Stavesacre21

I know the feeling...as i've a 97 cobra too, but you learn really to love them both for different reasons. Almost like a jekyl and hyde kinda deal.

The shear torque of american V8 is pretty hard to pass up, but after driving the cobra, I get back in the 8 and find it to be a much more driver friendly car...the biggest difference being that you have nothing from a dig. However, it all fades into the limelight quickly. For one, the clutch doesn't require extended play and effort all the time, the interior doesn't look...american, (naturally) and the number one reason why you should love the 8 in comparison...the shifter. Wow...just a dream when put up against almost anything muscle oriented. Its like butter when compared to the T-45 OR the T-56

Rhythmic

That race is definately not a good comparison. It was obvious that the guy in the 8 let off b/c of the van in front of him. The SS was starting to pull, but that vid made it look like it had a 100 shot of nitrous that he hit and the end or something.

fourdaystillfeb

my previous car was an ion redline which is the exact same running gear as a cobalt SS except with polymer body panels and a saturn badge instead of a bowtie. the redline would stomp all over my new rx-8 in a straight line stock for stock. the build quality is sub par and mine was a headache mechanically. I could take the car up to 40 in second gear and stand on it and the tires would spin on dry pavement. that car had torque!!!!!

rotarygod

In a special olympics race, who would win?

snizzle

Are you saying RX8 vs Cobalt is the automotive equivalent to the special olympics? Ouch.

Carrera26

Horsepower sells cars, drivers win races.

Show me the cheap mod that will give Cobalt SS's, SRt-4s, and Mustangs sublime steering feel, communication, and handling prowess and then maybe then I'll go buy them!

When I test drove, I drove a Cobalt SS, Mustang GT, and 350Z at the same time as the RX-8. Even though the Z got very close (monster power!), I didn't even have to go 2 blocks before that 8 felt like an extension of my hands. The other cars were a hoot at full chat, but when I wasn't actively trying to lose my license they weren't all that great. The 8 is fun at ALL speeds.

Fun in everyday driving & legal speeds FTW. Oh, and kicking butt at AutoX definitely helps!

9291150

The Cobalt SS up here in Canada comes avec supercharger and without. The supercharged one is fast, and does handle quite well, beating its main competition - Civic Si, VW GTI quite easily. It might be the best cheap GM performance car yet.

Otherwise, it couldn't be more different then the 8.

JeRKy 8 Owner

I already got through saying that it's not that huge of a deal for me, but finding out something like this just adds more insult to injury.

Feras

iTrader: (1)

at least this puts the rest the argument that Z's are piggish and bad handlers lol

snizzle

Naw, all it does is continue to **** people off.... move along, nothing new here.

9291150

Funny, nobody on here argued that on the day of this C&D test the 8 was experiencing heat issues. It would be a convincing argument considering the renesis hates heat and that in other direct tests the 8 nearly matched lap times for the 350 or its near twin the G35 coupe. But here you are, Mr. excuse boy saying the Evo was done wrong. And you of all people should know that your straightaway speed is only as good as your corner exit speed - nothing hard to understand here.

Hey, you're not an EVO fanboi, are ya?

maxxdamigz

iTrader: (1)

If people are upset that a 24k SCed car pulls on their 8, what do they think of the $1500 civic garbage hatch held together with duct tape that would absolutely obliterate them on a quarter mile track. There's more to a car's worth than quarter mile times. I guess it would be different if we were all Mustang drivers and the Cobalt was pulling on us.

Broker73

sold my 8 and moved on to a new car (335i), but I still lurk here as I do miss the car at times!
This thread caught my attention as I have recently been in a cobalt (a gf's brothers friend bought one)....anyway, it was a quick little car, but stock for stock felt no quicker than the 8? I looked up a few mag times on the 0-60 and 1/4 mile for comparison, and the 0-100.....they looked almost identical...in fact most 0-100 times were bang on?......drivers race

rotarygod

Not the cars. Just the drivers.

Ike

Oh god, give me a break... The Evo has spanked the 350Z around many a track in many comparos (actually every single comparo I've ever seen besides this one). It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a turbocharged car is going to get some heat soak on a 90 degree+ day and that the Evos brakes not working right will skew things. The Evo wasn't done wrong, it clearly lost to the Z, but it's an anomaly. If pointing out that fact when someone was surprised by the results makes me a fanboi in your eyes so be it.

Ike

The difference is the Cobalt SS traps about 100mph and owners have run low 14s (not sure if a mag has or not). If you look at the C&D test results the Cobalt did 0-100 in 14.4 seconds, the RX-8 did it in 17.5 and then 16.0 once broken in. 0-130 the Cobalt did 29.8 and the RX-8 did it in 36.6 and 34.8. It's really only a drivers race if the Cobalt driver sucks.

