View Poll Results: If you had to buy the Rx8 all over again, would you prefer:
The traditional Rotary engine currently used
110
75.34%
263 hp, 280 lb-ft 2.3 Turbo'd engine (ala MS3)
36
24.66%
Voters: 146. You may not vote on this poll
RX8 - hypothetical poll
Thread Pirate, Ahhrrrrr
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 784
Likes: 0
From: Long Island, NY
Lack of pistons is only part of what makes the 8 unique. Light weight, well balanced (The only front engine car, that I know of, that is so), great feeling /response, genius DSC (compared to most other cars).
Very good point. The loss of balance would not be worth it. Maybe if it was very very slight and the hp /tq boost was significant... but even then...
having a rotary engine makes me feel unique and having to explain how it works make me sound like a freakin' genius. the rx8 wouldn't be balanced without the 13b so it would lose some of its handling abilities. a .4 sec faster time on a 1/4 mile strip, or more fun at the track ? i choose the track.
i'd have to get an s2k IF i wanted a piston engine.
i'd have to get an s2k IF i wanted a piston engine.
mildly unexcited
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 444
Likes: 0
From: CT
What you fail to realize is that the RX8 wouldn't be an RX-8 without its rotary engine, as a piston engine wouldn't be small and compact enough—the Renesis is barely 13" tall—to fit in the space the Renesis occupies. The remarkable handling—and especially "feel" of the 8—is no accident. It's a direct function of the engine's small size, weight and near mid-engine placement.
You seem to be under the impression that the rotary engine was merely an alternative that could just as easily have been a piston engine. No! Replacing the rotary with a piston engine wouldn't just change power and smoothness—it would dramatically alter the unique and wonderful "feel" and balance of the car—the one thing we "get" by having a small, light, not-very-torquey, not-very-powerful rotary engine instead of a big, heavy reciprocating one. You'd be giving up the very thing that every auto journalist and car magazine gushes about after driving an 8.
You seem to be under the impression that the rotary engine was merely an alternative that could just as easily have been a piston engine. No! Replacing the rotary with a piston engine wouldn't just change power and smoothness—it would dramatically alter the unique and wonderful "feel" and balance of the car—the one thing we "get" by having a small, light, not-very-torquey, not-very-powerful rotary engine instead of a big, heavy reciprocating one. You'd be giving up the very thing that every auto journalist and car magazine gushes about after driving an 8.
VRZOOMZOOM
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 323
Likes: 0
From: Central Jersey
I'm not even sure if i would of bought the RX-8 if didnt have the rotary engine, the rotary engine was like a deal maker for me..........cause of how smooth it was overall. Otherwise if i wanted a piston engine with tons of power, probably would of gone the 350Z route or one of the Mazdaspeed models.
1.21 Jiggawatts
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,330
Likes: 0
From: Lima, OH
typical rotaryhead answer...the rotary defines the car to me. I'm not so sure that i'd have kept it after buying if it weren't for the rotary engine. There's just a certain fascination with the rotary engine that keeps me at bay.
Would I like a little more umph from it? Who wouldn't. But at the cost of losing the defining charactor of it as a sacrifice seems like it wouldn't be forward motion for the car...even if it nets another 30HP.
It may put me in some type of an odd rotaryhead catagory, but at times, the exclusivity of the rotary engine HAS been one of the only reasons i'd kept the FOR SALE sign out of it.
Would I like a little more umph from it? Who wouldn't. But at the cost of losing the defining charactor of it as a sacrifice seems like it wouldn't be forward motion for the car...even if it nets another 30HP.
It may put me in some type of an odd rotaryhead catagory, but at times, the exclusivity of the rotary engine HAS been one of the only reasons i'd kept the FOR SALE sign out of it.
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