Fanman
I defer to your expertise..however, why would you give up a 911 for a Mazda..got me? Had too much Calyforniya (Arnold's pronunciation) sun?

Yes a Boxster is my favourite too, but in OZ it is $130000 for this brilliant car. 9100RPM

 

All I can say is .. there's a lot of people who claims to have driven an RX8 and compared it with the Z .. wow. From what I'm reading, you posers clearly DO NOT know how to drive the 8. In that video, the RX8 had the same track time as the BMW M3 and the Nissan 350Z. They were driven by the same driven on the same track.

If you know how to drive an RX8 and you went against a driver who is a little less skilled than you, you WILL beat the **** out of a 350Z or an M3. That video proves that these three cars driven by the same driver with the same skill can go head ot head with each other. What you read in magazines is BS BS BS. The magazines are bias towards BMWs and the Z. With a good driver, the RX8 can outgun an M3 and a Z. And if all drivers have the same skill, they will perform the same way. Geez.

 

Heh... This went far.

 

Sorry about this but I just read the first post and am calling total BS. What 16 year old can afford to buy and maintain an eight without mommy or daddy's help?

 

A skilled driver in a miata can beat an unskilled driver in a 'vette.

therefore the miata is faster, even though it has 300 less horsepower.

you need remove your emotions from the situation. The bias you are thinking of does not exist! The magazines ALL like the RX-8 more!

And I have driven many of these cars (at least the ones I think I can afford to buy). And I like the rx-8 best.

 

^^^ dude, what he's trying to say is that the cars are equally worthy performance cars for the open track. I don't think he was trying to say "faster" per se, but in the right hands, any of these cars can have the edge over one another.

Now the Z definitely has the advantage on the dragstrip, but I'd give the nod to the 8 on the autocross course.

So let's look at it like this:
DRAG: Z
AUTOCROSS: 8
OPEN TRACK/ ROAD COURSE: Depends on driver and track, but equally competitive.

All things considered, I'd say both of these cars are excellent, and in a perfect world, we could have a blend of the two cars. However, we don't live in that world, and in the end I'd consider this comparison a tie.

Case closed, enough said, the fat lady has sang her last song, and I hope this thread dies.

 

My lease ended on the car. There was 1200 reasons a month I didn't get another 911. I only drove the car 400 mi. month (returned a 39 month lease with less than 18,000 miles). That was roughly $3 a mile. I loved the car, but not that much. To me my RX8 with RB suspension package (springs & swaybars) & front swaybar endlinks corners nearly as well as my 911 (all I need now are tires, the stock tires are not that good). Another big factor was every aftermarket part on the 911 was over $1000. If you wanted exhaust that was $1200+, headers $1200+, air intake $400, ECU $1000+. I got all of this, and it added a bit of hp (not to mention the exhaust was plain mean sounding) but then I realized I had dropped almost $4K in parts, and another $1000 in labor for about 20 hp. With the RX8, I have a pretty light car, 4 actual seats, and I can play with it without feeling guilty. Plus the 9000 RPM's rocks.

 

I actually agree with you. Though I think all of them except the drag race will be close.

But I resent the fact that he is stating that everybody is biased against the 8, when in fact, everybody very much likes the 8. The magazines do not like the BMW or 350Z more. All that I have heard are "Although the RX-8 is slightly slower, the experience is much better".

His statements about the 8 kicking the crap out of the others are also wrong. Call it a driver's race, if you must, because that is pretty much the long and the short of it.

 

beautifully put

 

Guys, is it just my impression or do I get to see a lot of Porsche owners, who bought an 8 afterwards, admire the latest much more than their former car?
I mean... it makes me wonder, in a porsche/rx8 discussion(!), what, we have the 8 coming out as a winner:p ? And it can't get any better, because these things are said by people who owned and lived with both cars!

I can easily remember at least 5-6 forum members that stated the above... and don't get me wrong, I am, and always will be, a porsche lover. It just makes me feel how great our little 8 is

 

What are you talking about?

 

I don't think he actually read the first post. :p

 

Just my contribution to the origins of this thread...

 

 

LOL. :D

 

PLEASE don't start this argument all over again!

 

. (just had a thought, What if the Aflac duck went around to all the world's idiots and just quacked
*** HAT!
instead...) :D

 

Handling-wise, I would say the RX-8 is about 80% of what a Porsche Boxster is (and I mention the Boxster because even most 911 owners would admit the Boxster handles better than the 911 does, mostly due to its mid-engine layout.

