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What is the weakest link in the RX8?

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Old 01-28-2004, 06:56 PM
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Originally posted by BillK
I can't help it if someone wants to stare at my headlights. The majority of drivers have no problems with them.
Cool. I've never seen yours, so I can't make an informed comment on them.
IMHO the RX-8's HIDs' sharp cutoff makes them just about useless for driving on anything but ruler flat roads. Drive in the hills with them and you'll need your high beams on a good percentage of the time...
That just may be the reason automakers provide them. Our British cousins actually refer to them as "main beams" and to the low beams as "dip beams."
If all you do is drive in cities, you may not notice the difference; drive in say the foothills if Colorado and the difference is immediately apparent...
Personally I think that the sharp cutoff is a good thing since it allows a lot of light to be put on the road (where it is useful) without dazzling oncoming drivers (which is unsafe as well as discourteous) and the high beams are there to use when needed or desireable. Seems like a good system to me, but YMMV, as they say.
Old 01-28-2004, 09:47 PM
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Originally posted by BillK
I can't help it if someone wants to stare at my headlights. The majority of drivers have no problems with them.

IMHO the RX-8's HIDs' sharp cutoff makes them just about useless for driving on anything but ruler flat roads. Drive in the hills with them and you'll need your high beams on a good percentage of the time (often when you would not have needed them had you had conventional Halogen headlights.) The same is readily admitted to be true by drivers of S2000s.

If all you do is drive in cities, you may not notice the difference; drive in say the foothills if Colorado and the difference is immediately apparent...
yea I think you nailed the issue on the head, that's exactly why I want to add driving lights... it's not that the HID headlights aren't bright enough, it's on those empty twisting highways with lots of elevation changes that you want a full spread of the lights.
Old 01-28-2004, 10:27 PM
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The early prototype photos were of Yellow, but when the car was in production and deliveries were iminent, Mazda stepped up to Red. I think that British Racing Green would also look good on the 8, but the Nordic Green is too dark. This car definitely looks best in Velocity Red. Fortunately, it seems to be less popular than all other colors except Green. Makes mine shine that much more.
Old 01-28-2004, 11:29 PM
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Yeah ppl, stop buying the red! Thank you!
Old 01-28-2004, 11:40 PM
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noahprtlnd for sure
Old 01-29-2004, 12:19 AM
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Red, red, I like red, there's no substitute for red! (Sammy said it best)

Having owned a silver car in the past, I swore I would NEVER own another ever again. There is just too much metal in silver and not enough pigment. Silver paint is weak. The only thing that saves it now is the clear coat that is applied.

However, IMO, that ugly green is the worst color I have ever seen on an 8.

Blue would have been my second pick and yellow right behind it. I bought it off the lot and all they had to choose from was Velocity Red (with the features I wanted), Winning Blue and Titanium Grey (both of which had additional items with additional costs I didn't care to have). There wasn't a Yellow within 50 miles of me.

Major weakness not mentioned yet are the tires. Great summer traction, no winter traction and low mileage life expectancy.

For me, no flooding, no problem shifting (I think I killed it one time while backing), no problems with the Xenon lamps, love the dimming rear view mirror, don't mind the Bose Sound, didn't expect economy on gas mileage, don't have any problems with staying warm on the coldest days so far (0 F) and I have no problem with acceleration, torque or any other afforementioned gripes and groans.

I love my 8, and I shall continue to love it and I am in a city of 120,000 and nobody else has a Velocity Red but me.

Scaaareeeeeech!!!
Old 01-29-2004, 03:02 AM
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Originally posted by Lock & Load
From what i have observed on the forum the weakest link for the RX8 to me seems to be some of the DRIVERS who have no idea how to drive a manual car , and how to get the most out of a rotary engine .

michael.
Talking with personal exp yeah?

There is no weak link ... perheps the torque and the suspension. ECU and muffler will fix it. Still waiting for you guys to sort out canzoomer's ECU. Hymee and L&L! Thanks :P
Old 01-29-2004, 09:38 AM
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Lock and Load......I love my silver and I never would have chosen silver before...bland and boring but for some reason this silver is so bright and shiny it beat out the rest!! I am not hurt by your statement it's all a matter of taste and we all are different that way!! It's all good!! Can you tell I just got back from a Successful Living 4 day seminar!!! I am feeling the love!!!!! It was an empowering and fulfilling seminar that everyone should go through!! Based out of Chicago but have them in Jersey and Canada!! Called Pathways. pathwaysseminars.com
Old 01-29-2004, 02:45 PM
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Talking

Cruzdreamer

Great to hear from you i was feeling rejected as we havent had any interposts lately .(yeah its not what you others are thinking )ha ha ha.

Great to hear you feel love and empowrement after your 4 day seminar .

Having done an extensive 20 week course of training as a telephone counsellor at Lifeline i attended and did various courses one was on empowerement the best thing you can do in counselling is LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN and try to help people to find the love and the strenght to empower themselves then hopefully they can try and work thru their own issues .

The worst thing you can do is to give advice as this takes the empowerement away from them.

I bet some forum members will be shocked to hear that i worked as a Volunteer telephone counsellor for 3 years .ha ha ha.

Wendy in my opinion people are influenced in their colour choice by various reasons, were i live its mostly bright , sunny holiday type athmosphere hence Yellow really suits the conditions , having said that if i was living in different climatic circumstances i may not pick the same colour .

Also i believe a person current state of mind can also play a factor in choosing a certain colour .

I have owned 23 cars in 33 years and i have had various colours depending on were i was how i felt at the time and my state of mind .