Rems31

Just do a foot race...then it really just depends on the 'driver'! :-P

captain mercury

lol, race cars vroom vroom

9291150

Not a drivers race? Here's more classic Ike manipulating stats. We argued so much about this that it should be a sticky, but atleast I have it memorized. Why do you only refer to this one long term test on the 8 where they likely never even fully tested it at the beginning. I've told you in the past, C&D, Road & Track and Motortrend tested 5 stock 8's in total, and they ALL tested 5.9-6.1 0-60, 14.4-14.6 1/4s and 95-96 traps. So please, for everyone's sake, stop cherry picking stats and try to use average times. You're also cherry picking with the SS. In that same C&D issue that you refer to, the SS was tested at 6.1/14.6/99mph and the 8 at 5.9/14.6/96 mph...if that isn't a drivers race than what the hell is? I'm pretty sure I have a Motortrend that tested an SS at a 96MPH trap. Don't know where you got the 0-130 time for the Cobalt, but if you're talking about these fictitious 35 second WOT street races, then why not mention that the 8 always tops out with a higher top speed by 3-9mph?

....cause you're a **** disturber aren't ya?

Ike

All those numbers come from C&D and the broken in RX-8 runs about the same times as the best mag times. The 0-130 time came directly from C&D... If you want to manipulate things to think the Cobalt isn't faster than the RX-8 knock yourself out, but the numbers speak for themselves. Also the fact that the Cobalt has run better times in owners hands than the mags while RX-8 owner struggle to breat into the 14s. After the initial traction issues of the FWD Cobalt it WILL walk an RX-8 at any speed. I'm not the one that stirs up ****, I say it like it is, you're the one that stirs up **** afterwards.

http://www.caranddriver.com/shortroa...ged-page2.html

http://www.caranddriver.com/longroad...x-8-page4.html

9291150

I work a lot with statistics, have a statistician on staff, so let's just say it's a pet peeve of mine when people manipulate numbers and conclusions.

C&D has three full Cobalt SS tests in total, yet you only quote the fastest one. The other tests showed a 14.6/99 and 14.7/97, and 0-130 in 32.3. I know of another test from at least one other mag where the SS went slower.

C&D has two full RX8 tests in total, yet you only quoted the slowest one. The other test showed a 14.5/96, and 0-130 in 33.5. Conversely, I know of another test from at least one other mag where the 8 went faster.

Point? I never said the 8 was faster in a straight line, I said it was close enough to be a drivers race, which you outright rejected. Fact is, using the average stats from all the SS/8 tests from the 3 major mags and assuming two perfectly driven cars on a long enough straight, the numbers would suggest that an 8 would barely lead up to about 80-90mph, at which point the SS would catch up and inch away, and at some point the 8 would re-pass owing to its higher top speed. BTW, I never liked the 0-130 stat, frankly at that speed different wind conditions could greatly throw off times, it should only used in same day testing comparisons.

Anyways, this all sounds a bit different than what you described, no? Could it also be that the 8's 1/4 mile trap speed suffers a bit mainly because the 3-4 shift is at 90mph, where the SS's shift is at 100mph. Or maybe we can just screw logic and accept your claim that it'll never be a drivers race, that the 8 will always loose unless "the Cobalt driver sucks."

Ike

You are such a waste of my time, but I'll humor you...

http://www.caranddriver.com/previews...ged-page2.html

See the part where it says C/D Estimated performance?

The other test the Cobalt was a little slower, but it still trapped 99mph. In other words, like I said earlier, after the FWD disadvantage the RX-8 gets walked. If you want to call that a drivers race go for it. In the 1/4 mile it could be pretty close, but all I've seen is guys struggling to make mag times in their RX-8 and the Cobalt SS mag times being bettered by their owners.

playdoh43

seems like you're cherry picking stats your self buddy, im sure those 3 magazines that you've mentioned tested the rx8 more than 5 times in total. and you seem to have conveniently left out the slower times.

for example in this article from Motortrend, 0-60 for rx8 was listed as 6.5
http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/...nce_specs.html
And 6.4 in this article from motortrend
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...004_mazda_rx8/

im too lazy to check the other 2 mags, but its funny how the slower times are the ones missing from your average i guess these times don't count toward the average huh?

but more importantly, why are you so obsessed with mag stats? on one hand you are always complaining how other people on this forum care too much about acceleration, yet you seem to be the most enthusiastic one when it comes to quoting rx8 0-60 and 1/4 mile stats. It seems to me you care a lot about it since you seem pretty obsessed with these mag numbers. god knows how many book marks you have regarding all kinds of rx8 stats.

cant we all just get along? im not here to argue with you about what kinda of 0-60 time the rx8 runs. I personally go by the fast recorded time cause it means its capable of doing that time by a great driver. just enjoy the car for what it is dude and stop being obsessed over/manipulate mag stats

9291150

Ok, as I'm "working" from home today, I just took a thorough look through my C&D/Motortrend/Road&Track stash, then their sites, and could now say with certainty that there are 8 full tests of the RX8 (including Play's 2 super slow finds) and 5 full tests of the Cobalt SS supercharged (removing the one with est. times Ike). So what are the averages? They show identical 0-60 and quarter mile times, with the SS showing a higher average trap of 3.22mph. So again, there is no way this could be a drivers race?

Oh, and Playduh, if you removed your nose from Ike's *** long enough you'd realize that he's the first to always pull stats. Nothing wrong with that, I've actually have enjoyed Ike's posts, but left unchallenged he'd have every noob on here believing that the 8 is slower than a Chevy Aveo. We all know it's no rocket, but why cherry pick stats?

And Ike, drawing conclusions from times that guys "do" at the strip are no more valid than listening to pwnage stories. But obviously, mediocre drivers in higher torque cars can approach their mag time more easily, so what?

Stavesacre21