However when it comes to intangibles, like exterior and interior styling, the Porsches definitely win IMHO.

The RX-8 isn't bad, but it is very Japanese and in many areas tries just a little "too hard." For example, the 996 and 986 interiors look largely the same as they did when introduced and today look slightly dated; IMHO the interior of the RX-8 already looks a bit long in the tooth (the ring around the radio controls and the chrome plastic Mazda logo on the steering wheel being the major offenders.)

However, here's the big question - is the Porsche worth roughly 1.75x the price? That's the tough question, and I'd have to say for most people, probably not...

 

The porsche owners I was reffering to preffered the 8's interior all the way. Its not the 8 trying 'too hard' but the porsche not trying 'hard enough'. At the price the 996 was sold the interior simply wouldn't do. However, the 997 is a totally different story.
All models having the same interior/exterior was also a great mistake, that porsche soon found out...

 

I've owned two 993's and one 994, and the rx-8 blows them all away. They are about as bare as they can be, very minimal stuff. I no longer have any interest in owning a porsche, so I don't know what the new models look like inside.

 

I'll start that argument again.

Any parent that buys their kid a $30,000 car in some misguided sense of "reward" for crap they oughta be doing any way (like staying out of trouble and getting good grades, or for that matter, even graduating from high school), has strudel in their noodle.

I understand and agree with buying your kid a solid, reliable car so they can get around once they get their license, but these parents that do this are complete idiots. And the kids that have the cars don't appreciate them, based on the behavior I've observed time and again in our community.

Flames away! Bring it ON!

I am SO glad my folks did for me what they did. When I needed a car, they bought me a solid, reliable, inexpensive car, albiet not that much fun (a 1978 Chevy Chevette). When I got good grades and stayed out of trouble, they said "Hey, Stew, we're proud of you! " When my mom's parents wanted to buy me a car after my junior year for maintaining a 4.0 average to that point forward, my folks insisted that money go into a durable trust that I would have access to when I turned 22 ($15,000). My grandparents had wanted to buy me a Triumph TR8. Man was I disappointed! Read on ...

When I graduated high school with a 3.92 average (yup, didn't keep that 4 point senior year! oops!), they again were very proud of me. My involvement in my college education was supposed to have been 50% contribution towards all expenses. Instead, they raised their side as my graduation gift, and said all I had to pay for was books and beer money.

When I graduated college, my folks didn't give me a car or anything. They gave me $10000 in a durable trust that I couldn't touch until I was 25. They had close to $40,000 in student loans on my education.

The results?

1) I got a great job out of college. With my "junior year" trust from my grandparents, I withdrew $10,000 out of the $18,000 balance (it grew a bit in 4 years), and used that along with some of my own cash to buy myself my "congratulations, you've got a job" gift - a 1985 Mazda RX-7 GS. (see attached picture).

2) At age 25, I used the graduation gift from my folks, as well as the remaining balance from my grandparents, as a downpayment to buy my first house.

3) At age 26, I paid off ALL of my parent's student loans that they had taken out to pay for my education. I did this secretly. My parents found out when the statements came. They about **** themselves! That was a fun day.

See what happens folks? Instead of giving me a depreciating asset that I would ultimately get into trouble with, and that would be entirely worthless after a few years, they gave me appreciating assets that I used to start my adult life.

Was I disappointed when my folks kept my Grandparents from buying me a TR8? Hugely. Do I now regret not having that car then? Not a chance.

Kids, if you have a hot car, I don't begrudge you having it. I think that if you bought it, well, congrats. But remember, "buying a car" means ALL THE MONEY you used to buy it was money you earned. Not money that was given to you. And having your parents giving you the downpayment or covering insurance or anything d0oesn't count. And if your folks bought it, then fine. In my humble opinion, they are foolish idiots, but fine.

Tell me, wouldn't you rather instead have money to buy a house, a car, your education, later?

Ok, stupid question ... kids don't think that way. I didn't. I was mad as hell at my folks back then. But sure appreciate what they did now.

 

^^^ So, what about if I borrowed my dad's credit rating? :D

 

Jason, what the hell is a 994 ?

 

Most of the pics here http://images.google.com/images?q=po...r=&sa=N&tab=wi are of Porsche 994s.

 

here is the Cabriolet edition: