What about...
 

The new 6-speed manual Acura 3.2 CL Type S for competition. Its priced at $30, 550, has 260 hp, has the 6 speed manual.. and its introductory luxury. In the end it is a honda, which is reliable. At this price, the car is a steal and if Mazda plans on making the price of the RX-8 greater than the 3.2.. you can be sure I WON'T be buying the RX-8!

Though the weight differecnes (approx. 3400 lbs for the 3.2), both cars seem to perform similarly. The CL can reach 60 mph in about 6.7 seconds... and in North American roads... the 3.2 handles more than appropriate.

What do you guys think?!?!

Well, the price is in line with the RX-8, but it's such a different car that you really can't compare it. It's a lot heavier and it's marketed as a luxury-type car, so it wont have the nimbleness of the lighter RX-8.

i was amazed at the acura's hp when i saw it at the car show earlier this year and thought it was priced really well for an entry-lux model. but the weight in that car is significant. one of co-workers drove her daughter's cl type s into work the other day. in her words " it's too heavy and it handles like a truck!". she said she'd rather drive her suv than the acura any day. the rx8 is lighter and will definetly not handle like a truck.

I can't imagine that they're going to overlap much. The Acura will be a luxury sedan that has some performance, the RX-8 will be a performance car with 4 seats.

There could be a small overlap, but I suspect that it will mostly be people that don't really know what the RX-8 is about.

As an example, my dad is going to be replacing his Maxima soon, and his prior car was an Acura Legend. He hated driving my brother's RX-7, because of the ride and lack of torque. He's the kind of guy the Acura/Infiniti people are aiming for, not the people Mazda's going to get.

Well, for one thing...
 

...the Acura doen't meet one of my basic requirements for my next car purchace. The power goes to the front wheels and only the front wheels. I'm going for strictly rear-wheel or all-wheel drive this time.

If I were willing to go front wheel drive I would probably get a new Nissan Altima with the 3.5 V6. It's basically the same engine as the 350Z and it will have a lot of potential for tuning. It comes with 17" wheels and a six-speed. I think they are really good looking too. With the big discount I can get on Nissan's (and most other cars) through where I work, I could get a loaded up Altima 3.5 for around or maybe a little under $20,000. That's really a good deal on what can be a very practical, good looking, performance sedan. I just don't think I can bring myself to sell out and get front-wheel drive.

...and another thing...
 

The Acura 3.2 TL type S came in sixth place out of eleven in the most recent editon of Road and Track magazine's comparison test. The Acura sounds too middle of the road in that test. They finally have that article up on their website.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/reviews/...?articleid=235

I referred to this article in another post when I speculated that the IS300 may be cross shopped to the RX-8. They basically have the same drivetrain as the now defunct Supra, so you know what their potential will be. There is a $6K turbo kit available that will give it around 420 HP. Not too shabby! Plus it drives the rear-wheels too, which I've already mentioned is a key point. I'm sure that similar 350Z mods will be available to the G35, but they are so ugly. As a matter of fact, if the Lexus didn't look like a souped up Civic, I may seriously consider it.