In the end we all see things our own way, so there is no right or wrong a lot of the time. Debating is healthy, so carry on. :)

Here's the difference, and it comes from a the perspective of a lifelong involvement with performance automobiles:

The RX-8 is a GENUINE sports car. Although that may be hard to define in absolute terms, once you drive the car you will know precisely what I am talking about.

People like Ike prefer what amounts to tricked out Japanese Buicks- and those Japanese Buicks can rack up some truly impressive performance numbers, but if that's all that matters to you in a car, you are missing out on one of the key reasons you should be into cars in the first place.

Let me put this another way: when I was into riding motorcycles, the bike magazines would always do comparison tests between Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis and a Ducati thrown in.

The Japanese bikes would beat the Ducati at almost anything, and they were certainly far easier to own. But when it came down to which bike they actually wanted to own if they were spending their own money, the Ducati always "won." And that is because things like pride of ownership, the kind of relationship you have with your vehicle, the physio-kinetic experience of driving the thing, just don't come into the picture with these other mass market vehicles, and it is something that does not show in a data panel. There were plenty of cars in 1963 that could beat a Jaguar XK-E in many respects; however, to this very day, there is no other car I would want as badly to own from that era, more than 40 years later.

Now do you get it?

The RX-8 was purpose built to be what it is, and shares practically nothing with the other cars built by it's maker. It is THAT kind of all-of-a-piece workmanship that set the RX-8 apart from every other vehicle in it's price point, and well beyond, for that matter. The all wheel drive rally specials are indeed good performing vehicles, and we are lucky to have them as choices in the market.

The RX-8 is for the true traditionalist, who understands that numbers alone do not express what is desirable in a car.

I hope this helps you.

The Evo is very ugly in my opinion, and even though it's very fast, to me the speed doesn't make up for it's terrible looks.

You notice that no one ever compares these car with The Interceptor from Mad Max... they know they would get pwned!

The Evo is UGLY and fast..The 8 is sleek and sassy!!! :rock: :rock:

Its all a matter of opinion. I choose the 8 because i love the style inside and out. Also its cool to have a different powerplant from everything else on the road. The EVO and STI were definately on my list of cars I wanted to own.

The 8 is a little slow for me. The EVO and STI both are very fast, but the looks just dont cut it for me. So all 3 cars had drawbacks in my mind. Now the reason I choose the 8 was because I can more easily hook up my engine then I could hook up the body of the other two cars ( thats just personal opinion because I have all the tools at my disposal to do the motor work, but body work I have none). Also the 8 was just lacking in one department, the engine. While the EVO and STI had two things I wasnt the most fond of, the exterior and interior.

So in short all three of these cars have drawbacks, its just which drawbacks are the easiest to overcome. Also which drawbacks are you willing to overlook. I love looking out my window and seeing my 8, its truly art in my eyes. Im also sure that I would love to look out my window and see an EVO, but my appreciation for that would be more about the engine which is the art piece of that vehicle.

Calling the RX-8 a genuine sportscar is just some marketing term to toss around. What makes a genuine sportscar nowadays is so blurred that you'd be hard pressed to find a mass mass produced car that even fits the traditional definition. It would be easy to argue that the Evo is more sporting than an RX-8. How is a homologation rally special with years of refining and development to be the best performance car for the money not purpose built? The Evo is about as close to purpose built as you can get in its price range. Very few frills and just about every part of the car is performance minded.

Just because a car shares some parts or not doesn't make it any better or worse. My first trackday was done in an E30 M3, a brilliant car. But I guess because it shared so much with other basic 3 series it was a less impressive car in your eyes...

Numbers have little to do with why I buy a car and you calling the Evo a "tricked out Japanese Buick" just shows your ignorance. It also makes it clear that you have never actually driven one. I've driven the RX-8 and it's a great car, it just wasn't the car for me. Maybe the RX-8 is the car for the OP, maybe the Evo is, I'm just here to help him wade trough the BS that people such as yourself are posting.

i think people come into these threads just to argue, not debate. some of the veterans come into these threads to argue with Ike or put down the people that agree with him. Others make great additions to the thread but are overlooked because everyone secretly wants to see an arguement.

