Velocity Red Mica - RX8 R3
 

Hello all, just wanted to take a moment and introduce myself. As the title states, I just purchased an RX-8 R3 in velocity red mica. My son turns 16 in December and this is his dream car. Being a car guy all of my 44 years I was kind of proud to see him taking an interest in sports cars like dear old dad. lol So, I basically told him happy birthday, christmas, easter, Cinco de mayo, and every other holiday for the next 5 years that he might get a present. hahaha

Anyway, it almost makes sense him liking the RX-8, I bought his mom an '93 RX-7 R1 back in '93 and she drove that car the whole time she was pregnant with him.

This seems like a great forum. I've been scouring it for info since I brought the car home. Only mods so far are tinting the windows, but the weak sauce Bose system will definitely be going soon.

Not like everyone hasn't seen one before, but pics are attached. He insisted on taking pictures while we were still in the dealership. lol It was on Facebook before the papers were even signed. We're from down in Portland, Texas so if anyone else is from our neck of the woods chime in!

Regards,
RadRedR3

Welcome, you are good dad. My 16 year old wants a sports car too but he is shit out of luck :lol: I don't see any pics.

Thanks. For some reason the pics didn't attach the first time. Glitch in the matrix I guess? Fixed now.

I see them now, nice ride.

I'm not THAT great of a dad. hehehe My car's a Shelby GT500 that *IS* modded, putting down 587 rwhp. He wanted me to "just get a new car dad and I'll take your old one". As IF that was EVER going to happen.

I mean, personally I'm not that attached to him anymore but his mother loves him. So if he killed himself in that car I'd NEVER hear the end of it. :mdrmed:

:lol: Funny. Do you have a new GT500?

I have a '09 GT500. Like I said though, I've been a car guy from waaaaaay back. I'm just glad to see the boy taking a liking to real sports cars.

Nice. Once a car guy, always a car guy.

awwwhhh, I was hoping for like a 67 fast back gt 500 :sad:

haha either way, 09 gt500 is nice too

I wish! The funny this is we bought a new home recently and my neighbor across the street DOES have a '67 GT500. A REAL shelby. Yeah, I'm jealous. lol :dunno:

Wow, must be a nice neighborhood ;)

Is that him in the picture? Why isn't he smiling?!

Just make sure he takes care of the 8 well. I'm sure you will though, you know there's more to them than turn key and go, and not every "mod" is for the better. :p:

Got pics of your Shelby as well?

Probably in shock that his parents actually bought him a sports car for Christmas. I was the same way when I got mine for my birthday.

Dad? Is it really you? It's me! The other son you never knew you had lol ;)

Welcome, and congratulations to your son.

My dad never bought me a car lol but he's a hardass. He just bought a Mercedes SLS in addition to his Audi R8 V10 (of I knew how to post pics from phone I would) but those are already claimed by me in his will lol! But I definitely love me some Shelby too. Being the European that I am the '67 is Eleanor?

The rx8 is a dream car alright. Congrats and enjoy the ride.

lucky kid. I have to buy my own at 25.

Bought my RX8 at 19, but I saved since I was '13 and first read about it..

That's a beautiful color.

Car looks great. What a lucky kid. I drove a big of shit 88 Oldsmobile my first year of driving.

OP, congrats on the purchase and welcome to the cult of the rotary world, lol.

However, in your opening post you made it sound as if the R3 is not much of a serious sports car, therefore suitable for your teenage son.

Sure, the R3 does not have the 500+ hp your other car has but it's still a LOT of car for a 16 y/o IMHO. Hopefully your son is more mature than the average kid at that age and will stay out of trouble.

But rest assured, once your son learns how to drive the R3, he will quickly realize where the power is and what to do in order to drive it fast.

As others have said, your son is lucky! I was already in my 20's when I bought my first vehicle, and it wasn't by any means a sports car, lol.

Welcome!

nice r3!

@R80MAV - Thank you very much, my son's birthday is December 6th, he is quite literally, counting minutes at this point. lol

@pistonhater - I'm sorry if my opening post gave that impression. The RX-8 is indeed a great sports car and quite capable of getting anyone in way over their head if not driven responsibly. I'll admit my first impressions of the car were that it was a little "weak", but after putting over a thousand miles on it I've found the "sweet spot" and she definitely moves out quite respectably.

