how come he gets to edit my post? :),

neways thats tight, but for comparisons sake if you throw in the USED wildcard in there the argument still holds if you are allowed to buy used mods for 350z too on a dollar for dollar basis.

Before I hit this post again, let's just say that I own a 2004 350Z and I JUST picked up a 2004 RX-8 in the family. I had driven both cars on and off the track. They are both good cars in their own right, what you pick will be entirely up to you. While we can't compare objective items, but there are subjective items that you can look at.

Here are the facts

#1 RX-8 is lighter, but not as much as you think, 125-200lbs roughly
#2 RX-8 RIDES better
#3 RX-8 is a better daily driver with the room and the softer ride
#4 RX-8 is going to net you a better gas mileage on a day to day basis
#5 The Z is going to drag faster
#6 RX-8 is slightly cheaper

Here are things that are objective
#1 Handling (I think they both do a good job, but the 8 feels lighter and it seems to be easier to drive)
#2 Brakes (I am leaning toward RX-8 on this one, my Z doesn't have the Brembos)
#3 Engine (The Z is definitely more power, but you got to love the RX-8)
#4 Interior (I think the RX-8 has a nicer interior, but the Z is very good for a Japanese car)
#5 Reliability (This might be a toss-up, but my Z seems to be more solid than the 8)

Things that are in between
While there are always exception, but I am 99.99% sure the Z will be faster on a race track on a stock to stock basis. The power on the Z is just too hard for the RX-8 to overcome. I actually would not be surprise if you tell me the RX-8 can hit the apex at a higher speed, but overall the RX-8 would get killed down the straightaway. I have been to quite a few race tracks, let's just say RX-8s don't even come close to matching my times.

Oh yeah, the Z does feel heavier, but not much heavier than you think.

By the way, why do you guys compare modded cars vs modded cars? When you start modding, you are just talking about who has more money. It's so stupid. If you can't drive fast in a stock, you can't go fast in a modded one.

Dude for real you have to know what you want in a car I personally have both an Moded RX8 (lowered and changed susp. FLywheel and Clutch, Under driven pulleys and Exhaust/ intake. and an stock 06 Evo Mr. I got to say both offer different types of driving pleasue an Evo offers really good Linear speed wonderful passing power on the highway seems to have endless power on the highway going 100mph feel like you have so much more to go due to all that torque. The Rx8 however on twisties there is nothing like it with it lowered it feels like there is no need to slow down going down into curves. Both cars offer different kinds of driving pleasure. My only warning is if speed is your main concern or doing lots of upgrades to get more speed buy and Evo and not a RX8. For the most part the tuning stuff out there for the RX8 do not make a significant difference as far a increasing the speed to the car you can mod the car to handle better but not really great speed differences. I know many on here may not agree with me but take it from me I have tried....
D

whatever the curb wieght is... for the 350Z or the rx8, its not like your average RX8 are all the same weight as the base bare bones curb wieght either? they are both likely quite a bit heavier than the listed curb weight. so the same argument about how most 350Zs are heavier can be applied to rx8 also.

some people look at the 3300lb curb weight and think 350Z is a fat pig... yet not realizing their own optioned out RX8 are fat bigs too by their standard lol

well what i meant is, its not neccesarily that you can buy a car thats better in every way for 10k more. but every penny saved is a penny earned. that 10k can come in handy when you are looking to buy the next car, say you are buying another 30k-35k car, with that extra 10k, you are suddently looking at a whole new world like the Elise, Corvette, bmw 335 twin turbo, and a plethora of even better stuff if you consider used. I just think thats money better spent than spending that 10k on a RX8 or 350Z to go FI,
voiding your warranty,
risking the engine blowing up due to the boost.
and the plethora of problems that after market FI usually brings.

its easy to say hey I can go FI for 5k or 10k or whatever, but the real price you pay after you factor in the maintenance cost, the things that would likely go wrong etc. the realistic price is MUCH higher than that, making it even more attractive to save up for a better car with the money instead.

keep in mind the RX8 and 350Z does not have the factory internals to safely and reliable handle FI mods like EVOs and Sti. but even for those cars, once you get past a certain hp numbers on the factory internals, bad things tend to happen to them too, and things can go real bad real fast costing a lot of money.

i really hate it when people goes FI with the mentality of thinking of it as a 1 time fee. they usually end up getting burned when they find out theres so much hidden cost associated with it. :( not to mention the oppurtunity cost of what they could have done with all the money. i have seen it too many times to people I know :(, i just hope people here do the research and be financially ready for it if they do decide to go that route.

Unlike Mazda, Nissan actually release the curb weight of all models. It's just a reference guide. I don't argue with you that the Z feels heavier, but whoever thinks the Z is 300-400lbs need to pull their head out of their a$$.

Bring your car to the race track, see how your car can do against other car with the same type of driver. That's your best way to do it. Why have 400hp when you can't even use it without worrying about getting busted for speeding.

What dealer is going to have FI kits in the 8 and Z on hand for him to test drive?