What ever choice people make is fine however i got fed up with people picking on yellow .

As u may have heard "WHEELS " a very respected car magazine here in Australia awarded the RX8 with CAR OF THE YEAR AWARD.
The front page featured a yellow RX8 and the article had 13 phothoes of the yellow rx8 .

Any way as long as people are happy with themselves and their choices thats what really matters .

Nice to hear from you its made my day.

Cheers
michael
Old 01-29-2004, 03:10 PM
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I guess when it comes down to it it's all about the love. I really love you guys .
Old 01-29-2004, 03:23 PM
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Originally posted by D MENAC 7
Major weakness not mentioned yet are the tires. Great summer traction, no winter traction and low mileage life expectancy.
That's because it's not a weakness of the car. It's a weakness of the tire. There's not a tire made that has great traction in the summer AND good winter traction. If this is a weakness of the RX-8, then it's also a weakness of every car on the planet.
Old 01-29-2004, 05:37 PM
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Originally posted by Lock & Load
From what i have observed on the forum the weakest link for the RX8 to me seems to be some of the DRIVERS who have no idea how to drive a manual car , and how to get the most out of a rotary engine .

michael.
Dang, stayed away from the forum too long - wanted to say "driver" myself but the Antipodes beat me to it.
Old 01-29-2004, 06:10 PM
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I learned to drive manual on the 8 and i only stalled it once, in a parking lot. I forgot to take the ebrake off cause i would never leave it on in a parking lot in my auto.

Well what is the weakest link. Considering my car b4 the 8 was a 97 crv with over 200,000 miles on it and had only 100hp or so i can't complain about the lack of power, and these are the 1st summer tires i have owned so i can't complain about the tires. This is also the 1st rotary i have owned but i was a long time admirerer of the rx7 and i haven't flooded it yet w/ 2k miles on it. Neway i think u can deflood the car using the procedure in the manual unless u let it sit for a while which fouls up the spark plugs. That is when u have 2 have it taken 2 the dealer.

I would say the weakest link is the ecu "hack" that mazda did just b4 the car shipped. The took a 10% cut in power, and didn't even reconfigure the O2 sensor in the exhaust for the changed fuel richness, which is what really makes it eat gas. But hey i bought a sports car so i didn't really care about that when i bought it.
Old 01-29-2004, 06:54 PM
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Originally posted by D MENAC 7

However, IMO, that ugly green is the worst color I have ever seen on an 8.


*ouch*

I resemble that remark. Maybe you just didn't look at it closely enough?
Old 01-29-2004, 06:55 PM
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My wife wanted me to get the Nordic Green... I didn't hate it, I just liked the Ti Grey better . LOL.
Old 01-29-2004, 08:33 PM
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"Geniuses pick green"- Meet The Parents :D
Old 01-29-2004, 09:18 PM
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I retract my statement about the weakness of the 8 being the tires, that is true, it is only a weakness of the tires, not the car. Maybe Mazda should have issued a second set of treads for us less fortunate temperate climate dwellers with the 8. Sure, it's a dream perhaps a dilusion even.

I still stand by the statement about low mileage life expectancy as being a weakness, though.

Green is for mold, slime and ugly. Hell, I'd love to see this car in Orange or White! Let's see comments on that! :0

Off to Phot Shop I go!
Old 01-29-2004, 10:12 PM
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Mazda Rejected RX-8 Colors

Here are the colors that Mazda decided not to go with when they were deciding which would make it to production.
Old 01-29-2004, 10:13 PM
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OOOPS! How did that Nordic Green get on that list???
Old 01-29-2004, 10:29 PM
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That white sure does look nice.
Old 01-30-2004, 12:32 AM
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Apart from the white, the other colours look very tacky. IMO the yellow also looks somewhat tacky, but hey, each individual's got his/her own taste and it's something one cannot argue about.
Abnd I think the Nordic Green (not the photoshopped one) is gorgeous. Pity they did not make a metallic dark blue.
Old 01-30-2004, 01:33 AM
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Originally posted by Rotary Titus
yea I think you nailed the issue on the head, that's exactly why I want to add driving lights... it's not that the HID headlights aren't bright enough, it's on those empty twisting highways with lots of elevation changes that you want a full spread of the lights.
Yes.

To clarify, the HIDs on the RX-8 (and S2000 for that matter) are perfectly bright, it's the extreme cutoff at the top of the beam that's annoying.

The HIDs on say the Boxster or Audi TT have more of a gradual fade at the top of the beam pattern; on the 8 areas are either lit or not, there's no middle ground whatsoever.

FWIW, conventional Halogens have a fade rather than a dramatic cutoff at the top of the beam pattern.
Old 01-30-2004, 02:00 AM
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Originally posted by BillK
Yes.

FWIW, conventional Halogens have a fade rather than a dramatic cutoff at the top of the beam pattern.
Yeah, I just installed H7 Silverstars on my lowbeams and they are so white but without the sudden cutoff that RX-8 w/HIDs have. I have a base RX-8 and I couldn't stand the yellowish stock lowbeam.
Old 01-30-2004, 02:37 AM
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We have Projectors on our Audi A4 and they have the same cut off as my RX-8.
Old 01-30-2004, 03:33 AM
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Originally posted by Xyntax
Yeah, I just installed H7 Silverstars on my lowbeams and they are so white but without the sudden cutoff that RX-8 w/HIDs have. I have a base RX-8 and I couldn't stand the yellowish stock lowbeam.
I'm planning on getting some silverstars are well. Do you happen to have a model number?


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