All I meant in my initial ramblings on the subject was that, basically, you can kill yourself with very little effort in my GT500. Hell, I'm 44 and *I* am not responsible enough to be driving it without adult supervision and that's after owning a roster of sports and performance cars over the years that I really should never admit to as a responsible member of society. hahaha I was just comforted a bit that he'll have to work a little harder to really screw up in the RX-8. It's a superb handling, well balanced car with a sane amount of horsepower that fits the chassis well.

@jasonrxeight - Damn right he's a lucky kid. I bought my own car at 16. A WELL used, rusted Datsun 210 with no radio. Jesus that car sucked, but it was freedom and I'll never forget it. We always try to give our kids better than what we had. He's a straight A student athlete, never been in trouble, blah blah blah. Of course I think he's great though, he's mine. lol Time will tell and I sat him down, explained gap insurance, and made it clear if he totals it and lives to tell about it, he'll be calling friends for rides after that. I'm generous with him as he's me only child, but ask him... the saying "firm but fair" comes to mind. Dad giveth and dad taketh away. Grades slip, trouble comes, there are no second chances. Hell, I like the car, I'll be happy to drive it if he screws up. hehehe

Regards,
RadRedR3

Very nice car! Best color, too! :)

I got my '8 when I was 18 (which was consequently just a few months ago) and have never looked back. I have yet to drive a car that can match what the RX-8 gives me/makes me feel. Just make sure he takes complete care of it!

Also, I second the motion for pics of your GT500

Cool, now I totally understand what you meant.

You're right about the fact that you have to work a little "harder" to screw up in the rx8, lol.

Welcome.

Man I love R3's! Its never too late to adopt you know... Haha but seriously that's an awesome car, I hope he enjoys it. I sure love my rx8; I was 20 before I could afford it though :tear:. Just don't shut it off cold and make sure to add oil accordingly and you'll be all set.

Better late than never? lol Seriously though, somehow I never noticed this part of your reply. Pics? Sure... I've got plenty of those. hahaha

Not too bad, like the color scheme on her.

Not too long ago, I got to have a Mustang for a day. It was just an auto V6, but hell, the power difference between that and the 8 was definitely noticable. Wish I could've had the manual V8 though for the full experience, but that alone was still a fun difference.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...32543021_n.jpg

Thanks for the compliment. It was my wife who talked me into the Red/White combo. She said it was obnoxious, like me. Lol. I had been going to get the "classic" Shelby White/Blue until then.

Anyway, if you're ever going to be down in my neck of the woods you can drive this V8/M6 combo. It's a fun car.

I know what you mean about the V6 though. Heck, the Mustang GT's we all thought ruled the road were ~ 225hp factory. Decent V6's these days routinely crank out 325 - 350hp. Lol. Gotta love progress!

Good choice!

Well red's always been the fastest color! Haha. I do like it because it stands out so well though. It grabs your eyes so well out of a crowd, being such a bright red.

Outside of red, I do love this though.. Call me a fan boy for it being the NFS Edition, but I think it's just damn sexy like this.

http://stwot.motortrend.com/files/20...nt-623x389.jpg


But absolutely. Until then, the Rx8's been pretty much the fastest car I've driven(Not been inside, but driven), so it's just crazy the difference in power from that alone. I'd really like to get to try out the new 2013 when it comes out, just to see what that's like. But now I'm just getting greedy.

Definitely made me feel like the 8 needs boost..

pretty mean looking. minus the hood pins.

Not much to MOD on series II

RadRedR3,

Since we have your attention, how has your kid been doing with his R3?
It's always interesting to have the parent's opinion on how their young child does behind the wheel of a sports car.

Have you had to take the keys away from him for being a goofball behind the wheel? Or is your kid been pretty responsible with the car?

BC.