I am under the impression the weight diff is about 200 lbs. This of course varies depending on model.

By your logic, why have anything more than 50 hp since you only need to travel 70 mph on the road?

Checkout the Evo(4 seats) as well. It has the HP and turbo for a comparable price to the 8 with a turbo. Hence you won't have to worry about warranty mods etc. An 8, without a 3 rotor, will never compare to the Evo at the drag strip. 8's with a 3 rotor are just silly fast :)

I was watching a behind the scenes on Tokyo drift and the comment was that they went through multiple clutches on the turbo'd Z vs. the other cars in the movie, so that's something to think about.

1/4 mile times will get you speeding tickets, more then anything else.

That said. I love the 8. Z's are a dime a dozen. You'll never beat a Z off the line stock to stock. At a track event the 8's do just fine. The Z will cost you in tires.

:)-NH

yeah its a good advise, if you get an EVO youd have no problem dispatching your friends Z, in fact it wouldnt even be close. Even if he mod his Z chances are, you can spend very little money and still be faster that him. a evo can dominate the rx8 in the corners and rape the Z in the straights, if you like the way it looks.

:mdrmed:

Funny, but let me try to rewrite this...

1.) Noobie wants to compare two cars.
2.) Search! nazis show up - Mugatu where are you????
3.) BECAUSE its an RX8 site, RX8 fans -who COULD have bought 350Z's - give the reasons why they prefer the RX8. Sure, some reasons are dumb, but it's THEIR reasons.
4.) Self-proclaimed "sensible" people like you Ike show up, EVERY TIME, all shocked and appalled screaming fanboi, trying to convince RX8 enthusiasts that their cars are no better and is usually worse than anything else.
5.) RX8 fans act as any would, telling you to piss off. Which is what I would expect if I went to an Evo site and proclaimed it as nothing special.

Do you see the irony yet Mr. Sensible?

6.) Then I'll usually show up because smug self absorbed "sensible" types annoy me.
7.) Then the thread gets locked. If not if resurfaces within a month or a new RX8 vs. thread starts within a week.

But in all, it makes for a site that is more negative than it needs to be, which sucks, but is certainly entertaining.

The recent Car & Driver test suggests otherwise.

thats why i said "can"

i didnt say itd do it every time. so it loose to the track Z once in a mag test, in general the EVO is in a higher performance category than the rx8 and the Z. so the EVO had a bad day... I can show you tons of examples where the rx8 had a bad day and get raped by lower classed cars that in general shouldnt beat the rx8.

I thought the same, but this is the only direct comparo I've seen and it contradicts your points. Same pro. drivers, same day tests, conditions, etc. always holds weight with me. Still, I recognize that many other variables exist i.e. track selection.

You have tons of examples of 8's being beaten by lower classed cars? I've think I've seen them all, must of missed these you refer to. Care to enlighten me?

im with whoever said buy an STi for around the same price ~30-33K..even a used one for like ~26-27k.. and whoop his Z into oblivion..

you can think all you will that EVO is not a level above because of this one example, i mean. everyones entittled to their oppinion. whatever makes you happy?

ok i exagerated when I said tons :p, but if you check out the thread in media section about BMI videos with rx8 in it... , i posted video in BMI where RX8 lost to the civic type R, which i view as supposedly in a lower classe with the same engine output as the rsx type S here in the US... not to mention worse hp-weight ratio than the rsx let alone the rx8. thats also same track same day on tsukuba with pro drivers behind the wheels. Normally i dont expect the civic type R to be able to beat the rx8.

im too lazy to google for other examples, but if you are naive enough to think they dont exist then think what you will :)

+1 :bootyshak

I think all new RX8 vs 350z threads should be deleted upon inception. This topic is brought up at least 2 times a month, its really old, and anyone can search it to no end. Stop catering to lazy people, make them hunt down their own info. Use the search button.

Death to stupidity.

considering any thread with the word 350Z in it attracts posts like flies, why oppress them? give the people what they want lol, its obviously a popular topic when people wants to talk about it all the damn times. dont be communist oppressors lol, let free market rule. if people dont like these threads they will die down.

As for track time, the 350Z should be faster. Current issue of Car & Driver had the 350Z and Rx8 (among other car) on the same track and the 350Z was a few seconds quicker. I don't remember the exact number.

But on the other hands, I also saw a clip of TopGear and they had the same identical number of these two cars on their own track. TopGear track might be a short track that did not explore the hp advantage of the 350Z over the rx8.

But as I memtion before, if the Rx8 with upgrade suspension could improve the track time considerably.

lol i think the original poster is long gone lol, i think Ike scared him away.

[QUOTE=tmak26b]
"#4 RX-8 is going to net you a better gas mileage on a day to day basis"

Really? I thought the Rx-8 would get less gas mileage than the Z.

I'd like to see an 8 with upgraded susp. on the track vs. some comps. like the Z, s2000, etc. Anybody seen anything like this?

Ja, he's pretty good at that. Or is it his dancing Bannana?