Thank goodness I was in my pickup truck and the tailgate was down when the 16 year-old plowed into the back of me. Luckily the tailgate absorbed most of the shock and impact, but did a fair amount of damage to the offending vehicle. I am so thankful I was not in my RX-8. Had I been, I'm guessing I might have been banged up a bit. I don't even want to think about what my 8 would have looked like after that ordeal.

Call me paranoid, but I have been picking and choosing when and where I drive my 8. Perhaps, over time, I'll loosen up a bit, but for now, I am basically driving it as I do the motorcycle, when I need a mental-health break!

I know the 8 has good airbag support. Does anyone know how well it does in rear-end events?

 

Very. There were a few quite nasty rear-ends reported on the forum. Aratinga comes to mind - she had her car rear-ended and it looked bad but was fixed since then. Others had similar experience.
I hope I never will have to try that

 

I was rear-ended at what I think was ~15 mph, and only sustained some bumper damage ($1100). Based upon the thud I heard, and the impact (enough to send my wife to PT for 4 months, and to reactivate my sciatica for two months), I was amazed the damage was not worse.