love it, love it, love it!
 

test drove a 2007 rx-8 sport at model today. what a sweet car. is $21k out the door a good price (that includes all taxes and fees and a trade-in)? now i'm wondering if i'd rather have the touring model. the touring model seemed a little more claustrophobic (i think the sunroof eats into some of the space).

just an opinion, if you know how to drive a stick, find an 05, 06 MT for the same price, I PROMISE if you thought the AT was sweet, youll love the MT. Again just an opinion, dont let me rain on your parade.

they have a manual transmission model, too. it's the same price. just curious: why would you recommend a 2005 or 2006 over a 2007? i used to drive an rx-7 and it was a stick shift. i often encounter bumper-to-bumper traffic, so i wasn't sure i wanted to do all the shifting. for highway driving i'm sure it'd be a thrill. and i'm sure i won't be getting the full sports car effect with an automatic. i had to replace the clutch/flywheel in my old rx-7, so i'm thinking maintenance-wise an automatic could be cheaper in the long run. anyone know?

Get the MT. If you think the AT was sweet you'll think the MT is sweeter.

mt, get the mt. you'll regret it if you did otherwise.

Depends on the trade-in. If your trade is a 1971 Pinto, it's a great deal. If it's a Bugatti Veyron, it's a bad deal.

You need to separate the price of the new car from the price of the trade.

FWIW, one year ago I paid $25,400 out the door for a new MT Sport with DSC and all-weather floor mats. No trade. YMMV. Lots of posts in the "What was your final price" thread.

Oh - I agree with everyone else. Get the MT, not the AT.

Ken

I got mine less than two months ago and test drove both....sadly the MT is much more fun to drive than the AT. Test out the MT and i can almost promise ull never look back

There are many people that are happy with their Automatic Transmission.

There are even more that admit they made a big mistake.

don't make a mistake and get yourself MT, AT are slugish.

21k out the door sounds nice, pending on that trade in you mentioned, one question, where are you located? add that in your profile

Get the MT or else you will die.

If you know how to drive a manual, get the manual.
If you don't know how to drive a manual, LEARN how to drive a manual, then get the manual.
Automatics are for old geezers in polyester trousers who wear a hat while driving at 29 MPH with their right-turn indicator permanently on.
Automatics are for little old ladies who only drive to the shops on Saturdays and to church on Sundays and who use the choke as a hook to hang their handbag on.

I'm in the Tampa Bay area. Not sure how to add that. Trade-in is a 1998 car with 170,000 miles. (No Bugatti here!) It appears my other half really doesn't want me to go through with it. I'm not the most financially responsible person in the world, and the worry is that the gas mileage will put me in the poor house. I drive about 12,000 mils a year just to work and back.

sunroof has always been one of my biggest bickers about the 8. I'm 6'1" and feel that the sunroof (which is told to lower the roofline almost 2 inches) forces me to sloutch a hair.

Not that its unacceptable by any means, because reclining the seats back does yield a lil more room, but it's just kinda...blah.

Ironically so, even with the limited headroom, I still prefur having a sunroof to not. Don't let that be your determining factor, because the other options that seperate the sport from the touring is more involved (traction control and stability, anyone?)

If she's not sure bring her with you to ride along in the car. She'll be hooked. Tell her it's just a 4 door sedan really. As far as gas mileage compare that to maintenence costs you've been paying on what you're driving now. Also you can run 89 fine and get 20mpg on the highway.

Figure at 20 mpg and $3.00 a gallon for 12K miles that's $1800 per year or $150/mo.

A car that gets 30mpg will cost you $1200 a year at $3.00 per gallon or 100/mo. Can you afford the extra $50 per month?

What he said. Also, read my response on page 2 of your original post titled "i need help".

If you are hooked on the car, welcome to the club. Don't F'K up and make a bad financial decision because everyone on here is cheering for you. Once the newness wears off, all you'll have is payments.