All in all, we'll never be able to have a true debate rx8 vs evo/Z/whatever thread.

^I agree with you completely, that must of these "debates" are most the time just bashings of a particular car or persons view on said car. :(

Evo = Invisible
RX8 = Looks

These are always loaded questions and is always a matter of personal choice. The EVO is an exceptional car regardless of its econ box beginning. The EVO is tuned to a far sharper edge then the RX-8 but it pays the price for this with a harsher ride and cheap interior and wart hog looks. Is this a bad thing, no in my book. It all depends what you want. I really like the idea of a AWD car. It would be interesting to see which car would do better at the track when completely modded out to their full potential.

I almost bought a STi but didn't want the boy racer stigma, on the other hand if I was in a position to pick up a third car this would be right at the top of my list.

my god people.

Just buy whatever the FUXK you want.

I think Evos are nice, STis are nice too.

You cant really say they're *ecobox* really .... because EVOs/STis's R&D was targeting WRC in the first place. they strip them down to *regular* version so they can get more sales. Remember, they're a business, they're here to make money, and they NEED to make money in order to survive.

I think the only car that I really *hate* would be Crossfire and Mustangs(any year model)

You're just jealous of the glory that is Crossfire!

I think Mitsubishi got out of WRC in 2004 or 2005? They are suppose to make a come back with the new EVO.

Not sure why you're laughing, that's about where my Rx-8's MSRP was. Factor in taxes, and dealer installed extras and I'm right there. Add body kit, turbo, and misc extras, and I'm well over 40k.

They stopped participation at the end of the 2005 season. There are no official plans for them to return and there were rumors that there would be an M2 team running the 05wrc cars, but that never happened and will not happen. If they do make a return in '08 it might be with the Colt rather than the Evo and the only way it's happening is if MMC rights the ship. Early signs look good, but a lot can happen between now and '08 and WRC is not a cheap series to compete in.

Maybe I do ....................


I just saw a Grey Crossfire today on Canal ST ..... and I was looking at him and gave him a smile, he probably thought that I think his car is cool or something and he smile back and left. but I was thinking *OMFG YOU'RE DRIVING ONE OF THE SHITTEST CRAP EVER KNOWN TO MANKIND!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVESSssss*

Crossfire .......................................... burn in hell.

and so endeth this thread ........

They left in 2004 I think because they got their ass kicked so many times that its not even funny anymore :(

Evo X looks nice, actually Im thinkin to get one, but Im gonna wait at least a year or 2 so they can work out all the bugs first.

Never get first year model car ya kno :fingersx:

As pointed out above it was the end of the 2005 season and their withdrawl had nothing to do with their success or lack there of the prior season, it was financial.

Really 2005 ? hmm

it doesnt matter, if they win every year Im sure they wont have any *money* problems. If they win more = more fame.

but guess not.

Citroen and and Peugeot pulled out for the '06 season as well while they were on top of the sport. Winning in WRC does not equate to selling more cars and making more money as a manufacturer.

I love threads like these!

Should I buy an iron or pay for my clothes to be pressed?

Who gives a rats ass.

A man does ask someone elses opinion on stupid matter like this.

I have to reluctantly agree with you that if you deal with a lot of clients (not the nightlife type), sports-oriented cars (not just the Evo) are probably not a good idea, if that's your only car. As an extreme example, I think it's akin to showing up to pick up your high school date in a motorcycle or showing up to a job interview in a track suit.

You can convince them otherwise of your character, but I can only imagine it's that much extra work. The reason is because many people probably do subconsciously pre-categorize people by what they drive and what they wear.

That would make sense their sales in the states are pretty poor, poor enough that there is talk of them pulling out of North America. Don't know how they do world wide.