wanted the specific R3 model. To me it is almost just a appearance package. It might costs more to add R3 specifics (depending on what deals you find) but then you can customize the RX-8 the way you want it to be.

Personally for me, I wanted a white S2 but there are no white R3s in the US, so that option was out for me. I did not want leather seats, so no Grand Touring for me either. I like the rotary themed seats better than the factory Recaros. I don't track my RX-8 but if I did, there are plenty of aftermarket seats that would be better for that. Don't care for the BOSE stereo and I already am upgrading the sport stereo anyhow. I didn't want automatic climate control, rather have manual too. The key card is pretty cool, but it is not a deal breaker.

BUT I like the R3 wheels, and I like the side skirts and front bumper. So I plan to add those to my S2 and now I have my RX-8 the way i want.

So if the OP want a sunroof but likes the looks of the R3, he should find a sunroof S2 model and just equip the appearance mods so that way he can have his cake and eat it too! And if he wants the seats, I've already seen three sets for sale on eBay in the last year. He can sell his current seats and use the money to fund the purchase of R3 seats as well.

I think the only unique RX-8 R3 feature is the Aurora Blue Mica paint on the 2009 & 2010s. BUT this color is used on Mazda3, MPVs, Mazda 6s etc. etc. It is not a unique color to the RX-8. Oh I forgot, the red leather stitching throughout the interior.

Again, not arguing with anyone here, just making conversation.

 

I look at the R3 in a more collectable light as well. I'm not in to modding anymore. So I want the car to come as is and just keep it really clean. My S1 is and will be kept this way. My future goal for the R3 would be to buy it and keep it as long as I can afford run it. Even after that set it aside and restore is later. I enjoy rotaries so much now that I want to preserve it. So that when all Eights are long dead and gone, my R3will be around for everyone to see it. I wish I could afford to buy one new but by the time I have the money they will only probably be sold used. So, the trick will be to get a super clean low miles specimen.

 

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

^^ 17.4k for an 09 with 6k miles. Seems a little fishy but if you seriously want an R3 its worth looking into.

 

Not entirely. There is also a "performance" upgrade, lol.

The R3 has the foam-filled cross-members (which supposedly absorb road vibration delivering a "smoother" steering response) as well as bilstein shocks/stiffer suspension tuning. Therefore, the R3 comes with a few different "performance" upgrades installed from factory.

Sure, there are tons of aftermarket options out there for suspension and appearance upgrades.

So the R3 is really more of a convenience package. Off the show room you already have not only the body kit and wheels but also a couple of suspension upgrades as well.

 

dream huh? did you cream your pants?