LandYatch

I think I am going buy from a different dealership

LandYatch

Yet another update. I took the wife to another dealership, and they had another 40th aniv car...exact same as the other dealership. The wife loved the car for the space in the rear seat, and she even liked the way it drove. The guy at the dealership told her to drive the Mazda speed 4 door hatchback, which she thought would be a better "family" car but then she looked at me and said "But he would never drive this car because his friends would laugh at him".

So, wife approval is basically done. Looks like all I have to do is sell the Impala, and Explorer, and the RX8 is mine. I still have a 58 Edsel Centurian convertable and a 76 Vette is about 300 pieces to satisfy my v8 habit.

I drove my buddies Porsche Cayman today at lunch, and that car has nothing on the RX8. It is more of a beast off the line, but the owner said that if he drove it all time like I was driving it, the clutch would not last long at all (oopssie) He and I are going this weekend to test drive the RX8 again. I told him it was the same giggle factor for half the price. He is single, so he needs the "chick" appeal of the Porsche badge (at 42 years old, he is looking for any advantage he can get!)

It is time for a change, and the RX8 is different enough to be fun, styling is cool, and this car can handle like no other car I have ever owned (ok, the STI was great at handling, but I got really tired of changing CV joints every 10k miles) Of course that could of been from my wife hitting curbs in the parking garage....oh well.

Big_Mike_4488

But them take them for a drive and they won't be laughing anymore...

The 8 is a great car. Not much for all out speed but handles like a fuggin champ. I loved it but just got a little tired of it and me needs changed. Hence I am looking at a speed 3.

RMZ290

The car is a great daily driver. Mazda nailed it on the suspension setup. The valving on the shocks is near perfect, some how they can be pretty plush below 40 mph but stiffen right up in any corner over 50 mph +. For a track you may want to go more aggressive, but I think stock will be fine for most people.

Rotary engines are just completely addictive, even though it greatly confuses most v8 people. Even though it may lack some power compared to the bigger sports cars, I look forward to every drive and always take the long way home. The car is just so addictive for some reason. Find a good mountain road and keep the rx wound up above 6000 rpm and it will run with just about anything.

The mazda speed 3 is a nice, but why would you ever buy a high power front wheel drive? completely takes all the fun out of it.

LandYatch

I personally just don't care for the handling of a front wheel drive car. All of the cars I was considering (bmw M3, Jaguar Stype R, GTO, Infinity) were all rear wheel drive.

It's a little hard to hang the back end out a little bit in a front wheel drive.

Oh, and it is a little hard to find a mountian road in Houston. The tallest point we have here is the overpass over the ship channel!

I have found another 40th aniv edition on the north side of town and plan to see it Monday.

wassup_nuthin

I dont understand this whole mustangs are going to eat you from a stop and not good of the line. I dont know but maybe i have a freak car b/c my car is sick off the line w/ my g forces, i have never been tooken off the line and as for mustangs except the new ones i can destroy in the 1/8 and barley beat the in quarter, and that was before my mazsport ignition and midpipe. i am 6 spd. if i wouldnt get flammed and banned for street racing id would put up vids of me beating my buddies modded 01 gt stang. dont have any track vids yet, but will this summer. anyways good luck w/ the buy!

Blackout04RX

I bought mine back in late of the 04 model year. Reliability has never faltered. its been to the dealership once since i bought it for a computer update. I drove it since then kind of as a toy, only about 15k on the car now. You said in like your first post that you have driven it, so you realize that in the bottom end there isnt much for torque, but as you also said it sounds just gorgeous above 6K. And I disagree with alot of people about the power from a dig. I have some racing tires on my car since I dont drive it in the snow, and with those the car just takes off. So far I have hung with anything I try to, and just toy with most cars on the highway. Obviously you drove it, you like the looks, so the buy isnt the issue. As a guy who is familiar with modding cars, I suggest alot of studying on rotorys if you plan on doing anything but bolt ons. They are nothing like conventional engines, and behave differently.