Actually, he's done pretty damn good so far. Of course, realizing full well I'm jinxing EVERYTHING by making this post.... lol

He's had the car nearly 6 months to the day, today and no problems as of yet. I had my driver's license *exactly* three freakin' days before I wrecked my first car doing something stupid in front of a girl. *doh* :dunno:

He's required to wash/wax/detail it every weekend and complete his weekly "preventative maintenance" schedule. He checks the air in the tires, inspects the air filter, checks all the bulbs for proper function, checks and adds oil as necessary. I helped him do the first oil change along with the fluid in the tranny and rear end right after we got it. The second oil change he did, I just watched. He has a maintenance binder that he records all the checks he does, records maintenance, keeps receipts, etc.

Now, make no mistake, *I* am the one who came up with all this stuff for him to do, but he does it with *nearly* no bitching and my main purpose besides maintaining the car, was to instill good habits in him that will stick with him when I'm not breathing down his neck the rest of his life.

I know a lot of people think teens shouldn't get "good" cars as their first, especially not sports cars because they'll just trash them. That's probably true in many cases, but then that's true in the case of a lot of adults too... the only difference being the adults pay their own car note while they neglect the car. I'm happy with his treatment of the car so far. He's a pretty self-disciplined kid though. Trust me, he's no angel by any means, but he's motivated by what's important to him, and this was his "dream car"... he knows if he screws it up, he loses it. No second chances.

Time will tell, but he's off to a good start. I like him having the car, it's the ultimate "If you screw up, I'm taking your ________ away" motivation tool. lol hahaha

Not a fanboy at all, that car is DAMN sexy. As for the 2013, I'll actually be buying one, but not till the dealer is at or below MSRP, I've never paid over sticker for any car... and never will. That said, I'm in no hurry. The 2013's put down *around* 600hp at the wheels. I've seen a few stock dyno's already and as high as 609 and low as the 580's. My car, as it sits, dyno'd at 587rwhp so I can wait till the hype over the 2013 dies and I can get the deal *I* want.

Regards

Ah, I wasn't quite given a sports car by any means as my first car, but I was given a 1988 Mx6, which already had coilovers and (beat to heck) DOT slicks for tires. Add that in with being a manual, and it was more than enough to get me in trouble. First day it was home, my parents left saying that if I could drive manual I could drive it that day, knowing no one had shown me how to drive manual.

So I took it upon myself to make sure I could drive the car around before they got home, including parking it in a new spot just to let them know of my success before they even got home, haha.

Well, after it was finally through inspection and what not, legal to actually drive around, the second day of that(Which was maybe a few days after this), I got talked into racing a couple of my friends. Led to one hell of a blown headgasket from a 3-2 downshift, with 3rd gear maxed out.

I'll admit, over the course of my being able to drive, I've had my fun.. But, I own up to anything that goes wrong like that, or any said incidents with blue lights. Paid for my own layers, done community service and such, yatta yatta. I guess this is why my parents still let me drive without taking my car away, haha. Though I was absolutely sure I was going to lose it a few times from certain things..

Then again, us car guys tend to be different. We get a speeding ticket, half the time we probably weren't in a rush anyway, our ego was on the line in some way, shape, or form. Maintenance will find it's way to be done, especially if you neglect it and find out the consequences when you're pulling that said part to be replaced. So many different things, but ultimately, it's better to get in trouble from that, than from doing drugs, as long as you don't hurt or kill yourself or anyone else.

Then again, avoiding trouble is always the best bet, but we all have our stories. Put a car guy there with a girl to impress, as you've said, and we'll smile and say we've got this, haha.

But seriously though, how many track days and such has he taken it to, or do you let him?

And as far as the Mustang, I did enjoy the power of driving it, but I personally enjoy my Rx8 too much to trade it in on one, and I can't quite say I have the money for yet another car. Maybe oneday, when I find me a wife, I'll buy her one just so I can be able to drive it every now and then, haha.

Yeah, that sounds like it'll work.

Done with my book now.

No track days yet, but just put a new set of tires and brake pads and rotors (he wanted slotted rotors because they look cool..lol Kids. haha), so we'll be heading to the track next.

All I can see in that third picture is a big HAM...

Mu ha ha...

Welcome to the club.

Lol. You and me both. But then I'd have been intolerable if my dad had bought that for me at 16. Hahaha. I had a POS Datsun 240Z as my first car. Ehhh, he's a good kid though.

Thanks for the welcome.