RX8Club.com - NYC Rev It Up

Went to the Rev It Up deal yesterday, but this year, no racing, just looked around mostly. There was a red MazdaSpeed 8 with gold spoked rims, and heavy use of "aero" parts.

I did get to drive a loaded auto 8 (the line was shorter) but unfortunately, the way the course was laid out really didn't give me a chance to appreciate the car.

You drive up to a brake test (the sign tells you to stop as hard as you can) and the braking was indeed impressive. There was a bit more nosedive than I would expect. The rest of the course was a meandering series of curves marked out by cones, which is kind of nice I guess, except I really don't drive around Long Island like that. However, the steering is quicker in my MP3. I found myself sawing at the wheel more than I normall do.

One thing I did notice is how small it seems on the inside. Believe it or not, thanks to it's boxiness, going back into the Protege was like stepping into a Bentley or something!! The view out the 8's rear window will take some adjustment. But the seats were comfortable, everything was laid out nicely, but I wish I could have done some broken field running with it.

One thing I noticed on all the test drive demos- all of them had tires worn almost completely bald from all those clown punchers driving them around the course perhaps over a hundred times a day city after city. Shoulda taken down the VIN numbers on those suckers!