Sept 07 C&D - Rx8 Backfires
 

Looks like John from Austin, Tx and Matt were a little dissapointed from C&D June review of Rx8 among others.....

I found the notes a little funny!

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z30/puch96/scan.jpg

wow. Not only did that guy matt rip on the RX-8 for it's 0-60 times, but he insulted it by saying it's the ugliest? I've never met a person who said the 8 was ugly.......most people I bump into think it's one of the nicest looking cars they've ever seen.

I was a fan of what the editor said, though.........now THAT was funny! :lol:

they're just jealous cause the possibly made a wrong choice when picking out a car. Just cause your car is fast in a straight line doesn't make it a complete sports car. It has to have balance, smooth engine and good looks

I loved that review! It was so nice to see how C&D "gets" what a sports car is really about—just like almost every magazine around the world that's tested the 8, and compared it to other cars.

Funny thing is, I've read almost every word written about this car, and pretty much the only bad ones are found… here! It's comforting to know that professional journalists—who got their incredibly hard-to-get jobs by proving they had the smarts, insight and talent to have someone actually offer them a job writing about cars—do know a thing or two about cars—and what makes a car special.

LOL. that's awesome. It's like our forum, moving onto car and driver!

It's funny to hear other people bicker about the same stuff that always seems to be going on in this very forum. Only furthers to prove that the 8's uniqueness will always appeal to only a certain crowd...and oddly enough, the editors or car and driver fit into that small catagory.

I think its funny because it goes to show all the same...the general concensous is that if a car isn't fast in a line, why would anyone like it? So simple minded.

the front end of our car does look like a phallus from certain angles... that makes it ugly?? o_O

Only the select few enthusiasts and some of the people who have driven an rx8 understand why it's a sports car.

Just the other day, an idiot came up to me and asked "no offense, but I heard dem rotoriess be crap" "dey don't even move or work"

For some reason the rx8 is a very underrated car, some people like the way it looks, but most thinks it will break down within the first 40K miles and think is uber slow, even tho our cars do 1/4 in mid 14's. I will never understand that.

I am so glad I got an rx8 compared to most of the cars on the market, I can have 3 other passengers along and still have a smile on my face when I shift gears. :)

how could they not think that it wont break down in the first 40k miles... If all they hear from forums is all about engines dying, being replaced... and just pure complaints about the car (specially in the biggest rx8 forum on the web , rx8club.com):icon_no2:

not to mention that I imagine the autos to be rather dissapointing in the power department.

A lot of people think the 8 is an amazing looking car, but there are plenty that think it's incredibly weird/ugly looking. I think it's one of those cars that polarizes people.

Reading the editors comments gives me even less respect for that magazine. Trying to inform the public about what kind of car the 8 is is a difficult task when many Americans don't understand why anyone in their right mind would make a sporty car whose number one priority isn't to go fast in a straight line. However, that's the responsibility of these magazines and instead they decided to be condescending to letters that they in fact chose to print.

And, of course, this couldn't be a thread on this site without someone mentioning how the proverbial "they" don't "get" the RX-8. Go team!!

The problem with the public (here in the US) is that everyone remembers the muscle car era of fast cars with giant motors that are only good in wide open straight lines. With that image in mind, they begin to feel that a car isn't "cool" if its not a quarter mile monster. They are confused why people would want to be slower in a straight line but faster in the corners.

People who buy cars like the 8 want to learn how to push the limits of man and machine and have fun while doing it. By pushing the envelope people actually become better drivers because they know what to do and how to do it when things get hairy.

Besides twisty turny roads are more fun to bust through, provide higher g's, and require that much more skill to pull off, resulting in a hell of a better rush than simply stomping the pedal and holding the wheel straight which anybody with a lead foot can do.

the guy who said the rx8 was ugly has no taste. his favorite car must be a crossfire.

America invented the open highway. This is the place where blasting through the gears in a straight line originated.
In Europe (and elsewhere), all the places you can (and would want to) drive are convoluted, twisty and narrow. Visit Prague some day.
It wasn't until fairly recently that the average European automotive enthusiast could utilize highways with regularity and most still shun it.
One need only compare Talladega and Monaco to grasp the difference in mentality.
Two sides of the same coin. But you can't be George and the eagle at the same time.

That is so true!

It shouldn't matter to those of us who "get it" that others do not.

True, but it gets old when you repeatedly keep hearing the same bullshit over and over again.

Matt in the article states that the Z is a real sports car due to not having back seats?
I am sorry, the Z is a sports car granted; but how many other sports cars do we know that DO have back seats? I think the previous generation Z had back seats.

As for people who think our engines break down after 40k miles... How many of these engines do you think would die after 40k? 50%, 75%? come on! Seriously? Do you think the 8 would actually sell then? Who would buy a car with an engine that has a lifespan of 2 years?

Does anyone have a scan of the article they are referring to? I tried looking on the website...not there yet.

nm...apparently the search does nothing, and good old fashioned click and find works.

http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...di-tt-20t.html

Here ya go: http://www.caranddriver.com/comparis...di-tt-20t.html

The base Z was a 2-seater, but there was a 2+2 version as well.

Hopefully anybody with a brain larger than a chickpea can see through the whiners and naysayers on this site... or a least pick up a Consumer Reports.

I applaud Car And Driver for not giving into "0-60 = best car" philosophy. It's just so happens that it is in favor of the car I own. :)

That's not really the case. In the early days of automobiles, Europeans built good paved roads while the US still had dirt. European cars could go mile after mile at high speed without overheating because they had mile after mile of good straight roads. Not through Prague or Monaco, but certainly across the flat parts of France and Germany.

The US Interstate Highway system was built because Eisenhower was thoroughly impressed with the German Autobahns. And unimpressed at how hard it was to move men and materiel across the US by highway.

The US did originate drag racing. Hot rodders forced off the streets and onto abandoned airstrips.

Ken

Yep, I think Hitler set the quota for like 100kmh as the ideal cruising speed. So the Autobahn was hence built with gentle sweeping turns, etc...to be able to maintain speed...though I think at present near half of it has a speed limit...

But nobody lived along those roads. Cars were built by Europeans to navigate European cities.
Nearly every European city - large and small - is a convoluted rats nest of narrow streets, not a neat grid like most American cities.

Doubt it...that Matt guy is clearly a Z owner who had his feelings hurt by C&D.

Kudos to C&D for appreciating a driver's car, despite it being a 4 year old model. Saying that the 8 isn't a true sports car because it seats four might be the most ridiculous statement ever. Gotta laugh at that one.

Fast in a straight line is boring. Last time I checked, even racing video games are track based (Gran Turismo, Forza, Project Gotham). How boring would a drag racing game be fer pete's sake?