RX8 R3 vs. Mazdaspeed3 - UOU comparison review after owning both
 

Now that I've had some time to get some miles on the RX8 (bought last year) I thought I'd report back and do a quick review of my previous ride (07 Speed3) vs. the rx8 now that I've had a chance to get to know the two pretty well.

UOU's 09 RX8 R3
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UOU's 07 MS3 - sold
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Practicality & Fuel Economy
The MS3 has advantage being a hatchback, that being said my expectations of a hatchback is that it holds lots and my expectations of the RX8 is that it holds next to nothing so I was pleasantly surprised when I loaded the RX8 up with my wife, two kids & their car seats, the family pet and a few duffle bags along with a pack and play in the trunk of the RX8 for a weekend trip up north. In an occupied capacity, the storage difference between the two is negligible... that is until you have the need to move something larger/more awkward and the RX8 has next to no options to accommodate such a request whereas the MS3 can consume some rather large items.

I am working on getting a less than 10l/100km tank in the rx8, but it hasn't happened yet. The MS3 on the other hand is no prius, but when modded I actually got some pretty remarkable MPG results when I stayed outside of boost. No surprise, MS3 is the winner here

Daily Driving
This result will be significantly skewed to whatever your objectives are for the car; I commute and occasionally have customers for work to shuttle around... getting in and out of the MS3 is easier, and even though the back of the RX8 is surprisingly roomy nobody over 6ft is going to want to spend any meaningfully amount of time back there. We've already awarded the MS3 the practicality honours so I'm going to shift gears into what each is like driving every day.

The MS3 feels less special in everyday traffic... it's a combination of the gawking onlookers the RX8 R3 seems to attract, the feel of the transmission or perhaps the magical recaro seats. Whatever it is, I give the RX8 the advantage in the I want to be in it every day even if I am not driving fast category. That being said, the MS3 torque is a blast in point and shoot traffic situations. If it wasn't for the MS3's ECU to behave so differently in winter, summer vs. spring/fall conditions where the car can go from an absolute monster to ***** cat I'd hesitate more giving the RX8 the win here; but alas this was one of the biggest frustrations I had with the car (along with the torque limitations in the first few gears/when the wheel is turned) so because of the electronic nanny's I give this category win to the RX8

Performance
Lets call a spade a spade, the MS3 hands down is the more capable performer from a numbers perspective in a straight line. I haven't been considering mods to either vehicle up to this point so I'm going to turn a bit of blind eye to the fact that the MS3 can gain gobs of power for relatively little investment whereas the RX8 could take thousands of dollars with hopes of making the claimed HP factory figures.

If your goal is maximum thrust, dyno numbers and or tire replacements the MS3 is the car for you. Having owned one for several years though, even with every available mod at the time (Cobb stg. 3) I was never content and kept looking for something else that seemed to be missing that I could never find. The RX8 while no dragster, or even Honda Odyssey challenger if we're honest does magical things when the road starts to bend. The R3 ranked third in the best handling car comparison a few years back ahead of some heavy artillery (including the nissan GTR and Corvette ZR1) and I now know why.

I can relate to many of the FRS reviews, the RX8 can be alot of fun wagging the tale end out at 20kmph bringing a huge smile to ones face. The MS3 and RX8 drive very similarly at 6/10ths, it's not until you push a little further that the limitations of FWD start to interfere with the fun whereas the limitations of RWD traction under power start to create more fun. Given this, I won't pick a winner for this category as depending on your priority (max power vs. joy of driving) you'll side with one car vs. the other for very different reasons.

For the 16k I spent, i can't think of a better performance buy with warranty than the rx8.

Nice review, thanks! Also you got a hell of a deal for your R3 at $16k, especially with Canadian prices/taxes... congrats on the new ride!

(Also you should join the GTA RX8 facebook group if you can!)

Thanks. Yes I was very fortunate to find one that had never been driven in winter, great condition own owner for the price I did. I don't use FB much but I will take a look to see if I can find it

You should be a publisher...lol

Anyway, those are good reviews of both cars and the same auto maker makes it more credible than judging a different auto makers.