If you do get the car, understand that the manual feels like a friggin jet, with the shifter, controls, everything. Keep in mind that if the AT was your first inclination, then this car might not be for you. I know I may offend some, but this car was built for true car enthusiasts. I'm sure most are even surprised that it COMES in an AT. I know I was, when the dealer offered me last years model in an AT. I told him I was offended.

Where in Tampa? I would suggest you attend a meet before deciding. There are plenty of MT's and AT's to base your decision on.

There is another group: Those of us who wanted an MT, but because we drive in highway traffic daily, we go for the AT.

Believe me, if it weren't for the driving conditions I knew I would face on a daily basis, I would have gotten that MT. So, at least I do have the sport AT with the paddles & manual shifter for when I need it.

Bottom line .............. Get the MT, unless you drive highway daily. Its brutal, to say the least to have a MT and you're stuck in creep-along traffic 3 - 4 times a week.

I mentioned an 05 or 06 cause they are cheaper. Also, from what my dealership tells me, the AT's have the most problems with the engines, could just be a freakish iowa thing, but its a valuable piece of knowledge. TRUST ME as well as everyone else, unless you want an RX8 STRICTLY for looks, buy an MT!!!!!!!!! IF you cant afford a 2007, like I mentioned theres plenty of 05 and 06's that will be in your price range and you can easily find an MT with low miles for less than 21K. Let me spoon feed this decision to you. 212 horsepower, or 238 horsepower???????? Thats what I thought, go with the MT!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the information. If you're in the Tampa Bay area you might have already encountered me. I feel a bit like an RX-8 stalker. I happened upo one of the RX-8 meets at the Citrus Park Best Buy a few weeks ago. I asked one person some questions and by the time I was done shopping everyone must have been in Chili's. But all the pretty RX-8s were lined up in a row. Any chance of getting 25 mpg? I have seen that some people have gotten that kind of mileage. The main sticking point with my spouse now is the mileage. I know it isn't going to get 30mpg but isn't my happiness worth something? Ha. Extra happiness balances out lower mileage on my book. Dealership called today to tell me they had a buyer for the car I was looking at. I told them to let it go. At least someone will be zoom zooming. Sigh. I haven't lost hope yet. Anyone think any 2007s will be around in October?

don't hold you breath on the chance of getting 25MPG. I'd guess that less then 10% of the people on here even get 24MPG from the posts ive read over the last year.

can't really stress it enough. If milage is even MILDLY a concern of yours, the 8 is NOT a car that'll ever meet your standards. If you look at the EPA sticker before you look over anything else on the car, it would be wise to probably move on :dunno:

12k back & forth to work per year sounds very similar to my odo - and $150 per month at the pump is a bit of an underestimate by my calculations. Not that shaun's math was bad, just that it looks like it's prlly a 'best case' scenario. Based on the 12k miles for work it's a safe bet there's another 5k in there (at least) for the fun of it!

I hit the pump every 5-6 days. Figure $200 a month in gas to be safe.

Oh, and the "someone else is gonna buy your car" tactic is the biggest load of crap a sleazman, er, salesman can give you.

wait, no - that's wrong - the "I'm practically giving this car away" is the biggest. :lol2:

Everything must go!! These prices are in sane!!!

Again if she's not on your side on this, make sure you take her with you to look at the car and then get in a 2006 honda civic right afterwards. It will be no contest. She'll want to get the RX8 as much as you will after that. Just say "but honey the honda civic gets 30mpg."

Your gas mileage will depend heavily on whether it's highway driving or city driving.

If the milage is that important to you , just don't get it . You could do some searching in regards to gas milage and you'll see not many are happy about that issue.

Good Luck......

It doesn't sound like the gas mileage is important to him. It sounds like it's important to his significant other. My advice is make it secondary to her and do the math to see if it's going to be a financial hardship or not. If it is I don't recommend it as you should probably go with something less expensive. Never get yourself into a financially tight situation over a car. It's not worth it. But if you don't mind the extra gas you'll never regret it. Just gas mileage should not be a concern with this car.